THE IMPARTIAL OBSERVER
The Rise and Fall of (BGK) - Baba Gana Kingibe
Hank Eso
Sunday 14 September 2008
Networking with people, mobilizing them for a common national purpose
has always been my political engagement. I have done so in office,
I have done so out of office. It is everyday activity of a politician."
~~ Baba Gana Kingibe
Baba
Gana Kingibe, (BGK), a technocrat turned politician and one of the enduring
faces of Nigerian politics, was fired on Monday, September 8, 2008 from his
powerful position as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). It
was an unprecedented and defining moment in Nigerian politics. The ousting was
doubly significant, since it came on the heels of the abolishing of the position
of the Chief of Staff to President, which translated to more power devolving to
the SGF. It was alleged that Kingibe had written the memo that instigated the
rustication of erstwhile Chief of Staff to the President and the eventual
scraping of that office. It was most ironic, as it was telling, that President Umaru Yar’Adua arose from his sick bed to fire one of his most senior and
powerful aides.
Kingibe is a household name in Nigerian politics. A man of aristocratic and resilient airs, his gravitas and clout, however, are not linked to any known family or political pedigree. Unlike other well known Nigerian political families – Aja-Nwacukwus, Bamalis, Enahoros, Katsinas, Ibrus, Awolowos, Yar’Aduas, Mbadiwes, Ribadus, Kutis, etc., he is a stand alone. His niche, as some claim, is that his is one of the bright Northern youths handpicked by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello and subsequently sent abroad to be educated in readiness for leadership positions in the post-independence Nigeria. To that extent, BGK has done very well, perhaps so until now. However, the veracity of the claim remains essentially a matter of conjectures.
But really, who is Baba Gana Kingibe – a man many love to hate because of his political machinations and, some say, his unbridled ambition? Essentially, Kingibe has been in active politics and in the Nigerian corridors of powers since he left the university. To place him appropriately in the context on Nigerian politics and power, one needs to understand the environment in which he has operated. As Allison Ayida, a veteran of Nigerian government and politics observed in his memoirs, “Walking in the shadow of the corridor of power gives a young man the exciting feeling that the world is at his feet.” These observations are a fitting dispensation and remit for Kingibe. Yet, many Nigerians see Kingibe as a man with numerous political sins that sufficiently match his equally numerous political accomplishments. Hence, just as many loath him, many others love and befriend him.
Kingibe’s first sin is indubitably his insensate ambition to become Nigerian president and, perhaps, the first university-educated Northerner to do so, as evidenced by his total lack of interest in state politics and offices. Yar’Adua, ironically beat him to that goal. In reality, however, Kingibe has long been groomed for leadership. In addition, he is eminently well tutored and therefore qualified for national leadership tasks. Having been a foreign service officer, an ambassador, a principal officer at the supreme military headquarters, a political director in the cabinet office, secretary of the constituent assembly, minister of interior, minister of foreign affairs, minister of power and steel, a member of the Inter-Congolese Facilitation team, and a special representative of the AU [African Union], his resume is an enviable one. Fittingly, renowned Nigerian blogger, Dr. Wumi Akintinde cited Kingibe, amongst others as “a recurring decimal in the Nigerian political equation.”
In active politics, Kingibe has been chairman of a major political party, a vice presidential candidate, a presidential candidate and, most recently, Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He was on the Abiola-Kingibe Social Democratic Party (SDP) ticket that won the annulled 1993 presidential elections, considered the freest and most credible in Nigeria’s history. These, unquestionably, are very impressive credentials, except of course, that BGK is also a man with hefty political baggage and the attending detractions and enmity.
For starters, many disdain Kingibe because he is well versed in Nigeria’s military anti-politics and has been a key beneficiary. Secondly, he is very outspoken to the point of being arrogant. Nevertheless, it is much to his credit that he can easily mix such bluntness with his fine diplomatic skills. However, if Kingibe has committed a cardinal political sin, it is the widely held belief about his presumed betrayal of Chief MKO Abiola and the June 12 cause. In 2007, Ubanese Nwanganga summed up the angst against Kingibe with these acerbic words:
“BGK has demonstrated that he has no conscience. He has no conviction. He is like a prostitute, who engages any number of different men a night just for her money. There is no attachment to such relationships. She wants the money and how it is made is immaterial.” (see The Return of Baba Gana Kingibe)
These, surely, are very unflattering words.
