BADAMASI (Portrait of a General) (2019) Movie Script

Imeela Ojukwu, imeela

Agam esoro umuaka ibem gawa

Soldier… were ezigbo

Madison gbaa ndi Awusa

Imeela Ojukwu, imeela

Agam esoro umuaka ibem gawa

Soldier… were ezigbo

Madison gbaa ndi Awusa

Imeela Ojukwu, imeela

Agam esoro umuaka ibem gawa

Soldier… were ezigbo

Madison gbaa ndi Awusa

Imeela Ojukwu, imeela

Agam esoro umuaka ibem

Oooh

Dike!

- Forty acres and a thousand men

- Dike!

Dike! Dike! Dike!

If you want to meet your maker

- …oya say amen

- Dike! Dike!

Fire in the jungle, everybody run

I don't know tomorrow I live in Babylon

Everybody wanna run

Everybody wanna stand upright

But they all fall down!

And they all fall down!

Yet they all fall down!

Wooo! Ye! And they all fall down!

Now I play the worthy enemy

When I try the thing no funny me

I finalise with tears in my eyes

Don't wanna sacrifice

Because the pressure's all on me

- Fire in the jungle everybody run

- Hold your fire!

- I don't know tomorrow, …

- Hold your fire!

…I live in Babylon

Honestly, when I was doing my

armoury course in India,

I didn't know I would use it to

fight against my own people.

You say what?

Duba, can you read me, over?

I am hurt!

Duba, can you hear me, over?

Duba, honestly…can you hear me?

Duba, talk to me.

Duba, we know where you are,

we are coming to get you.

Duba!

Hold your fire! Hold your fire!

Babangida!

Are you going to be

alright, Baba?

Everything will be

alright, Ibrahim by the grace of God.

I have to go to

hospital in Kontagora.

When are you coming back?

Your grandmother will

look after you. Okay?

But I will be okay… I will

soon get better and return.

By God's grace.

Mama went to the hospital and

she never returned.

I am not your mother.

Please look after your sister.

Death has not been kind

to me and my children.

But death could not

touch you because you are special.

Be good, my son.

May Allah make you great.

Chief,

what did he say?

What did he say?

He didn't say anything.

Come on Chief.

No one gets called into

the Headmaster's office,

without him saying anything.

Are you going to tell me or not?

Mallam Ahamadu said that

he will take care of

- my school fees.

- What did you say? You are one lucky boy.

That is not a fair thing to say

to a boy that has just lost his father.

Your father is dead.

Your mother is dead too.

Your grandma treats

you better than your mother.

Your uncles are

falling over themselves for you

and now you get free education.

If that is what orphans get, I

want to be an orphan too.

Be careful what you wish for.

I thought you were

already an orphan.

You called my mother

a whore. Did you or did you not?

What is this?

What have I done, Idris?

You said that to my brother, we

have one mother, so you said it to me.

He started it first.

He called my mother a...

That's enough!

You leave him alone.

Says who?

Because they call you a chief?

Because the Headmaster

is your father's friend?

Does not make you any

less of an almajiri than you are.

Are you okay?

You are crazy, Ibrahim. You

talk to the school bully like that?

Master Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

Do you now win the vote of

the teachers for head boy.

You have been a popular boy

since you came to the school

and that has not gone unnoticed.

By some miracle, you have

been made the head

boy of the Bida

Provincial Secondary School.

You will take assembly tomorrow

and liaise with my secretary.

You may leave.

Master Babangida,

being head boy

is not a popularity contest.

You have to make some tough

decisions to take the lead.

Many bloody heads have been put on the

block for you so please

do not let us down.

I won't let you down sir, I promise.

I hope you travelled well.

Thanks, we did. Thanks.

That's good. I called

you to discuss about Ibrahim.

Ibrahim?

Where is the telegram you showed me?

Good. Sit down there.

Hmm.

Now, tell us what it says.

Not all of us can read the

white man's language.

It says that I passed

the entrance

examination into Nigerian

Military Training College in Kaduna.

What is that?

Our son has been

selected to join the army.

Imam, we thank

you for your concern in this matter.

But Ibrahim has mentioned that

he wanted to join the

army to us before.

Our answer then was no.

Our answer now is "no".

Ibrahim, I thought you said

you wanted to build roads and bridges.

Yes, I can still

be an engineer in the army.

I hear you.

Your father wanted more for you, Ibrahim.

More than just being a soldier.

You can be anything you want

but you are not going to be a soldier.

There is more to this.

The government of the

Northern region will not give scholarship

to any student who

has refused to join the army.

What? Are they forcing

our children into the army?

Well, yes.

The Northern region needs

more officers in the army

to match the south.

Is Abdulsalam going too?

Yes, he is going. If I don't

go, the government will frustrate me.

Whatever he wants to do.

Let him go ahead and do it.

All we can do is

ask Allah to look after him.

Amen. Thank you.

- Thank you.

- It's alright.

- Thank you.

- It's alright.

Master, buy me something

Expensive to satisfy me, eh

Master buy me something

Expensive to satisfy me

Bonsue Azikwe Bonsue ayo-ayo

Bonsue Azikwe Bonsue Ayo-ayo ooo

- Eh eh eh

- Hello Maryam.

Ibrahim?

Does your brother know you are at the

- disco?

- What are you doing here?

We are celebrating finishing

our secretariat course.

- Oh, nice.

- These are my classmates.

Congrats. Congrats, ladies.

- Thank you.

- Okay, I am also here with my friends.

You know, we just finished,

ah, military academy.

And then we are also here to celebrate.

- Okay, those are my friends right there.

- Hi.

Come over, guys.

