Johndoe100:

[size=14pt]The Crimes of Buhari[/size]

By Wole SOYINKA

This intervention has been provoked, not so much by the ambitions of General Buhari to return to power at the head of a democratic Nigeria, as by declarations of support from directions that leave one totally dumbfounded. It would appear that some, myself among them, had been overcomplacent about the magnitude of an ambition that seemed as preposterous as the late effort of General Ibrahim Babangida to aspire yet again to the honour of presiding over a society that truly seeks a democratic future. What one had dismissed was a rash of illusions, brought about by other political improbabilities that surround us, however, is being given an air of plausibility by individuals and groupings to which one had earlier attributed a sense of relevance of historic actualities. Recently, I published an article in the media, invoking the possible recourse to psychiatric explanation for some of the incongruities in conduct within national leadership. Now, to tell the truth, I have begun to seriously address the issue of which section of society requires the services of a psychiatrist. The contest for a seizure of rationality is now so polarized that I am quite reconciled to the fact it could be those of us on this side, not the opposing school of thought that ought to declare ourselves candidates for a lunatic asylum. So be it. While that decision hangs in the balance however, the forum is open. Let both sides continue to address our cases to the electorate, but also prepare to submit ourselves for psychiatric examination.



The time being so close to electoral decision, we can understand the haste of some to resort to shortcuts. In the process however, we should not commit the error of opening the political space to any alternative whose curative touch to national afflictions have proven more deadly than the disease. In order to reduce the clutter in our options towards the forthcoming elections, we urge a beginning from what we do know, what we have undergone, what millions can verify, what can be sustained by evidence accessible even to the school pupil, the street hawker or a just-come visitor from outer space. Leaving Buhari aside for now, I propose a commencing exercise that should guide us along the path of elimination as we examine the existing register of would-be president. That initial exercise can be summed up in the following speculation: “If it were possible for Olusegun Obasanjo, the actual incumbent, to stand again for election, would you vote for him?”

If the answer is “yes”, then of course all discussion is at an end. If the answer is ‘No’ however, then it follows that a choice of a successor made by Obasanjo should be assessed as hovering between extremely dangerous and an outright kiss of death. The degree of acceptability of such a candidate should also be inversely proportionate to the passion with which he or she is promoted by the would-be ‘godfather’. We do not lack for open evidence about Obasanjo’s passion in this respect. From Lagos to the USA, he has taken great pains to assure the nation and the world that the anointed NPN presidential flag bearer is guaranteed, in his judgment, to carry out his policies. Such an endorsement/anointment is more than sufficient, in my view, for public acceptance or rejection. Yar’Adua’s candidature amounts to a terminal kiss from a moribund regime. Nothing against the person of this – I am informed - personable governor, but let him understand that in addition to the direct source of his emergence, the PDP, on whose platform he stands, represents the most harrowing of this nation’s nightmares over and beyond even the horrors of the Abacha regime. If he wishes to be considered on his own merit, now is time for him, as well as others similarly enmeshed, to exercise the moral courage that goes with his repudiation of that party, a dissociation from its past, and a pledge to reverse its menacing future. We shall find him an alternative platform on which to stand, and then have him present his credentials along those of other candidates engaged in forging a credible opposition alliance. Until then, let us bury this particular proposition and move on to a far graver, looming danger, personified in the history of General Buhari.



The grounds on which General Buhari is being promoted as the alternative choice are not only shaky, but pitifully naive. History matters. Records are not kept simply to assist the weakness of memory, but to operate as guides to the future. Of course, we know that human beings change. What the claims of personality change or transformation impose on us is a rigorous inspection of the evidence, not wishful speculation or behind-the-scenes assurances. Public offence, crimes against a polity, must be answered in the public space, not in caucuses of bargaining. In Buhari, we have been offered no evidence of the sheerest prospect of change. On the contrary, all evident suggests that this is one individual who remains convinced that this is one ex-ruler that the nation cannot call to order.

