IBB '07?

Chippla, one of my favorite blogs, is in no doubt of the ambitions of former Nigerian head of state Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. Though Nigeria was always a difficult country to govern, "IBB", brought repression and corruption to new levels during his spell as military dictator from 1985-93. He was only surpassed in that regard by his demonic successor, Gen. Sani Abacha.

While, Chippla and most other people view IBB as the man who began the destruction of Nigeria, Babangida.com has a different take.

Do you know that a collection of words today will definitely form history tomorrow? This question reminds me of a man who had performed series of operations that bailed a nation out of the doldrum and his name will ring forever in the ears of his people even if he had some vulnerable manners – people will still continue to echo the good and reject the bad manners in such a person.

The website calls him, not only 'a hero,' but a 'Defender of Human Right & Democracy.' It notes that IBB gave some books on human rights to US President Ronald Reagan (who surely needed them) and followed these human rights gestures [sic] with yet another. He set up a two-party system for Nigeria to replace the chaotic several parties that contributed to the demise of the previous two republics.

No mention of IBB's annullment of the 1993 presidential elections, which were to be the culmination of that supposed democratization process.

Then again, Nigeria's miltiary is still very powerful in the country's fairly new democracy, even if an overt military coup is almost unthinkable (especially in the light of the Togo situation). However, in a country run by the military for the overwhelming majority of its history, it's little surprise that so many former soldiers are involved in politics. The most recent democratic presidential election pitted... two former military heads of state.