The social media was inundated with allegations that Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's current President is a religious bigot who was on a mission to islamize the country.

These cries got to the highest crescendo during the 2015 general elections' campaigns. The Christian community were buffeted with reasons not to vote Buhari because he was 'an islamist proponent gunning to spread Islam throughout the country'.

PMB is about to spend 100 days in the saddle as Nigeria's president and it will be worthwhile to highlight some steps taken so far by him side by side the earlier assertions.

Muhammadu Buhari shocked many when he selected a relatively unknown man as his running mate, the current Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. Interestingly, the running mate selected turned out to be a Pastor! A pastor in a well respected religious outfit, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

The hordes of critics of Buhari dismissed the option as a political gimmick aimed at swaying christian votes to the advantage of PMB forgetting that all his running mates has always been christians from the Southern part of the country.

Even at that, the propanganda on him as an islamist extremist was still ferociously pursued.

Mohammed Buhari went on to win the presidential elections. After the elections followed the drama on who emerges as the Principal Officers of the National Assembly. PMB has earlier declared that he was ready to work with anybody and he made good his earlier stance by not interfering in the elections.

Bukola Saraki and Dogara thereafter emerged as the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Dogara who emerged as the speaker is a christian.

Just recently, Babachir Lawal has been appointed into the powerful position in the Federation as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The engine room of the government of the day. This appointment also shocked many as the man is relatively unknown.

Babachir is a Christian and also a Pastor! The implication of this is that we now have a Pastor as the Vice President and a Pastor as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The Speaker of the House of Representatives is also a Christian.

Can it still be said that PMB is pursuing an Islamic agenda??

Or does the muslim community now have a justification to demand that one or two Imams be appointed also into one or two equally powerful positions to balance the scale??

As it is now, the critics of the president has jettisoned the line of argument that he is a religious extremist and are now focusing their energy and oratory bullets in pointing that PMB is an ethnic bigot (or tribalistic person in local parlance) based on the appointments made so far.

As the noise about him being a religious extremist has died down, is it safe to assume that in the next few months when majority of his appointments would have been made, the noise of him being an ethnic jingoist will also tone down??

This brings me to the final question and the title of this piece, let the critics of Muhammadu Buhari be specific:


Is Buhari a religious extremist or an Ethnic Bigot?

Both

I don't think he is either of them.
We still have a long way to go in federal appointments and the plum positions are yet to be given out.
This can only be spoken on with certainty when all available positions have been filled and the demographics sorted.
Still early days I guess