So, ladies this is Abdul-salami.

Sani Abacha.

Sanni Sami.

- Congratulations.

- And Magboro.

Oh, baby, dance for me

- I love you dancing for me

- Dancing for me

- Dancing for me.

- Oh baby, dancing for me.

- Dancing for me.

- I love you dancing for me

- Dancing for me

- Oh baby, dancing for me

- Dancing for me

I like the night. Without the dark,

we never really see the stars.

Take a look at that. It's beautiful.

It's nice.

Is that from a poem?

Hm. Poem? No, it just came out

Honestly, I don't know.

Yes, there were times you saw me crying

They never cared to wipe off

the tears coming down my face

Oh, running down my face

Looking for the one to bring me out

But fate keeps turning me

Searching for the way to see the light

The break of dawn is perfect

Waiting for the day that I will smile

The pressure keeps pressing me

But since I found hope

My only companion and this time

I am never going to let it go

Never going to let it go

See the way it shows the way to find me

I am never going to give it up

And yes, I found hope

My only companion and this time

And yes, I found hope, my only companion

And this time

And yes, I found hope

After all, that I have been through, yeah

And yes, I found hope

My only companion, and this time, I am

Just yesterday we announced that the

Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed

announced the creation of new states

the states include Bauchi, Benue, Borno

Imo, Niger, Ondo, and Ogun state.

Attention!

Your arms up!

General salute! Raise arms up!

Your arms up!

Stand aright!

We are all together.

Yes.

…any resistance will be met with

death. You are warned.

Any act of blocking of roads

would be dealt with.

Everyone should be calm. Please stay by

your radio for further announcement.

All colleges, air and seaports

are closed until further notice.

Curfew is imposed from

6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thank you.

We are all together.

Sir, was that not Buka

Dimka I just heard on radio, Sir?

Get ready. Get your boys

and go and flush him out

from the federal radio corporation, Ikoyi.

- Who else is involved, sir?

- You will find out. Now, go.

- Badamasi?

- Sir?

Dimka is very dangerous and ruthless.

I have always

warned the Head of State

not to go out without security convoy.

Sir.

Cover your positions!

Hold your fire! Hold your fire!

Buka?

It's you Ibrahim?

You are not armed, are you?

I am unarmed.

You wanted to do something like

this and you didn't tell me Buka?

Buka, you are my friend.

You should have told me.

Ibrahim, this is no joke, alright?

I am not playing games with you.

I swear, I'll kill you.

That is fine. At least, I will know

that I died by the hands of my friend.

Knowing you will look after my wife…

and my children.

Why have you come here, Ibrahim?

I have come to see you…

…as my friend.

And tell you, let us give this up now.

This is not going to work.

- Of course, it is going to work.

- Innocent people will get hurt.

Ibrahim, what do you know? These

people… these people, they hate you.

You are the most hated

officer around here.

Why, why, why don't you come

and join us and be

and be part of us?

Look, they wanted

you dead, but I… I, I saved you.

I am not afraid to die. You know me.

If I wanted you dead,

I would have shot you

from the moment you

stepped into this place.

Let's go.

How is it going out there?

You only have the radio station.

You cannot execute a coup only on radio.

Well, I know.

He is dead. I… I shot him myself.

But Gen Aguyi Ironsi, Colonel… is loyal.

Mamman Rasta, …Usman Jubril, Umaru

Mohammed, they are all loyal.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Listen. Listen, Ibrahim. Okay, this is

what happens when you work without a…

[Dimka breathes heavily

Tell Danjuma that he…

he would wriite a written amnesty for…

for all my men.

And, uh,

If I…,

then we'll talk again.

…necessary

filed by the tribunal.

Those condemned to death

by firing squad have been executed today.

This includes Lt. Col B. L. Dimka, and Mr.

J. E Badmus.

Two of the principal actors

of the attempted coup.

I am tired of these bloody

civilian bosses.

I swear,

these civilians are like children.

They can't even help themselves.

They are taking care

of the military. So I am fine.

But if this country scatters,

there won't be any military here.

Look,

so, why don't you do something about it?

Do not vote them in next time.

You know why I am here, abi?

Good.

I can't believe this, Chief.

I can't believe it.

Haba, Sani, come come, just...

At least, take a minute to

think about it, will you?

You want me to join the traitors

against my own country?

This is just like an express road to…

to firing squad. Think

- about that, too.

- Sani!

Sani, you and I have known ourselves

too long to be playing this

military honour games.

The question is are we going

to act to save our country?

It is our duty and privilege to act.

I know you have been called too

many names but not coward.

This is me, Sani. I cannot do

this without you, my brother.

Who else is involved in this?

Do we expect any trouble?

Maybe a few boys I do not trust.

We have to send them on leave

immediately. We don't want any bloodshed.

Look, what we are doing is very dangerous.

Any single mistake can end all of us

in front of a firing squad.

You are the one who is

closest to the president,

so you have to be the one to arrest him.

We don't want him hurt.

In fact we may not have

to fire a single bullet.

May Allah help us.

So there will be no resistance

from the guild of guards?

I have just confirmed from Colonel Ogbeha,

and he has spoken to the

commander, Captain Ayanbo, so we don't

expect any resistance.

So, if we win, who is going to take over?

Don't look at me that way. Look, I am not

interested in this, I hope you understand.

I have no interest,

absolutely. You, are you interested?

Left right,

left right, left right.

What about, uh, Major General Buhari?

He seems to have just done very well

with the Chad crisis and uh, clean.

