•Babangida Photo: Sun News Publishing

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When he mounted the leadership podium on August 27, 1985 having ousted the austere government of General Mohammadu Buhari, the stage was set for General Babangida to experiment with all the month long researches that crystallized into a blue-print carefully packaged to address one problem area and the other.

Wearing his well-starched military uniform, he walked majestically into the cozy room of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, such a cavernous office, to preside over his first meeting as President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As he walked into the Dodan Barracks office with eagle eyes on everybody since the dust of take-over was yet to simmer down, he unleashed his military firmness that almost betrayed his customary tooth-paste smile as he took his seat to deliberate the issues of the day.

Every senior officer in the room was dead sure that IBB came at the right time to rescue the nation. The cooperation they exhibited further reassured him that all men were set for the national agenda of trying to reinvent national consciousness that would simply bid a handsome fair well to the past twenty months of grueling experience. There was ominous silence as if the officers were enveloped in some kind of eerie feeling that spoke of the palpable tension in the land having echoed the martial songs repeatedly on Radio and Television.

Some feeling of insecurity, mutual suspicion and utter fear, but not a man like General Babangida would allow himself to be swallowed by the fear of the known. He punctured the palpable silence with his first sentence as if to underscore the import of the meeting; ‘we have a serious task in our hands and we all must be united to tackle this onerous task as patriotic Nigerians.’ As if reading from a script, he added that the journey to a greater future had just started and that every member of the Armed Forces Ruling Council had a role to play. ‘Our dear nation needs us and we cannot fail in our responsibility to provide the right leadership for the good governance of the country’. It was until he spoke that some kind of relief came the way of those who attended the meeting and the agenda was straight as it was punchy. He knew exactly what the country needed and he was prepared to offer just that.

Babangida’s coming to power in 1985 was not an accident of history neither was it meant for personal aggrandizement. Before he took the challenge to give the ‘boys’ the desired leadership, he had prepared himself for the challenges of governance and had at the back of his mind policies and programmes that when unveiled, would buy into the mood of Nigerians who were already weary of the iron fist style of the duo of Generals Buhari and Idiagbon. If discipline was the normative attribute of the military, it was not in the fashion that these officers elevated it.

Therefore, IBB knew from the outset that he needed to flesh up the bones that were already down in line with the Biblical allusion that dry bones would rise again. Before the coup onslaught, there had been series of pressures from different quarters for him to react to the unbecoming conduct of the Chief of General Staff who according to some officers was undermining the office of the Chief of Army Staff occupied by General IBB. As of a man who understands the dynamics of power and its attributes, he took time to do a thorough strategic planning, to ascertain the level of compliance of other military top brats who might not necessarily cave in to the idea of a coup even if the timing was right. When he finally struck, it was more of a fait accompli as there was no blood letting, thus making the coup the most successful and bloodless one in the history of Nigeria’s military take-over.

The object of my discourse is actually informed by this background, because of the series of events that later unfolded in the course of IBB rendering services to the nation and the kind of self adulation that some modern day ‘democrats’ are wont to thrust upon themselves as an achievement. I was easily humbled when I read a few days ago a statement credited to Senator Bola Tinubu explaining how ‘they’ eased out IBB from the corridors of power. I was humbled in the sense that I could not fathom the import of the statement neither was I able to underpin its relevance to the book launch event.

According to IBB in a recent interview published in the Saturday Sun, M.K.O Abiola’s handlers messed up the June 12 struggle for actualization with the kind of morbid approach which they deployed while they chanted away the victory songs of the elections. And that is a statement of fact. Rather than allow the elections to be properly concluded while trying to calm the frayed nerves of some military adventurists, June 12 clappers saw the opportunity as one that would put them in the vanguard of those who helped MKO to actualize the mandate. When they saw that the challenges of the struggle became too dominant to contend with, they fled the country and purportedly took the struggle to a neutral ground to prevail on the government of Shonekan to recognize MKO’s victory and accordingly swear him into office.

Having this in mind, contrast this with the open scramble for positions in General Sani Abacha’s government when Shonekan announced his resignation. How does anyone explain the participation of people like Olu Onagoruwa, Ebenezer Babatope, Elder Wole Oyelese and several self acclaimed June 12 purists who served in the Abacha military junta? Do they really merit this modern day recognition being accorded them as pro-democrats or we are too forgetful to recollect that they were part and parcel of the Abacha government? All the explanation that they were sent as advance team to prepare the way for MKO’s triumphant entry into the power oven following assurances from the dark goggled General to hand over to MKO further revealed that the so-called democrats did not actually understand the mechanics of power acquisition. I do not want to be taken in by the thinking that most of the pro-June 12 agitators were not intelligent enough to read the handwriting on the wall, since most of them possessed better educational qualification than the soldier General. What is the use of education if it doesn’t prepare you for circumspection?

