General Ibrahim Babangida meant to use August 17,2006, his 65th birthday, to record political gains. He made the first categorical announcement about his presidential ambition in the foreign media on August 16, knowing it would become news on his birthday. Well, we had our special birthday gift waiting for the Evil Genius - the very first anti-Babangida message from Againstbabangida.com appeared on page 72 of The Guardian.View the entire advertisement as it appeared in The Guardian at the link below:
Page 72, The Guardian, Augst 17, 2006
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We express our gratitude to all those who donated to Againstbabangida.com. Your money is working for Nigeria, as reponses to the campaign have been extraordinary. You are empowering Nigerians and giving hope to the masses by your contributions.
These are excepts from the message:
The bedrock for today's economic and financial problems in Nigeria was laid by this man, Ibrahim Babangida! He created conditions malignant to national advancement, such as the institutionalization of the culture of corruption that is now heavily entrenched in the social and moral fabric of the Nigerian society. The phenomena of the notorious thievery schemes or theft-by-deception, a.k.a "419," is largely believed to have gained undue prominence and seeming acceptance during the eight-year misrule of Ibrahim Babangida in Nigeria. Today, the nuisance of the so-called "Yahoo Boys" is believed to be a by-product or creation of the IBB era. What is the moral justification for a society to wage war on scammers when known social culprits enjoy stolen public wealth without restraint? These conditions have been almost impossible to reverse. And now, IBB is out again to try to make vain the labors of our heroes past.
Instead of Babangida being placed under arrest by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for trial and possible conviction for his social, economic, and financial crimes against the good people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, his ugly billboards daring to advertise his proposed second coming now litter the streets of Nigeria. IBB's presidential ambition now is not only an insult to seven years of democracy in Nigeria, but a mockery of our collective destiny as a people!
For those who have received stolen funds from Babangida, beware that your hands are blood-stained, and the blood of the innocent will be on your head. Nigerians who have chosen to serve Babangida at the local and national levels, even if just to do minor work for his campaign, will be as guilty of crimes against Nigerians as the evil genius himself. While there is still time, we urge you, in the interest of posterity, to rethink your efforts and take a stand on the side of truth. We urge you to join patriotic citizens to stop this demon that pretends to be an angel.
It is sad to realize that among those taking money from Babangida against the interest of the society are the so-called Emirs, Obas, Obis, and High Chiefs, business executives, retired military officers, political bigwigs and even intellectuals. Which is why we wonder how our collective conscience became so depleted to the extent that people who should be respected are the greatest culprits of the moral bankruptcy that is prevalent in Nigeria today? It does not matter how highly placed they are, any Nigerian who is willing to serve Babangida is an enemy of the people. They should be identified and treated as such. The time has come for Nigerians of goodwill to totally unite and unequivocally reject the enemies of the people.
If anything at all, the great news Nigerians ought to be eagerly awaiting is Babangida's arrest by the EFCC, and not his presidential campaign. Somebody once asked, "What does it really take to insult Nigerians?" General Babangida's opulent 50-room mansion in his hometown of Minna is not a secret. What remains shrouded, at least to the ordinary Nigerian, is the financial source of the mansion. It does not require the aptitude of a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon to know that the rogue general's entire salary during his military career could not have built such an edifice, even if he never used his salary for any other thing but the mansion. And even today, the $12 Billion Gulf War oil windfall received during the Babangida administration remains largely unaccounted for. An official report implicating Babangida has remained an official secret. Nigerians should be asking the EFCC, "What about Babangida?"
What can you as a citizen do about Babangida? Well, we should not sit back, weep or cry. Fellow Nigerians, be advised that the rogue General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has challenged you to a fight. It is up to you either to stand up and fight for your destiny and your children’s future or auction off your children's inheritance. What is your dignity worth to you as a Nigerian? Should a well-known but yet untried treasury looter, murderer, and dream destroyer of millions of innocent Nigerians have the guts to come back with extremely provocative "in your face" attitude and bravado? Ask yourself what you have done for Nigeria lately to strengthen the foundation of democracy? Will you not fight this mindless dictator? Can you really just sit down and do nothing?
This is the perfect time for Nigerians to tell Babangida and his fellow crooks: "No, thank you, but before you even turn back, we need to check your pocket!" We want all of Nigeria and the rest of the world to know today that we have started a fight to ensure that any little dream Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has about ruling Nigeria will not mature.
