IBB and his autobiography: Rather, a journey in socio-economic disservice? by Ola Emmanuel

IBB and his autobiography: Rather, a journey in socio-economic disservice? by Ola Emmanuel

In the road to ruin, “poverty, economic dislocation are all issues that, if not handled properly, could engender real political instability”, writes Michael Elliott for Time Magazine in the piece titled, Global Trade: The Road to Ruin (March 2009). This statement is very instructive about Nigeria and Venezuela. The two countries’ economies are woven round incomes from fossil fuel extractions; and, like Siamese twin, they had moved from glorious moments to grapple with economic and political hardships.

According to Diana Roy and Amelia Cheatham, Venezuela, home to the world’s largest oil reserves, is a case study in the perils of becoming a petrostate (Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate). Fossil fuel incomes had taken the country on “an exhilarating but dangerous boom-and-bust ride that offers lessons for other resource-rich states – no thanks to decades of unfortunate governance that had driven one of most prosperous nations to economic and political destruction. The Latin American country suffered economic collapse, with output shrinking pointedly, and riotous hyperinflation contributing to a scarcity of basic products like foods and medicine. Likewise Nigeria: from the oil boom of the 70s, a time when the country’s problem was not money but how to spend it, to the present time when the economy had totally collapsed and government workers’ salaries are paid through ‘ways and means’. No thanks to over-ambitious hijackers’ trial and error approach to governance.

In the five-parts-13-chapters book titled, A Journey in Service, an autobiography of former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida that was released few days ago, I was quick to rush to the table of content to see whether he will write anything about the Nigeria’s economy during his eight years rule. He dedicates Chapters 7 and 8 to his actions and programmes in his bid to reform the economy, the privatization policy, IMF, SAP, and other matters; as well as his pursuit of a new socio-economic order through the establishment of MAMSER, DFRRI, People’s Bank, Community Banks, and such like. Right from the introduction to the book, it was clear what readers should expect from the four hundred plus book. Simply put, it is an attempt at self-adulation and information hoarding. A part of the book’s introduction reads: “confronted with the daunting task of addressing the economic and social challenges that had plagued previous governments, Babangida embarked on a series of significant reforms. He negotiated an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and accepted World Bank loans, leading to the devaluation of the Naira. To mitigate the impact of these new economic policies at the grassroots level, he introduced measures such as MAMSER and the People’s Bank”. How significant the reforms were and how the IMF’s negotiated agreement impacted Nigerians would be an interesting probe for us to really appreciate what this military president did in his eight years as the head of government of Nigeria.

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Quoting Festus Adedayo, Babangida wanted power, romanced power, was besotted by power. Yes, but other than to hijack the seat, did he really prepare for power, mentally and physically, or he was consumed, ab initio, by allure of power when, upon seizing power, he declared himself a president – a military president? It was the first sign of the game he was out to play, someone who was full of power-liquor from the outset. It was under this beclouded eight years’ drunken stupor that destinies of Nigerians were handled maradonically.

This autobiography has achieved something. At least it has reawaken Nigerians to re-examine the socio-economic steps, or missteps, of IBB years. There are several puzzles we need to probe further and try to proffer solutions. What was the state of Nigeria’s economy in 1983 when the military truncated the second republic and what was the state of the economy 20 months after when IBB and his own boys struck in 1985? In their command and control system, at what point did they destroy productivity and institute the culture of waste? How did we come about the systematic disintegration of the system – to the point that it was clear even to the dumbest that governance in Nigeria is about resource grabbing? What about the devaluation of naira that prepared the ground for the creation of the super-rich and the super-poor, thereby effectively obliterating the middle class; and what about the economic liberality without any support system that ought to guard against chaotic descent into uncontrollable socio-economic crises?

to be continued

Ola Emmanuel is a business planning consultant