Lele, fire

Lele, ulele, soldier. Fire my soldier

Lele, fire. Lele, ulele, soldier

Fire my soldier

Lele, fire. Lele, ulele, soldier

Fire my soldier

Lele, fire. Lele, ulele, soldier

Fire my soldier

Lele, fire. Lele, ulele, soldier

Fire my soldier

Uh, Captain Bamidele, I am very busy.

I need to go home. How may I help you?

Sir, I said I should come

and see you and talk about

my fears.

- Your fears?

- There is something happening.

I think… I think they want

to sabotage the government.

- Do you mean a coup?

- Yes, sir.

Who is planning it?

You have gone dumb?

What did you hear and from whom?

Never mind, sir. I think I am mistaken.

I am sorry to have disturbed you.

Sir, I said I am sorry.

Please, sir. Sir, please.

Hello… I think

the time is now or never.

Hey, stop, stop right there.

Stop!

Fellow countrymen and women, I,

Brigadier Sani Abacha of the army

addressing you this morning on behalf

of the Nigerian armed forces.

After due consultation

over this deplorable condition,

I and my colleague in the armed forces

have the discharge of our National role

and protection and promotion

of our National Interest…

Okay. Okay. No trouble at all.

Fine. No problem. Fine, fine.

Thank you.

Please, sit down.

Ah, ah,

You know that this is the

political side that I don't like.

Left to me,

I will take the best.

I don't care if they

are all from Daura.

I understand.

So, ah, in that case, ah, Idiagbon

will be the Chief of our

Staff, Supreme Headquarters. And you

will be the Chief of Army Staff.

That is, uh, very fine.

That is all I ever wanted to be

since I joined the army anyway.

I am very happy.

Ah-ah Fine.

In that case, I will announce it

at the Council meeting this afternoon.

- Okay

- No problem.

Sir,

one more thing your excellency.

Brigadier Idiagbon is my junior.

How will it work?

Don't worry. We will see to that.

This wasn't what we agreed.

I helped

make this change of government happen.

I know, you contributed.

What have I got for it?

If you are talking about your

newsprint that was seized.

I am not talking about newsprint.

People are suffering.

There is fear in the land.

Apart from seizing my newsprint they

retired Guso.

Aliyu Muhammed is being investigated.

I even heard that they wire taped

his home. Who do you think is next?

Me? Hmm. Don't flatter me, Kola. Why me?

Because you are too smart.

Because they are afraid of you.

You control the armoury division.

Your association with civilians

like me frightens them.

They will either retire you or hang a

phantom coup

on your neck to eliminate you.

Why are you telling me this, Kola?

Have you finished?

Most Nigerians go through life without

having the opportunity to become a hero.

I believe this is our second chance.

If they sent you, Kola,

tell them you didn't find me.

Maryam, in the military,

if you hear a coup and you don't,

report it, you are as guilty as the

people that planned it.

So… what are you going to do?

General, there was a meeting?

It was not a meeting. Just uh impromptu.

But I was with you a few minutes ago.

Why… why didn't you tell me

there was an impromptu meeting?

May I go in?

He is busy, General.

General, it is me.

The Head of State couldn't

be possibly too busy for me.

Honestly, he is. But you can see

him tomorrow or next week.

Alright, Chief of Staff.

Supreme Headquarters.

Can the Head of State have this?

Your friend, for you sir.

Something is wrong.

He is talking about the

Abiola sting last night.

He is a smart man.

Which is why I say we should

arrest him immediately, sir.

Give me the order to arrest him.

Do you know what will happen

if we are wrong about this?

I am not wrong, sir. I feel it.

Something is not right.

[Sani They are closing in on us, sir.

We need to act now.

On two conditions, Sani.

What condition?

That we live out our four years

and hand over to civilians in 1990.

We can't quickly rush

back to civilian rule.

Looking at what happened in 1979.

And the second,

we will not kill the Head of State or any

member of his cabinet.

We cannot execute a coup without

killing. It is very impossible.

Yes, we can, Sani. We can.

I don't want the cure to be worse

than the disease. Not a single bullet

would be fired.

Even in self-defense?

If we carry

out the plans strictly,

we won't have to lift a

single finger in self-defense.

Okay.

Praise be to the Allah.

Haba oga

He's my friend and we need some

of his intelligence contacts.

We just need tanks

We need more than tanks. We need men.

Very loyal men.

They already have eyes on Gusau.

They are watching him closely.

Gusau already knows that. I

have already spoken to him.

Why?… Gusau?

Sani?

It is all of us or none of us.

Sani, just the man I wanted to speak with.

Are you not supposed to be in Mecca?

Yes, tomorrow morning.

What's wrong with him?

Is that the way he handles

pressure? By getting drunk?

Pressure?

Happy Eid.

One more move and I

will blow your head off.

Hey! I said I will blow

your head off. Now put your hands up.

Put them up where I can see them.

We cannot execute a coup

without killing. It is very impossible.

We can. I don't want the

cure to be worse than the disease.

Gusau already knows that.

I have already spoken to him.

Why? Gusau?

He is my friend and we need

someone with his intelligence.

We just need tanks.

We need more than tanks.

Wind down.

Sani? Sani?

Very careless and unprofessional.

That is enough evidence to land all

of us in front of a firing squad.

You couldn't even check

your office for bugs.

Or look behind you to see the man that has

been following you for

the past three days.

I will see you at the regime exercise

tomorrow.

Good night, my friend.

This exercise must be precise.

You must be willing and ready to move

within five minutes' notice. Fully kitted.

Tanks fully fuelled.

Your commander would tell you your

designated target when the time comes.

Until then, you are dismissed.

Yes sir.

As you can see, they are ready sir.

I just hope they still

will be ready by the time

they know what it is we are doing.

