• The Ibrahim Babangida angle • My experience as Borno State military governor

 

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

Col. Abdulmumini Aminu (red) has transversed every aspect of human endeavour  since retiring as a military officer. A retired military officer, a politician and football administrator, Abdulmumini Aminu, can be described as a total package.

Speaking to Sunday Sun, he recalled the secret formula his party,  the All Progressives Congress (APC) used to win the February 25 presidential election, what the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu must do to win the confidence of Nigerians and why he did not consider both Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of PDP and Labour Party candidates as big threats to their APC counterpart.

The former Military governor of Borno State equally recalled his fond and sad memories, revealing why the late Military Head of State, Sani Abacha never forgave him. Excerpt:

Speaking to Sunday Sun, he recalled the secret formula his party,  the All Progressives Congress (APC) used to win the February 25 presidential election, what the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu must do to win the confidence of Nigerians and why he did not consider both Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of PDP and Labour Party candidates as big threats to their APC counterpart.

The former Military governor of Borno State equally recalled his fond and sad memories, revealing why the late Military Head of State, Sani Abacha never forgave him. Excerpt:

You joined the PDP after retirement from the military, left the party for UNPP, returned to PDP and now you are with the APC, why such movement?

In politics, there are lots of factors that can push you from one place to the other that usually come into play. The people you are dealing with will definitely determine your movement. If you are like minds, things will work smoothly, but when you discover that there are lots of insincerities, disenchantment, and selfishness, among other things, they can push you to change camp. It has happened to me in the past.

Another strong reason is that I have to face the reality on ground like which party is stronger in terms of manifestoes, and followership. It is not ideal to join a party that cannot go anywhere. Every politician must do that permutation before joining a political party based on the manifesto and perception about the party and people. Politics is an interesting and flexible thing. The fluidity and flexibility gave people the option to join politics. However, I can tell you that it is much more difficult to transit from military to civilian than moving from one party to the other. It is even more difficult when the person involved is a well-trained officer who has attained a very high rank. Retired military officers usually find it difficult to blend in political affairs in this country. Most retired military officers found themselves as strangers in politics and people will look at them as novice in politics and politicking. It is very true to an extent because there is no special school to learn politicking other than holding the position and learning through the process. This is what we have learnt joining politics for many years now. The good thing is that I have fully integrated.

Could it be because of the difficulty in military men joining politics that affected you when you contested for Katsina State governorship election against Musa Yar’Adua in 2003?

It is not at all. At that time many people pushed me to join politics because of my straightforward dealings with people. That time my principal, Ibrahim Babangida, was in UNPP and I had to team up with him at the party as a mark of loyalty and respect. But he was not too serious about it. However, things changed smoothly I had to withdraw even before the election was conducted and supported my opponent then, the late Musa Yar’Adua. Before I ventured into politics then, the elders of Katsina met, shortlisted 10 of us and zeroed in on about three of us, Yar’Adua, Mogaji Musa, and myself, to pick one person among us to contest. And even when they picked me, some of them that were not too comfortable with me shifted to Yar’Adua.

What worked for your party, the APC, in the 2023 presidential election?

I was deeply involved in the election and I can tell you that what worked for my party, the APC, is that every average Nigerian is very tired of the political dominance of the Hausa Fulani. I have to be sincere in admitting that. Again and more importantly, the insistence of the Northern governors, in their wisdom, that power must shift to the South was another factor. They did not just support, but equally contributed in ensuring APC’s victory. They stood their ground in insisting that only a power shift can guarantee peace and stability in the country. The peace and tranquility we saw before, during, and after the election in this dispensation came from the show of maturity and fairness displayed by these governors. We all know that lack of unity in this country is the biggest drawback facing Nigeria and the greatest undoing of this country.

What was your biggest fear before the 2023 presidential election?

I was totally confident that APC was going to win. I did not harbour any iota of doubt in my mind about the outcome of the election. All indicators pointed to the fact that APC was ahead right from the onset. It was a fantastic outing by the governors who did that magic. They deployed everything, resources, and capacities, to ensure that power did not only shift to the South, but their choice also won. That decision and victory saved the country lots of upheavals because the South would not have forgiven the Hausa Fulani if they had not allowed power to shift. The North has consistently held power and unless we start curtailing that kind of parochial interest from spreading nationwide then I am sorry for the country. It is not that I did not see Atiku and Peter Obi as threats to the APC presidential candidate, but I saw the threat as a very minimal one. What actually did the magic for our party is that the PDP was totally divided, otherwise, Kwankwaso would not have joined NNPP, Obi would not have joined Labour Party, Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, would not have led the five governors in a rebellion. There was so much division in the PDP, which cost them so much because if you see the number of votes those people generated for the APC. If those votes had gone to the PDP, APC would have been in serious trouble. God made it possible for them to divide themselves for the benefit of the APC.

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What should the President-elect do to win the confidence of Nigerians?

The new administration led by Asiwaju Tinubu, must consolidate on the success and achievements recorded by the Buhari-led administration. The President-elect I know is a man with high administrative acumen. He is focused, sincere, and has the capacity to fish out the administrative potential in people and improve human capital and infrastructural development. He made so many people in authority today. The way he built people when he was the governor of Lagos State is what I admire so much in him. The leaders that Tinubu built are the ones handling the affairs of this country today. He has the capacity to detect potential leadership qualities in many individuals and such define his quality. What I can assure Nigerians is that the President-elect will assemble capable hands to pilot the affairs of this country. My advice is for him to assemble dedicated and competent hands that are committed to the unity of Nigeria to make his administration memorable.

