By Beifoh Osewele
Those who witnessed the political processes leading to the 1993 presidential election would remember the phrase: “Sai Baba”
It was a coinage by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, diplomat, politician and statesman, when he contested for the presidency of Nigeria.
Kingibe was to become the running mate to the late Chief MKO Abiola in the 1993 presidential election and could have become the country’s vice president had the result of the election not annulled by the President Ibrahim Babangida military government.
In politics and leadership, he is a force to be reckoned with.
A patriot of high repute, Kingibe, once Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), can’t be ignore. He enjoys so much love and goodwill from Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora, who reckon with him as a man who has positively impacted contemporary Nigeria.
Born on June 25, 1945 in Borno State, Kingibe was educated at the Borno Provincial Secondary School, and the Bishop’s Stortford College, United Kingdom (UK), where he completed his O’Level in 1960. He capped it with a Bachelors degree in International Relations from the prestigious University of Sussex.
He began his career in 1965 as a researcher in the Ahmadu Bello Univer- sity, from where he joined the Foreign Service in 1972 as Senior Political Counsellor to Nigerian High Commis- sion in London. He later became Head of Political Desk.
Kingibe’s sojourn in politics started in 1976 with his appointment as Principal Secretary, Political, at the Supreme Military Headquarters (SMHQ). He later served as Nigerian Ambassador to Greece, Cyprus and Pakistan. He was also Director in the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua’s People’s Front of Nigeria (PFN) in 1988, and national chairman of the Social Demo- cratic Party (SDP) in 1989.
After the overthrow of the Interim National Government put in place following the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election, General Sani Abach appointed Kingibe Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the inception of the present democratic dispensation in 1999, Kingibe joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was sub- sequently appointed SGF by the late President Umar Yar’Adua in 2007.
Although one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress ( APC), Kingibe, by his past services to be nation, is easily a statesman. The Life- time Achievement award better tells the story of his accomplishments.