No problem.

I will be in Minna.

Dear Maryam, by the

time you read this letter,

you'll either be a widow or the first lady

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I am sorry to put you and

the kids through this.

But, you're the one that will always say,

that you only live once.

Fellow Nigerians,

when in December 1983 the former military

leadership assumed the

reigns of government…

It's ascension was heralded in the

history of this country.

With the nation at the mercy of

political misdirection,

and on the brink of economic collapse.

A new sense of hope was created in

the minds of every Nigerian.

Since January 1984, however,

we have witnessed

a systematic denigration of that hope.

The principles of discussions

are efficient, and cooperation has

shown that the decision

making process of the

Supreme leading council

and the Federal Resident Council

were disregarded soon after

the government settled down

in 1984. And so it came to be

that the same government which

received the tumultuous welcome

now became alienated from the people.

We do not pretend to have all

the answers to the questions

which our present problems

have put before our nation.

And we do not intend to lead a

country where individuals

are under the fear of

expressing themselves.

The public officers,

protection against false

accusations Decree 4 of

1984 is hereby revoked.

We recognise that the

government be it civilian or military

need the consent of the people to govern

if it aims to reach the objective

We do not intend to rule by force.

Let me reiterate what we said in 1984,

this generation of Nigerians,

and in the future generations

have no other country but Nigeria.

We must all stay and serve it together

God bless Nigeria.

Why didn't you tell me?

It was a coup. We are not

supposed to tell anyone.

Not even your own wife?

Especially my own wife.

But it is over now. Everything is fine.

How is your friend?

He is fine. It was a

bloodless coup. Not a shot was fired.

Thank you.

I have been waiting for this time,

hanging around the corridors of power.

Watching, learning

I am ready now, darling.

I am going to

be the best leader Nigeria ever had.

Real importers cannot get Forex

because import license system

is corrupt and inefficient.

Lack of raw materials

means the industries cannot operate.

They are forced to retrench their staff,

therefore making the

unemployment situation worse.

Inflation is at 20%.

Is there anything positive about

this economy that we have inherited?

Our trade arrears is 4.4 billion Naira.

We have negative growth in GDP.

Our external debt stands

at 18.3 billion Naira.

We have subsidies on everything.

Naira is overvalued and our economy

is 75% dependent on oil.

How did we get here? How

did things get this bad?

We have written ourselves

into an economic black hole.

The last administration

tried to get a loan from

the IMF but they could

not meet the conditions.

Conditions? What are the conditions?

Devalue the Naira. Remove all

subsidies and restructure economy.

We have, uh, declared economic

emergency. We have banned the importation

of rice and beans. We are reviewing the

foreign exchange market.

What uh, again, should we do to tackle

this sickness instead of just symptoms?

We have to renegotiate our loans

with genuine creditors.

Spending 44% of GDP

on servicing loans is unsustainable.

Remove subsidy? Privatize

government companies?

Devalue the Naira?

Why?

Do our people have the capacity

to face the hardships

that would come as a

consequence of these measures?

Make no mistake sir. A surgery to

save our economy would be very painful

and sacrifices would be

demanded of everybody.

Doctor, are you asking us

to fulfil all of the IMF loan

conditions and yet we are

not taking any loan?

I am afraid your excellency. But

more borrowing is not what is required

to solve the problem of

already too much borrowing.

The solution is Structural

Adjustment Program, SAP.

We have to do this ourselves, sir.

We have to.

- No more SAP.

- We won't accept.

We won't accept.

No more SAP.

We won't accept. No more SAP.

Alhaji Aminu, could you tell me

what is going on?

Uhm, your Excellency,

some unscrupulous

elements started a rumour that an American

magazine published details of your wealth.

Because of that, students at UNIBEN

started demonstration in Benin.

This man that gave us presidency

in a military government thinks we can

be pacified by platitudes and lip service.

Ebony magazine in the United States

just published details of his wealth.

- See for yourselves.

- Are you serious?

This is serious.

That is it folks. While he wants us to

suffer under the woes of SAP,

treasury for himself and his family.

Dear friends, must we sit

around and wait to die like cowards?

No!

No, no.

Must we watch these cabals

suck this country dry?

No!

- What must we do?

- Fight!

- What must we do?

- Fight!

So how come we couldn't contain the

demonstration in Benin? How did it spread?

My men did a very good job in controlling

the raging situation with minor

casualties but...

Unluckily an incident in Lagos

College of Education set them up in a…

demonstration and soon it was

tagged as, uh, uh, SAP riots.

But we've arrested the...

That is not enough. We must shut

down the universities in question.

Sani, here the Chief of Army

Staff, he has to deploy

soldiers on the street

with immediate effect.

We can't all just sit here

and watch these hooligans

bring Nigeria to its knees.

Sir, only the university's Senate

can shut the university down.

Jubril, I am the president of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria.

If I say that the universities

causing troubles should be shut down,

then they must be shut down

with immediate effect.

People are hurting, your

Excellency and we have

to look for a way to

make it easier on them.

I agree to that. Sir,

please give the adjustment

process a human face. By doing that,

we project an image of a listening

and a caring government.

Or a weak government that falls for cheap,

criminal blackmail.

But have you noticed something?

There is no religious or ethnic

patterns to the riot.

For once, Nigerians are

united behind one thing.

As bad as that may

sound, it gives us hope.

President Ibrahim Badamasi

Babangida said this at the opening of

People's Bank of Nigeria

in Ajegunle part of Lagos

People's bank was established from

the March '88 budget…

…with an initial

allocation of N13 million,

attaining its Lagos status by the

publication of Decree no 22 of 1990.

