Former
Nigerian Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, yesterday, made a
shocking revelation of how he nearly killed his wife, Maryam (now late) at
Dodan Barracks, Lagos, in the course of his military career. Babangida, who
disclosed this while interacting with journalists at his Minna Hill Top mansion
as part of activities marking his 75th birthday, added that he is not as
evil as many people have been made to believe. Born
on August 17, 1941, Babangida, popularly known as IBB, was Nigeria’s military
leader from August 27, 1985, when he overthrew Major General Muhammadu Buhari
(now president) but “stepped aside” on August 27, 1993, after annulling the
June 12, 1993, presidential election. Responding to a question on whether he
had any record of accidental discharge during his career, Babangida said: “Accidental
discharge!
Oh no, I almost had it with someone very close to me, and when I did, the person involved, luckily was not dead. I had it during the course of my service and it was in Dodan Barracks and the person who almost took it was my wife, but she escaped it.”
The Minna born Army General, however, said that the person who was involved in another related incident was not that lucky. He said: “But I also had a situation where I was moving with some of my junior officers.There was an alarm and the ammunition fell and hit one of them and he dropped dead there. There is nothing you can do, as a commander, you have to move on. Of course, I knew the family very well, because he was my driver.
"They came, I told them what happened and they took it in good fate, saying that was how God wished it to be, but it was a very painful death.” Maryam died at 61 of ovarian cancer on December 27, 2009, in a hospital in Los Angeles, California, the United States with Babangida at her bedside.
The ex-leader, who reflected on life after
his wife’s death, said: “It has not been easy, but I thank God that I have
children who show remarkable understanding and have been doing their best by
trying to do what their mother was doing. I also have a lot of grandchildren
and they take most of my time.”
Ibrahim Babangida also spoke about his
relationship with Maryam.
“While we were courting, there was one
aspect that she did not believe me. She did not believe that I was serious
because of the reputation I had as a ‘playboy’, but I assured her that it won’t
be a problem that I will be a changed person and I am glad I am. I had no
problem solidifying the relationship because I knew her and I knew everyone in
her family,” he said.
On misconception about his person, Babangida
said: “I am not the evil that quite a lot of people consider that I am. I have
had a very excellent background and by training, we have to love one another.
However, I can understand the feeling. But by
virtue of the job I was doing, I was bound to be misconstrued and people will
take it like that, but I consider it as an opinion. As long as I am not what
you think I was, I feel satisfied.”
He added: “I read somewhere some time ago,
where they said I stole N12.8 billion and I said: If I stole such money, I had
no business staying in the country.
But those are the type of things that one has
to live with. I hope the younger generation will carry out research on
leadership, individuals and what role they played in the development of the
nation so that they come up with a different conclusion from what is on the
ground now.” Babangida, who also spoke on the polity, called for a part-time
legislature to cut the high cost of governance.
“During my public life, there were a number
of decisions I took as a military officer or as a political officer when I was
a dictator that if I had the chance again, I would have done differently. For
example, in 1989, we proposed that the National Assembly should be optional,
that is part-time. I still believe that if I had the opportunity, I would make
the National Assembly part time. I believe in that very strongly. It’s all in
the effort to cut down the cost of governance,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment