Muhammadu Buhari, a retired Major General of the Nigerian Army and former
\nHead of State is a different kettle of fish to different people across the
\nstrata of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
In the far Northern part of Nigeria, the almajiri children on the street of
\nKano, Katsina and Sokoto States see Buhari as their \u02dcAmir. This is the
\nArabic word for leader.<\/p>\n
The average Northern elite and the traditional institution see Buhari
\nsuspiciously as a betrayal and will not trust Buhari one inch with power.<\/p>\n
Retired military and police officers see him as their enemy number one.<\/p>\n
To the Christians in the far North and the Middlebelt, Buharis name
\nconnotes Boko Haram and Islamic fundamentalism.<\/p>\n
When one moves to Southern part of Nigeria, the story of General Muhammadu
\nBuhari is that of a tyrant who murdered innocent young men under
\nretroactive laws and locked up journalists for performing their lawful
\nduties.<\/p>\n
The average Southerner will remind you that General Buhari at his Petroleum
\nTrust Fund (PTF) used the oil wealth from the South to develop the North at
\nthe expense of Southern Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, General Muhammadu Buhari does not help his own case whenever
\nhe opens his mouth to talk. He appears to be putting his foot in his mouth
\neach time he talks.<\/p>\n
With his popularity at the lowest ebb amongst Southern Nigerians and
\nNorthern Christians as it is, the least statement that is expected from his
\nmouth is talk of support for a Muslim\/Muslim presidential ticket for the
\n2015 election.<\/p>\n
A clever politician would have parried away such a question but not Buhari.<\/p>\n
This APC may as well present Buhari\/Musa Kwankwaso or Buhari\/Waziri
\nTambuwal for president in the 2015 presidential election.<\/p>\n
You dont exacerbate a volatile situation by making inflammatory statements
\nand taking decisions and actions without regard to the emotions and
\nsensibility of over fifty percent of the populace.<\/p>\n
Boko Haram is tagged the armed wing of APC. What is worst confirmation than
\none of its leading presidential aspirant to voice out publically that he is
\nin total support of Muslim\/Muslim presidential ticket for this APC in a
\ncountry as diverse and divided as Nigeria.<\/p>\n
In any case, like it has been written in the media over and over again.
\nThere is no comparison of 1993 Abiola election with now.<\/p>\n
Chief MKO Abiola though a Yoruba Muslim was the presidential candidate of
\nthat ticket.<\/p>\n
This APC should go ahead and field Buhari\/Tinubu or Fashola in 2015 and
\nthey have themselves to blame for it.<\/p>\n
In fact as I said earlier in the write, this APC may as well field
\nBuhari\/Musa Kwankwaso or Buhari\/Waziri Tambuwal if they think Nigerians do
\nnot have sensibility.<\/p>\n
To confirm Buharis standing before Nigerians, please read below verbatim
\nwhat Nasir El-Rufai wrote about General Buhari as published by Sahara
\nReporters a Pro-Buhari website on Monday October 4th 2010.<\/p>\n
Happy reading.<\/p>\n
*El Rufai: Buhari Should Stick To Facts*<\/p>\n
The attention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has been drawn to statements from
\nGenerals Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida purporting to be responses
\nto the advice he gave both men to retire.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The attention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has been drawn to statements from
\nGenerals Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida purporting to be responses
\nto the advice he gave both men to retire.<\/p>\n
Since Babangida libelled whole generations of Nigerian youth as being
\nunfit for leadership, age has become an issue in the coming elections.