Socialist crusader,

Tai Solarin as its chairman.

The bank is to meet the credit

need of small borrowers

who cannot satisfy the

- stringent collateral

- You made this guy,

- requirement normally required

- Tai Solarin, chairman of people's Bank?

- By commercial banks.

- Yes.

He likes to scream his Marxist ideas

from the outside. Let him get inside and

this government and see how

impossible Nigeria is.

She is exactly like you, Maryam.

Halima, Halima, presidential baby

Halima

So are you going to allow me rest.

You have your four children.

Two boys, two girls.

I have achieved all I

set out to achieve in life,

thanks to Allah. So, at least if

I die now, I die a happy man.

You are not going anywhere.

You can be alive

and still be happy. You

need to take care of them.

Well…

The two government formed

and founded parties

are the National Republican Convention,

NRC which is a little to the right

and the Social Democratic Party, SDP

which is a little to the left.

It should be recalled that

NEC, although critical of

that applied for

registration as political parties,

did recommend six organizations

to the Armed Forces ruling

council, AFRC for...

- So, when…

- …researcher made exaggerated claims

that membership size had dropped.

In another news,

the Rangers International

Football club of Enugu

has trashed Bendel

Insurance Football club of

Benin by 3 goals to nil in the

state's available football stadium.

Darling? Darling?

- Hmm-hmm?

- Wake up, wake up. I hear gunshots.

- I am not sure there is…

- Wake up.

Alpha, bravo 1. Can you read me? Over.

Delta, bravo 2. Receiving, over.

UK, what's… what's going on? Over.

We are under attack, sir.

I think it is a coup.

We are holding on. I've rang Bonny Camp

and Ikeja for backup. Over.

Can we contain them? Over.

We are trying, sir. They are many.

They came with tanks.

Tanks? Oh, my goodness. Tanks?

Yes, sir.

On behalf of the patriotic

and well-meaning people of the middle belt

and the southern part of this country.

I, Major Gideon Orkar

wish to happily inform you

of the successful ousting

of the dictatorial, corrupt,

drug baronish evil man.

Deceitful, homosexually centred

prodigalistic and unpatriotic

administration of

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

We have also commenced

a trial for unabated corruption,

mismanagement of national economy.

They had almost succeeded in

subjugating the middle belt,

making them voiceless and

also extended the same

a temporary decision to

excise the following states:

Sokoto, Borno, Katsina, Kano and Bauchi.

UK, who are these… who are these people?

I don't know.

I have reached Major Biyu

at the Ikeja cantonment

and uh, General Sani Abacha.

They are mobilizing men.

Long live the true patriots

of this great country of ours.

May God and Allah, through his

bountiful mercies bless us all.

I think you should leave

through the back exit.

UK, you have to take my family.

I am not running like a coward.

Please. Darling, please go.

Sir, go now.

Ehn-ehn, looking at

this coup plotters,

I couldn't help but notice

that most of them are from

the middle belt and Niger Delta region.

Igbo bastards.

We have to reach out to these people.

Maybe we can create a few new

states and even local governments.

You think this will have anything to...

I know it would show them that we care.

We can even adjust uh, national

allocation formula to

favour the Niger Delta even more.

Ibrahim, you can't keep

on bending to these people.

We take our position and anyone

doesn't …fall into line, we crush him.

Why?

No, no, Sani, haba, no. No.

I was even thinking maybe we can

civilianise the government.

What? Civilian?

How about a civilian vice president?

And even civilian deputy governors.

Why?

That way someone like Admiral Ikomo can

become a civilian vice president.

With that I'm sure that

they would know that

our transition to civil rule is genuine.

Why? Why?

Sir, no. We…

Get ready, successor.

We are moving the Federal

capital to Abuja.

Yes sir.

Nigeria and other responsible countries

of the south region will not

stand by and watch

the whole of Liberia

turn into one mass grave.

It is in Nigeria's interest

to relentlessly strive

- towards the prevention

- Position!

Or avoidance of the deterioration

- of any crisis which threatens

- Aim!

To jeopardise or compromise the stability,

prosperity and security of the sub-region.

Fire!

Gentlemen,

The Federal Capital Territory

Decree 51,

of December 12, 1991. With as from today,

Lagos ceases to be the capital of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Your Excellency.

Why are you doing this, Arthur?

Uh, doing what your Excellency?

ABN. Association for Better Nigeria.

Who are the members of this association

and what is your preoccupation with

campaigning for me to be president

for another four years?

Uhm, These are Nigerians who know what is

good for Nigeria and are

not afraid to say it.

So, another four years of IBB is good for

Nigeria, right?

What is the alternative, your Excellency?

What is the alternative?

To hand over these greedy and selfish lot?

And repeat the madness

of the first and second republics?

You know I am one of them. I know

how I got elected in 1979 and 1983.

No. Since you lifted the ban on us,

people like me have crawled out

of the woodworks. And they

are strangling this new polity.

By the way, why did you unban us?

I said it. I unbanned

you and the old brigade, uh,

because, uh, I am convinced the new breed

in whose interest the ban was

imposed have come of age.

Wrong. You are

wrong your Excellency.

The looming third republic

would be worse than the first two.

Believe me, we are not ready.

The politicians are not ready.

Nigerians are not ready.

But I do not have all the answers.

A leader does not need

to have all the answers.

And everyone knows that you can

do it for our dear country.

Especially in this our trying times.

Ah, Your Excellency.

You are welcome.

We haven't offered you anything yet.

I am fine, Ma. Thank you.

Chief Nzeribe, you are a good man and uh,

I know that you have good intentions

but transition

program is already in full swing.

