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History
is harsh, because it hides nothing from honest and discerning people.
For those who are dancing at the prospect of voting in Muhammadu Buhari,
please consider the following historical facts. Interpret them however
you choose, but think about them deeply:
(1)
Think of the kind of nation the colonial masters bequeathed to us
before leaving. They instituted different political, social and legal
system in the North and South, but still ran the country as one and left
us without any attempt at righting the wrongs they’ve instituted.
(2)
Think of the pogroms in the North against the Igbo and Southerners.
What were the reasons for this? There was no reason more than that the
Igbo and Southerners were seen as taking over the economy and
geographical space of the Northerner in a supposed one, free Nigeria.
(3)
Think of the First Republic and the issues that led to its demise.
These issues ranged from the obvious injustices perpetrated at the
centre by a majoritarian oligarchy, which then led to electoral violence
in the West and national distrust in the Niger-Delta.
(4) Think of the beginning of military intervention in politics and the cost to the nation:
(a) The First Coup of January 1966 and the real motivation of the chaps behind it.
(b)
The coming of Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and the counter-coup
that saw his death and the mass killing of Igbo officers within the
army, including the pogrom that followed up North.
(c) The
Civil War and the cost in human and material resources to the nation.
Was it necessary? Why the waste? What have we learnt? Think of the Asaba
and Owerri massacres (Buhari was part of the latter). Were they
necessary? What have we learnt from that war?
(5)
Think of the whole nine years of General Yakubu Gowon, the seven months
of General Murtala Muhammed, the four years of Shehu Shagari. The
almost two years of Buhari, the eight years of General Ibrahim
Babangida, the five years of General Sani Abacha, the one year of
Abdulsalami Abubakar and the two years of Umaru Yar’Adua. For almost 40
years of the 54 that we have had flag independence, the North has ruled
the nation, but what did their leadership do for Nigeria? Why is the
Northern elite now hell-bent on taking back power at the top? How long
have they been out of it that they now want it back? What did they do
with it for their people when they had it?
(6)
Think about June 12 and the murder of MKO Abiola. Imagine the
opportunity our country had at that juncture in our history and who
truncated it. Who were the beneficiaries of the truncation of June 12
but Buhari and the industrial-military complex that backs him now as
members of the APC?
(7) For the Yoruba, think
about the power you have now and how to use it responsibly. When Obafemi
Awolowo had it, he used it responsibly and this nation is grateful for
it. For those who are hailing Bola Tinubu as some kind of political
genius, do they think Tinubu is safe under a Buhari presidency as he has
been under Jonathan? Do they not see how easy it would be for Buhari to
pluck out Tinubu in a power tussle over control of the APC under the
guise of fighting corruption? Do they think there is anything a Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo can do in the circumstances? What would be the
fate of the Yoruba at that point?
(8) Think
about the National Question and what this false change would mean for
the Southern minorities and the nation. Since the Willink Commission of
1958, their troubles have been in the front burner of national
discussion and we have shouted ourselves hoarse for a Sovereign National
Conference (SNC). Whether we want to believe it or not, Jonathan’s
presidency sort of doused the raging fire, so what would his ouster do?
Think about the Orkar Coup of 1992 and what motivated those young men
now lost to the firing squad.
(9) For the
Yoruba, think about those who today mostly populate the highest and
middle level echelon of the oil industry. They are not Niger-Deltans;
they are young Yoruba professionals and Tinubu who worked with Mobil
knows this. Are you prepared to sacrifice them and their career to
install a Buhari who, from his actions and utterances, look bent on
dipping the Koran in the sea in the form of establishing Sharia all over
Nigeria? Does anyone think the South-South will sit down and share the
oil wealth with a nation of the sort Buhari has in mind? Does anyone
really think Buhari has the temperament to hold a complex Nigeria
together?
