As Head of State and
Commander in Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces (some people called it
Northern Nigerian Armed Forces), all important command posts were headed
by northerners and Muslims. The Chief of Army Staff, Naval Staff and Air
Staff were all northerners. The Inspector General of police was a
northerner, the minister of Federal Capital Territory, the minister for
Internal Affairs and all major positions in government were headed by
northerners. Indeed, under Buhari, the nation’s affairs, particularly the
meetings of the Supreme Military Council could be held and were indeed
rumored to have been held on numerous occasions, in Hausa.
Buhari: The Born Again Democrat!
by Tunde Adenodi.
General Muhammadu
Buhari has never called himself a democrat. Even while running for
president in 2003 as well as in the last election in April, he never
pretended to be a democrat. It is only a nucleus of his followers who
insist that he has become a democrat; a democrat in their own mould.
So, for the purpose of this article, and because he, on occasions, has
given the impression that he would operate under the rules as set by
the country’s 1999 federal constitution if he won the presidency, we
will assume he had indeed become a democrat. And he will be held on
the same level that a real democrat should be. Moreover, he has been
going around whipping up emotions in the aftermath of the election of
Yar’Adua as Obasanjo’s successor.
First of all, I
assume that Buhari, and for that matter, Abubakar Atiku, had
participated in the electoral process in order to make a point. There
is no way they could honestly have imagined that they would win the
elections against Obasanjo’s and for that matter, any incumbent’s
formidable manipulative machinery. Anybody who thought he could defeat
Yar’Adua under those circumstances was living under an illusion.
Obasanjo did not know whom to hand over to until the last minute. And
once he decided it was Yar'Adua, he put all machinery of government in
place to ensure Yar'Adua victory.
As for Atiku, it was
illusory of him to think he could win the election. And if indeed he
won, it was even more unimaginable that he would believe, in his
wildest imagination that Obasanjo would hand over to him! Both of
these men knew better.
Alhaji Shehu Shagari
had taken over as civilian president from General Olusegun Obasanjo in
1979. He had frittered away all 13 Billion or so US dollars
painstakingly accumulated by Obasanjo in foreign reserves. He had also
gone into debt to the tune of 30 Billion US dollars all in a matter of
four years. Besides, the economy took a downturn. Letters of credit
were not confirmed in international trade with Nigeria. Soaps,
detergents, cooking oil and et cetera were hard to come by. And when
available the average Nigerian could not afford to buy them. The
little foreign exchange available was spent on rice by Shagari’s
points-man, Umaru Dikko. With this background, Shagari was angling for
a second term as president. And Nigerians were sure change was
inevitable. But when indeed change did come, Shehu Shagari, inspite of
his landslide victory, was swept away and Major General Muhammadu
Buhari became the Head of State.
As Head of State,
Buhari had enormous powers to correct all the mistakes of Shagari. He
declared, and please note this; that all political parties rigged the
elections to the degree of resources available to them! So, if any one
thought that he would address the concerns of the opposition who
thought they were betrayed by the electoral system, those people were
seriously disappointed. He thought Nigeria’s problems stemmed from
only one national problem: Indiscipline. And he was determined to
stamp it out. To achieve this, he turned the entire nation into a
giant military barracks and bellowed orders to the hapless citizens in
rapid time. He jailed Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor for telling the
truth. He arrested three drug couriers and enacted a retroactive law
to execute them. He jailed opposition politicians several lifetimes
while holding government officers in mere house arrest. Most
importantly, he did not allow any discussion about democracy.
As Head of State and
Commander in Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces (some people called it
Northern Nigerian Armed Forces), all important command posts were
headed by northerners and Muslims. The Chief of Army Staff, Naval
Staff and Air Staff were all northerners. The Inspector General of
police was a northerner, the minister of Federal Capital Territory,
the minister for Internal Affairs and all major positions in
government were headed by northerners. Indeed, under Buhari, the
nation’s affairs, particularly the meetings of the Supreme Military
Council could be held and were indeed rumored to have been held on
numerous occasions, in Hausa.
By 1985, the nation
had had enough of Buhari and heaved a sigh of relief when Abacha
announced his ouster.
This, in brief, is
the historical background of Buhari’s democratic credentials.
Then Abacha tried to
rehabilitate him by appointing him as the head of the task force on
petroleum. At that post, he did his best to help only his kinsmen
above the Niger River. Eighty four percent of all projects executed by
him were sited in the North and sixteen out of eighteen directorates
under Buhari were headed by northerners! More importantly, by taking
up such a position under Abacha, had Buhari not lost his moral
credibility in terms of corruption which was the hallmark of the
Abacha presidency? Was he not an important integral part of the
Abacha’s rapacious governance? Had he not given his blessing to the
Abacha rampage? Had he not taken part in the suppression of the June
12 Abiola’s electoral victory?
Then came the
Obasanjo presidency. Obasanjo had pandered more to the interest of his
northern power brokers during his first outing as military Head of
State. He had preserved, in tact, their unearned privilege and power.
And they thought he was fool enough to continue to do so as president
during his second coming. When Obasanjo did not follow through, Buhari
became the arrow-head of northern dissatisfaction with his government.
And naturally, he began to propagate only the interest of his northern
constituency to the extent of declaring that Muslims should vote only
for Muslims. He declared his support for Sharia in the northern states
and would not mind if that Islamic jurisprudence extends far beyond
the northern states into the south.
Unfortunately,
Obasanjo made a mess of the last election. It is known that Obasanjo’s
PDP could still have won convincingly at the first ballot had he
allowed the election to have been transparently honest. Neither did
Buhari, nor Atiku have a chance of defeating the incumbent party if
the elections were free and fair.
Yar’Adua could not have won on such a large scale. But he could still
have won anyway. Thus, Buhari’s popularity of lack of it, may never be
truly known.
In 2002 or
thereabouts, on the pages of Gamji website, in an article titled,
“Run, Buhari, run”, I wrote in comparing Buhari and Babangida as
follows: “Buhari slapped your face and dared you to cry, but Babangida
would slap your face, beg you, slap it again and offer you a shoulder
to cry on”! These two people are the same. They are flips of the same
coin. Only methodologies are different. They are born again democrats.
And being born again implies that one had been hitherto different from
what you claim you now are.
They are wolves in
sheep skin. They cannot be trusted with power again!
Yar'Adua brother,
late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, was the first northerner to broker a true
coalition with people of the west. This was in 1983. This coalition
was heading for victory in 1983 when Sunday Adewusi, the then
Inspector General of Police, with the help of Shagari’s Ovie-Whiskey,
halted it. Prospects of victory by that coalition scared the hell out
of the likes of Buhari. Let this Yar’Adua be.