Buhari – need one remind anyone - was one of the generals who treated a Commission of Enquiry, the Oputa Panel, with unconcealed disdain. Like Babangida and Abdusalami, he refused to put in appearance even though complaints that were tabled against him involved a career of gross abuses of power and blatant assault on the fundamental human rights of the Nigerian citizenry.

Prominent against these charges was an act that amounted to nothing less than judicial murder, the execution of a citizen under a retroactive decree. Does Decree 20 ring a bell? If not, then, perhaps the names of three youths - Lawal Ojuolape (30), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Bartholomew Owoh (26) do. To put it quite plainly, one of those three – Ogedengbe - was executed for a crime that did not carry a capital forfeit at the time it was committed. This was an unconscionable crime, carried out in defiance of the pleas and protests of nearly every sector of the Nigerian and international community – religious, civil rights, political, trade unions etc. Buhari and his sidekick and his partner-in-crime, Tunde Idiagbon persisted in this inhuman act for one reason and one reason only: to place Nigerians on notice that they were now under an iron, inflexible rule, under governance by fear.

The execution of that youthful innocent – for so he was, since the punishment did not exist at the time of commission - was nothing short of premeditated murder, for which the perpetrators should normally stand trial upon their loss of immunity. Are we truly expected to forget this violation of our entitlement to security as provided under existing laws? And even if our sensibilities have become blunted by succeeding seasons of cruelty and brutality, if power itself had so coarsened the sensibilities also of rulers and corrupted their judgment, what should one rightly expect after they have been rescued from the snare of power” At the very least, a revaluation, leading hopefully to remorse, and its expression to a wronged society. At the very least, such a revaluation should engender reticence, silence. In the case of Buhari, it was the opposite. Since leaving office he has declared in the most categorical terms that he had no regrets over this murder and would do so again.



Human life is inviolate. The right to life is the uniquely fundamental right on which all other rights are based. The crime that General Buhari committed against the entire nation went further however, inconceivable as it might first appear. That crime is one of the most profound negations of civic being. Not content with hammering down the freedom of expression in general terms, Buhari specifically forbade all public discussion of a return to civilian, democratic rule. Let us constantly applaud our media – those battle scarred professionals did not completely knuckle down. They resorted to cartoons and oblique, elliptical references to sustain the people’s campaign for a time-table to democratic rule. Overt agitation for a democratic time table however remained rigorously suppressed – military dictatorship, and a specifically incorporated in Buhari and Idiagbon was here to stay. To deprive a people of volition in their own political direction is to turn a nation into a colony of slaves. Buhari enslaved the nation. He gloated and gloried in a master-slave relation to the millions of its inhabitants. It is astonishing to find that the same former slaves, now free of their chains, should clamour to be ruled by one who not only turned their nation into a slave plantation, but forbade them any discussion of their condition.



So Tai Solarin is already forgotten? Tai who stood at street corners, fearlessly distributing leaflets that took up the gauntlet where the media had dropped it. Tai who was incarcerated by that regime and denied even the medication for his asthmatic condition? Tai did not ask to be sent for treatment overseas; all he asked was his traditional medicine that had proved so effective after years of struggle with asthma!



Nor must we omit the manner of Buhari coming to power and the pattern of his ‘corrective’ rule. Shagari’s NPN had already run out of steam and was near universally detested – except of course by the handful that still benefited from that regime of profligacy and rabid fascism. Responsibility for the national condition lay squarely at the door of the ruling party, obviously, but against whom was Buhari’s coup staged? Judging by the conduct of that regime, it was not against Shagari’s government but against the opposition. The head of government, on whom primary responsibility lay, was Shehu Shagari. Yet that individual was kept in cozy house detention in Ikoyi while his powerless deputy, Alex Ekwueme, was locked up in Kiri-kiri prisons. Such was the Buhari notion of equitable apportionment of guilt and/or responsibility.



