Muhammadu Buhari, a retired Major General of the Nigerian Army and former
Head of State is a different kettle of fish to different people across the
strata of Nigeria.
In the far Northern part of Nigeria, the almajiri children on the street of
Kano, Katsina and Sokoto States see Buhari as their ˜Amir. This is the
Arabic word for leader.
The average Northern elite and the traditional institution see Buhari
suspiciously as a betrayal and will not trust Buhari one inch with power.
Retired military and police officers see him as their enemy number one.
To the Christians in the far North and the Middlebelt, Buharis name
connotes Boko Haram and Islamic fundamentalism.
When one moves to Southern part of Nigeria, the story of General Muhammadu
Buhari is that of a tyrant who murdered innocent young men under
retroactive laws and locked up journalists for performing their lawful
duties.
The average Southerner will remind you that General Buhari at his Petroleum
Trust Fund (PTF) used the oil wealth from the South to develop the North at
the expense of Southern Nigeria.
Unfortunately, General Muhammadu Buhari does not help his own case whenever
he opens his mouth to talk. He appears to be putting his foot in his mouth
each time he talks.
With his popularity at the lowest ebb amongst Southern Nigerians and
Northern Christians as it is, the least statement that is expected from his
mouth is talk of support for a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket for the
2015 election.
A clever politician would have parried away such a question but not Buhari.
This APC may as well present Buhari/Musa Kwankwaso or Buhari/Waziri
Tambuwal for president in the 2015 presidential election.
You dont exacerbate a volatile situation by making inflammatory statements
and taking decisions and actions without regard to the emotions and
sensibility of over fifty percent of the populace.
Boko Haram is tagged the armed wing of APC. What is worst confirmation than
one of its leading presidential aspirant to voice out publically that he is
in total support of Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket for this APC in a
country as diverse and divided as Nigeria.
In any case, like it has been written in the media over and over again.
There is no comparison of 1993 Abiola election with now.
Chief MKO Abiola though a Yoruba Muslim was the presidential candidate of
that ticket.
This APC should go ahead and field Buhari/Tinubu or Fashola in 2015 and
they have themselves to blame for it.
In fact as I said earlier in the write, this APC may as well field
Buhari/Musa Kwankwaso or Buhari/Waziri Tambuwal if they think Nigerians do
not have sensibility.
To confirm Buharis standing before Nigerians, please read below verbatim
what Nasir El-Rufai wrote about General Buhari as published by Sahara
Reporters a Pro-Buhari website on Monday October 4th 2010.
Happy reading.
*El Rufai: Buhari Should Stick To Facts*
The attention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has been drawn to statements from
Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida purporting to be responses
to the advice he gave both men to retire.
The attention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has been drawn to statements from
Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida purporting to be responses
to the advice he gave both men to retire.
Since Babangida libelled whole generations of Nigerian youth as being
unfit for leadership, age has become an issue in the coming elections.
While it is true that neither youth nor age supplies wisdom on their own,
it makes sense to ask those who have been recurring decimals in our
countrys sorry history to leave the stage. That is all El-Rufai asked of
these men who seem to think that their failure to do their best for Nigeria
when they had the chance qualifies them for a return to office. Our people
surely deserve better.
El-Rufai is amazed that General Buhari cannot debate this matter without
scurrying to the gutter, making claims that are baseless and unsupported by
any facts. Mallam El-Rufais tenure as FCT minister was a period of stellar
performance in remaking our federal capital. Despite the difficult
decisions that had to be taken to restore Abuja, Mallam El-Rufai continues
to receive deserved praise and recognition for his achievements in
restoring the Abuja master plan, introducing Nigerias first computerised
land registry and helping thousands of Nigerians achieve their dreams of
home ownership in the federal capital. Buhari is perhaps one of a tiny few
blinded by their prejudice from recognising the quality of El Rufais
service.
That same prejudice accounts for the baseless claims of corruption Buhari
levels against El Rufai. The fact is that Mallam El-Rufai served Nigeria
with integrity and has never been convicted of any corrupt act. He is
boldly contesting the false charges which the YarAdua government filed
against him in court. It is strange that a Buhari who protests when
unproven claims of N2.5 billion (about US $3billion in those days!) missing
oil funds are levelled against him can gleefully elevate similar claims
into facts when it concerns another. How would Buhari feel if the
corruption allegations made against him by Group Captain Usman Jibrin, then
a board member of PTF, are today reported as if they were proven facts? So
much for corrupt background and shoddy performance.
Mallam El-Rufai wishes to remind General Buhari that he has remained
perpetually unelectable because his record as military head of state, and
afterwards, is a warning that many Nigerians have wisely heeded. His
insensitivity to Nigerias diversity and his parochial focus are already
well-known. In 1984, Buhari allowed 53 suitcases belonging to his ADCs
father to enter Nigeria unchecked at a time the country was exchanging old
currency for new. Against all canons of legal decency, he used retroactive
laws to execute three young men for drug-peddling after they were convicted
by a military tribunal and not regular courts of law. Buhari was so high
handed that he gave himself and his officials immunity even from truthful
reporting. That obnoxious Decree 4, against which truth was no defence, was
used to jail journalists and attempt to cow the media as a whole. That
tyrannical legislation shows the essence of his intolerance. These are
facts of recent history.
The story of counter-trade and import licensing, the cornerstone of
Buharis stone-age economic strategy and those whose interests it served,
is a tale for another day.
Mallam El-Rufai respects both Generals Buhari and Babangida as elder
statesmen. He believes their age, experience and guidance may contribute to
the success of any future government. El-Rufai however believes that it is
time for a new generation of leaders with new thinking and wholesome
democratic attitude to move our nation forward. The vicious response by the
Buhari camp to a simple statement that their almost-70 principal should
retire is proof enough that a Buhari, the new Democrat, tolerant of views
different from his own, is yet to evolve. And that is sad, for his
fledgling party and its leadership. Buhari and his cohorts may wish to
reflect that it will take more than attacks on personalities to become
electable. Having seen his version of discipline, Nigerians are not likely
to cherish an encore. But they will welcome an engagement with the issues
and problems of everyday life that have hobbled the peoples of this land.
The press release above was vintage Nasir El-Rufai to General Buhari in
2010.
Our best advice to General Buhari is to quickly return the 27.5 million
naira loan he took from the bank to buy his APC nomination form before it
generate excessive interest that he might not be able to pay back.
Buhari is not an electable presidential material in todays Nigeria.
Some things can only happen in Nigeria. But how can a Bank give a serial
election loser loan to contest an election? What are the collaterals he
presented to the bank?
His mallam and sheik Mahmood Gumi has summed up it all. Buhari will
definitely loss any election in Nigeria. He will win the far Northern votes
just like in 2011. But he cannot and will never win the Middle belt votes
and the votes of Southern part of Nigeria.
General Buhari is a divisive politician and is hard to sell outside the
North West of Nigeria.
Unfortunately his unguarded statements are brutish and insensible most of
the time especially to the larger Nigerian populace.
Ndiameeh Babangida Babreek writes from Minna.
Ndidi90call@gmail.com