And not even I can stop it now.

I cannot even

stop you from campaigning either.

In fact, I am flattered by it.

However, thanks but no thanks.

Uhm, even if you arrest me, your

Excellency,

I will not stop the campaign.

Very well, then.

- Thank you for your time, sir.

- Go on.

Thank you.

But darling, if his campaign is going to

cause you trouble, why don't you stop him?

Hence, I will have to stop

all the Ganis, and all the Falanas,

and the Ransome Kutis. And all the NGOs

that are working for all the profiteers,

threatening bloodbath in

Lagos if I do not go.

I will first have to stop all those

ones before I talk about

someone that is singing my praise and

showing support in my favour.

Our maradona has done it

again. He has done it again.

He has moved the election date again.

Would you let that happen?

- No!

- Would you let that happen?

No!

So, I charge you all, every

students to make sure

that your voice is heard.

To fight, to use civil

disobedience as a tool. To make

sure that IBB goes. Agreed?

- Yes.

- Agreed?

- Yes.

- Agreed?

- Yes.

- Agreed?

Solidarity for ever. Solidarity for ever

Solidarity for ever

Your Excellency, I am not

sure this postponement is necessary.

Things are getting bad out there,

and now you want to move the goalpost

again? This is a twist too many.

Tofa, let me, uh, assure you that it is

not only the ABN that wants us to stay.

We are well aware that part of the

military hate the idea of, uh, hand over

to civilians. and this will surprise you.

I am just coming out from a

meeting with the newly elected governors

and guess what?

They are also in support of us staying.

So if the people for whom we are doing

this do not have faith in themselves,

what is the need?

So, your Excellency, are we staying then?

If we are, let's make

our intentions clear.

Instead of playing these little games.

Our people are tired.

"The two presidential aspirants"

that could emerge at the end of the

process come from

the same part of the country,

the far North.

This is very disturbing.

Considering the National

composition of the country,

"this is undesirable and unacceptable."

Let's nullify the

primaries and dissolve all

the executives of the two

political parties at all levels.

No, Sani, that would be playing right

into the hands of those that

said the two parties are

government parastatals.

Who cares? Who

cares what somebody thinks?

Stop disturbing yourself

about what people are saying.

Let them think whatever

they want to think.

That's their own problem.

Let's call the pro…

personnel, uh… professor NEC.

Let him get us the caretaker.

Then I will call an emergency

meeting this afternoon.

We dissolve the primaries.

Then NEC would decide,

would bring a new way of selecting

their presidential candidate.

My problem is not with the system. My

problem is with the people.

So long as the same set of people are in

charge of the nomination process,

things are going to go the

exact way like the past.

Let's ban them. All the

23 presidential aspirants

from contesting nomination

of their parties.

They say I want to succeed myself, so

you might as well put me on that list.

So they at least, know we mean business.

So in that case, we just… we

ban them for distorting

and sabotaging the realization

of our transition program.

Call that meeting.

Yes sir.

Sir, banning them so close to the

December elections would create problems.

We would have to find new

candidates, conclude

primaries, and run elections

in a matter of weeks.

Is that really the only

problem with the ban?

I guess with the benefit

of hindsight, unbanning

those politicians was a very big mistake.

And it would give me great pleasure

to ban them all over again.

But, uh, Clement, any

thoughts on the matter?

Well, your Excellency, decree 48 of 1991

as amended by decree 6 of

1992, clearly gives the

AFRC sweeping powers. But

like the chairman of

NEC has said, ah, it may

create serious logistical

problems, uh, if we should begin to

think of

going that route, considering the

time we have at hand.

History would bear me witness that the

problem is because those aspirants and

those party officers have refused

to play the game by the rules

If timing is the only problem, then maybe

we can move the date from Jan 5th

to sometime in 1993. To maybe

27th August 1993.

That way we have more time to

clean up this mess and, uh,

the handover could be on the

8th anniversary of this administration.

Thank you very much, gentlemen.

Uh, well. Thank you sir.

Nobody cares about the afflicted

living in fear amidst this cruel world

When the shit hits the fan

The children suffer

Preachers are flying in private jets

The National Assembly

election has just happened.

And surprisingly, it went well.

Uh, SDP,

have limped into the lead.

With the original timetable,

the National Assembly was supposed

to be inaugurated,

two weeks before the president comes in.

That means the National

Assembly would have to

function under the

military for that longer.

Hmm.

How do we work that one?

Your Excellency, that

would be a constitutional anomaly

Uh, at best, an official diarchy.

I would say… maybe you can delay

the inauguration of the federal

legislature say by a few months?

And what would they be doing

in all of these months?

Well they can use the

time to move around their

constituencies or indeed

the whole country.

To see what the real problems are.

If they are going to be

making laws for Nigerians,

they should at least move

around to understand what

problems Nigerians are facing.

Thank you, Clement.

Thank you your Excellency. Thank you Sir.

Your son, when is he graduating again?

Uh, next month, your Excellency.

Ah, I didn't know you remembered.

My head might be filled with Nigeria's

problems but I know who my friends are.

Thank you Sir. Thank you,

your Excellency.

…MKO, Kingibe, Action

MKO, Kingibe

SDP Progress. Abiola is the

One. SDP is the party

To solve our problems

And make our lives better

MKO, MKO, MKO. Action

Abiola, Abiola, Abiola, Progress

He is the one we want

For a better tomorrow

All rise, Justice Bassey

Ita-Ikpeme presiding.

Only one case listed, Ma.

Association for Better Nigeria,

as this is an ex-parte submission, NEC

will not be represented, okay?