Ironically, the supposed crime of betrayal is truly one for which Kingibe may in fact be innocent. Unfortunately, no one believes him when he says that he did not betray Abiola in 1993 by joining the military government of his fellow Kanuri, General Sani Abacha. I gathered reliably that Kingibe, though a beneficiary, was not a part of the core group that negotiated that political arrangement, which reportedly took place well after midnight on 18 November,1993 at the Flagstaff House in Lagos, (then Abacha’s residence). The outcome of that late night meeting, which reportedly involved Abacha, Abiola, Obasanjo, Diya, and some other Nigerian powerbrokers, led to Kingibe and others being coopted into the Abacha's regime on the understanding that a transitional government led by Abacha would not last beyond six months after which Abiola would be installed president.
There is ample evidence that Kingibe, along with Lateef Jakande and Ebenezer Babatope, only agreed to join the Abacha government after personally receiving Abiola’s consent and blessing. Bola Tinubu recalled his personal involvement in the events of those heady days, and more specifically, as it related to Lateef Jakande’s cooption:
We got to him [Jakande] at 2.30 a.m. When Abiola narrated the story, the discussion with Diya and Abacha, he said, well, we should go along with it and that he was going to take the appointment in Abacha’s cabinet and he could be trusted to work for June 12. He swore he would resign if they reneged.
(See Tinubu’s interview with The News, 26 October 1998.)
When Abiola and Abacha met again on 23 November, 1993, they sealed their agreement on the composition of the Abacha government despite deep misgiving on Abiola’s part on whether he could fully trust Abacha. Until this day, Kingibe has remained consistent in his claim that he had joined Abacha’s cabinet as foreign minister at Abiola’s behest. Many, however, are still averse to Kingibe’s claim of innocence seeing that, several weeks before then, he had publicly advocated the military ousting Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government (ING), even if obliquely, by saying that, “Leaving Shonekan in charge is like the military putting on a glove."
It is still unclear why Kingibe has elected not to speak out on the facts of the events of those stormy and febrile days, especially when he is wrongly excoriated for betrayal and “lack of ideological commitment.” Equally baffling is that none of the other key actors has spoken the truth to power about those events, Jakande, Babatope. and General Oladipo Diya included. As Fazil Ope-Agbe recalled in his 2004 op-ed piece, “The same people who claim to be annoyed with Babangida for denying Abiola his mandate were in the cabinet of the government which held Abiola in detention” (Vanguard, Friday, October 01, 2004).
Controversy over Kingibe’s position on June 12 arose mainly from an exchange he subsequently had with Abiola, in which he reportedly said to Abiola, “Chief, you know, I’m not like you, you are a business man, I’ve always been a government man who earns salary." It was in this context that Kingibe’s action was seen to have quashed any attempt to actualize the 1993 election mandate. Whereas it might seem plausible for Kingibe, Jakande, and Babatope to be deemed culpable of betrayal, clearly that should not be the case, considering the context of the understanding that led to their joining the Abacha cabinet and their need to hang close to Abacha in the hope of actualizing 12 June. Indeed, they were to be Abiola's representatives and his “eye in the Abacha government.” Former Governor Bola Tinubu confirmed as much in his aforementioned 1998 interview. In addition, in Nigeria where primordial considerations and loyalties still drive politics, it is hard for some observers to accept that Kingibe could be far more loyal to Abiola and principles than to his fellow Kanuri and his personal ambitions. Unfortunately, Kingibe never stridently denounced the 1993 annulment in public, a point African scholar George B. N. Ayittey seems to validate, in noting, “nor did he make a sound of protest or resign when his running mate, Abiola, was thrown into jail” (Africa in Chaos, p.352).
Still some analysts, including this writer, believe that Kingibe’s reticence is all part of his political instinct of self-preservation, his value of the essence of confidentiality on good and bad deals and part of his overall political scheming for the ultimate end game. He was always one to play his cards close to his chest and to pull the joker on his interlocutors, when it was most exigent to do so. Tellingly, being a shrewd political operator meant that such considerations were routine.
It takes an understanding of life encounters and thinking of a man like Kingibe to be able to parse his overall attitude and outlook. Shortly after his removal, a journalist confronted Kingibe with the allegation that his political actions had been beyond pale, since he was “oiling his political machinery.” A visibly irritated Kingibe retorted: “What does oiling a political machinery mean? I am a devoted and committed member of the Peoples Democratic Party and, by the grace of God, I have some political experience. Of course, networking with people, mobilizing them for a common national purpose, has always been my political engagement. I have done so in office, I have done so out of office. It is everyday activity of a politician." In those brief words, the man summed up his persona. Whether he is engaged in political networking or political machinations as many see it, Kingibe has and will always be a victim of his political talents and even his best intentions.
