Babangida’s autobiography, a reference book for criminals – Vatsa Family

Babangida’s autobiography, a reference book for criminals – Vatsa Family

The family of the late General Mamman Vatsa has claimed that military president Ibrahim Babangida’s autobiography, which was released to the public last week, was full of lies and could only be used as a reference book for criminals.

Vatsa and Babangida, both from Niger State, were childhood friends and confidants. In 1986, Babangida, the military head of state at the time, hanged Vatsa on charges of plotting a coup to overthrow his administration.

A Supreme Military Tribunal convicted Vatsa and his co-conspirators guilty of the coup plot and sentenced him to death by firing squad, a sentence Vatsa disputed and appealed.

However, before the appeal was heard, the Babangida junta ordered Vatsa’s execution by firing squad.

The Vatsa family responded to a claim in Babangida’s book that the late Vatsa’s assassination was legitimate since there was enough evidence linking him to the coup and his death was necessary to safeguard the country’s security.

Hon. Jonathan Vatsa, the family’s spokesperson and former commissioner for Information Culture and Tourism in Niger State, addressed reporters and responded to Babangida’s statements in the book, which have sparked controversy.

The younger Vatsa portrayed Babangida as a man who has lost out on honor matters due to the numerous lies contained in his memoirs.

According to Jonathan Vatsa, he opted not to comment until he had read the book, observing that the book was full of deceptions and distorted facts. Vatsa stated that Babangida’s book could not serve as reference material for the younger generations.

“It’s a collection of distorted facts called a book written by a man without identity, which cannot serve as a reference book for the younger generation but is a good reference book for criminal-minded people,” he said.

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Vatsa, who was also a former Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was almost drawn to tears while addressing the media in Minna, as he explained that ordinarily, the Vatsa family wouldn’t have joined issues with a man who, he said, “changed his identity just to belong to a certain ethnic group in the country,” emphasizing that “since Babangida has refused to allow the late General Vatsa to rest in peace after killing him, we will let him know that even in death, the late General Vatsa was a more honorable man because he had an identity and came from a home.”

Vatsa said Babangida acknowledged in his book that he changed the name Badamosi to Babangida so that people would know he came from the north, saying, “Where did he get the name Badamosi from in the first place, because northerners do not bear the name Badamosi? That name is synonymous with people from the Southwest.

“A man who denied his tribe and identity is not fit to live.”

He went on to say that the numerous lies in Babangida’s book demonstrated that “he is not the genius the Nigerian media created for him, rather, “a lily-livered” general for annulling the June 12 election and failing to retire the late General Sani Abacha for fear of being killed by the Abacha loyalists in the army, as he claimed in his book.”

“How can he lie that it was Abacha who annulled the June 12 election if he was in control as the head of state? He equally admitted that the military was heavily politicized, and because of that, he couldn’t retire Abacha for fear of being killed by Abacha loyalists in the army,” he said.