By Yushau A. Shuaib

It was on the platform of the Arewa Economic Forum (AEF) that intellectuals, business people and retired public functionaries debated which one performed better between the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) and the civilian administration of General Muhammadu Buhari.

While IBB was born on the 17th of August, 1941 in Niger State, Buhari was born on the 17th of December 1942 in Katsina State.

Strangely, Colonel Sambo Dasuki facilitated the coup that brought Buhari to power on December 31, 1983, after the Shehu Shagari-led civilian government was overthrown. Major Jokolo, a former Aide de Camp to Buhari, confirmed this.

Interestingly, Dasuki also allegedly played a major role in the overthrow of Buhari from power on August 27, 1985, with General Babangida being posed as a better and more affable replacement to the stolid Buhari. Dasuki, who afterward served as ADC to IBB, was later appointed the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the government of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012, in order to renew the vigour of the fight against the then rampaging Boko Haram terrorists.

While Babangida spent eight years of uninterrupted power from 1985, until his resignation in 1993 as military ruler, Buhari had a similar uninterrupted eight-year tenure as an elected civilian President, before handing over to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu earlier this year.

Immediately after his inauguration in 2015, Dasuki was the first victim of Buhari’s illegal incarcerations, which defied repeated court orders calling for his release, and which continued until after his re-election in 2019. It was after winning a second term in office that he decided to release the Sokoto Prince.

The administrations of IBB and Buhari are often compared in case studies on the difference between a military and a civilian government. In the social media platforms of the AEF and other similar groups, the facts are evident on the performance of these leaders on our nation’s security, socio-economic and political landscape.

In their preference for the administration of General IBB, his supporters always cite the progressive manner in which he restructured the Nigerian federation through the creation of 11 states, thereby reducing local restiveness as the yoke of group dominance was reduced across the different zones of the country. The states that IBB created comprise Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Osun, Taraba and Yobe.

His enthusiasts also list the establishment of security agencies such as the State Security Service (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), to a lesser extent, as some of his enduring legacies when in power.

Similarly, they cite the construction of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, the Shiroro Hydroelectric Power Station in Niger, the Toja Bridge in Kebbi, Jibia Water Treatment Plant in Katsina, the Kano Challawa Cenga Dam, Abuja Dual Carriageway, and the Aluminium Smelter Company in Ikot Abasi, as some in his catalogue of major achievements in office.

In the areas of works and housing, the Babangida administration constructed the ECOWAS Headquarters in Abuja, Aso Rock Villa, the Federal Secretariat, International Conference Centre, the National Assembly complex, Central Bank building, International Airport Phases 1 and 2, military barracks, and the opening and development of significant districts, such as Asokoro, Maitama, Garki, Wuse and Jabi Districts, within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

At the state level, the Babangida administration constructed the Federal Housing Authority estates, High Court buildings, water supply schemes, specialised hospitals, nationwide offices for the two political parties – SDP and NRC, and branches of the Federal Mortgage Bank across the country.

In a deliberate effort to revitalise the education sector, the military regime of General Babangida established the National Primary Education Commission; Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council; National Commission for Nomadic Education; National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education; Federal School of Surveying; National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure; among others.

IBB’s supporters further claim that his administration maintained the fiscal stability of the country by subsidising petroleum products in a way that helped to curtail inflation and the cost of living crisis, whilst securing the foreign exchange rate and paying the salaries and pension of workers when due.

Meanwhile, the devotees of the Buhari administration list his achievements as including the establishment of the most extensive Social Investment Programme in Africa to act as safety net for the poor and vulnerable; and the expansion of agricultural productivity through the Anchor Borrowers Programme, which enabled Nigeria to become the largest rice producer in Africa within five years.

They also mention the diversification of the economy from its wholesale dependency on oil production, while providing a combination of budget support, revenue refunds and debt restructuring of more than N3 trillion to state governments to prevent the erosion of the country’s sub-national economies. More so, Buhari is routinely lauded for his comprehensive efforts in re-equipping the Nigerian military, in enhancing security in the country.

According to the Buhari supporters, he oversaw the most significant legislative reform programme in Nigeria’s history through the assent into law of a raft of noteworthy and progressive proposed legislation, which subsequently became the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Startup Act, the revised Corporate and Allied Matters (CAMA) Act, the revised Electoral Act, the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act, the Business Facilitation Act, Police Act, Not Too Young To Run Act, etc. He also signed over 16 constitutional amendment bills into law and issued 14 Presidential Executive Orders, as his administration launched the new Enhanced Electronic Passport, the new visa policy, and the visa-on-arrival policy.

While he established the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) and issued the landmark Executive Order Number 7 of 2019 (Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme), he also completed the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge rail line and the extension of the railway to the Apapa Port.

President Buhari completed the Second Niger Bridge, the 700MW Zungeru Power Plant, the 186-kilometre Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge rail line, the Abuja light rail, the new international airport terminals in the six geopolitical zones of the country, the Kashimbila Dam and Power Plant, the Dadin Kowa Power Plant, and the concession of the Onitsha River Port.

Apart from launching the Presidential Power Initiative with Siemens, towards an accelerated transformation of the power sector, the Buhari administration kick-started the NLNG Train 7, the 614-kilometre AKK Gas Pipeline, the Kano-Maradi Standard Gauge Rail, and a total overhaul of the Port Harcourt refinery. The former president also supported the construction of the largest single-train refinery in the world, the Dangote Refinery; the first deep-sea port in Nigeria; the first large-scale commercial gold mine; several modular refineries; and more than 60 fertiliser blending plants in Nigeria.

Further to his slew of achievements in office, President Buhari approved a new extended retirement age of 65 for civil servants such as teachers, an increased length of service (40 years) and a new Special Teachers Salary Scale (TSS). He equally established the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, paid Biafra Police Pensioners decades after their pardon, and commenced the Clean-Up programme on oil spills in the Ogoni area.

One of the best decisions his administration took was in the appointment of Professor Isa Ali Pantami as the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy. Pantami spearheaded record-setting contributions to the country’s GDP from the ICT sector, at the rate of 18.44 per cent in the second quarter of 2022, up from 14.07 per cent in the first quarter of 2020. Under Pantami’s leadership, the launch of 5G in the telecom industry generated over $500 million in licensing fees at the spectrum auction to successful private companies.

The establishment of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) and Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) are among other notable achievements of the Buhari civilian administration.

Rather interestingly, while the supporters of both administrations sought to spotlight what were the high points and massive gains made under the different leaders, I however observed that most of them deliberately refused to mention the fight against corruption – possibly the greatest culprit in the country’s lack of sustained development till date – as an attainment of either administration.

This is probably because the average Nigerian was never carried away by the rhetoric of the different administrations, which were more on the level of articulation than action, as members of each dug their hands deeper into the commonwealth, while engaging the game of facile generalisations.

More worrisome was the fact that the anti-corruption fight became a selective game of persecution of enemies of each administration and the opposition, while the cronies of those in power were accorded official protection as they went about their own prebendal activities.