Ibrahim Babangida

General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (born August 17 1941), popularly known as IBB, was the military ruler of Nigeria from August 1985 until his departure from office under heavy popular pressure in 1993, after his annulment of elections held that year which were widely held to have been the freest and fairest in Nigeria's post-independence history.

IBB as politician

On the political front, Babangida proved far more adept at accommodating and manipulating public opinion than Buhari or any other Nigerian military ruler before or since. Wherever possible he preferred to buy off opposition, only resorting to outright force on the rare occasions when opposition could neither be bought off nor ignored. At the beginning of his rule, Babangida did try to live up to his self-bestowed mantle as a restorer of human rights, releasing many politicians detained under the Buhari regime, but this patina wore off as time went by. Despite his initial promises to do so, Babangida never did get around to abolishing the notorious State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree Number 2, which established the right of the government to detain for six months any individual deemed dangerous solely on his say-so, without any right to a trial or even habeas corpus. To the contrary, he made increasing use of the decree himself as time went by to muzzle trade unions, student groups, journalists and other individuals who proved irritating to his regime.

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One step Babangida did take early in his rule that proved less deft than usual, and which still reverberates to this day, was his unilateral decision to upgrade Nigeria's role in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) from observer status to full-fledged membership, despite the fact that at best only half on Nigerians were adherents of Islam. This act helped stoke religious tensions that could be contained easily enough under military dictatorships willing to use any means necessary to stifle religious extremism, especially when Nigeria was still being run by Northern Muslims who the most extreme advocates of Sharia could regard as "one of them", but have now boiled over under a civilian government lacking recourse to brute force unrestrained by judicial oversight.

Related Topics:
Organization of the Islamic Conference - Islam - Sharia

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On April 22, 1990, Babangida's government was almost toppled by a coup attempt led by Major Gideon Orkar. During the brief interlude during which Orkar and his collaborators controlled radio transmitters in Lagos, they broadcasted a vehement critique of Babangida's government, accusing it of widespread corruption and autocratic tendencies, and they also threatened to expel the five northernmost, predominantly Hausa-Fulani, Nigerian states from the union, accusing them of seeking to perpetuate their rule at the expense of the predominantly Christian peoples of Nigeria's middle-belt.

Related Topics:
April 22 - 1990 - Gideon Orkar - Lagos - Hausa - Fulani - Christian

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