What Dad Told Us About June 12 Annulment – Babangida’s Son, Mohammed

Mohammed Babangida, former head of state, Ibrahim Babangida’s first son, has revealed what his father told him after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
In an interview with The Crest, Mohammed said he and his younger brother, Aminu, had asked their father why he annulled the election especially when his friend, MKO Abiola, was on the way to a landslide victory.
“We were in the living room when he had done the recording,” Muhammad recounts.
“He came and he said, ‘I just annulled June 12.’ We both looked at each other and we looked at him, and said: why would you do that? And he said ‘you are too young to understand the intrigues of governance.’
“And we said, but it is about you and your administration. And he said, ‘well, perhaps, this is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life.’
“So, you could see that his hands were tied. He was limited. He couldn’t do what he would have wished to do. And this is probably a story most Nigerians don’t know,” he said.
Mohammed said Nigerians should have moved on from the disappointment, adding that some people, who are currently in positions of power today, had benefited from it.
“So, to me, mistakes have happened, (what matters) is how you rise above those mistakes. We have learnt as a country. There have been tremendous benefits for some group of people who benefitted from that mistake, who are in the helm of affairs currently today.
“Because it was from that, that you saw the southwest become so strong and is now developed to a point whereby their leader was able to create a bloc for the region where most of his protégés were in leadership positions at that time. And these were people who benefitted from the annulment of June 12.
“So, there was always the positive side of that annulment which gave rise to what we are saying today. In as much as it was a painful experience, the nation has, I think, grown out of that by now; and we have mended fences from that hurt.
“The president now has been able to recognize the family, he has been able to cool the tempers, and we hope from that, we should just be able to move on. That is just my position,” he said.
The father of six also said it is not true that children born with a silver spoon are lazy, lousy lot who cannot lift a finger on their own, and can never ‘breathe’ for a second outside the shadows of their powerful parents.
“One of the biggest issues in the society is that people are not ready to look deeper than what is on the surface.
“On the surface, it appears…we are just here; we are privileged children; and we don’t need to do anything. Then again, you remember that the shadow of our father is so large and we, as children, are trying to create our own shadows somewhere else.,” he said.