And then the cascade of escapes of the wanted, and culpable politicians. Manhunts across the length and breadth of the nation, roadblocks everywhere and borders tight as steel zip locks. Lo and behold, the chairman of the party, Chief Akinloye, strolled out coolly across the border. Richard Akinjide, Legal Protector of the ruling party, slipped out with equal ease. The Rice Minister, Umaru Dikko, who declared that Nigerians were yet to eat from dustbins - escaped through the same airtight dragnet. The clumsy attempt to crate him home was punishment for his ingratitude, since he went berserk when, after waiting in vain, he concluded that the coup had not been staged, after all, for the immediate consolidation of the party of extreme right-wing vultures, but for the military hyenas.



The case of the overbearing Secretary-General of the party, Uba Ahmed, was even more noxious. Uba Ahmed was out of the country at the time. Despite the closure of the Nigerian airspace, he compelled the pilot of his plane to demand special landing permission, since his passenger load included the almighty Uba Ahmed. Of course, he had not known of the change in his status since he was airborne. The delighted airport commandant, realizing that he had a much valued fish swimming willingly into a waiting net, approved the request. Uba Ahmed disembarked into the arms of a military guard and was promptly clamped in detention. Incredibly, he vanished a few days after and reappeared in safety overseas. Those whose memories have become calcified should explore the media coverage of that saga. Buhari was asked to explain the vanished act of this much prized quarry and his response was one of the most arrogant levity. Coming from one who had shot his way into power on the slogan of ‘dis’pline’, it was nothing short of impudent.



Shall we revisit the tragicomic series of trials that landed several politicians several lifetimes in prison? Recall, if you please, the ‘judicial’ processes undergone by the septuagenarian Chief Adekunle Ajasin. He was arraigned and tried before Buhari’s punitive tribunal but acquitted. Dissatisfied, Buhari ordered his re-trial. Again, the Tribunal could not find this man guilty of a single crime, so once again he was returned for trial, only to be acquitted of all charges of corruption or abuse of office. Was Chief Ajasin thereby released? No! He was ordered detained indefinitely, simply for the crime of winning an election and refusing to knuckle under Shagari’s reign of terror.

The conduct of the Buhari regime after his coup was not merely one of double, triple, multiple standards but a cynical travesty of justice. Audu Ogbeh, currently chairman of the Action Congress was one of the few figures of rectitude within the NPN. Just as he has done in recent times with the PDP, he played the role of an internal critic and reformer, warning, dissenting, and setting an example of probity within his ministry. For that crime he spent months in unjust incarceration. Guilty by association? Well, if that was the motivating yardstick of the administration of the Buhari justice, then it was most selectively applied. The utmost severity of the Buhari-Idiagbon justice was especially reserved either for the opposition in general, or for those within the ruling party who had showed the sheerest sense of responsibility and patriotism.



Shall I remind this nation of Buhari’s deliberate humiliating treatment of the Emir of Kano and the Oni of Ife over their visit to the state of Israel? I hold no brief for traditional rulers and their relationship with governments, but insist on regarding them as entitled to all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of any Nigerian citizen. This royal duo went to Israel on their private steam and private business. Simply because the Buhari regime was pursuing some antagonistic foreign policy towards Israel, a policy of which these traditional rulers were not a part, they were subjected on their return to a treatment that could only be described as a head masterly chastisement of errant pupils. Since when, may one ask, did a free citizen of the Nigerian nation require the permission of a head of state to visit a foreign nation that was willing to offer that tourist a visa.?



One is only too aware that some Nigerians love to point to Buhari’s agenda of discipline as the shining jewel in his scrap-iron crown. To inculcate discipline however, one must lead by example, obeying laws set down as guides to public probity. Example speaks louder than declarations, and rulers cannot exempt themselves from the disciplinary strictures imposed on the overall polity, especially on any issue that seeks to establish a policy for public well-being. The story of the thirty something suitcases – it would appear that they were even closer to fifty - found unavoidable mention in my recent memoirs, YOU MUST SET FORTH AT DOWN, written long before Buhari became spoken of as a credible candidate. For the exercise of a changeover of the national currency, the Nigerian borders – air, sea and land – had been shut tight. Nothing was supposed to move in or out, not even cattle egrets.