The Association for

Better Nigeria is seeking

an interlocutory injunction to stop

the National Electoral Commission from

holding the presidential election

slated for June 12, 1993

due to irregularities

in corruption in the conduct

of the Social Democratic Party,

SDP primaries won by Chief MKO Abiola.

And after examining the

preliminary evidence submitted,

I am convinced that the

presidential election

was so massively, cynically,

and shamelessly rigged

that any government produced at

the end of this process

would be without legitimacy.

I am therefore compelled

to grant the interlocutory

injunction stopping NEC

from holding the presidential

election on June 12,

1993 pending the substantive

hearing of the case on Monday.

First to you, Clement, tell me why

you cannot keep your judges in order.

What is the implication of this madness?

Your Excellency, Sir, as the Minister for

Justice, I am not supposed to control

what the judges do or how they rule.

They are independent.

Don't tell us rubbish.

How do you

solve this, eh? Mister Judge, how?

The ruling is clearly against

the provisions of the decree.

Then if the decree is abundantly clear,

then why did the judge

gave the order? Why?

Sir, it is not just about the decree.

There is also the

appeal court ruling, Yes, under

the principle of the, uh precedence,

high courts are supposed to

follow the rulings of the higher courts.

So, if that should be the

case, then we pretend

this never happened and

proceed with the elections.

Sir, it's… it's not that simple.

I mean it is not that straightforward.

Yes, well, we'll have to apply to

have the order vacated. We cannot just go

flouting or disregarding

court orders like that.

If the order is against the

decree or what else did

you call it? Then, we have

no any other explanation

than that the judge is showing some

mischief and we just ignore her.

Prof, what do you have to say?

Your Excellency, I am not sure what the

legal perspective is. I

would leave that with my

learned friend to deal with. But from an

operational point of

view, it would be hard.

Explain.

NEC has deployed all the

electoral materials.

The polling cards, the polling

registers, the returning sheets

to the states and local governments.

It is my opinion that if we

cancel or postpone these elections,

these materials would be compromised.

We would have to reprint all

the materials for us to be

able to conduct another election.

These things would cost us time and

money that we do not have right now.

Your Excellency, if

you ask me, I would say that

we continue with these elections.

Everyone is ready. Everything is

ready, your Excellency.

We cannot let a small group of people

spoil everything we've worked for.

Okay, you may take your leave.

Thank you.

Bloody civilians.

So what will you do now?

Successor!

You have to be in Abuja first thing

tomorrow morning. Yes, it is very urgent.

Well…

Let me sleep over it. We

will talk about it in the morning.

Darling, what's wrong?

What's wrong?

Look, I am tired.

Just pack your things and get the kids. We

are moving back to Minna in a few days.

What? Why all of a sudden?

I thought I had

the key to Nigeria's problems

but I was just deceiving myself.

Everything is crumbling around me,

Maryam. I can't do this anymore.

And then, what? What happens to everything

you spent your life working for?

Your name, your legacy?

Look, I don't care anymore, Okay.

Of course, you do. Look me in the eye

and tell me you don't care about

how history remembers you.

That we risked our lives

and sacrificed everything for nothing.

Honestly,

Nigeria is just impossible.

I know

You are doing good. Just

keep on doing your best, darling.

Remember when you took over in 1985,

you told me you wanted to be the

best leader Nigeria ever had.

We are halfway there. Just

keep on doing your best.

People think I do not have feelings.

If only they knew how

these things hurt me.

Abiola is winning. He has

won ten states already.

With these, my greatest

fears are coming true.

It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

We have so far received results from

14 states. Now you may be able to do the

maths yourself. But NEC

is not in a position to

announce the final result

until all the results from

the thirty states are handed in.

Um…

It's okay. It's okay.

I have court order.

Prof, this fax just came

in from the High Court, Abuja.

Justice Daliyu Saliu has ordered

us to stop announcing the result.

So this is true?

He says that the elections

were carried out in

contravention of the court order

and are therefore null and void.

Assemble the legal team in my

office immediately. Immediately.

So we appealled against the

order.

Admit it Prof. That was a wrong move.

Yes, and since you have started

disregarding court orders,

you should have disregarded this too.

If we all make mistakes the first time,

must we always make the

same mistakes again?

But sir, what we are...

I beg your pardon, Barrister.

I do not have absolute

power over these things. You know!

I report directly to the council…

Gentlemen, gentlemen we are all

on the same side here.

Your Excellency, the problem here is that

we have court orders from everywhere.

Lagos, Benin, Ibadan, everywhere.

Compelling NEC to release the results.

And how many of these court

orders am I supposed to obey?

We have only announced

14 states with Abiola in commanding lead.

The judiciary is making a

nonsense of all our efforts.

Excuse me!

Tempers are high everywhere.

But if we cannot keep our heads,

what do we expect from the streets?

That will be all for now, gentlemen.

I will contact you after the NDSC has

met to decide our next line of action.

So, darling, what are you going to do?

Darling?

I don't know. I don't know really.

But they likely are going to kill me.

They are going to kill me

if I announce the President-elect as the

winner. They are going to kill all of us.

Who are they?

I don't know. We just

have to stop everything.

Everything.

Thank you for seeing me, Snni.

Honestly, you are one of us.

Why is Ibrahim doing this to me?

I have worked hard for this.

I have earned this victory.

Kola, sit down. It is complicated.

How complicated can it be? I

have won, everybody knows this.

Kola, calm down. I will find

a way to talk to Ibrahim.

This election result has been

a problem from the onset.

I have won. Let him just allow the result.

Kola, be very careful. You

know, Ibrahim is a very smart man.

Don't put yourself into trouble.

