Posted by By Our correspondent, Punch Nigeria on
There are indications that former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, has not been welcome in the United States since 1989.
There are indications that former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, has not been welcome in the United States since 1989.
Empowered Newswire, a Nigerian news agency in the US, quoted top US sources, including formerly classified documents now declassified, as showing that while the US government once considered receiving Babangida on an official state visit, all that changed around 1989.
Specifically, some declassified US documents have shown that as far back as 1989, Babangida, even while he was in office, did not get the US authorities' nod to visit the country.
In a March 1989 memo that was sent by the then US Ambassador in Nigeria, Princeton Lyman, to Washington D.C, he wrote, "I am sorry to say that we can no longer play low-key on Babangida‘s desire for a visit, which I would have preferred to do. Septel reports most eager request from Babangida himself in meeting with Jeb Bush, which frankly caught us all off guard."
Further documents showed that while former President George H. Bush, father of the current US president, was in office, Babangida received his son (now Governor of Florida State) on a private visit to Nigeria. That was when Babangida broached the idea of a visit to the US.
Although the US may have considered Babangida for a visit before that time, it was clear, based on the information now available that afterwards, Babangida became a persona non grata in the US for reasons yet to be publicly disclosed.
For instance, in another previously classified documents dated March 1989, a visit of the then US President George H. Bush‘s son, Jeb, was detailed. The memo recalled that Babangida had previously met Bush but not via a state visit to the US. The memo also noted that the meeting with Jeb discussed "Babangida‘s desire to visit the US."
Again, in that memo, a discussion ensued between Jeb and Babangida and Jeb, who had just been given a "very warm welcome" on his arrival in Nigeria for a five-day visit, wanted to know when Babangida could come to the US.
Babangida then suggested that the question was for the then US Ambassador to answer when he said, according to the report, "soon, and turned to Ambassador Lyman to ask if such a visit could be arranged.
Since then Babangida never heard a positive feedback and did not make an official state visit to the US. However, in 1991, the then US Vice-President, Dan Quayle, visited Nigeria during his African tour.