(10) To the Northerners, think about
what we are already seeing about Buhari on the campaign trail. Does he
look like a healthy person? His gaunt, austere look is not just about
his stature. The man is old and ill and this campaign will take a lot
from him. If, God forbid, he does not survive this campaign or his first
term where would that put this country? Does anyone think that the
power-mongers of the North will simply stand by and let the Vice
President take over constitutionally? Are we prepared to go through the
Yar’Adua experience again, especially this time when they are likely to
be more desperate? What would it mean for those in the North who think
it’s their turn to take over, rather than wait till 2019 when they are
likely to have a more vibrant candidate with real national appeal
contesting for the presidency and with a chance to win and govern in
peace?
(11) Think of Buhari as the head of
state and how he ran the nation. The day he was overthrown, I was at the
parade ground at the Orientation Camp in Toro, Bauchi where I was
serving my NYSC. I remember that the chap who was our Commandant was a
young Captain said to be a cousin to Brigadier Joshua Dongoyaro who
announced the overthrow. His second-in-command was then Lieutenant Ugo
Buzugbe who is today a Major General. Once word reached us of the
overthrow, the whole camp went agog with jubilation! On the day, I was
delegated by my friends to go to Jos to buy some things for a party we
were planning. I got there and the whole city was jubilating! We heard
of spontaneous jubilation all over the country. Today, some brilliant,
but devious spin-doctors are painting Buhari as a great leader who is
now making us feel nostalgia for his time! Only fools who would want to
be treated like animals and butchered without reason would look at
Buhari and say he is the change we need. Yes, we might need change, but
not Buhari! We are not a cursed people! We should never go back to our
national vomit!
(12) Think about his manifesto
and what he offers. Is there anything there that he can do better than
Jonathan? He talks about fighting corruption, but Buhari is a corrupt
man being shielded by spin-doctors! The facts of his corruption are
there! How can anyone believe the lies about his poverty? What poor man
contests every presidential election since 2003 in such a grandiose
manner? Can’t we see the corrupt people he consorts with and those
interested in sending him to Aso Rock? Does that add up?
(13)
Think about this fellow who has been a recurrent name in Nigerian
politics since his overthrow by his military colleagues, but who cannot
tell us one good cause he has put his name or his money in. Where are
the charities he supports? What business is he involved in? What has he
been doing with almost N30 million he receives monthly as gratuity? How
has he improved himself since leaving office? Why can he not just tender
his First School Leaving Certificate, rather than lying and getting
others to lie for him? How many scholarships has he awarded, even as we
know that his daughter lives the high life in a UK university where she
pays more than £16,000 as school fees? How many university chairs has he
endowed? How many professional bodies does he support? How many
international missions has he helped with? All we have seen him do since
is go to BBC Hausa, say some inciting and divisive things and when
called out, he proclaims innocence and accuses journalists of
misinterpreting him.
(14) Think about his
support for Boko Haram and the group nominating him as their
representative in negotiation with the Federal Government. Why did he
cowardly refuse to be part of the negotiation when he’s spent the whole
time attacking the Nigerian Army and the Federal Government over Boko
Haram? Does anyone think the present Nigerian Army would accept this
type of untrustworthy and divisive figure as Commander-in-Chief? After
all, following the annulment of the June 12 election, one of the reasons
Babangida said they couldn’t hand over to MKO Abiola was because he
wouldn’t have been accepted as Commander-in-Chief. Buhari was one of the
beneficiaries of that annulment. I can’t see him being a good
Commander-in-Chief. As bad as it sounds, he will do the same mistakes he
did the first time and worse and Nigerians would be reduced to
jubilating again when a coup topples him. Egypt after the electoral
victory of the Muslim Brotherhood comes to mind. And that would be the
least terrible of all choices we can get.
(15)
Think of Buhari who has no idea of modern governance. Only dishonest
people will believe otherwise. Listen to him and see how vacuous he is.
No matter how they try to hide his illiteracy, it’s glaring. He has now
joined Twitter, because of election, but what does he really know about
modern communication? His best phrase is “I will fight….” No, governance
is not about fighting; it’s about governing. I don’t want to hear
people tell me he would surround himself with the best brains, because
anyone without a brain ruling Nigeria will not know the best brains and
even when they are there, a man with the ignorant stubbornness of Buhari
will not listen to them or know how to use them.