Yet a prominent camel was allowed through that needle’s eye. Not only did Buhari dispatch his aide-de-camp, Jokolo – later to become an emir - to facilitate the entry of those cases, he ordered the redeployment – as I later discovered - of the Customs Officer who stood firmly against the entry of the contravening baggage. That officer, the incumbent Vice-president is now a rival candidate to Buhari, but has somehow, in the meantime, earned a reputation that totally contradicts his conduct at the time. Wherever the truth lies, it does not redound to the credibility of the dictator of that time, General Buhari whose word was law, but whose allegiances were clearly negotiable.



On the theme of double, triple, multiple standards in the enforcement of the law, and indeed of the decrees passed by the Buhari regime at the time, let us recall the notorious case of ‘Triple A’ – Alhaji Alhaji Alhaji, then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. – Who was caught, literally, with his pants down in distant Austria. That was not the crime however, and private conduct should always remain restricted to the domain of private censure. There was no decree against civil servants proving just as hormone driven as anyone else, especially outside the nation’s borders. However, there was a clear decree against the keeping of foreign accounts, and this was what emerged from the Austrian escapade. Alhaji Alhaji kept, not one, but several undeclared foreign accounts, and he had no business being in possession of the large amount of foreign currency of which he was robbed by his overnight companion. The media screamed for an even application of the law, but Buhari had turned suddenly deaf.

By contrast, Fela Anikulapo languished in goal for years, sentenced under that very draconian decree. His crime was being in possession of foreign exchange that he had legitimately received for the immediate upkeep of his band as they set off for an international engagement. A vicious sentence was slapped down on Fela by a judge who later became so remorse stricken – at least after Buhari’s overthrow that he went to the King of Afro-beat and apologized.

Lesser known was the traumatic experience of the director of an international communication agency, an affiliate of UNESCO. Akin Fatoyinbo arrived at the airport in complete ignorance of the new currency decree. He was thrown in gaol in especially brutal condition, an experience from which he never fully recovered. It took several months of high-level intervention before that innocent man was eventually freed. These were not exceptional but mere sample cases from among hundreds of others, victims \of a decree that was selectively applied, a decree that routinely penalized innocents and ruined the careers and businesses of many.



What else? What does one choose to include or leave out? What precisely was Ebenezer Babatope’s crime that he should have spent the entire tenure of General Buhari in detention? Nothing beyond the fact that he once warned in the media that Buhari was an ambitious soldier who would bear watching through the lenses of a coup-d’etat. Babatope’s father died while he was in Buhari’s custody, the dictator remained deaf to every plea that he be at least released to attend his father’s funeral, even under guard. I wrote an article at the time, denouncing this pointless insensitivity. So little to demand by a man who was never accused of, nor tried for any crime, much less found guilty. Such a load of vindictiveness that smothered all traces of basic human compassion deserves no further comment in a nation that values its traditions.



But then, speaking the truth was not what Buhari, as a self-imposed leader, was especially enamoured of – enquire of Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor both of whom, faithful to their journalistic calling, published nothing but the truth, yet ended up sentenced under Buhari’s decree. Mind you, no one can say that Buhari was not true to his word. [size=14pt]“I shall tamper with the freedom of the press’ swore the dictator immediately on grabbing office, and this was exactly what he did. [/size]And so on, and on, and on….



