A schemer extraordinaire, he was adept at dreaming up schemes, designed stratagems aimed at putting the nation down while promoting self. The Nigeria nation was his playing turf, and duly earned the sobriquet “Maradona” for the manner he “dribbled” Nigerians in those horrible eight years. At the height of his ruinous reign, he came up with the grandiose scheme of giving the nation a first Nigeria made car. He made song and dance of this scheme, whipping up as usual frenzy among the populace. As it’s customary with IBB billions of Naira was poured into this venture. The responsibility of this his great project fell to his Minister of Science and Technology a certain Professor Ezekiel, a wizened looking fellow, whose demeanor easily put him across as one who was disinterested in life.
In those days I was a Journalist at Radio Lagos. At the station’s City Office on the Lagos Island where I operated from, I covered most Federal Ministries and parastatals, including the Ministry of Science and Technology under Professor Ezekiel. For months the wizened Professor of Engineering along with his lieutenants would call press conferences to give us updates on the progress his Ministry was making on the first Nigeria made car. At the end of struggling through his prepared texts, the question me and my colleagues almost always posed at him is when we would be giving the privilege to see this car. His sleepy face would play off what seemed like a smile with assurances it was a guided secret. No matter how we tried we never got to see any car in the works. At that point some of us who had since giving up on Babangida and his fraudulent schemes, knew there was no car. But the nation was constantly reminded by the evil genius that he would soon give them a made in Nigeria car. Some of my colleagues stopped attending Professor Ezekiel press conferences altogether.
After months of waiting Nigerians were told that Maradona himself would be unveiling the first Nigeria made car to the world at the Tefawa Balewa Square, TBS, on the Island. The TBS is a stone throw from Radio Lagos City Office. That morning I walked to this magnificent edifice, a kind of mini stadium where I had covered many event before then. The ground had been taken over by IBB hired crowed of school children, civil servants, market men and women. That was the custom in those days of IBB, these segments of society were almost always used to populate his outdoor events. On this occasion the evil genius entered the arena to the rapturous ovation of the crowd, after all the man was doing the impossible – giving the nation a wholly Nigeria made car. After giving his usual rambling address, IBB and his retinue of military and NSO(Nigeria Security Organization) bodyguards toured the ground acknowledging the ovation from the crowd.
Then the moment of the unveiling came. Palpable silence flowed through the crowd when they were presented an off-whitish cobbled metal. More shocks when the car puffed up white smoke, splutter and went dead. That was the end of the event and the last we ever heard of the first made in Nigeria car. When the litany of Ibrahim Babangida’s atrocious acts against Nigeria are recounted this failed car scheme through which he embezzled billions of Naira is hardly ever remembered. Now in his twilight Babangida the evil genius is still scamming Nigerians. His journey of self service, a book filled with lies raked in some N14 billion in pledges at the Abuja presentation.
