Former presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has described Nigeria as a “mafia nation” controlled by a select group of powerful individuals.
Speaking on News Central, Momodu reacted to calls for the prosecution of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), following revelations in his autobiography, A Journey In Service.
According to him, such calls would yield no results because Babangida is one of the key figures who wield control over the country’s affairs.
Momodu explained that Nigeria’s political structure has long been influenced by these so-called “owners of Nigeria,” citing the 1999 presidential election as an example.
His words: “I do not like to engage in exercise in futility. I know for a fact that Nigeria is a mafia nation, and that is why this impunity can occur regularly and repeatedly. It’s an exercise in futility to say, go and prosecute Babangida, when he’s one of the major, major members of the owners of Nigeria. I came up with that theory in 1998-99, when General Olusegun Obasanjo was contesting against Chief Olu Falae. And I tried to get Ridwan Lukman, who was at OPEC in Vienna at that time. And I travelled to Vienna to persuade him to be a running mate to Chief Olu Falae. And Ridwan Lukman told me that the owners of Nigeria have decided that OPEC is the next president of Nigeria. And I said, are we not going to have an election? And he said, of course, we will have an election, but it’s all preconceived, preconsidered, and then predetermined.”
He further noted that Nigeria’s political system is so deeply entrenched that even reformists eventually become part of the establishment.
“So, it is virtually impossible today, the way Nigeria is configured. You can see that even President Bola Tinubu, who fought Babangida, who fought Abacha, who we were together in exile for three years in London, he couldn’t spit fire the way we used to spit fire in those days. So, Nigeria has a way of sucking you in to the extent that you become a part of the system. And anybody who knows our country very well will know that calling for the prosecution of either Gowon or Babangida or any of the principal actors is just an exercise in futility.”