Former Military President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda (retd) has said he didn’t rule out National Leader All Progressives Congress (APC) Ahmed Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the 2023 presidential race.
He, however, insisted a Nigerian around 60-year-old age bracket and with requisite experience remains Nigeria’s best choice as president in the 2023 general elections.
Both Atiku and Tinubu are in their late seventies and sixties respectively, and the duo are believed to be eyeing the nation’s number one seat in 2023.
In a recent interview with ARISE Television, Gen. Babangida was quoted to have said: “I have started visualising a good Nigerian leader. That is, a person, who travels across the country and has a friend virtually everywhere he travels to and he knows at least one person that he can communicate with.
“That is a person, who is very versed in economics and is also a good politician, who should be able to talk to Nigerians and so on. I have seen one, or two or three of such persons already in his sixties.”
But providing further insight into his position Sunday in an exclusive interview with Blueprint in Minna, Niger state, the retired general said he never mentioned names nor ruled out anybody as being reported by some sections of the media (Blueprint not inclusive).
He spoke to this medium ahead of his 80th birthday which comes up Tuesday (tomorrow).
Asked if the latest call for a 60-year-old to be Nigeria’s president didn’t negate his administration’s policy which encouraged the new breed to be actively involved in politics, he said those new breed of that time are now well over 60 years of age.
The former Nigerian leader said such Nigerian must have been a public servant, private entrepreneur or professional who must have acquired some level of experience over a period of time.
Babangida said: “You the media misquoted me to say that I said Atiku and Tinubu should not contest in 2023. I never mentioned anybody. I just talked about what I think we should be looking for in the next President. My take is that at the age of around 60 years, the person must have been a public servant, private entrepreneur, a professional and would have acquired a lot of experience to rule the country. That is all; I did not say it to rule out anybody.”
“The new breed I spoke of then (as president) are well over 60 now if I am not mistaking. So, you can see that they are qualified and must have acquired the necessary experience,” he added.
On corruption, Babaginda said the problem can best be solved if tackled at source, adding that the decentralisation of governance, in the thinking of his military regime, was a sure way to fighting corruption.
“You have to fight corruption from the beginning at its source. For example, we in the military thought if you decentralised governance, it is a sure way of getting rid of certain corrupt aspect of our behaviours.”
While listing some ways out of the menace, IBB, as fondly called, recalled that in those days, his administration put in place deliberate policies to check corruption in the process of obtaining foreign exchange from banks by establishing bureau de change.
The former leader said commodity control boards were also abolished so that cocoa and groundnut farmers would not have to bribe government officials for their produce to be rated Grade A or Grade B or give bribe to get licensed.
He stressed the need for more sensitisation of the people for them to know that they don’t have to bribe government officials to get services, adding that ” the people must understand and government also needs to put in place more institutions to facilitate this aspect of our lives.”
Otedola recounts role in Yar’Adua’s dying days
Meanwhile, billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, has joined Nigerians in congratulating the former military leader ahead of his 80th birthday Tuesday.
He also recalled his role in the critical days of the Umar Yar’Adua presidency when there was controversy around Yar’Adua’s health challenge in 2010.
With Yar’Adua failing to formally transfer power to his VP when he was flown abroad for medical treatment, there was tension across the nation as a result of the power vacuum, which led to public protests.
Revealing this Sunday in a statement containing excerpts from his yet-to-be published book on business lessons (scheduled for release in November), Otedola revealed that Babangida sent a message through him to then Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to occupy the empty seat of the President at the next Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Writing on the need for entrepreneurs to engage with political authorities in one of the chapters, Otedola said such a relationship will benefit the country.
He said: “Entrepreneurs’ outreach and dialogue with political leaders, among many positives, will ensure stability and social coherence, guaranteeing economic progress. Worried by the tension and uncertainty, I decided to do something on my own.
“In the first week of February 2010, I went to Minna, Niger state, along with Hajiya Bola Shagaya, to commiserate with General Ibrahim Babangida over the death of his wife, Maryam. At his Hilltop residence, we spoke on a wide range of issues, but I told him I needed to discuss an urgent and vital issue. He took me to his study, where the two of us were alone. I told him that the state of the nation had been agitating my mind.”
“Your Excellency, how can we get out of this logjam? The political heat is too much,” recalled the oil mogul.
“Calm and resolute, IBB replied: ‘Femi, advise your friend that when he gets to the Council Chambers next week for the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, he should go and sit on the President’s chair.’ I found that fascinating and assured him I would pass the message across. I travelled back to Abuja by road in the evening and went straight to have dinner with Dr Jonathan. I did not waste time in delivering General Babangida’s message to him,” he wrote.
“He nodded and asked me, ‘What do you think? I laughed and said, ‘Be a man, Your Excellency. Go and sit on that chair!’ “He looked at me for some time and responded that he would think about it.
“A week later, on Tuesday, February 9, the National Assembly adopted the famous ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ to make Dr Jonathan the Acting President pending the return of President Yar’Adua from his medical leave. Behind-the-scene moves by prominent Nigerians preceded this decision. The legislative resolution was unprecedented, but the nation had been tensed up. The fault lines were so stoked that an unusual solution was needed to address the unique situation.
“With Jonathan now legally empowered to act as President, there remained the critical optics: would he stand-in for the President confidently and authoritatively? Or would he try to maintain a subdued outlook? The following day was the FEC meeting. As Dr Jonathan entered the Council Chamber, he made to sit on the chair of the Vice President—his usual seat. As the protocol officer pulled out the VP’s chair, Dr Jonathan marched towards the seat reserved for the President. And he sat on it! That was the moment Dr Goodluck Jonathan took control of power. By that act, he sent a strong signal to all Nigerians that he was now in charge. The same day, Jonathan even reshuffled the cabinet,” he further recalled.
Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, and Jonathan was sworn in as his replacement, after which he served another four-year-tenure following his victory at the 2011 general elections.
In the book, Otedola said entrepreneurs must engage with political authorities because it is only when there is peace that the economy can boom.
He wrote: “While many may see political engagement for entrepreneurs as one-sided—in the sense that only the entrepreneur benefits—the reality is that it could work both ways. I tapped into my political connections to contribute my little quota to resolving a power crisis that almost set the country on fire. This example is one of the several instances in which I used my access to the seat of power and political heavyweights to contribute to nation-building and national development. Entrepreneurs need to appreciate the fact that peace for the country is peace for their businesses, too. We need a stable and peaceful country first and foremost.”
