If Nigeria Had Conscience, IBB Would Not Show His Face In Public – Dele Farotimi

Human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has condemned the description of former Military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) as a statesman.

The Publisher Nigeria reported that the former Military President launched his autobiography ” A Journey of Service” on Thursday.

The book launch attracted former presidents and military heads of state, including Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Goodluck Jonathan, and current President Bola Tinubu.

At the event, IBB announced that Moshood Abiola won the 1993 presidential election which he annulled. He, however, disclosed that it was the former Military Head of State, Sani Abacha, who served in his administration that annulled the election without his knowledge.

“I would later find out that the ‘forces’ led by General Sani Abacha annulled the elections. There and then, I knew I was caught between ‘a devil and the deep blue sea’!! From then on, the June 12 elections took on a painful twist for which, as I will show later, I regrettably take responsibility,” he disclosed in his book.

IBB, however, took responsibility as it happened in his administration.

“As the leader of the military administration, I accept full responsibility for all decisions taken by me. And June 12 happened under my watch. Mistakes, oversights, and missteps happen in quick succession but I say in my book, in all matters, we acted in extreme national interest so that Nigeria could survive,” the former military president said at the event,” he stated.

Reacting to the event and IBB’s revelation, Farotimi, on his 𝕏 handle, wrote: “MKO on my mind. 

“To die for a people devoid of memory, is to be killed over and over, again and again. In a place inhabited by the conscious, IBB would not dare to show his face in public. But in the crime scene that doubles as our country, having been succeeded by even more villainous ruiners, Badamasi is installed in the seat of the statesman.”