Can Babangida enter .

Babangida cannot enter .
By Anthony Akinola Opinion - Columnists

THE luxury of being able to converse in “English” that the English person does not understand belongs to us! A Nigerian lady who was asked how she got to work on a day noted for very bad snowy weather said “I wear bus”. The same lady, apparently worried about her immigration status, also said she had been praying and fasting that the dreaded Conservative Party did not “enter” in the recently concluded British elections.
Let us forget about what would seem to have been this cross-border importation of irrationality into Britain – praying and fasting for the outcome of an election – “wear” and “enter” would be understood by a Yoruba person in the context of what the lady meant to say on those two occasions. She meant to say that she “boarded” a bus to work and she also meant to say that she did not want the Conservative Party to “win” the General Election. So, if one says Babangida cannot enter, all one intends to say is that the man is just wasting his time thinking he would be President in 2011.
General Ibrahim Babangida has been confusing us with a variety of policy positions since he declared his intention to contest the presidency in 2011. He has been telling us about the importance of Nigeria being governed as a “true federation” and he has also been talking about the need for stability in the Niger Delta region. While we may concede that he is free to advocate whatever he likes, what we are not going to concede to him is the right to insult our collective intelligence and memories. Who does General Babangida think we are in Nigeria – fools, I think - when he starts to advocate accountability in government and the importance of immortalising the late Chief MKO Abiola as an icon of our democratic struggles?
One had thought that if there were two major reasons why General Babangida is better off watching the television at home than showing his face in public it would be because we still perceive him as a thief of our collective wealth, as well as the murderer of Chief Abiola via the annulment of the presidential election of 12 June 1993. General Babangida has a lot of explaining to do; it is a measure of our tolerance and docility as a people that he is still in a position to confuse us.
Having been our military ruler or mis-ruler for eight years between August 1985 and August 1993, it is hard to understand why General Ibrahim Babangida would still want to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There can only be one of a number of reasons; to continue with the good work he would want us believe he did in eight years as military leader; to repair the name honest conscience should have informed him has been badly tarnished by eight years of greed; or to continue with that greed.
There can be no doubt that General Babangida has numerous sycophants willing him on. He might not have done great things for our nation, nevertheless he had in great abundance a number of individuals who benefited from his corrupt militocracy. They include those contractors who became multi-millionaires for work they did not do and those emergency “governors” who were frequently dispersed into the various states to help themselves. This group of individuals will be hoping for the return of the good old days when corruption was accepted and condoned as an instrument of state policy.
One might have been sympathetic with General Ibrahim Babangida, even without encouraging him to put his name forward for election, if he had had the courage to admit the mistakes he made while in office. A truly repentant human being hoarding what does not belong to him or her would know what to do. There was this story about the late General Murtala Mohammed returning to the state what he acquired as spoils of war during the Civil War of 1967-70. Babangida can redeem his name by returning to the state what he acquired illegitimately as well as apologising for those deeds that can no longer be undone. It would require a truly great human being to respond to these suggestions in a positive manner.
The Americans, in perpetual pursuit of selfish interests, might have over-massaged Babangida’s ego. The special visits by their emissaries to the General’s palace in Minna could not but have mis-led him into believing that the whole world was rooting for him. This was someone who, not too long ago, was believed to have been persona non grata in the United States. Babangida must now be feeling disappointed that the same people who over-exaggerated his relevance might now have chosen to side with incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. They say they would support Jonathan in 2011 if he conducts free and fair elections; it is as if they would still be supporting him even if he himself did not win the election.
Babangida’s hasty friends may have hurriedly dumped him, knowing he cannot enter in 2011. Of course Babangida’s monies will undoubtedly find many “Father Christmases” attempting to buy the votes of the very poor he created; hopefully, the latter would merely be more interested in having their own share of the loot than creating an opportunity for his “revenge” soon after the elections. If common sense prevails, Nigerians can demonstrate to the outside world that they do indeed have standards by humiliating General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida at the polls.if he dares their judgement.