allAfrica.com: Nigeria: General Babangida Should Be Nigeria's Next President, Ex-Minister Says (Page 1 of 2)

Nigerians take politics seriously. The fact that the country has been ruled by military regimes for 29 of its 41 years of independence has not dampened political fervor. Since civilian rule was restored in 1999, the country has conducted two presidential elections, both won by Olusegan Obasanjo, a former military ruler who is not eligible for a third term. Speculation about contenders in the 2007 race is already in full gear.

One name, whose mention stirs strong emotions, is another former general, Ibrahim B. Babangida, popularly known by his initials IBB, who headed a military government from 1985 until August 1993. He stepped down amid an uproar over his decision to annul the results of an election to choose a civilian president. His departure ushered in nearly five years of tyrannical rule by Babangida's former number two, Sani Abacha, who died in mysterious circumstances on June 8, 1998, opening the way forelections the following year.

Among those leading the call for Babangida's candidacy is his former information minister, Alex Akinyele, who also served for a period as the country's top sports official. Interviewed during a private visit to Washington, he offered his assessment of the current administration and defended his support for Babangida.

How do you evaluate President Obasanjo's performance to date?

The report card is neither bad nor good. By and large, by our own experience in Nigeria and the experience of other people in Africa, we are absolutely on track with democracy. If an ordinary civilian was president, the military could have come out of their barracks about four times, because there were times when the government did things which the military would not have favored.

But the military refrained because Obasanjo is a former general?

Yes, because of the respect he enjoys from the military, because of his connections in the military. When he led the country, he was the first African military leader to hand power to a civilian administration [in 1979]. So he has that to his credit. But at the same time, he's not been able to carry the people along. When you are the leader of a country, you should be able to carry the people along. For instance, there are so many nauseating activities and information coming out from the national assembly. It should not be so!

Are the actions of the national assembly the president's fault?

It is not his fault, but he has tremendous influence over everything. The labor people, the activists, academia - the president does not carry them along like we used to experience. Activists are always there. They are professional agitators; they complain from morning till night. But if there is nothing to complain about, they cannot protest.

What about the programs President Obasanjo is pursuing?

He has very beautiful programs on paper, but execution is the headache. When he came in 1999, he said he was going to fight against corruption. He was going to fight against poverty. He was going to fight all sorts of indiscipline. He was going to bring us plenty of food. He meant very well for the nation. As a result of that, we were very happy.

But unfortunately, the execution of his programs is a failure. We cannot blame the failure on him, because he cannot do it alone - that much we know. But corruption is rife all over the place. Before the Obasanjo administration, corruption was an abstract something. But within the past five years, corruption has become very substantive.

You're saying corruption now is worse than it was during military rule?

Far worse than it was ever before. He wants to win the war against corruption, but he has not been able to. He established the ICPC, the anti-corruption court, where anybody who is accused of corruption can be charged. There is a code of conduct. But how many people have been tried by the ICPC? They have not been able to try many people, because the people who are corrupt, who have been caught, are people who it may be better to leave alone than to cause trouble for the nation.

And education?

There are many universities now, but many of the universities - I can even say most of them - are poorly funded for one reason or the other. You see, if we were to judge President Obasanjo by his desires, his wishes, he'd be the best leader in the world. But if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

How is the government doing in combating HIV/Aids?

The government is doing something about it. They've put so much money in it. There are anti-HIV campaigns all over the place. But the basic problem that is responsible for the escalation of HIV is poverty! Many of these women are prostitutes. They live by selling their bodies. There is trafficking in females from Nigeria to Italy, to France, to all these places. The bottom line is poverty. If it were possible for government to provide jobs for all these women, they would stop selling their bodies. What will solve the problem is that fight against poverty.

web allafrica.com	Enter your search terms	Submit search form
OR subscribers use AllAfrica's premium search engine


Use our pull-down menus to find more stories

Today's Most Active Stories