What should Tinubu do to clear the negative perceptions about him?

He has been elected and I can tell you that he is aware of those negative perceptions and comments about his person. I am sure that he will take appropriate steps to address those negative public images.

What legacy will President Buhari be remembered for as he bows out?

There are so many legacies he will be remembered for. The mistake citizens always make in accessing government is that we look more into physical achievements against certain policies he took that would shape the future of the country. Those policies can never be considered. It is debatable, but I strongly believe that the positive things Buhari did for this country in the last eight years far outweigh the negative ones. I also know that the assessment of Buhari will depend on the way the assessor looks at it and which part of the country they are from.

Many Nigerians will be surprised with your good assessment of Buhari, could it be because he has forgiven you for arresting him in the coup d’etat that ousted him as military Head of State?

What is he forgiving me for? We have overcome and put that issue that happened over 30 years ago behind us. We have recalled that incident several times and I don’t want to revisit or dwell on it again. Mr President and I have also met several times and I can tell you that my arresting him is no longer an issue again.

As a retired military man, do you think Buhari has done enough to fight insecurity in the country as he claimed?

Insecurity is an issue that has come to stay with us. It has now become an asymmetric issue. And even in developed countries, insecurity has become such a menace. Insecurity is not something that can be defeated easily. In our own case, unless we address the causes of the problems of insecurity in the country, it will persist. We must address the issue responsible for insecurity to fester in the country. Some of them include unemployment, especially among Nigerian youths, constituting menace that has become easy recruits for the bandits, and insurgence. Other causes of insecurity and criminalities include poverty, and the welfare of the people in terms of social security, which we have not been doing well. The negative effects of these causes mean that we have serious problems in this country. The painful aspect of it is that there are enough resources in this country, but the management of the funds has been the major contributory factor to the problem in the country.

My advice to the incoming government is to tackle corruption with seriousness not just pay lip service to fighting corruption. The new government must put measures in place to ensure that all those loopholes responsible for corruption are blocked. In a nutshell, it will be wrong to claim that insecurity has been tactically defeated. There is still insecurity with us because we cannot just travel to Kaduna now through any means unless by air to be safe. You feel very uncomfortable until you get to your destination. Nigerians are not secure in their homes, market, and even worship centres. People are also kidnapped at various parts of the country. I am not saying that the government did not try, but insecurity is not what can be predicted. I am, however, optimistic that the incoming government of Asiwaju will tackle insecurity head-on.

What can you advice your party, the APC, on the best solution to the lingering National Assembly leadership crisis?

Let me say that I have strong confidence in the leadership of my party. They have done the right thing in the zoning arrangement for the leadership of the 10th Assembly. The party’s leadership must stand their ground to ensure that the zoning arrangement is carried to its logical conclusion. The most important thing is carrying everybody along. APC won many parts of the country and regardless of the contribution any zone may have made, they should be carried along. Such will form the basis of enlarging the followership of the party.

Would you say that this is Nigeria of your dreams and how did you feel about what the Borno State you governed has become today?

I feel pain that there is so much insecurity in Borno State today compared to what it used to be previously, especially when I was there. There was also so much insecurity when I was the Military Administrator of the state, but I deployed orthodox measures to tackle the menace of banditry then. As for whether this is the Nigeria of my dream, I will say that generations will continue to dream. We can only do the ones we can and leave the dream to the incoming generation to work towards actualising them. The new generation will also dream of something too.

What are your fondest memories and your saddest moments?

I have lots of fond memories, but the one that will be of interest to many was when I governed Borno State. I was then a very young man who committed himself to reforming and moving the state forward. We worked tirelessly, highly committed and people loved us very well. It was very memorable seeing the people lined up on the streets the day I finally departed the state. They were all in tears, including the Emirs. Their actions showed the kind of love they had for me. Maybe they would have stoned me out of the state if I had not performed. It was so emotional that they could not even allow the aircraft to take off. They have to even bring reinforcement from policemen before they could allow the aircraft to leave. I was adjudged one of the three best governors in the country then. I feel satisfied and humbled when I remember my days in Borno State. I may have made some mistakes, but the people forgave me because of my sincerity of purpose. As for my sad moment, I will say that I thank God I have so many positive things in my life. The sad memory, which I will also accommodate in my book, also happened when I was the military administrator of Borno State. Normally, in that military era, governors were sworn in first before the Ministers. I was assigned to govern Borno, but unknown to me, the late General Sani Abacha had nominated somebody from the state for a ministerial position. The people of Borno never liked the man Abacha nominated and came to complain to me about the nomination. I tried to get across to my principal, Babangida, a day before the swearing-in without success. It was only in the morning of the swearing-in that I got him. He felt bad, but could not inform me that the man was Sani Abacha’s nominee. He directed me to come to Abuja with the CVs of three persons, which I did. The problem was that Abacha’s nominee, already invited for the swearing-in, was already seated in the hall. The protocol removed him from there, Abacha came and directed him to go in. But the protocols fished him out again, and the ministers were sworn in without him. Abacha did not take it kindly with me, and even when I saw Abacha and Babangida and explained everything to them, Abacha was never friendly with me again. I found myself in the middle of the whole crisis. I took the bullet because I was trying to protect my principal, Babangida. I knew that any side I took that time would have been bad for me. I, however, took it as the wish of God. I have always looked at things objectively without sentiments.