\nWhile it is true that neither youth nor age supplies wisdom on their own,
\nit makes sense to ask those who have been recurring decimals in our
\ncountrys sorry history to leave the stage. That is all El-Rufai asked of
\nthese men who seem to think that their failure to do their best for Nigeria
\nwhen they had the chance qualifies them for a return to office. Our people
\nsurely deserve better.<\/p>\n
El-Rufai is amazed that General Buhari cannot debate this matter without
\nscurrying to the gutter, making claims that are baseless and unsupported by
\nany facts. Mallam El-Rufais tenure as FCT minister was a period of stellar
\nperformance in remaking our federal capital.\u00a0 Despite the difficult
\ndecisions that had to be taken to restore Abuja, Mallam El-Rufai continues
\nto receive deserved praise and recognition for his achievements in
\nrestoring the Abuja master plan, introducing Nigerias first computerised
\nland registry and helping thousands of Nigerians achieve their dreams of
\nhome ownership in the federal capital. Buhari is perhaps one of a tiny few
\nblinded by their prejudice from recognising the quality of El Rufais
\nservice.<\/p>\n
That same prejudice accounts for the baseless claims of corruption Buhari
\nlevels against El Rufai. The fact is that Mallam El-Rufai served Nigeria
\nwith integrity and has never been convicted of any corrupt act. He is
\nboldly contesting the false charges which the YarAdua government filed
\nagainst him in court. It is strange that a Buhari who protests when
\nunproven claims of N2.5 billion (about US $3billion in those days!) missing
\noil funds are levelled against him can gleefully elevate similar claims
\ninto facts when it concerns another. How would Buhari feel if the
\ncorruption allegations made against him by Group Captain Usman Jibrin, then
\na board member of PTF, are today reported as if they were proven facts? So
\nmuch for corrupt background and shoddy performance.<\/p>\n
Mallam El-Rufai wishes to remind General Buhari that he has remained
\nperpetually unelectable because his record as military head of state, and
\nafterwards, is a warning that many Nigerians have wisely heeded. His
\ninsensitivity to Nigerias diversity and his parochial focus are already
\nwell-known. In 1984, Buhari allowed 53 suitcases belonging to his ADCs
\nfather to enter Nigeria unchecked at a time the country was exchanging old
\ncurrency for new.\u00a0 Against all canons of legal decency, he used retroactive
\nlaws to execute three young men for drug-peddling after they were convicted
\nby a military tribunal and not regular courts of law. Buhari was so high
\nhanded that he gave himself and his officials immunity even from truthful
\nreporting. That obnoxious Decree 4, against which truth was no defence, was
\nused to jail journalists and attempt to cow the media as a whole. That
\ntyrannical legislation shows the essence of his intolerance. These are
\nfacts of recent history.<\/p>\n
The story of counter-trade and import licensing, the cornerstone of
\nBuharis stone-age economic strategy and those whose interests it served,
\nis a tale for another day.<\/p>\n
Mallam El-Rufai respects both Generals Buhari and Babangida as elder
\nstatesmen. He believes their age, experience and guidance may contribute to
\nthe success of any future government. El-Rufai however believes that it is
\ntime for a new generation of leaders with new thinking and wholesome
\ndemocratic attitude to move our nation forward. The vicious response by the
\nBuhari camp to a simple statement that their almost-70 principal should
\nretire is proof enough that a Buhari, the new Democrat, tolerant of views
\ndifferent from his own, is yet to evolve. And that is sad, for his
\nfledgling party and its leadership. Buhari and his cohorts may wish to
\nreflect that it will take more than attacks on personalities to become
\nelectable. Having seen his version of discipline, Nigerians are not likely
\nto cherish an encore. But they will welcome an engagement with the issues
\nand problems of everyday life that have hobbled the peoples of this land.<\/p>\n
The press release above was vintage Nasir El-Rufai to General Buhari in
\n2010.<\/p>\n
Our best advice to General Buhari is to quickly return the 27.5 million
\nnaira loan he took from the bank to buy his APC nomination form before it
\ngenerate excessive interest that he might not be able to pay back.<\/p>\n
Buhari is not an electable presidential material in todays Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Some things can only happen in Nigeria. But how can a Bank give a serial
\nelection loser loan to contest an election? What are the collaterals he
\npresented to the bank?<\/p>\n
His mallam and sheik Mahmood Gumi has summed up it all. Buhari will
\ndefinitely loss any election in Nigeria. He will win the far Northern votes
\njust like in 2011. But he cannot and will never win the Middle belt votes
\nand the votes of Southern part of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
General Buhari is a divisive politician and is hard to sell outside the
\nNorth West of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately his unguarded statements are brutish and insensible most of
\nthe time especially to the larger Nigerian populace.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ndiameeh Babangida Babreek writes from Minna.
\nNdidi90call@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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