Nigeria Won’t Experience Another Civil War —Babangida

Nigeria Won’t Experience Another Civil War —Babangida

THE IBB INTERVIEW: TWO FOR ONE.

Personally, IBB is the smartest politician ever to hit the national stage in Nigeria politics. With the exemption of Papa Awo, who, unfortunately, did not make it to the number one spot at the national level. IBB has his fault: cancellation of the 1993 presidential election that he conducted and the execution of Mamman Vasta. On the flip side, one cannot but agree that the construction of the Third Mainland Bridge that he executed was a huge success in easing up traffic in and out of the Island. In addition, the demolition of the Shanty Town, formerly known as Maroko, for the Victoria Island Extension was a bold move, even though drastic and devastating to some people. Adding to that, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, his Minister of External Affairs collaborated with his colleagues from Brazil, India, and Bulgaria, if I am not mistaken, to create the Concert of Medium Power. He expedited the relocation of the Federal Capital out of Lagos. Your position on that depends on whether the expedited relocation benefits Nigerians or calculated to fortify the President's safety at the time. That again is subject to debate as most things are about IBB. Most importantly, during his time, there was no massive capital flight from the country - acquiring exotic cars and landed properties overseas by Ministers and State Governors was unheard of like the craze of the moment.  

By the way, the interview he granted to Tell Magazine in 1995, which he referred to in the instant interview is all-encompassing. You just have to have it to know much about the man we call IBB. You can find it online at http://www.tellng.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=139:%E2%80%98i%E2%80%99m-the-evil-genius%E2%80%99