Obasanjo said Abiola would have been president, but ‘bad belle’ prevented him from doing so.
By Emma Ogbuehi
But for envy and petty jealousy (bad belle), Newspaper publisher and acclaimed winner of the June 1993 presidential election, MKO Abiola, would have been president of the country. These were declarations of the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Wednesday, while delivering a lecture at the 100 years anniversary and reunion of Baptist Boys High School (BBHS), Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Obasanjo and Abiola were old students of the institution. The former President who did not indicate the forces that orchestrated or exhibited the bad belle (envy) against Abiola, however stated that both of them attained their lofty heights in the society because of the discipline and spirit of hard work instilled in them in BBHS. He charged the younger products of the school to ensure that they maintained the good name of the institution.
“If not for Nigerian bad belle, M.K.O. Abiola would have been President, and with me as President, we would have needed one more old student of BBHS to be President for us to permanently locate it in BBHS after three times. And that is a challenge for the up-and-coming generations of old boys”, Obasanjo declared.
Obasanjo spoke highly on the moral virtues and sound education impacted on him by the BBHS, adding that the school also shaped others such as the late Obafemi Awolowo; Abiola; and a former Judge of the International Court of Justice, Bola Ajibola, among others.
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Obasanjo’s lecture titled, “Eyin Ni Iwe Wa: You Are Our Epistle,” was delivered at the centenary celebrations of the school, according to the Punch. The event was organised by the Old Boys Association of the BBHS.
Apart from education, the 100-year-old school, according to Obasanjo, has instilled godly virtue in all of its products at various times.
“Without BBHS, I would not be who I am,” Obasanjo said.
He said the BBHS would have had Abiola as another former president, but ‘bad belle’ prevented him from becoming president. ‘Bad belle’ is an expression from pidgin, commonly used in Nigerian English. In the metaphorical sense ‘bad belle’ stands for envy or jealousy.
Abiola won the 1993 presidential election but the then-military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, annulled the election before he was formally declared the winner.
In 1994, he was arrested and detained in prison on charges of treason after declaring himself President based on the outcome of the election. Abiola died in detention on July 7, 1998.
Obasanjo said, “Today, there are distinguished old boys in all walks of life, that is the private sector, academia, the military and paramilitary, civil society, traditional rulership, etc. Such is the present President of the Old Boys’ Association of BBHS, Prof. Kayode Oyesiku.
“What all these great products of BBHS have in common is godly virtue inculcated in them by the school. That was education plus.
“We carry it everywhere we go as an epistle written by BBHS to our families, our communities, our states, our country, our continent of Africa, and indeed our world”.