The argument of those who say that, by endorsing Buhari, they are settling on someone who can be guaranteed to give Obasanjo and the NPN a good fight, is one of the most depressing excuses I ever encountered for placing a political noose around a nation’s neck. Buhari owes a debt to this nation, not the other way round. If Buhari wishes to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the citizenry whom he has so cruelly wronged, he should first scuttle his ambitions, then place whatever following he has garnered in the meantime at the disposal of a consensus candidate among the opposition. To insist on another taste of power, after such a history of gross abuse of power is an insult to any nation that values freedom and human dignity. Buhari should sit with the opposition and coordinate strategies to defeat the most unscrupulous act of political gerrymandering that, we all know, is about to be inflicted on the nation by a desperate incumbent seeking for a clone to secure his exit from power. The nation has more than sufficient time and strategic intelligence to organize behind a common choice, publicize his or her qualities and defeat the arrogance of incumbency.



What is being eroded, through the power of suggestion, is a people’s confidence in itself, and this is the beginning of mass suicide. Without that confidence, no powers on high or on earth, external or internal, can rescue the community from both the palpable and symbolic chains of slavery. To invite back into power a man who did so much to destroy a people’s self-esteem, dignity, and faith in law and justice, is a sign of self-abasement, lack of self-esteem, a slave mentality that dooms, not only the present, but succeeding generations.

I wish to declare, unequivocally, that those of my party, the ARP/DFPF shall not participate in such a degrading surrender.


http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/crimes-buhari-wole-soyinka

Now, that is some history. Guy looks like a raging lunatic to me.

Genbuhari3:

So Johndoe still has time to be highlighting what Soyinka wrote decades ago

stop living in the past man, you get wahala

Does it matter long ago he wrote the piece? What matters is how true is it. Truth stand stands the test of time and the piece squarely applies to today.

I doubt you were able to read that wonderful piece from the Nobel laureate. The sweetness of the grammar and its readability are enough to make a diehard Buhari fan read it but no some people will not try it.

It will be a sacrilege against their Saviour.

The article just , just touched on the personality of the so called Saviour. Some years ago, I voted for him but after researching him, I now know better.


@dayokanu
Have you read that article yet or are you still busy mourning Arsenal's win?

Genbuhari3:

So Johndoe still has time to be highlighting what Soyinka wrote decades ago

stop living in the past man, you get wahala

I could care less what Soyinka, wrote in the dailies about this man (Buhari).

My opinion and mindset is formed out of the credibility and stand of this man, who has consistently shown that he is upright and forthright in fighting corruption in Nigeria. Although he has had his errors in times past, his credibility speaks achievable volumes of him.

Let the cyber trolls go on and keep spamming every Buhari thread with this gobbledygook. An informed and intelligent being, makes his decision not based on what a Soyinka says or has said, but based on the exemplary life Buhari has so far demonstrated.

Buhari/Bakare 2011!

Please vote and vote wisely!!

Pataki:

I could care less what Soyinka, wrote in the dailies about this man (Buhari).

My opinion and mindset is formed out of the credibility and stand of this man, who has consistently shown that he is upright and forthright in fighting corruption in Nigeria. Although he has had his errors in times past, his credibility speaks achievable volumes of him.

Let the cyber trolls go on and keep spamming every Buhari thread with this gobbledygook. An informed and intelligent being, makes his decision not based on what a Soyinka says or has said, but based on the exemplary life Buhari has so far demonstrated.

Buhari/Bakare 2011!

Please vote and vote wisely!!

It is very fair if you have chosen to vote Buhari. That is why you are a free citizen. However you talked about being informed and intelligent and yet you are despising a masterpiece. How can you advise us to make decision based on the exemplary life of Buhari but while you advise us not to consider a masterpiece that listed his exemplary life?
That's dictatorship?

agabaI23:

It is very fair if you have chosen to vote Buhari. That is why you are a free citizen. However you talked about being informed and intelligent and  yet you are despising a masterpiece. How can you advise us to make decision based on the exemplary life of Buhari but while you advise us not to consider a masterpiece that listed his exemplary life?
That's dictatorship?

A bigoted and myopic masterpiece, I personally consider it as.

