Last week, General Ibrahim Babangida recklessly claimed the greatest achievement of his regime was economic development. He must be delusional. The Dr. Pius Okigbo Report , which extensively researched his administration's economic policies, asserts Babangida did a terrible job.
Excerpts from the Okigbo Panel Report:
*****"Apart from the projects for which the accounts were established, their use was extended to a wide variety of projects many of which could not be classified as priority. The details of receipts and disbursements on these accounts were, however, carefully maintained and all payments were duly authorised by the President. If only the funds had been regarded as part of the external reserves and had been counted as such, the impact on the exchange rate in the year under review would have been so significant that the Naira would have been stronger in 1994, in relation to the dollar, than it was in 1985."
*****"During the first two years of the implementation of SAP, there were improvements in virtually all economic indices. However, between 1989 and 1993, the burgeoning government expenditure in time Face of dwindling revenues, led to a growth in government deficits running into an average of 9.74% of GDP. Rapid inflation, a high rate of unemployment, a heavy debt burden, high Interest rates and a rapid depreciating Naira value emerged as serious problems. In this environment, growth in any meaningful sense was well nigh impossible."
******"In 1988, the President authorised the dedication of crude oil of 65,000 barrels per day for the finance of special priority projects including Ajaokuta Iron & Steel, Itakpe Iron Mining, and Shiroro Hydro-electric projects. The account was also to he used for external debt buy-back and the build-up of reserves. The quantity was subsequently increased to 105,000 barrels per day and in early 1994, to 150,000 barrels per day. In addition, a stabilisation account to receive the windfall of oil proceeds of the Gulf War and a special account for Mining Rights and Signature Bonus were opened. Altogether, $12.4 billion was received into these accounts from 1988 to June 1994, all of which have been spent leaving a balance of $206 million as at the 30th June, 1994. The problem with these accounts is that even when the revenues were shown globally as in the case of the dedication account, the expenditures were not included in the Federal Budget."
*****"Apart from the projects for which the accounts were established, their use was extended to a wide variety of projects many of which could not be classified as priority. The details of receipts and disbursements on these accounts were, however, carefully maintained and all payments were duly authorised by the President. If only the funds had been regarded as part of the external reserves and had been counted as such, the impact on the exchange rate in the year under review would have been so significant that the Naira would have been stronger in 1994, in relation to the dollar, than it was in 1985."
*****"During the first two years of the implementation of SAP, there were improvements in virtually all economic indices. However, between 1989 and 1993, the burgeoning government expenditure in time Face of dwindling revenues, led to a growth in government deficits running into an average of 9.74% of GDP. Rapid inflation, a high rate of unemployment, a heavy debt burden, high Interest rates and a rapid depreciating Naira value emerged as serious problems. In this environment, growth in any meaningful sense was well nigh impossible."
*****"Over the past seven years, the discrepancy between Government fiscal and monetary policies has reached an unacceptable level due mainly to lack of an institutional structure which will allow for effective consultation, cooperation and coordination between the Central Bank and the Federal Ministry of Finance. At present, although the Central Bank and the Federal Ministry of Finance do participate in pre-budget consultations, the fiscal and monetary policies are in reality drawn independently."
*****"The Panel has been most concerned by the impact of the budget deficits on the Nigerian macro economy. It is not the size of the debt alone that has been worrying, but the misallocation of resources resulting therefrom. Public expenditure has moved away from production to consumption due to availability of easy and cheap money to government. These have combined to generate rapid inflation and cause a depreciation in the Naira exchange rate."
*****"The size of Nigeria s external debt has grown from US$17.3 billion in 1984 to US$28.7 billion in 1993. Unless the debt service problem now running at over 4% of the GDP is effectively addressed, it would be extremely difficult to put the economy back on the path of sustained recovery an(l growth. The character of this formidable problem has significantly shifted from predominantly private debt to predominantly official debt."
*****"The impact of the large fiscal deficit financed by the Bank through Ways and Means Advances has neutralised the effect of these policy instruments and induced frequent changes of policy measures within the year. For instance, in 1989 alone, there were eleven amendments to the Monetary Policy Circular much to the frustration of banks and other players in the economy."
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Let's face it - we have all always suspected Ibrahim Babangida of being a drug dealer. The story of Gloria Okon, Dele Giwa's death, the burning of the Ministry of Defence and other stories are all allegedly tied to an official drug ring during IBB's regime. We researched the rumors, and this is what we found.
Nigeria's military dictatorship, led by General Ibrahim Babangida, annulled the Jun 12 presidential election and canceled plans to return the nation to civilian rule. 
Most Nigerian leaders have been corrupt, but Ibrahim Babangida added new, historic elements to corruption. One prime example is what he did with the defunct BCCI Bank. BCCI's activities in Nigeria were so profoundly, overwhelmingly corrupt as to suggest a very significant level of corruption in Nigerian officialdom generally. 
