75th birthday:IBB say his not an evil genius

Celebrating his 75th birthday in Minna, the capital of Niger State, yesterday, former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, protested an age-long derisive appellation, saying he was not the evil that people ascribe to him.

Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari, who Babangida pushed out of power in 1985, paid him glowing tributes yesterday “There is hardly any major episode in Nigeria’s short history where your name and contribution does not feature,” he said in a congratulatory message to his erstwhile adversary.

Widely referred to in the media as an evil genius because of his deft political manoeuvres in his days as military president, Babangida said he was a trustworthy person with an excellent background.

“I am not the evil genuis that a lot of people think I am. I have an excellent background and by my training I am trained to love people,” he told newsmen in Minna at a press briefing held as part of activities to mark his 75th birthday, which comes up today, explaining that he had been largely misunderstood and dubbed evil genuis because of his job.

He said: “I was bound to be misconstrued and people will take it like that but I consider it as opinions as long as I am not what you think I am I feel satisfied.”

Asked what he would have done differently if he had the opportunity, the former military president said he would have made the National Assembly a part-time business as one of the ways to save cost.