By Mike Ojoobanikan
June 12 issue has not gone yet, RUGA or COZA notwithstanding. By Monday, 8 July 2019, the annulled 12 June 1993 presidential election will reverberate. Reason: One of the dramatis personae of the struggle, Segun Osoba, one time governor of Ogun State, will mark his 80th birthday with the launching of his autobiography, “Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics” at Eko Hotel, Lagos.
What concerns Kingibe with this? Good question! Just as Osoba was one of those at the barricades fighting for the actualisation of the mandate of MKO Abiola, his own running mate, Babagana Kingibe, constituted himself to a fifth columnist by going to pitch his tent with General Sani Abacha, the dictator and usurper. Why did he do that? Kingibe explained himself. When he was asked that as a democrat, is it not ironic that he had to abandon democratic structures and latched on to the military option when it came?
This diplomat who could not be pinned down proved as slippery as an eel! He replied: “Let us be very clear about those democratic structures, they are part of the political class and the political elite that betrayed the mandate of the people. It does not matter whether it is at the level of local government, council men or state assembly or government or national assembly men. The fact of the matter is that they were products of the democratic process and each one of them had their mandate honoured and none of them would have been content and made very pious sounding but inane comments, that well this is the will of God so leave it. And they didn’t see in the assault on the mandate of Chief Abiola and I that their own mandate was assaulted.
“They thought they could isolate between their own elections which have been allowed to be upheld and the ultimate elections which was annulled. They thought they could sacrifice one mandate in order to protect another. They did not see and they could not see that an assault on one is an assault on all. And so we had this comedy if not anybody with national and state assembly men trooping into Abuja to assure General Babangida that they were with him, that all was okay, that they agreed with what was done, of national assembly men of senators attempting to pass resolutions to justify why Nigerians should forget 12 June. Governors were meeting and holding press conferences saying unless those who are struggling to maintain the integrity, honour and dignity of Nigerians stop what they are doing, the country will be on fire, that they will set it on fire.
“I wondered what kind of democratic structures we were talking about. And I am surprised, although politicians do play to the gallery and get very much wiser after the event. I am surprised that the impression is given now, that certain people I must say including Chief Abiola are now appearing as if they are the champions of the restoration of the democratic structure. We were all together and we all know our comments and our views of the charade going on. I think if they stood up as one and said no, whether we are national, republicans or social democrats the election is our election and the assault on it is an assault on our mandate and our own integrity. I don’t think we would be where we are today.”
Kingibe was asked again how should Nigerians make sense of his decision to go along with the Abacha- led military administration? Did he really think it made any sense?
He fired back: “My decision is based on one. I wanted to put an end to the uncertainties and the sufferings to which the ordinary people of the country were being subjected to then, because I was in politics on their behalf to make their lives better. Two I was in politics to maintain the integrity and corporate existence of this country. From the vantage position I was I got to know that it was being threatened. No part of Nigeria and let it be thoroughly understood, no part of Nigeria can be better off on its own without the other part. None. It used to be an assumption one makes about Nigeria, now it seems to be part of a struggle one has to be involved in to be sure that remained so.
“Thirdly, contrary to what Nigerians have been made to believe, I did not accept to be in government. I did not want to be in government. The lie has been told and orchestrated that I lobbied for it. I did not lobby to be a minister under Abacha. I have worked as a civil servant and as a politician let any one who I ever lobbied even for a civil service job or for promotion or for posting, anyone that I lobbied for this position I am currently holding, come out and tell the world. It is not part of my culture. I am not being very arrogant. I have always been asked to rely on what I believe to be my qualities. Not that I am foolish enough to believe that quality alone sells but I also combine this with faith in God. No one can deny me what I am not destined to be and no one can deny me what I am destined to be. I didn’t accept to serve in this government to stop anybody from accepting or as those who scrambled and schemed for the ING job went about begging and sending their surrogates to participate in that unhappy government. I have a mission and a purpose as to why I am in this government.”
Read the full interview here: TheNEWS
