Former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), has finally reflected on his controversial eight-year administration after 32 years of “stepping aside” in a memoir titled ‘A Journey in Service’. However, instead of finding common ground, the book has created more talking points, with many disagreeing with IBB’s recollection of what transpired during his regime.

Nonetheless, IBB’s book highlights his service and sacrifices and emphasises the importance of understanding the complexities that trailed his administration’s landmark decisions, with the hope of building peace and bridges of unity and reconciliation. Whether the book has achieved that goal remains a different matter altogether.

Lee Lacocca, in his famous quote, reflected on the propriety of rendering accounts in book form: “Leaders who fail to record their experiences and the lessons they’ve learned rob future generations of the wisdom and insights that could have been gained from their triumphs and setbacks.” This emphasises the importance of leaders sharing their experiences, successes, and failures to inspire and educate others regardless of readers’ perceptions. In this book, even the mistakes IBB made could serve as valuable lessons for the future. Like him or hate him, IBB remains an enigma, and his memoir further revalidates that portrayal.

What were those issues Nigerians waited for 32 years to hear about from the horse’s mouth? The most pertinent was the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election. This election marked a watershed moment in Nigeria’s history. The IBB transition programme went through many false starts before that election. First, IBB himself created the two parties—National Republic Party (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP)—what he called “a little to the left and a little to the right,” after dismissing previous attempts at democratisation.

When the June 12 election finally came, it was won by his friend, the maverick MKO Abiola of the SDP. The spiral of events that followed has since become a defining reference point in the country: Abiola’s victory was denied, IBB stepped aside, a contraption called interim government was hurriedly assembled, and General Sani Abacha, then Defence Secretary, dissolved the interim government just three months later.

It became obvious that the new sheriff would brook no opposition. General Abacha had Abiola arrested and confined to prison. Abiola died in prison in 1998 when negotiations were ongoing for his release, shortly after Abacha’s own passing. Abacha’s locust years subdued democracy and civil rule to the back seat, leaving politicians in disarray and demoralised. Some of them, including the current President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, were driven into exile.

In his book, although IBB took responsibility for the annulment of Abiola’s triumph and apologised for the error of judgment, he claimed it was Abacha and his supporters who were ultimately responsible. This revelation has further infuriated Nigerians who were looking for answers, characterising IBB as being dishonest, characteristic of the “evil genius” nickname he earned during his time in office. The Abacha angle did not absolve him of blame for the social upheavals and political instability that ensued thereafter.

This new dimension to his long-held stance is facing criticism from many quarters, while his insistence that he did not kill Dele Giwa, the ace journalist who was assassinated through a novel letter bomb, has not been well-received by many in the media. The lingering question remains: “Who did it?” The expectation was that as the nation’s chief security officer at the time, IBB should know.

The June 12 annulment tarnished an otherwise remarkable tenure that birthed novel political ideas and infrastructure development, including the construction of the iconic Third Mainland Bridge, the relocation of the country’s capital to Abuja, and other landmark developments that defined that momentous period in Nigeria’s history.

Controversies aside, it is heartening that IBB’s book has now added to the body of knowledge and filled a vacuum in terms of presidential libraries—the N17 billion proceeds from the book are earmarked for building the IBB Presidential Library. This is, indeed, a welcome development. We urge other past presidents to document their own stories as part of their contributions to scholarly work on leadership, to etch their legacies in the minds of the people, and to serve as lessons for generations yet unborn.

Nigeria needs to heal and put historical grievances behind as we move forward as a nation, making justice and fair play our cardinal principles, even as discontents continue to trail the book launch. Importantly, all doubts and conjectures about what went wrong during the IBB years have finally been addressed by the man himself, though not necessarily resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

Other contentious issues that will remain disputed, even after IBB’s intervention, include, but are not limited to, the matter of the first coup of 1966 led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, an Igbo officer who was born in Kaduna and built his career in the North. General Babangida contends that the coup had no ethnic (Igbo) connotation despite the coup’s apparent ethnic execution pattern. Additional controversies include General Muhammadu Buhari and General Yakubu Gowon’s overthrow, and the execution of his childhood friend, Mamman Vatsa, over an alleged coup plot. It is doubtful that the families of the leaders who lost their lives in that first coup or Vatsa’s family would agree with IBB’s perspective. But then, it’s a free world, and everyone is entitled to tell their own version of history.

The IBB memoir, A Journey in Service’, serves as guidance and a handbook for current and aspiring leaders, personnel of the armed forces, the civil populace, and students of power dynamics. It offers insights into the complexities of governance, the challenges of leadership, and the consequences of difficult decisions. While not everyone may agree with IBB’s account or his justifications for certain actions, the book provides a valuable perspective on a critical period in Nigeria’s political evolution.

In the final analysis, history will judge IBB not just by his words in this memoir, but by the lasting impact of his actions on Nigeria’s democratic journey. The controversies surrounding his legacy remind us of the complex nature of leadership and the enduring consequences of decisions made at the highest levels of power. As Nigeria continues its democratic experiment, the lessons from IBB’s era – both positive and negative – remain relevant guideposts for the nation’s political future. (Blueprint Editorial)