The genuflection of beneficiaries of IBB’s ‘jangolova’

On the day Christ was being dragged about on the streets of Jerusalem, the masses were awe-stricken. They were seized with perplexity as they wondered how their leaders could be so unfeeling. They spoke to one another in hushed tones.

The Jewish leaders dragged about an innocent man; scourged him with whips and briers. They disgraced the man on the streets. There were also a maddening crowd that cheered the national soldiers on as they put on satanic heart to afflict the man from Galilee.

After approving the death sentence, Pontius Pilate, the then fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, who went against the express advice from his wife never to have anything to do with the innocent man, said he was stampeded to pass the death sentence. He blamed the Jews but himself.

As they got to the Golgotha and wickedly nailed Christ onto the cross in a most vicarious manner, the grieving masses wept uncontrollably. That was all that they could do as they did not want to attract to themselves the wrath of the powers that be.

The eerie feeling that enveloped the entire city was an indication that the last may not have been heard on the miscarriage of justice and what was done to Christ. Then things began to happen in quick succession. First, ball darkness descended over the entire land for three hours, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

To show the mood in the land and that the event of the past few days was on everybody’s lips, two men were going to a city called Emmaus and were discussing the brutality that was visited on Christ. The third man that joined them on the way, wanted to know what the discussion was all about.

One of the men asked: “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in recent days?”

Relatedly, Thursday, February 20, 2025 will remain unforgettable in the annals of Nigeria as the day the truth that had been told in hushed tones was clearly laid bare in Abuja.

Over the years, journalists and other writers had been very cautious while referring to the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola as the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. They had always used the word “presumed” winner maka ndi uta.

The clarity of Abiola’s victory was brought to the fore in the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, when the former president moved to recognise Abiola by naming some national monuments after him.

But never in the imagination of many Nigerians that a day would come in their lifetime when they would watch the man at the centre of the annulment announce that Abiola indeed won the election, and he was surrounded by the presumed enemies of yesteryear, who have metamorphosed into beneficiaries of that heist.

Like the reactions of the perplexed masses of the Pontius Pilate days, who thought that no mortal man could lay hands on Christ, the Nigerian masses watched with great irritation as Babangida and his associates engaged in that macabre dance last Thursday.

He chose the occasion of the launch of his autobiography, ‘A Journey in Service’ to attempt to rewrite the history of Nigeria.

Expectedly, he toed the Pontius Pilate path, blaming his action on pressures on him to do the wrong thing. He failed to take responsibility when it mattered most.

For that single error of annulment, Nigeria lost hundreds of her citizens. Many of those who were fleeing their places of residence, particularly in the South West, for fear of imminent war, perished on the road. Many died in their villages and a number of families have never recovered till date.

Seated with Babangida on the high table were former heads of state, presidents and other politicians who hugged the political limelight as a result of that coup against Abiola.

Read also: June 12: Anger, resentment in Nigeria as Babangida heaps blame on the dead

Abdulsalami Abubakar:

Abubakar, an Army General, was a huge beneficiary of the annulment as he became the head of state after the mysterious death of General Sani Abacha in June 1998. He enjoyed the position from that year to May 29, 1999 when he handed over to a democratically elected president. Before he took over power, he was the Chief of Defence Staff.

Olusegun Obasanjo:

Ordinarily, Obasanjo should have been unhappy following the troubles he went through in the hands of Abacha, arising from the annulment. But it would seem that for him, the end has justified the means. His becoming president of Nigeria in 1999 on a platter of gold and re-election in 2023 justified the near-death experience he went through. He was at the book launch as chairman of the occasion, and relished every moment of the occasion.

Goodluck Jonathan:

Jonathan, a Nigerian politician, whose gods cracked his kernel (apologies Chinua Achebe), was at the event. He told the gathering why he admired IBB and how the ‘Prince of the Niger’ impacted his life. Jonathan, a native of Bayelsa State, had regaled Nigerians years ago, how he came from a very poor family and how he went to school barefooted. But by the accident of history, caused by IBB and his men, Jonathan rose to become a president of Nigeria.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu:

Of all those who were present, perhaps, Tinubu’s presence was the most symbolic. He reminded the gathering that were it not for IBB he would not have become a better politician. Tinubu was among those who fought the military dictatorship to a standstill. He fled abroad when the heat became too much. He fought under the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) which was formed nearly a year after the annulment of Abiola’s election. But the IBB action has enabled Tinubu to become everything on the nation’s political turf. He is unarguably one of the living beneficiaries of the annulment. Within that space of time, he has served as governor for eight years; he has become the rallying point of politicians in South West, and now president of the country.

Atiku, Osinbajo, others:

Also present at the event, considered by some Nigerians as an image-laundering gathering, were former vice presidents of Nigeria, including Atiku Abubakar and Yemi Osinbajo. Professor Osinbajo, who was the book reviewer, grinned from ear to ear and was besides himself with joy as he delved into the womb of the book, the content of which has since set off a heated debate in the polity.

Osinbajo could not have worn a different mien at the event because he could not have tasted the privileges he enjoyed as the VP of Nigeria and the endless doors that opportunity opened for him. So, his conviviality at the event and adulation of IBB could be perfectly understood from that prism.

Buhari’s absenteeism unsurprising

Although the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election offered him the opportunity to preside over the affairs of Nigeria for straight eight years, Muhammadu Buhari was not at the Abuja event to genuflect before Babangida. To many politically-informed Nigerians, Buhari’s absence was not unexpected. Many say that he has yet to forgive IBB for overthrowing his regime in August 1985 through a coup d’etat. But it is Buhari alone that can say precisely why he could not make the “show-your-self” event.

Last line:

Like the perplexed masses of Jerusalem strongly believed that the crucifixion of Christ as ordered by Pilate was not the end of the story, many Nigerians who had their jaws dropped when they heard the IBB confession also believe that the last may not have been heard on that confession and the jangolova of last Thursday.