(16)
Think of the world we live in and the kind of leadership driving
developments in other lands. Think of us in 2015 celebrating a Buhari as
our President! The country of Tafawa Balewa, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi
Awolowo celebrating a Buhari in 2015? Some may say Jonathan is not
better, but that would be unfair. Jonathan is far better, even if he is
not the best we can offer as a nation. Forget the propaganda that he has
not done anything, he has. His administration has achieved a lot and
those who are honest know this. Indeed, his administration has achieved
more for the North than any Northern leader in our history. His problem
is that he does not have good marketers. Whatever minuses we think
Jonathan has, Buhari will triple them.
(17)
Think of the Boko Haram menace and understand that it is not a question
of Jonathan failing on national security, but a huge sabotage against
our nation by elements looking to benefit from his ouster. One of the
worst things done to our nation by that buffoon, Olusegun Obasanjo, was
the emasculation of our armed forces. He did it when he came into power
in 1999 under the pretext that he was professionalizing the army and
stopping them from planning coups. His Ministers of Defence, Theophilus
Danjuma and Rabiu Kwankwaso, oversaw the destruction of the army, even
as massive money was voted in the defence budget. Of course, we had no
threat. By the time that threat came in the form of Boko Haram, Yar’Adua
dealt with it with overwhelming force. But that was the problem.
Yar’Adua ordered the killing of Boko Haram activists extra-judicially,
but that only earned them international recognition from Global Jihad.
With external money and training, they were transformed and under
Jonathan, they became the Nigerian franchise of Global Jihad. Then in
collaboration with Northern power-mongers they began a process of
blackmailing Jonathan. He asked for negotiation, they would not budge;
he promised them amnesty, they would not budge. They simply continue to
kill defenseless citizens at will, because they know that will undermine
Jonathan and the state. They support this with propaganda, inflating
number of casualties and working with their political partners to
undermine the state and state response at all levels. Meanwhile, when
the nation had the OPC problem in the West, Yoruba leaders went out
there to sort it out. When we had problems with Bakassi Boys in the
East, Igbo leaders rose to the challenge and when we had the militancy
in the Niger-Delta, South-South leaders, including Goodluck Jonathan
went into the creeks to talk the boys into disarming. Now, what have the
Northern leaders done about Boko Haram since it started its rampage?
Some wring their hands helplessly, while others like Buhari make
political capital out of it! Of course, all Boko Haram wants now is a
Northern president who would establish Sharia all over Nigeria and
Buhari will give them that. But what that means is that they used the
power of their guns to impose on us a national leadership that would
take us back to the Middle Ages. I have no scruples with Buhari and his
kith and kin that want criminal Sharia, but they cannot impose it on the
rest of the nation above our Constitution. I will not vote for my own
death! I will not vote for my people’s death! I will not vote to take
Nigeria through the darkness that I know a Buhari presidency
represents!
(18) Think about the fact that we
lost more people to communal, ethnic and sectarian violence under
Obasanjo, including deaths by political assassinations, yet everyone is
conveniently forgetting this fact and proclaiming Jonathan a weakling.
Would we prefer that Jonathan and the military give communities the Odi
and Zaki Biam treatment in the name of fighting Boko Haram?
(19)
Think about the National Youth Service Corps members and the almost
1000 people that lost their lives up North after the last presidential
election simply because Buhari did not win. Did Buhari’s reaction at the
time show him as a statesman? Did it show him as someone who cares for
the life of Southerners? Is that not the same man who has promised that
dogs and baboons would be soaked in blood if the election is rigged this
time, which in fact is a code word for massive violence if he loses?
(20)
Think Nigerians! Those of you, North and South, who love this country
and who know what we have sacrificed to get here should think of the
future. It’s okay to think it’s great removing an incumbent, but think
what will replace that incumbent. It’s okay to preach change, but please
interrogate that change. Is it really the change we need or a pretence
to change that would impose a worse future on us? If the potential for
trouble in that new future is worse than the present, stick to what you
know. The devil you know is always better than the angel that you don’t
know! Those who say if Buhari fails, we will vote him out in four years
should remember that we might not have that luxury, because there has to
be a living, viable nation before we can talk elections. A word is
enough for the patriot!
Written by Keneth Emetulu
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