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| Former military president General Ibrahim Babangida |
Former military president General Ibrahim Babangida
has explained that when he was leaving government in 1994, he asked Gen.
Sani Abacha to stay and protect the Interim National Government of
Chief Ernest Shonekan against military coup.
Babangida spoke to reporters in Minna, Niger state, yesterday, on the eve of his 71st birthday.
He said that Abacha was not retired as Chief of
Defence Staff and Minister of Defence in other to give the support of
the military to the interim government in the conduct of election.
He said: “If you remember, the interim government had a life span but realities proved otherwise,” he said.
Babangida said that Abacha, who overthrew the
Shonekan administration 82 days after the former had ‘stepped aside’,
was required to provide very strong support to Shonekan following
threats of coup at the time.
The former military ruler also relived some of his
experiences during the civil war and during his eight years as a ruler,
explaining that he would need a psychologist to put him through some of
those experiences.
He described some of the experiences and feelings as
traumatic, which he has to cope with for life. “I need a psychologist to
chat with. God has been kind to me”.
Babangida said he was in support of creation of state police for effective policing of the country.
He said the fears being expressed that state
governors would use the police for personal vendetta was unnecessary as
the police would operate under the law.
Babangida also rose in defence of the statement he
and former President Olusegun Obasanjo jointly issued on the state of
the nation, saying, “We proffered solutions to challenges and problems
in the country.”
Babangida said the former rulers placed high premium on the unity of the country.
“When we talk, we proffer solutions. People do not
expect us to be quiet when things are happening. We said what needed to
be said,” he said.
He berated those drumming songs of war, saying that the country would not go to war again after the civil war.
Babangida restated the conviction of former rulers in
the unity, peace and stability of the country, adding, “We have been
advising President Jonathan on how to achieve peace.
“We support the president to bring peace to the country and we will continue to do this.”
He argued that people and the media blew out of
proportion the recent comments attributed to Chief Edwin Clark, saying
that the Ijaw leader had been his good friend over the years.
“Clark is my friend; we have mutual respect for each other. I believe the media heightened the situation,” Babangida said.
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