IBB’s Judgment Day is Nigh

Like every other thing iBB’s intended mission to make a run for the presidency started out as a rumor- we heard the rumor of the third term plan of his boss now antagonist (OBJ) and it came out to be true. Rumors- bush telegraph (apologies to my father), is Nigeria’s most versatile industry. Forget Nollywood, oil business and banking – to become a rumor industrialist you need zero capital and you achieve guaranteed maximum profit. Rumor has become a mainstay of our national life due to the inane combination of official hypocrisy, combined with elitist obsession with secrecy as well as the deserved medals of accuracy rumor mongers have acquired over the years. In any case, apart from the latest iBB for President Gist, it is also finally out that after all Mike Adenuga is no whiz kid, he is just a money launderer – a fraud and a front for the gap tooth General. That one too started out as a rumor – naija!

In any case, leaving matter for Mathias and at the risk of being a seditionist, it is my intention to examine the judgment day scenario iBB has finally come around to fulfill this time around. Like someone obsessed with an evil spirit, the lily livered General Babangida that scampered when Abacha reigned supreme is baring his fangs finally – probably bearing his father’s name all over again. This however qualifies as the case of trouble dey sleep yanga dey wake am – in the words of Baba 70. Or how does one escape the fact that he has a lot more to be grateful for then even attempting to tear down his last layer of protection at the worst possible time? How can you explain that he will be better off either as a godfather or just quietly staying out of the picture until OBJ exits the stage?

But no, iBB is possessed and until the end is fulfilled he will be pushed to perdition. Apparently he thinks being the sole survivor of the June 12 debacle confers on him some invincibility- the self proclaimed evil genius is not brilliant after all is what I am concluding. What did he forget in Aso Rock? I think it is his punishment. I never stopped thinking up until now why the divine will spare such a ruthless and corrupt dictator like him. It just didn’t make sense, but finally it seems to be just unraveling. The souls of thousands of our compatriots slaughtered in the aftermath of the June 12 crisis that brought us a Greek gift called Abacha is finally crying out for justice and pushing the mad dictator to his foretold end.

Examining the personality involved in the fight for the seat of power next year is an interesting study of ego and clash of sardonic ambitions. On one hand we have a General with a great instinct for politics and behavioral psychology – well endowed with what is often termed native intelligence. Albeit, a man reckoned for his temperament and his inability to accommodate dissenting intellectual opinion who however will never act to crush opposition unless of course they stand in his way. Reading Wole Soyinka’s most recent book (You Must Set Forth at Dawn), it will give you a peek into the minds of these two men since he is close to both of them and have engaged in numerous intellectual chit-chats on matters of State with them. Soyinka definitely thought of iBB as equally intellectually capable as was OBJ but definitely more likely to pretend as if he is hearing the dissenter out while he might as well be planning the person’s death. He is slick, conniving, dangerous and also very smart. He is affable like OBJ and while his joke is much dryer than that of his former boss (who loves colorful humor); he tends to mix very well in the corridors of power with thieves and charlatans that happens to be his primary constituency. On the other hand, OBJ is a pretentious international statesman that feels more comfortable among people that don’t look like him (iBB is a fugitive from international law,) he has a reputation for glorifying non-Nigerians to the detriment of his own. As such, the difference between these folks cannot be starker. The common point of they meet is that they are both Generals and Ex-Rulers of the fiefdom called Nigeria.

Getting down to the drama that will soon play itself out, one cannot but be astounded that while iBB comes across as someone prepared for battle, he is actually a General that will not just lose the war but have already lost the battle. Here is a man with next to zero reputation and with no effective machinery on ground to contest, nominate or impose a candidate. Who is he? Just an ex-ruler like Buhari who lost wonderfully in the 4-19 election – remember? So he is some genetic mutation or what? My friend, no one is immune to the disease called the wrath of OBJ and if he wants to try it for size, try taking on a wounded dog. What does it take OBJ to stop him? Just an EFCC indictment; does he get the message with the reopening of the Vasta case or is he blinded by pretentious ambiguity emanating from his crowd of marauders? Does he get the message with the searchlight on Globacom, or is he a man destined for self destruction? iBB ronu – I only hope you still got some sense left. I understand that after leaving the military for thirteen years plus the mind starts getting tired especially if you don’t have the luxury of international assignment like Abubakar and Obasanjo.

When I see the melodrama playing out – I am more than convinced that this man is seriously seeking attention and he will get it best in Kirikiri – he must be out of his mind to think OBJ standing on a podium, with his Egba tribal marks facing the cameras will handover to him of all people…just imagine? Imagine that nonsense- even if it were I, holy Michael, I will rig all riggables, manipulate INEC and do everything humanly possible to frustrate iBB’s ambition. Imagine what he will do with 35 billion dollars in the reserve- a born kleptomaniac and by every means a common thief that amounts to putting a dog in charge of protecting a bone…it just won’t cut it. A thief is a thief, and there is only one name for him it is called “ole”. I can defend my statement in a law court and while it will be a very difficult exercise to substantiate the same claim against OBJ, Y’aradua, Danjuma and the rest of the stealing generals, with iBB it is pretty much a slam dunk. If a man confesses to his crime, he is as good as guilty. What else can I say when he calls himself an evil genius- emphasis on evil. Evil people belong behind the bars, and I hope to sing the dirge to the Idiosyncratic Barbaric Braggadocio as he departs to Kirikiri next year. But that is even a better scenario.

While some have termed the upcoming fight between iBB and OBJ as the war of the Generals or the titans as some posit- I see it as the fight of the unequal Generals. For while they are both foxy and well grounded in militrician tactics and tradition- one General has an army, the other does not. Simply put mildly, he (iBB) is a toothless bull dog. In OBJ’s war machinery are the EFCC, Nigeria Police, Office of Public Prosecutions, and at the risk of sounding machoistic the 120 000 plus Nigerian military. Do not be deceived, all it takes to give iBB the taste of his own poison i.e. a phantom coup indictment that ends up in his execution, is a just a verbal order from OBJ to the military chiefs. And OBJ will be morally justified to do so- as the sole executioner of the law of Karma being thoroughly protected from the downside since he already served his time on fake prison charges. When the time comes, I doubt if he will have a Gani or Falana pleading his case; he might have Buhari and Awoniyi huffing and puffing but at the end of the day in the characteristic OBJ manner all will fall on deaf ears and his head will roll into the gallows just like that. He who the gods want to destroy they first make mad. So to Baba Sege: “over to you”.