MY ARGUMENT:
I can choose to view WOLE SOYINKA (the author of that write-up), as a cultist who has contributed immensely to the high cultism and student killings in the Nigerian tertiary institutions of today, OR I can view him as a man who is an activist, an intellect with a nobel laureate award to show for it. Which would you prefer I hold of him? Therefore, if a Chinua Achebe arises today, and writes a ''masterpiece'' on Wole Soyinka and his young juvenile misguided cult days, should I then judge him (Soyinka) based on the article? Or I rather consider his exemplary lifestyle which makes him fit for leadership as at when needed. Please let us be objective once in a while!

So also I view Buhari. A man who shows with his exemplary lifestyle that he is above the debacle of corruption entrenched with our leaders in Nigeria even from his youthful days! A Buhari who does not regard one religion as superior to another. A Buhari who is NOT a JIHADIST, a Buhari who carries the burden of the nation at heart, a Buhari who is a DEMOCRAT!

That is no dictatorship.

Pataki:

A bigoted and myopic masterpiece, I personally consider it as.

MY ARGUMENT:
I can choose to view WOLE SOYINKA (the author of that write-up), as a cultist who has contributed immensely to the high cultism and student killings in the Nigerian tertiary institutions of today, OR I can view him as a man who is an activist, an intellect with a nobel laureate award to show for it. Which would you prefer I hold of him? Therefore, if a Chinua Achebe arises today, and writes a ''masterpiece'' on Wole Soyinka and his young juvenile misguided cult days, should I then judge him (Soyinka) based on the article? Or I rather consider his exemplary lifestyle which makes him fit for leadership as at when needed. Please let us be objective once in a while!

So also I view Buhari. A man who shows with his exemplary lifestyle that he is above the debacle of corruption entrenched with our leaders in Nigeria even from his youthful days! A Buhari who does not regard one religion as superior to another. A Buhari who is NOT a JIHADIST, a Buhari who carries the burden of the nation at heart, a Buhari who is a DEMOCRAT!

That is no dictatorship.

You say it is bigoted and myopic? Could you please explain further why you think so?

As per your comparison, you made a very good effort. At least you accepted that so far Buhari's past should be forgotten. I am not going to stand here and applaud Soyinka for the escapades of the metamorphosed pirates but I will applaud him for starting confraternity that was meant to fight colonialism, a battle he still fights till date. A cockrel shows its male tender age by choosing the back of the mother for perching.
How can you compare his people oriented intention with the atrocities and recklessness exhibited by Buhari? Megida, there is no comparison.

Assuming his pirates fraternity was violent, Soyinka left that in the Uni but it was not violent anyway. The same cannot be said of your upright leader. His ideologies are still with him. He still does not regret what he did in his military days. Therefore, there is nothing to compare between these guys. They are two ends of the polar system.


Now I will choose both Wole Soyinka the fighter and the Nobel laureate.

Buhari has not changed. Buhari is still the same.

Please tell us Buhari's exemplary life style that is not punctured in Soyinka's article? May be that's why you called it bigoted.

agabaI23:

You say it is bigoted and myopic? Could you please explain further why you think so?

As per your comparison, you made a very good effort. At least you accepted that so far Buhari's past should be forgotten. I am not going to stand here and applaud Soyinka for the escapades of the metamorphosed pirates but I will applaud him for starting confraternity that was meant to fight colonialism, a battle he still fights till date. A cockrel shows its male tender age by choosing the back of the mother for perching.
How can you compare his people oriented intention with the atrocities and recklessness exhibited by Buhari? Megida, there is no comparison.

Assuming his pirates fraternity was violent, Soyinka left that in the Uni but it was not violent anyway. The same cannot be said of your upright leader. His ideologies are still with him. He still does not regret what he did in his military days. Therefore, there is nothing to compare between these guys. They are two ends of the polar system.


Now I will choose both Wole Soyinka the fighter and the Nobel laureate.

Buhari has not changed. Buhari is still the same.

Please tell us Buhari's exemplary life style that is not punctured in Soyinka's article? May be that's why you called it bigoted.

