Former Military President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd) has explained the reasons for the overthrow of General Muhammadu Buhari’s regime in 1985 as well as the subsequent drastic economic reforms, including the devaluation of the naira.
Babangida, who served as the Chief of Army Staff under Buhari and played a key role in the 1983 coup that brought him to power, provided a detailed account of the events in his autobiography, A Journey in Service.
The 420-page book, released on Thursday, has sparked controversy, particularly regarding key issues that shaped Babangida’s eight-year rule, including the annulment of the June 12 presidential election; the assassination of foremost journalist, Dele Giwa; and the execution of Major General Mamman Vatsa over an alleged coup plot.
In Chapter Six, titled Mounting the Saddle, Defining a Military Presidency, Babangida justified the 1985 coup, describing it as a response to national discontent and the deteriorating state of affairs.
“By the beginning of 1985, the citizenry had become apprehensive about the future of our country. The atmosphere was precarious and fraught with ominous signs of clear and present danger. It was clear to the more discerning leadership of the armed forces that our initial rescue mission of 1983 had largely miscarried,” he wrote.
He argued that failure to act would have led to a split within the armed forces, which he believed would have had disastrous consequences for the country.
“If the armed forces imploded, the nation would go with it, and the end was just too frightening to contemplate,” he stated.
He noted that while the military had initially taken over in 1983 with a shared sense of purpose, divisions had begun to emerge within the ranks.
“In state affairs, the armed forces, as the only remaining institution of national cohesion, were becoming torn into factions; something needed to be done lest we lose the nation itself. My greatest fear was that division of opinion and views within the armed forces could lead to factionalisation in the military. If allowed to continue and gain root, grave dangers lay ahead,” Babangida added.
He accused Buhari and his deputy, Brigadier General Tunde Idiagbon, of isolating themselves from the military establishment and adopting a rigid, authoritarian approach to governance.
“They both posited a ‘holier than thou’ attitude, antagonising the civil populace against the military. Fundamental rights and freedoms were being routinely infringed upon and abused,” Babangida wrote.
According to him, the Buhari administration ruled by fear rather than foster trust and hope among the people.
“We were supposed to improve their lives and imbue the people with hope for a better future. Instead, we ruled the nation with a series of draconian decrees. An administration intended to reflect the collective will of the armed forces as a national institution came to be seen as the private personal autocracy of a stubborn few,” he wrote.
