Never Again to Babangida!

Ibrahim Babangida has thrown a challenge at Nigerians to prove that the billions of dollars he has personally acquired were not made through sheer hard work. He has boldly responded to charges of theft of public funds by demanding that those who make claims against him should prove the allegations or shut up.

Let's begin by making some quick deductions from Babangida's challenge. First, Babangida's has not said he does not have a lot of money.  Secondly, and be careful in digesting this point, Babangida is not asserting he has not stolen public funds. And thirdly, the Evil Genius is not claiming his wealth has been acquired through legitimate means. The question he raised is not about honesty or integrity. All Babangida is saying is that whoever has the evidence should make it public; otherwise it is a closed case.

It is not at all surprising that the former dictator has chosen to use the conman's approach to wriggling his way out of the grave he dug for himself years ago. Regardless, the bold-face challenge is a change of tactics by the general, who has never before been in the habit of talking about his wealth. Babangida realizes that as a presidential candidate, if he ever becomes one, questions about his estate will come up. The statements are designed to quell those questions far in advance and set the tone for how he will brush off inquiries that sniff into the comfortable private life he has taken time to build and largely keep off pubic scrutiny.

In civilized societies, no person who seeks leadership position would so carelessly disrespect his potential employers by putting up not so much of a defense for an issue that is relevant and of active public interest. Babangida's cold what-can-you-do response is just another slap in the soft face of Nigerians.

The case against Babangida and the thousands of military rulers who have stolen billions of Nigeria's dollars over the years is simple. It requires only basic accounting - calculate all of Babangida's lifetime income (salaries and interests on legitimate investments outlined in tax returns) and deduct all from his current assets. If he has accumulated more than he legitimately made, he has to prove the discrepancy.

Using this method, it will be so easy even for Babangida to make a case. The rest of the process will be for Babangida to prove the source of his remaining wealth. Nigerians will need to be told if won a huge lottery or money at a casino that enabled him to do the things he has done with money. The people are curious to know if he inherited much of his wealth from his dad or an uncle. The voters deserve to know how he has been able to support his ostentatious lifestyle.

The onus of proof, ultimately, for the legitimacy of Babangida's material acquisitions is not on Nigerians. It is on him. He has to prove where he got the money to build the multi-billion naira mansion on the exclusive hill top of Minna. He has to prove that his private aircrafts were cheaper than his total salaries with the Nigerian Army. He has to prove that all the properties and business under his name and that of his children were bought from his pension. He must prove that his estate abroad, running into billions of dollars, was bought with his naira-denominated income for the less than 30 years in public service.

After Babangida has proved how he acquired his wealth, Nigerians can then begin to ask him how the Gulf Oil windfall, which is now causing him serious headache, was spent. He has to explain how the debt buy-back deals during his regime were conducted. He has to explain which companies that got contracts during his administration are indirectly linked back to him. It will also be neccessary to adopt the same method to probe the wealth of Babangida's friends and family.

We throw Babangida's challenge back at him. He is the one who has a lot to explain.

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