Two loyalists of a dictator cannot agree over whether Ibrahim Babangida is done with using them or not. Babangida's former Minister of Information, Mr. Alex Akinyele, describes the recent disclosure by the dictator's Director-General of the Centre for Democratic Studies (CDS), Prof. Omo Omoruyi, that Babangida did not lift a finger to help him while he battled prostate cancer last year as a lie.
Omoruyi, who was the brain behind the two-party system of the Babangida transition programme in the 1990s, had told Daily Sun recently, after a thanksgiving service to glorify God for sparing his life from the ravages of cancer: “You would be surprised that I didn’t mention Babangida (among those who raised funds for his hospital treatment abroad). I did not because he didn’t send me anything.
He has not even phoned me…But he did know about my sickness… Of course, he did. I sent all the documents to him, sent to his wife, sent to his son three times.”
But Akinyele, who served Babangida, just like Omoruyi, says the ex-CDS boss, in blowing the whistle against the former military president, “has brought the case from the sublime to the ridiculous.”
He added in an interview with Saturday Sun: “Portraying IBB in that light is mischievous, and he knew deep down in his mind that he was being disloyal to somebody who had helped him in the past.”
Akinyele defends Babangida vigorously. He also speaks on the reconciliation between former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, describing it as “a political show, a drama. It is a political abracadabra, the more you look, the less you see.”
Former Director-General of the Centre for Democratic Studies and Babangida loyalist, Prof Omo Omoruyi disclosed recently that Gen Ibrahim Babangida did not help him financially while he was down with cancer. Both of you served Babangida. Don’t you find this rather strange?
It is not strange, not strange at all. When I read Omoruyi’s story in Daily Sun, up to the point where he mentioned those who helped him, like President Umaru Yar’Adua and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, I wanted to ask myself: why did he not mention IBB, since he was hitherto considered an IBB loyalist. I want to say that not mentioning IBB there, and mentioning him towards the end of the interview, and portraying him in such negative manner, is a very unfriendly act. He did not need to say IBB did not help him, because without that, the story is complete. I think it was quite mischievous and disloyal of him.
This is moreso since many of us know that IBB’s weak point is over-generosity. He gives like the gods, and he doesn’t really need to know you for donkey years before he can be kind and generous to you. IBB can be said to be generous to a fault.
But then, the question is that he asked, and was not given. Jesus Christ said, ask, and you shall be given. IBB gives generously, but with a measure of discretion and common sense. If every Tom, Dick and Harry will ask and you just give, without common sense and discretion, he might be taken for a fool. Maybe in the case of Professor Omo Omoruyi, IBB did not want to be taken for a fool. But what baffles me is the length the professor went in order to get the money. It’s alright, if you want something from a big man, you can go through his wife. But the very minute Prof Omoruyi condescended to approach the son of IBB, he brought the case from the sublime to the ridiculous. Why was he so desperate? I don’t know why IBB didn’t give him, but I know that IBB gives to a lot of people. And he gave to our professor friend a lot of money, a lot of things, which I know, but which discretion will not allow me to say now.
So, portraying IBB in that light is mischievous, and he knew deep down in his mind that he was being mischievous to somebody who had helped him in the past.
But then, some people will say IBB betrayed a friend in dire hour of need. Somebody down with cancer.
It depended on the time Prof Omoruyi asked for the help. If he was dying, and IBB did not attend to him, it’s another thing.
But a man with cancer is dying
No, no, no. He approached so many people, and people talk. I won’t be surprised if, in a casual conversation, other people who he approached had told IBB, your friend is down with cancer. In fact, he wrote a letter asking for money. How are you sure that in a casual conversation between President Yar’Adua and IBB, or Atiku Abubakar and IBB, it had not been mentioned? If IBB happens to know this, he might not want to use a spoon to pour water into the ocean. That’s the way I see it. People talk. And those who had helped may have told IBB. I’m looking at it from the human angle.
But have you asked IBB why he didn’t help, since you are his friend?
I won’t lie to you, I haven’t asked him. If I go to Minna soon, I will ask. What I’m saying now, I’m saying from my knowledge of IBB. There was a time I called him to the fact that he was giving out too much money. I asked him if he was Timon of Athens? Before they ask, you will give, before they ask, you will give. So, if he could give people with casual relation, there was no reason not to have given Omoruyi. But like I told you, it depended on when Omoruyi asked, and how. I think within discretion and common sense, and experience, IBB had judged him unfit to receive that help.
It is suspected something must have gone wrong between them. Do you think so?
Definitely. If something didn’t go wrong, IBB would give him the money. If something didn’t go wrong, Omoruyi would not have said what he said to the public, portraying IBB as a mean person, who would leave his friend in the lurch. Something must be wrong.
As a mutual friend of both, what role are you going to play?
Thank you very much. I’m a friend to Prof Omoruyi, I like him very much, and I respect him. I will find time to go and see him, to ask what happened. And I will ask IBB what happened. At the end of the day, I will try to reconcile them. Two wrongs don’t make a right, something must have gone wrong somewhere. And as a mutual friend to both, it’s my responsibility to reconcile them. But my first responsibility is to clear this ugly picture portrayed of IBB.
How come Omoruyi could not foot his own hospital bills after years of service to the nation?
May God bless you. How it came about that an academic, a statesman, a politician like Prof Omoruyi cannot pay his bills, baffles me. He ought not to have mentioned it to the public. It gives the impression that he cannot manage his personal affairs. And this was the man who sat at the acme of affairs at the Centre for Democratic Studies, where he was teaching politicians how to manage their own affairs. He has failed calamitously to manage himself. Saying what he said to the world is an act of indiscretion because there are so many people in this country who don’t know him, but they know his name, and respect him.