It is known that Baba Gana Kingibe was keen admirer of late President John F. Kennedy (JFK), but it is not known if he fashioned his political aspirations after Kennedy. However, it would not be farfetched to say that Kingibe, who has long coveted being Nigeria’s president, shared a similar three-letter initials -BGK- with the popular American president. This much is known and that is where there may be some parallels between the two men: but for his well-known insensate ambition, Kingibe is one of the few men in Nigeria well schooled, fully trained, and qualified to lead the country if good and purposeful leadership is premised on political training and experience. His political tutelage is diverse and diametric and includes a deep grasp of both military and civilian leadership scope and methods. I am yet to hear anyone accuse him of either being unpatriotic or being an ideological extremist. Therefore, we can safely assume that he loves Nigeria and is not an ideologue. Indeed, every Nigerian leader from General Yakubu Gowon to President Umaru Yar’Adua has known and called Kingibe by his first name.
Kingibe, a Kanuri, started his political foray, which came crashing this week, very early in life. Born on 25 June, 1945, he hails from Borno State. Following his primary and secondary education in Nigeria, he went off to England, not to the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy like some northern youths of his time but to the University of Sussex, where he studied International Relations. On graduation, he went off to Bush House and trained briefly as radio news features apprentice at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Training School, London. He returned to Nigeria in 1969 during the civil war, and joined the academic staff of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria as a lecturer in the Department of Political Science.
In 1970, Kingibe sought greener and activist pastures, when he joined the Northern Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NNBC) as head of Current Affairs and Features Department. From there, he promptly transferred as a mid-ranking officer to the Nigerian Diplomatic Service, serving for four years, 1972-976 and rising to the diplomatic rank of Senior Counselor in the Ministry of External Affair. Several months after the advent of the Murtala-Obasanjo regime, Kingibe made a career-enhancing move by arranging his posting in 1976 to the Supreme Military Headquarters, Lagos as a Principal Political Secretary reporting directly to late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, the Chief of General Staff. There, he and the likes of Patrick Dele Cole became key trusted members Obasanjo’s foreign policy kitchen cabinet from 1976 onward. He remained at the presidency after the return to civilian rule in October 1979, and subsequently became Principal Political Secretary, Executive Office of the President.
Kingibe’s next move was to the Cabinet Office where. using the past experience and connection with the military, he continued to play a proactive role in the foreign policy, political, and security matters along with fellow northerner Adamu Mohammed as well as Stephen B. Agodo, under Mr. Grey Longe -- the then Secretary to the Federal Government. He served briefly as Nigeria’s ambassador to Greece and Cyprus and, in time, became a permanent secretary in charge of special services in the Cabinet Office.
Kingibe is a political survivor with many ups and downs but someone who has never been ignominiously removed from a public position, until now. In a nation where erring public servants are rarely chastised, such a dismissal was really a downer. Clearly, from the broad unsympathetic reactions his ousting elicited even from his homestead, Kingibe is clearly not a very well-liked man. More charitably, he is considered a power-hungry man who had inevitably made powerful enemies. When his day of reckoning came - not a moment too soon, some say - it became clear that he had managed to array potent forces against himself. Understandably, there were hardly any tears.
Politically, Kingibe could pass for a cat with nine lives. He has his loyalists and supporters. Similarly, he has his trenchant critics, avid traducers, and avowed political enemies. But BGK is his own best advocate. He is also a survivor - a Darwinist and Machiavellian combined. Indeed, if Machiavelli was a Nigerian, his name would have been Kingibe. In the realm of Nigerian politics, except for Ibrahim Babangida, very few men alive are as dexterous at political scheming and machinations as Kingibe, whom observers have characterized as an "astute tactician," but also as a “calculating moral mutant.”
Absolutionists would contend that Kingibe may have outlived his usefulness to Yar’Adua. After all, he was brought into office in June 2007 to counterbalance the residual political forces and vestiges of Obasanjo’s administration. The charges against him include political machinations and orchestrating rumors about the President Yar’Adua’s illhealth, while scheming to usurp him and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. Additionally, he was alleged to have calculatingly withheld information on state of the Yar’Adua’s health and of instigating the "bugging" of Vice President Jonathan’s office to gain the leverage he would use in negotiating his appointment as the Vice President, should Yar’Adua step down or become incapacitated. Notwithstanding his renowned ambition, Kingibe is all things but naďve. He is far too experienced to let lesser skilled politicians upend him.