Support me, I will find a way and

give you back your mandate.

Abort! Abort! Abort!

Your Excellency, there is an intel.

A report.

And we must turn around.

Your Excellency, Sir?

Your Excellency? Your Excellency? Your

Excellency.

What is wrong.

The press secretary to

the vice president,

Mr Nduka Irabor, this

afternoon, released a press

statement purporting to annul

the June 12 presidential election

wildly rumoured to

have been won by the SDP flagbearer,

Bashorun MKO Abiola.

In the statement, the Federal Government

also dissolved the NEC,

The National Electoral

Commission, repealing all

decrees pertaining to the

transition to the civilian rule

Although the letter,

undated, unsigned and not

written on any official

letter headed paper.

Yet, the government has not released

any statement denying it.

All efforts to speak with Prof.

Humphrey Nwosu,

the chairman of the NEC

has proven abortive.

This development if proven to

be true will throw the

whole transition process

into great turmoil.

This is Uloma Ugoji,

reporting for NTA news.

Solidarity forever

We shall always fight for our right

Solidarity

- On June 12, we stand.

- Yes!

Unless your reinstate June

12, Nigeria will scatter.

- Yes!

- We will help you scatter Nigeria.

Yes!

You shall not steal our mandate from us.

- Yes!

- This is only one mandate.

Yes!

And no one, no one will steal it from us.

Boys, boys, boys.

I need to talk to you.

I have just done something that would

haunt me for the rest of my life.

What did you do, father?

And why did you do it?

I don't know.

You will just have to wait

until things calm down, Kola.

Just wait. Just give…

just give it some time.

How... How did this happen, sir?

Ah, why are you trying to ruin your legacy

in the name of loyalty...

Barrister… Barrister stop.

Please don't judge me. Don't judge me.

I can only do as much as one person.

There are certain aspects of military

politics, you can never understand.

And I don't expect you to.

Most military leaders in my position

will just lay down the laws

and they will beat people into line.

But I chose a different path.

All I wanted to do was to rule the

people with their consent.

With their love.

Now I think that is my greatest mistake.

Hmm…

I should not apologise

for trying to be a nice person. But,

I do hope that history

would be kind to us all. Barrister.

June 12!

When do we want it?

- Now!

- What do we want?

- June 12.

- When do we want it?

- Now!

- What do we want?

- June 12.

- When do we want it?

Now!

- What do we want?

- June 12.

- When do we want it?

- Now!

- What do we want?

- June 12.

- When do we want it?

- Now!

- What do we want?

- June 12.

- When do we want it?

- Now!

- What do we want?

- June 12.

- When do we want it?

- Now!

How are you?

This is anger like we've never

seen before. This is different.

International pressure is building.

I've stopped taking calls.

From the Americans, to the

British… even the Russians.

Let's go home, darling.

The rioters will soon be tired.

And then we can.

Sometimes, it is more bravery

to walk away than to

stand and fight. You can't

go on like this.

These children need their father.

I need you alive too.

For their sake, and for my sake too.

- I...

- Shhhh! You can't win every battle.

8 years is enough. Let's go home.

And one day,

Nigerians would wish you stayed longer.

I am telling the truth. This

nonsense must be stopped.

I really thought Nigerians were incapable

of this type of prolonged anger.

We must stand our grounds.

Whatever happens,

the election remains cancelled. Period.

And then what? This impasse? This

crazy vacuum where madness rings?

- So what do you want to do?

- Come on, Sani. Open your eyes,

honestly.

We were talking to the party leaders and

elected governors about fresh elections.

We had their support, only for them

to come this morning to

say that the people are

tired of elections.

Me too, I am tired of elections.

Then if that should be the case,

let's do what we have discussed.

Sani, can't you see what's going

on out there? We've messed up.

You've messed up. I told you what to do

but you couldn't listen. You

want to play the smart

statesman but impossible Nigerians.

Go on. This is the result.

So, it is… it is now my fault?

Yes.

Was that what they told

you in the meeting in Lagos?

Oh, you heard about our meeting in Lagos?

I hear everything.

Then if you hear everything,

then you know it was

to save your neck again.

Someone has to talk to the

people behind the protest.

Fellow Nigerians, following

lengthy deliberations

with my service chiefs, I

offered as my own personal

sacrifice to voluntarily

step aside as President

and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We have put in our best. We have

had sleepless nights,

there have been periods of joy,

there have been periods

of sadness and frustration. In all these,

our countrymen have showed understanding.

Winner o, o, o

Winner. We have won o. Winner

We will win again

Winner o, o, o. Winner

Winner, o, o, o, Winner

We have won again o

We do not control

the process, Sani

The process controls us.

It has a life of it's own.

By God,

election is going to happen on June 12

Both Abiola and Tofa will cancel

themselves out

That still needs to happen and we continue

with our plans.

What if it doesn't happen?

- What?

- What if it doesn't happen? Please tell me

We call Oga NEC

He will make it happen.

It will work. It must work.

Tofa is not the most popular person from

the north and Abiola...

They don't want

Abiola to be president.

They say he lacks the morals

to be Commander-in-Chief

Yes, both of them

are not good enough

But both of them are my friends.

Why don't I just

walk away from all of these and say

you take over?

This is a military

government oga

The troops will never be loyal

until there is a coup.

So why don't you plan a coup against me?

Haba oga I can never do that.

You cannot plan a coup against me,

I cannot walk away.

So, what happens now?

Tofa will win from the north and Abiola

will win from the south

None of them will meet the conditions,

There you bring in the interim

national government

Then leave everything to me.

That's all.

BADAMASI (Portrait of a General) (2019) - full transcript