Let's get this important point clear straightaway. Nothing you are about to read should be mistaken for an endorsement of the IBB presidential project come 2007. The message has become necessary because, rather embarrassingly these days, there is the tendency for people to read meanings into views freely expressed by others, no matter how honest or well-intended such opinions may be. Besides, as far as the race for 2007 goes, I am yet to decide conclusively on any of the candidates although some rank highly on my scorecard purely on the basis of their antecedents. When I get to that bridge, I will most certainly cross it without blinking an eye. At the appropriate time, issues and economics of the day, proven competence, and the candidate's credibility, will take precedence over matters of geo-politics, religion, or some other mundane base sentiments in the choice of my ideal candidate. To do otherwise would be a great betrayal not only to my parents who sent me to school, bu t ultimately to my teachers who taught me so much!

That said, while we retain the inalienable right to choose our candidates, nothing could possibly justify the bare-faced blackmail, slander, and terrible character assassination of the type that has become peculiar with today's cutthroat political environment. And very certainly in the past several weeks, no other Nigerian, dead or alive, had been more at the receiving end of that type of abuse than the gap-toothed General on the hilltop redoubt in Minna - General Ibrahim Babangida. With each passing day, it seems, the determination to checkmate his presidential ambition has become the excuse for his opponents not only to distort the past, but also prejudice the future, with the ultimate danger that our ability to do justice to the man's contentious legacy as military president could be irreparably compromised. It is precisely that type of attitude and mindset that had rendered the nation a toddler forty-five years after our independence. A few examples will suffice.

By the time Chukwuma Nzeogwu and his band of cold-blooded gang of murderers truncated our first democratic experience, the Balewa administration was subjected to the most severe and brutal form of lynching by a section of the national media. In that campaign, some leading lights in the Balewa government were roundly accused of corruption, which may seem laughable compared to today's standards. No thanks to the media trial and conviction, which was exploited by the coup plotters, the history books record that Balewa's government was mainly overthrown for corruption, while almost nothing is said about its other achievements.

In the Second Republic, the same media rightly laid into the Shagari government for inefficiency, wastefulness, and the corruption of individuals such as Chief Adisa Akinloye and the late Mamman Ali Makele, but was wrong in my opinion in its ignorance of the significance of the massive debt stock inherited from the preceding Obasanjo military administration, which set the stage for our economic ruin. Regardless, the onslaught set the stage for the overthrow of Shagari's government before it had the chance to correct itself. That set the stage for the arrival of Buhari. The same media, which initially applauded Buhari's fight against corruption for some not so strange reason ignored his positive gains, and turned round to accuse him of his high-handedness thereby inviting IBB's palace coup. They also thought Abacha was a devil and ended up with Obasanjo. The rest is now history.

The lesson to be gleaned from all these events is that much as Nigerians - the media inclusive - reserve the right to criticise their leaders past and present, they can often be ridiculously unfair in such criticisms depending on the prevailing circumstances. And, very certainly, because of its role as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, a predictable section of the media whose views are often premeditated and patently short-sighted is the most culpable in the present mess in which we find ourselves. They routinely misinform the public and spread falsehood as gospel truth to the ever-gullible Nigerian public. For instance, the African Independent Television (AIT), which I applauded on theses pages for its role in the fight against the third term infamy, ran a one-sided documentary last week in which IBB was vilified for the execution of the late Mamman Vatsa following his conviction for coup plotting.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with Vatsa's widow seeking restitution for her late husband, but the AIT also had a role to educate the public on the true circumstances behind the executions. Granted, a shadowy Middle Belt association supposedly sponsored the documentary, but even with our rights to freedom of expression, the media should never in my opinion become a vehicle for slander or the broadcast of deliberate falsehood. For instance, the same documentary, which contained unnecessary repetitions, failed to highlight the very important fact that it was Obasanjo, who gleefully received the petition from Vatsa's widow, who first promulgated the law utilised to execute Vatsa. Besides, the timing of the documentary, which is highly suspect, also failed to mention that Mrs Vatsa is not exactly alone in her grief. I gathered that there was also the case of two fine officers executed by Obasanjo in 1976 who were later discovered to be innocent. The Irish wife of one of the victims, I also learnt, later committed suicide out of unbearable grief and is sadly not around to file her own petition unlike Mrs Vatsa.