June 12 is an endless discourse. I will return to that later. But I hate to hear anybody talking about easing out the military. Every Nigerian that was resident in the country at that time deserves the merit and not those who lined their pockets in the name of fighting the June 12 cause. I am really concerned about the policies of the IBB government and how time and history have vindicated him on a number of occasions as the nation continues to pass through different phases in its developmental drive. One issue that has refused to leave us is the two party system introduced during the Babangida era which were heavily funded by government to meet up with the expectations of the public in the third republic.

The nature of our elections today has again reawakened our consciousness to look inward to the two party option as the best antidote to massive rigging amongst several other advantages if put to use at this point of our national democratic growth. Two party systems might not be the best in the world, but researches have shown that given the nature of our divided society, a two party system would help cement further relationship that would push us towards national integration. Even though some people tend to argue that two party systems would infringe on their fundamental human rights of freedom of choice and association, it would not be a bad idea if there are procedures and set rules to moderate the democratic process if we are actually concerned about deepening democracy. With the kind of digital rigging that has become second nature on matters of election in Nigeria; the temptation of adopting the two party options is becoming more and more compelling. This is where IBB saw tomorrow.

When he tried introducing this system in the early nineties, critics dubbed the political parties as government invention meant to serve the interest of the government of the day, but when the June 12 elections were conducted, they adjudged them as the freest and fairest elections in the history of Nigeria, except that they would not accord credit to the man who introduced that and saw to it that the system worked. With two party system, all the convoluted ballot sheets of INEC that contain amorphously registered political parties would be streamlined to just two and INEC would find it less cumbersome to compute election results or print the candidates images on them.

The present population of fifty one political parties majority of which operate like business ventures cast in the images of those who pretend to sponsor them cannot sustain our effort at national integration and homogeneity. At best, what we have now as political parties are mere cooperative societies bound together with the niche of INEC annual grants. Findings have shown that only eleven political parties have visible offices in the Federal Capital Territory and only four have befitting offices to show for their existence. Only late last year, the NDP headquarters was forcibly taken over by the foundation National Chairman of the Party to accommodate his Micro-Finance Bank while sending the party and its executives to wander in the wilderness like unshepherded herds. With this kind of attitude from people who are supposed to nurture future leaders as a conscious process of leadership evolution and generational change, then the future of political engagement looks bleak. We have to derive the right attitude to address some of these challenges, but we cannot run away from the compelling need for two party systems which will encourage virile opposition and credible leadership.

There are several advantages that could be derived from this system. The mere fact that political parties are bending towards ethnic and regional needs is becoming worrisome. As a political party that is expected to guarantee platform for people to contest elections in all categories, operating from a regional perspective would take away national appeal from its objectives. Rather than breed nationalistic leaders that are patriotic to the nation, they assume a breeding ground for renegades and regional warlords who often used their political parties as pressure groups to attract to themselves government patronages.

About eighty percent of the parties do not really know why they are in existence. With little carrot dangled before them by the government of the day, they are easily factionalized. With INEC grants sure to come, then they can remain in the business of sharing. They make the loudest of noises whereas they hardly prepare for elections. Rather than continue to have this kind of pepper soup joints political parties, it will be healthier to have them coalesce into two strong political parties that would be competing strength for strength, structures for structures and membership for membership at any given election.

Babangida surely saw the tomorrow of this country. He knew that given the nature of Nigerians, if you allow them an inch, they would attempt to park their cars hence he was thoughtful to implement the recommendation of the Political Bureau set up to amongst other things address once and for all the problems associated with our political development. He understands the mentality of self that is pervasive in Nigerians. He knew that Nigerians like to preach about individual achievements rather than about national achievements. He also knows that because of the heady nature of some of our people, taking decision by fiat could be productive if the intention is well thought out. All these formed part of why IBB decided to mimic the American model when he introduced the two party systems.

With the political reforms panel trying to redefine our engagement in relation to credible elections, the time might just be right for the committee to add this recommendation into its final report while also waiting for Constitutional amendment to put the readings right. We can also provide for independent candidacy to provide opportunity for those who might be shortchanged by their party to seek election as independents. This will also act as check on the excesses of the system. The mere realization that a candidate can run as an independent will make the political parties to sit up while providing good leadership to all concerned. There certainly would be standards that would form the basis to enroll anyone as independent candidate. And those standards have to be stringent to prevent bandwagon effect.

Time as a patient healer, has vindicated IBB in this respects. More than any government before or after it, he knew what he wanted in leadership, and he made good use of the opportunity. On all fronts, he formulated one policy after another to meet up with the problem solving nature of his government. Every policy has its own therapy and that was the terms of engagement in IBB’s eight years on the power podium. For those who want to accord themselves the self recognition of easing out IBB from power, they have again stood history on its head. Time again and again will vindicate IBB. We should consider these two party systems and see where that leads us as a nation of possibilities. This is my memo to the Justice Uwais Panel on electoral reforms.