Development communication was my favorite course in the journalism school. I enjoyed the theories of development. From what I had learned, sensible evaluation of a society's development is possible after a period of about a decade. That is just what I did with Nigeria on a recent trip from the United States. It was tempting to look at aesthetic development, such as the millions of cell phones adorning Nigerian hands; but if one examines the fundamentals, Nigeria is on a spiralling backward journey. The basics are in a bad shape. Even under a democracy, Nigeria could not shed the garment of misrule. The stranglehold of military power brokers has not been loosened, and the attendant problems stick like glue.

What really would it take to insult a Nigerian? I have read numerous reports about how Ibrahim Babangida, that deceptive soldier, is making moves to return to power. Now, that hurts me. As for many other Nigerians, I wonder if it really does cause any pain.

Since the inception of againstbabangida.com, concerned Nigerians have been writing, asking a broad of range of questions about why we stand against Ibrahim Babangida. Many were encouraging, some discouraging, some disdainful, many complimentary, some admonitory, some thought-provoking, many butressing, some confronting, many inquisitive, some adversarial, some opportunistic, some presumptuous, some mischievous, many gleeful and some discourteous. Name it, we have read it.