In the same sense, if you believe the media, since the unfortunate death of Dele Giwa, you would have thought that IBB had already been convicted for his murder! The same applies to the twelve billion dollars Gulf War windfall, which they routinely accuse him of stealing, whereas the Okigbo Panel, which I had the privilege of working for even if it was on the fringes, only indicted the General for wasting the funds on 'non-generative' expenditure and not direct theft!

Although I will be the first to acknowledge that IBB's government has a lot of questions to answer on the issue of corruption, I will never accept the simplistic view that his administration was the most corrupt ever in the history of this nation just because he failed to mention the word 'corruption' throughout his tenure in office as some would have us believe. Besides, if truth must be told, beyond mere sloganeering and EFCC's selective campaign, how much has changed even today? How do I even convince my sons that Obasanjo's fight against the cancer is genuine when people like Chris Uba, Makanjuola and Olabode George are breathing fresh air at a time Tafa Balogun and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha are behind bars? Indeed, with each passing day, it seems to me that a lot of people have the mistaken notion about corruption. Most seem to think that it starts and ends within the financial realm or perhaps the exchange of funds or resources, but obviously nothing could be further from the truth. Corruption is perpetrated when we routinely subvert the constitution through the serial failure to implement approved budgets; it was evident in the scandal of the failed attempt corrupting the Electoral Bill, and very much the case with the sleaze that trailed the infamous third term project.

That brings me to the IBB ultimate albatross - the annulment of the June 12 elections. In going against the grain of popular opinion of the mob, I am tempted to posit that IBB alone could not have annulled the elections, although the ultimate responsibility for the act rests squarely on his broad shoulders. He is yet to make public his official version of the events that preceded the annulment of course, but when he finally does, I suspect that the revelations may stun Nigerians. I could be wrong again, but I have this strong suspicion that given the mutually confessed friendship between Obasanjo and IBB, it is highly improbable for the latter to have annulled the elections without confiding in his former boss and benefactor who also happened to be Abiola's kinsman.

Let us for once put on our thinking caps and reason even if it is for this brief moment. In the heat of the June 12 crisis, Obasanjo, who should have been concerned and aggrieved over the travails of a fellow kinsman, went on record to say that Abiola was not the messiah Nigerians were looking for. Again, while people accuse IBB for not mentioning the word corruption in his entire tenure, Obasanjo is yet to acknowledge the significance of June 12 in the nearly eight years of his second coming. Till today, nobody can tell for sure what his exact views are on the subject, or his specific role in the annulment of the June 12 elections. The popular media, which should be concerned, were either too lazy or conveniently forgot to find out. But if you permit me, my bet is that Obasanjo's silence is not golden. IBB may dribble and continue to delude himself that he is not presently at war with Obasanjo, like he did over the weekend, but it is for the same reason that I believe that t he president cannot afford to go the full course in their latest infraction without opening up a Pandora's box of some sorts.

I am all for a thorough dissection of IBB's legacy with a view of a better future, but we must do so with reason and decorum. When we examine his scorecard, we must do so in totality and avoid political or primitive sentiments so that we do not become guilty of intellectual laziness and prejudice. In order not to repeat the mistakes of the past, let us pummel the man for the pains of the poor implementation of SAP, but never fail to acknowledge the vision or courage behind the reforms, which predated those of Eastern Europe and other developing nations. In the same respect, the fact that Nigeria joined the OIC during his tenure is not tantamount to the polarisation of the nation along religious lines, because even the current administration recently benefited from his wisdom when it took interest-free loans from the Islamic Development Bank. The baffling thing is why the issue remains contentious till today given the membership of pre-dominantly Christian nations such as Came roun.

We must also recognise that as far as the man is not a convicted felon, he retains the right to contest the presidency. Without doubt IBB means different things to different people. However, that liberty is as far as the freedom of expression enshrined in our constitution permits. On the flip side, fair play and justice dictate that we reject the type of media trial and conviction the man and his family have been subjected to in the past several weeks, because even a devil deserves his day in court. Therefore, the Nigerian people through constitutional means should decide the important matter of whether IBB runs for the presidency or not, and not the media or Mrs Vatsa, and very certainly not even the EFCC.