How can we reconcile such a man with being unable to settle his hospital bills at 70? He has portrayed himself as a man who cannot manage his personal affairs. And it’s a pity. If he thought he was going to win any favour by that, he made a mistake.
A couple of years ago, you too were hospitalized abroad and had surgery. Did IBB help you then?
IBB volunteered to help me. I didn’t ask for help. I told him I was going to London for treatment. He said safe journey, but make sure you come back (laughs).
Was that in your power?
I wonder. On arrival in the U.K, it was IBB who found out what hospital I was, and he sent money to the hospital direct. He didn’t even tell me. It was the cashier of the hospital who came to my bed, and said, ‘Chief from Nigeria.’ I said yes. He then told me somebody had sent this amount of money for your hospital bill. I wouldn’t have mentioned it, except that you asked me now. He did it voluntarily.
Another volunteer was the then Gov Donald Duke of Cross River. I didn’t ask him for anything. He’s like a son to me. How could I, with all that God has done for me, begin to carry a plate, asking for money?
When Donald Duke was going to the U.S, he made it a point of duty to come through the U.K to see me in the hospital. This is what we expect of good friends. But you have to carry yourself in such a good manner that your friends have to respect you. It’s not enough for your friends to love you, they also have to respect you. If you always ask for money, they won’t respect you.
And there are some people who have it in their heads that IBB has a well of money somewhere, and he just dips his hand in it and brings out money. It is not so. He works hard for his money. He thinks hard to maintain his money. You have money, you don’t discipline yourself in the way you spend, it will go.
Are you saying IBB still works to get money?
Of course, yes.
What does he do?
(Laughs) You want me to say, he goes to the farm, he does this, he does that. You see, some people work with their brains. Think and grow rich. He’s thinking everyday, and he grows richer and richer with the thinking. If you don’t invest your money well, you’ll lose it. Investing well means working hard.
How did this famous money come? He was just a soldier who rose to be a General. We can calculate all that he earned as salary throughout his career.
There are some of these generals who come from wealthy homes.
We know IBB’s background. He did not come from a wealthy home.
I don’t know about that.
But we know. Nigerians know.
Fortune smiles on people. Do you agree with me that if you buy shares of N1, 000 maybe every month from your salary, in 20 years, you will be a very rich man. Do you agree?
Not now that the market has crashed
Yes, yes. The whole thing has collapsed now, and it’s a pity. But before the collapse, people became billionaires from investing in shares. IBB, being a very clever and smart gentleman, must have invested so much in shares. I believe that should be the source of his money.
We know that is very debatable. But then, why is Omoruyi unlike most IBB loyalists, who remain loyal for life?
Let me tell you. You want to put your hand into my mouth, and I will talk. Jesus Christ had 12 disciples. Of these 12, one betrayed him, one denied him. Such is life. You know that of Omoruyi because he came to the market square. There are many IBB loyalists who have betrayed him, and that is human.
But what has happened is uncharacteristic of IBB. He helps even those he doesn’t know very well.
It’s very uncharacteristic of IBB. And the source must emanate from Prof Omoruyi. Call him on telephone and ask him. The fault lies with him.
Some people are already saying it serves him right. He condemned the annulment of June 12, 1993 election, and then came back to advocate a Babangida presidency in 2007.
All of us shall reap what we sow. So let it be with Omoruyi.
On Monday, Atiku Abubakar was in Abeokuta, and there was a reconciliation with his former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo. How do you react?
It was a political show, a drama. If you think it’s more than drama, events will prove you wrong later. It was drama well displayed. It is political abracadabra, the more you look, the less you see. Let’s see what follows.
So, what will you tell Atiku Abubakar?
What I will say is that Atiku is bound to oblige those who were asking for a reconciliation. As far as I’m concerned, he only obliged. Let the political drums begin to beat; you’ll see that I’m right. It was a political demonstration of very excellent drama. It has served the purpose, but it’s ephemeral.
Some people have said Atiku may soon be heading back to the PDP.
In politics, there are no permanent friends, no permanent enemies. Atiku is not an enemy of PDP. His perceived enemy in PDP was Obasanjo. So if they have reconciled, he may go back to PDP. There’s nothing extraordinary about it. And I’m beginning to feel that he will go back, because the only party in Nigeria today that can win the presidential election is PDP, by virtue of its stupendous numerical strength. And Atiku has not buried his presidential ambition. And PDP is the only place where he can nurse and achieve the ambition.
But where will that leave the people who followed Atiku into Action Congress (AC) and who are not inclined to go back to PDP?
In politics, it’s ‘follow your leader.’ They will follow him wherever he goes. I know Atiku is generous, friendly, and can be trusted by his friends. So, if he says, ladies and gentlemen, let’s make a U-turn and go back to our base, they will all follow him.
We cannot but talk of Nigeria Customs Service, which is your original constituency. There is now an acting Comptroller-General, who is an Igbo, the first in the history of the service.
I was very, very happy when I heard the news. There are many Igbo men and women in the Customs, and they’re doing very well. This is the first time an Igbo man will be made acting C-G. And I pray that the president will confirm him. That will give the Igbo man the final confirmation that he is an integral part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The person who was close to being C-G was one Mr. Efa Effanga, but he was from Cross River. That President Yar’Adua has made an Igbo man acting C-G for Customs is an indication that our president knows that some people are feeling neglected, and he has brought them to the fold. I will, as a patriot, an unrecognised patriot, appeal to the president to confirm his appointment.
Then I will tell the C-G to do his best to justify the expectation of the president and of course, Nigerians. He should do so well that we will want an Igbo man to be C-G again. I congratulate him heartily. It’s a happy and positive development for our country.
