The family of the late General Mamman Jiya Vatsa, who was executed in 1986 on allegations of participating in a coup against General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s military administration, has responded to statements made by Babangida in his autobiography.
Babangida claimed that Vatsa’s execution was justified due to sufficient evidence implicating him in the coup.
During a press briefing in Minna on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the family and former Commissioner for Information, Culture, and Tourism in Niger State, Hon. Jonathan Tsado Vatsa, addressed Babangida’s allegations.
He described Babangida as a man who has lost credibility, citing the numerous lies contained in his belated autobiography, which has sparked widespread negative reactions across the country.
The former commissioner, who is a cousin of the late General Mamman Vatsa, stated that he chose not to respond until he finished reading the book, which he described as filled with deceits and distorted facts.
He emphasized that Babangida’s book cannot serve as a reliable reference for young and upcoming generations, but rather for individuals with criminal intentions.
He remarked, “a collection of distorted facts called book written by a man without identity cannot serve as a reference book for younger generation but a good reference book for criminal minded people”.
The former Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger State, overwhelmed with emotion and on the verge of tears while addressing the media in Minna, stated that ordinarily, the family would not engage in a dispute with someone who changed his identity to belong to a particular ethnic group in the country.
However, since Babangida has refused to allow the late General Mamman Vatsa to rest in peace after his death, “we will let him know that even in death, late General Mamman Vatsa is a more honourable man because he has an identity, he came from a home”.
According to him, “Babangida admitted in his book that he changed the name Badamasi to Babangida so that people will know he is from the north, stressing that “where did he get the name Badamasi from in the first place because northerners don’t bear the name Badamasi. That name is synonymous to the South West people. A man who denied his tribe and identity is not fit to live”.
He stated further that the many lies in Babangida’s book is a clear evidence that he is not a genius the Nigerian media created for him, rather “a Lilly-livered” General for annulling the June 12 and failing to retired late General Abacha for fear of being killed by Abacha loyalists in the Army as claimed in his book.
“How can he lie that it was Abacha who annulled the June 12 1993 Presidential election, if he was in control as a 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”.
Honestly, Jonathan Vatsa believed that those who advised Babangida to write the bunch of lies and blackmails called autobiography have further dented his already battered image, stressing that “it was better for him to keep quiet than dishing out chunk of lies and deceit far from the truth about yourself as a human being.
“Unfortunately the man he accused of annulling the June 12 and all the actors in the June 12 controversy are no more today to tell their own story and that is why no serious-minded individual should take the book serious.
“This is the man that had earlier said he will not write any book because according to him, there are people he cannot resist abusing and that he wouldn’t want to hurt their children and ground children but what has done now, this lack of emotional instability.
“Even in death, Babangida has refused to allow late General Vatsa and his family has peace, he is still troubling the dead man and his entire family. Well people have seen the end of our brother, but Babangida doesn’t know how he will end.
“Our joy is that the reactions of Nigerians after the so-called book presentation shows that the killing of late General Vatsa was done out of envy, malice and hatred. It was a case of a man with a root and identity versus someone who has no root and a second name”.
The APC Chieftain in Niger state while expressing regrets over cream of personalities that gathered for the book lunch, pointed out that the country called Nigeria is a huge joke, a country where people who called themselves leaders act before they think, highlighting that no reasonable Nigerian who is benefiting from the current democratic system which the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola’s struggle and his eventual death brought to Nigeria should have donated towards this revelation of evil done to Nigeria and Nigerians, called autobiography.
“This has further confirmed why some Nigerians in their opinions believe that this country is worth not dying for. If not, how can we as a people gathered to celebrate evil done to a nation by an individual”, he queried.
Hon. Jonathan Vatsa stated further that the late General Vatsa told the then Military tribunal that tried him that the day the Nigerian Army started insulting itself others will join, so by this book, Babangida has insulted himself and others will join”, he submitted.
READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
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