IBB AT 75....THE MAN THAT DIVIDE OPINIONS, SAYS ‘I AM NOT AN EVIL GENIUS’

As Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, Nigeria’s former military head of state turns 75 today, various eminent personalities have been pouring encomium for his contributions to the development of the nation.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said former military President Ibrahim Babangida at 75 deserves accolades for his contributions to the development of the nation BY giving the country a manageable number of political parties by reducing them to two. He noted that the former military president facilitated the development of the Federal Capital Territory, conceived by a former Head of State, late Gen. Murtala Mohammed.

 President Muhammad Buhari also commended IBB for his commitment to the unity and indivisibility of Nigeria. It reads: “On behalf of myself, my family, the government and people of Nigeria, I wish to heartily congratulate you on the milestone of attaining 75 years.“I equally wish to congratulate you on your service to the country, and your commitment to oneness and indivisibility of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 In his characteristic way of marking his birthday, he had a session with members of the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Minna, Niger State where he answered questions on prominent issues that marked his life in public service.
“I am not the evil genuis that a lot of people think I am. I have an excellent background and by my training I am trained to love people,” he told newsmen in Minna at a press briefing held as part of activities to mark his 75th birthday, which comes up today, explaining that he had been largely misunderstood and dubbed evil genuis because of his job.

“In 1989 we proposed that the National Assembly should be part-time. I still believe that if I had the opportunity I will make the National Assembly part-time. I believe in that very strongly. It is all in an effort to cut down the cost of governance.”

FACT FILE

*IBRAHIM BADAMOSI BABANGIDA was born 17 Aug. 16 1941, Minna, Niger state.

*Babangida attended the Provincial Secondary School, Bida from 1957 to 1962 where his classmates included officers such as Abdulsalami Abubakar. Babangida later joined the Nigerian Army on 10 December 1962, when he attended the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC) in Kaduna.

*He attained the following ranks: Second Lieutenant (1963), Lieutenant (1966), Captain (1968), Major (1970), Lieutenant Colonel (1970), Colonel (1973), Brigadier (1979), Major General (1983), and General (1987). Babangida also served as a member of the Supreme Military Council from 1 August 1975 to October 1979.

*The former military head of state was married to Maryam (née King) Babangida who died from complications of ovarian cancer on December 27, 2009.

*His 100-room mansion in Minna was built by Julius Berger on top a hill.

*He was nicknamed”Maradona” by the Nigerian press after he”dribbled” Nigerians severally promising to handover to a democratic government.

*He annulled the presidential elections held on June 12, 1993 which indicated that businessman Moshood Abiola, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, was the apparent winner, a decision which proved to be controversial and unpopular.

*General Babangida was a key player in most of the military coups in Nigeria (July 1966, February 1976, December 1983, August 1985, December 1985 and April 1990).

AWARDS

·         Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GCFR);

·         Defence Service Medal (DSM);

·         The National Service Medal (NSM);

·         The Royal Service Medal (RSM);

·         The Forces Services Star (FSS);

·         General Service Medal (GSM);

·         In May 1989, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain conferred Babangida with the Knight Grand Cross of the Bath (GCB).