Reuben to Babangida: Be big enough to claim your letter, let Afegbua go

*IBB afraid of PMB – Nigerians speak

“Babangida must take responsibility for what clearly comes across to me, as a lack of coherence and organisation in the management of his office after office. Statesmen should not speak with both sides of the mouth. They should not play games with their views. They must not toy with public emotions. I don’t know what to make right now, of what Babangida said or didn’t say about our country and our nation. I am sure there are many others who are just as bewildered, and who feel short-changed and are asking: What exactly is Babangida saying?”

As the letter written on behalf of former Military President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) by his spokesman, Kassim Afegbua, appears to have plunged him into trouble with the State, former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati, has asked the retired General to be big enough to claim his first letter and save the spokesman from his current travail.

Afegbua had written a letter on Sunday, February 4, which he claimed was authorized by his principal, Babangida, not only backing the position of former President Olusegun Obasanjo against sitting President Muhammadu Buhari but also, more seriously, calling on Nigerians to vote Buhari out of power in 2019.

Trouble came for Kassim Afegbua when the principal he claimed authorized the letter he wrote not only denied the position contained in it but also distanced himself from the letter.

In a country, where laws now exist which take care of perpetrators of hate speeches and fake news therefore, the Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Kpokun Idris, swung into action asking that Afegbua be promptly arrested and brought to book for impersonating former Military President Ibrahim Babangida in saying things capable of inciting chaos in the country.

Afegbua however insisted following Babangida’s denial that the former military President actually authorized him to write the letter that he wrote against President Buhari backing Obasanjo’s earlier 18-page letter threatening to stage a Coalition of Nigerian Movement to unseat the President in 2019.

In his article titled, “What exactly is Babangida saying?” Dr. Reuben Abati is asking retired General Babangida to come clear and boldly claim his letter and save Afegbua, who is only doing his job, from the unnecessary travail that his letter has plunged him into.

Abati said, “The drama, the controversy, the confusion, the double entendre, attended by seeming cowardice, that grew around a statement, perhaps the statements, purportedly issued by former military president, Ibrahim Babangida on Sunday, February 4, is absolutely unnecessary, unfortunate and utterly avoidable.

“A statesman, the new role in which President Babangida has since found himself, is a father of the nation – more or less, that is; the statesman’s role in the retirement corridors of power is to speak truth to power, as a guide, as a conscience of the nation, as role model and as a highly-placed influencer,” Abati said.

But many Nigerians have asked, “What is IBB afraid of that he suddenly for the first time gets involved in saying something in the morning only for the man known to be genius for his sharp brain to eat up his words before the day closes?”

Some of the possible reasons IBB denied ever writing such a letter against Buhari include what one of them said was, “maybe he had finished writing and releasing that letter by Kassim Afegbua before he realized that it is only Olusegun Obasanjo, who can do the kind of thing to President Buhari and go scot-free with it, especially realizing that Buhari has always said he has forgiven him but will never forget his evils against him and the nation.”

It would be recalled Babangida had twice tested his popularity since Buhari emerged elected President on May 29, 2015 one of which was the interview he granted The Interview Magazine trying to justify a memo as containing why Buhari was overthrown by him on August 27, 1995 as Military Head of State.

Babangida went underground following Buhari’s reply challenging him to “tell Nigerians why you removed me” until he started again to romance with politicians particularly former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Senate President Bukola Saraki, controversial Senator Dino Melaye and others who have opened worked hard to, at one point in time, shutdown the young Federal Government of the President for reason best known to them.

The latest is the letter by IBB coming as a backer to Obasanjo forgetting that, despite the many vituperations and plots he knows Obasanjo has perpetrated against his government, Buhari has chosen to respect the Owu, Abeokuta-born former President and will not reply him with attack of abuse unlike the kind of tolerance he cannot do to Babangida.

But Reuben Abati tries in his article to encourage General Babangida to be the statesman that he is and own up to his letter.

“Being a statesman thus comes with responsibilities – the responsibility to speak with clarity and conviction is one of these. With the confusion over what President Babangida said or did not say about the state of the nation and the state of health of our democracy, it is now obvious that he still has a lot to learn, despite his experience and stature.”

Abati, apparently in support of the letter the former Military President denied, pointed out how the Babangida’s standing on the fence has weakened the Obasanjo’s intervention calling for a change of direction and inviting Nigerians to rise against Buhari.

He said, “Coming after the impactful and unambiguous intervention of the Ota farmer, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, calling for a change of direction and reaffirmation of people power in Nigerian politics, Babangida’s follow-up intervention, which could have strengthened an emerging symphony of public thought, has now ended up as mere spittle.

“Babangida must take responsibility for what clearly comes across to me, as a lack of coherence and organisation in the management of his office after office. Statesmen should not speak with both sides of the mouth. They should not play games with their views. They must not toy with public emotions. I don’t know what to make right now, of what Babangida said or didn’t say about our country and our nation. I am sure there are many others who are just as bewildered, and who feel short-changed and are asking: What exactly is Babangida saying?”

Abati however encouraged Afegbua: “I salute Kassim Afegbua once more. His current travail projects the plight of spokespersons, not just in Nigeria but all over the world. The job of a spokesperson is one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult, in the corridors of power. Political leaders crave love; they want to be seen to be wise and knowledgeable. But when things go wrong, they don’t hesitate to throw their spokespersons under the bus. Often, they feel persons from their clan or faith, or background can better represent them. However, out of office, a political leader or statesman does not necessarily have to speak through a spokesperson. If he is big enough and his message is big enough, he should be able to speak with his own voice and in his own voice. In this instance, only President Babangida can shed light on the conundrum: Who has spoken? Babangida or Afegbua? But beyond that, the first message remains relevant and it is utterly irresponsible if indeed the police have launched a manhunt on the basis of the expression of an opinion.”