Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda, former head of state, says it is
silly to blame the military for Nigeria’s problems.
In an interview with Channels TV, Babangida faulted the
argument that the military’s intervention in Nigeria’s governance did more harm
than good to the country.
Six years after independence, some Nigerian soldiers led by
Chukwuma Nzeogwu carried out a coup which failed. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi emerge
as the first military head of state afterwards.
Subsequent coups resulted in a prolonged military rule.
Babangida, who was one of the longest-serving military rulers, led Nigeria from
1985 to 1993.
In the interview broadcast on Friday night, Babangida said
the military cannot be blamed for Nigeria’s problems because it was the
civilian governments that instituted a system upon which they operated.
“We didn’t create problems. We tried to provide the
framework upon which subsequent governments could build upon. Most of the
infrastructural developments, even the democracy, we midwifed it. We were able
to capture what the world is doing now and bring them into our own country,” he
said.
“I find it silly to say that we created the problems. It is
a joint venture between the military and the civilians. You were there to show
us how the system works; the institutions of governance and government, all
these were civilians prerogative.”
Babangida said the military intervened in governance because
of the political instability occasioned by a lack of a nationalistic approach
by the leaders of the time.
“You have political parties that wanted to carve a region
and call it their own. We didn’t develop this concept of a federal government
with the states or the regions,” he said.
“Every region wanted to be on its own. So, that brought
about the lack of stability and in the process, we (the military) got involved
in a lot of internal security operations, up to the time it culminated in a
military coup.
“Fortunately, the military who intervened at that time were
all nationalistic. They did not believe in separation. All they had to do was
to make sure the various regions remain one, not divided.”
He, however, added that he does not think Nigeria will
experience another coup because “a sensible military man will not like to drag
his country into a lot of problems and sanctions”.
“The moment you take over a government, the regional and
international bodies will come after you. And everything you want to do in
terms of development will not be accepted. You cannot work on your own,” he
said.
The former head of state said Nigeria’s greatest achievement
so far is “the fact that we were able to remain one as a country” especially
after experiencing the civil war.
“We tend to talk too much about the problems and do not talk
about the solutions to the problems,” he added.
“We talk little about our beliefs, what we stand for and
what we want the country to be. We always dwell on the problem. We have a
country and we must make it walk.”
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