In all the eight years of Obasanjo’s presidency, Kingibe laid low and stayed mostly abroad, knowing how unforgiving OBJ was and mindful that he served under Abacha, who locked Obasanjo and Abiola up. Unsurprisingly, Obasanjo had vehemently opposed Kingibe’s choice as SGF, citing again Kingibe’s vaulting ambition and warning Yar’Adua of the risks of trusting such a political astute, intelligent. and wily politician with such a sensitive position.
However, if the truth be told, President Yar’Adua may have singularly created the present near-constitutional crisis, first by not being open to the nation about his health and, second, by reportedly devolving his statutory powers to Kingibe rather than to VP Jonathan when earlier on he went to Germany for medical treatment. It is unknown if he was baiting Kingibe, but the seeds of bad faith had been sown either way. Any which way, it was Yar’Adua who made Kingibe the de facto Vice President and the “puppet-master” for Vice President Jonathan. For his part, Kingibe adopted the Alexander Haig’s “I’m in charge” mentality and attitude to his own peril. Eventually, he got trapped. Yar’Adua may have realized that he had a problem on his hands when his deputy threatened to resign because Kingibe, reportedly, “was not only usurping his functions, he was not deferring to him on issues." This fact leads this pundit to conclude that a greater threat to national security, posed by a potential constitutional crisis that might have ensued if there was an attempt to bypass VP Jonathan for the presidency, led to Kingibe’s downfall. In a nutshell, the cost of keeping Kingibe in office had excessively outweighed the cost of firing him. More importantly, I believe that Yar’Adua in keeping with his respect for the rule of law wanted to preempt any visceral and internecine succession struggle should he decide to step down or become incapacitated.
Kingibe may have lost this battle but not the war. His political scorecard already contains many victories. It needs to be recalled that on 7 October, 1989 when Babangida formed two political parties, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), Kingibe opted out of being directly involved in chaperoning them. He had his eyes set on higher goals, so the task went to two of his fellow bureaucrats, Stephen B. Agodo for SDP and Adamu Fika the NRC. Subsequently, during the Abuja Convention for the SDP, Baba Gana Kingibe emerged the party-chairman, while Tom Ikimi became NRC chairman.
Also, few people recall now that Kingibe did beat MKO Abiola in the first round of the 1993 Jos Convention nomination, but later on backed him and became his running mate. We forget also, that Atiku Abubakar was to have been Abiola’s running mate, but was schemed out by Kingibe, even though it was said that the direct intervention by General Babangida and pressure from the SDP governors had turned the tides in his favor. Had Obasanjo not pulled his political coup in selecting the Yar’Adua-Goodluck team, Kingibe, who had declared his intention to run for the presidency in 2007, might have been victorious. Had he emerged the PDP nominee, the North and the party would have backed him fully. These are solid testimonies to his scheming and survival abilities.
Kingibe is a man of many adjectival qualifications – some good and some not so complimentary. However, as one observer noted, he “is a charismatic orator, with a good command of the English language and a keenly developed diplomatic mien evident in the way he responds to questions and comments. He has also cultivated a grassroots and populist following and so belongs to that rare breed of Nigerian political elites who enjoy the sincere patronage and trust of the common folk.” A converse assessment of the man could very well be damning, and therein rests the enigma of Kingibe.
The man many fondly refer to simply as Ambassador Kingibe, like his predecessors in the office of the SGF, including Abdul Azeez Atta, Allison Ayida, Grey Longe, Olu Falae, and Ufot Ekaette, remains a very skilled and perceptive bureaucrat and nimble politician. Nonetheless, his blind ambition which doubles for his shadow has been his Achilles heels. It also led to his present predicament.
On a positive note, President Ya’Adua may have presented Kingibe with a rare and much needed catharsis as well as an opportunity to retreat, reflect, and reassess. All his political sins tallied up, it would still be a huge mistake to totally or politically write off Baba Gana Kingibe, or do away with such a political talent. As Kingibe has already declared, “…I will do what I know best, which is to put together all men and women of goodwill behind my national endeavour….” Surely, given the vagaries of Nigerian politics, we have not seen or heard the last of BGK.
With neither anger nor partiality, until next time, keep the law, stay impartial, and observe closely.
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Hank Eso is a columnist for Kwenu.com. His commentaries on Nigerian politics and global issues have appeared in The New Times (Lagos), African Profile International (New York), The Nigerian And Africa Abroad, (New York), African Market News (New Jersey) and in Gamji.com and Nigeriavillagesquare.com
© Hank Eso, Sunday 14 September 2008.
Email: hankeso@aol.com