The Untold Story: IBB Shares The Real Reasons Behind Nigeria’s Military Takeovers

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) has defended the military’s involvement in governance in Nigeria.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

In explaining why the country experienced five coups between 1966 and 1985, IBB claimed that military regimes implemented more developmental projects compared to civilian governments.

In excerpts from Part Three, Chapter Five, pages 104 to 115 of his controversial autobiography, ‘A Journey in Service’, launched last Thursday, he discussed the motivations behind military interventions, the historical context of coups in Nigeria and Africa, the structural reforms initiated by military leaders, and the ongoing struggle to achieve responsible governance.

He wrote:

“When I began working on this autobiography a few years ago, I was aware that, as someone involved in military coups, I would eventually need to clarify my stance on the controversial issue of military intervention in politics.

Anyone reading descriptions of me, especially in foreign media, as a ‘serial coup plotter’ or as ‘the mastermind behind most military plots in Nigeria,’ might assume my 35-year military career was solely dedicated to plotting coups.

One foreign journalist, Karl Maier, with whom I had an interview, reciprocated by claiming in his book ‘This House Has Fallen’ that ‘coups seem to run in my blood.’

He wasn’t the only one with this view. After the coup that brought me to power, one international news magazine headlined their article ‘The Triumph of the Trouble-maker’. I won’t engage with the negative insinuations that I was just a coup plotter as a soldier.

This book stands as evidence of the humble contributions of a soldier who rose to play the role assigned to him by destiny at a particularly critical time in his country’s history. Despite my mistakes and shortcomings, it’s a role I look back on with pride.

Resurgent Coups in Africa

When I started writing this book, I hoped to report that coups in Africa were a thing of the past. However, thirty years after I left office, sadly, seven African countries, from the Sahel to Sudan, are now under military rule.

Let me reiterate my position on this matter. Military coups, that is, overthrowing an incumbent government, whether as redemptive or corrective measures, are an aberration and should never be encouraged. In the context of a democracy like ours, coups are not only unacceptable but also illegal.”