Human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has strongly condemned former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida’s recent book launch, describing it as “a pack of lies.”
“I’m convinced, and I have expressed even before the book was launched a few days ago that it was going to be a pack of lies. My own conviction starts from the fact that Nigeria is so backward that justice is so delayed that people’s lives are ruined, the economy of this country was destroyed, the future of this country was suspended in 1993 by Babangida,” Sowore stated.
He criticized Babangida’s return after 32 years, particularly the presidential library launch that raised over N17 billion in three hours, stating, “For him to come back 32 years later to slap the Nigerian people in the face with a book launch and a launch for his presidential library which raised over N17 billion in three hours instead of rotting in jail shows that Nigeria is not working.”
Speaking on the annulled 1993 election, Sowore said, “I feel so sad but it is interesting that this has been our position for the 32 years that Abiola won the election which he ought to have been made President immediately and this country would have made considerable progress travelling down the lane of democratic progress and economic progress.”
“IBB has never told the truth in his life, and I’m not surprised that he has continued to engage in falsehood. The Yorubas have a common saying that when a criminal wants to lie, he will say that his witness has died. That is what IBB did exactly with mentioning Abacha,” he added.
Sowore called for accountability regarding various incidents during Babangida’s regime, including the death of journalist Dele Giwa, the phantom coup allegations, suspicious military plane crashes, and the disappearance of $12 billion from the Gulf War oil windfall.
“There are a lot of crimes involved with Babangida’s eight-year tenure that require immediate criminal investigation and prosecution,” he emphasized.
Concluding his statement, Sowore declared, “Babangida is a villain, and he should be consigned to the dustbin of history. It is my hope that that will happen one day very soon.”
-Newspot Nigeria