@agbara123,
My brother, kindly sight instances in Soyinka's life when he has done anything to better the lot of Nigerians besides his personal achievements of attaining the height of a Nobel Laureate in a Language that is not his father's? Kindly point to Soyinka's efficacy as an activist, what has he achieved to advance the cause of Nigerians besides making so much noise and running away into exile whenever it becomes too hot for him?
Soyinka was part of IBB's government, albeit for a while. A government that laid the foundation of these monumental corruption contraption called Nigeria. What did Buhari do wrongly besides punishing those who erred and stole. Soyinka, even in the long epistle you have all been brandishing did not claim that Buhari punished innocent citizens, rather his problem was with the level of punishment versus the crime committed.

We all know the part played by Gani Fawehinmi (MHSRIP), he fought for the masses as an ardent activist and never ran away even in the face of tyranny. Hence I'll be glad if you sight references on how and when Soyinka imparted directly on the lives of Nigerians. A feat even Buhari, his object of criticism excelled in.

In my humbled opinion I agree totally with the statement: If you cannot do the time, don't commit the Crime!
None of the several articles being peddled on the internet has ever pointed to any innocent individual, who got punished by Buhari.

Buhari/Bakare campaign jingle.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xd6g4pjO9A

9ijaMan:

@agbara123,
My brother, kindly sight instances in Soyinka's life when he has done anything to better the lot of Nigerians besides his personal achievements of attaining the height of a Nobel Laureate in a Language that is not his father's? Kindly point to Soyinka's efficacy as an activist, what has he achieved to advance the cause of Nigerians besides making so much noise and running away into exile whenever it becomes too hot for him?
Soyinka was part of IBB's government, albeit for a while. A government that laid the foundation of these monumental corruption contraption called Nigeria. What did Buhari do wrongly besides punishing those who erred and stole. Soyinka, even in the long epistle you have all been brandishing did not claim that Buhari punished innocent citizens, rather his problem was with the level of punishment versus the crime committed.

We all know the part played by Gani Fawehinmi (MHSRIP), he fought for the masses as an ardent activist and never ran away even in the face of tyranny. Hence I'll be glad if you sight references on how and when Soyinka imparted directly on the lives of Nigerians. A feat even Buhari, his object of criticism excelled in.

In my humbled opinion I agree totally with the statement: If you cannot do the time, don't commit the Crime!
None of the several articles being peddled on the internet has ever pointed to any innocent individual, who got punished by Buhari.

Any country where there is no activist of repute, the leaders would easily degenerate into despot.
If to you he has done nothing for this country then I do not need to dialogue with you again.

@ genbuhari, u guys re talkin of buhari without made mention of Idiagbo who championed anti corruption. To tel u guys the truth if that how force discipline on people without the rule of law, n u go on to abuse human right. Let him not contest at all, Is he comin to raise our economy not without economic known how but with power n authority? please u guys should tel us the reason why we should vote for him not to talk about how he had failed us as a nation.

Whatever you do, just make sure you're voting the right person in, for the right purpose, to take us out of this misery we're all facing in this country. #Shikena!

i.am just wondering y some so call aboki's are so sectional.it.s less than 2months into the general election & just imagine how buhari & his so called position armies @ NL are CONFUSED. i.am a frm the south & i hav stayed in the north for 25yrs & authoritatively that presently we hav 788,000 youths in support of GEJ/SAMBO ticket in the north of which i.m their sec.
every has his choice of candidate bt i tell u that GEJ is a man to beat, lol

^^^^^^
i am a fan of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

i am a fan of Babatunde Raji Fashola

i am a fan of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi

i am a fan of whoever is proactive, possesses ideas for great strides in development and has good intentions for his/her office

i am now a fan of Buhari & Bakare

The same Wole Soyinka that was a sworn enemy of Buhari is a key SNG founder, the group that has endorsed Bakare for VP. Why? because a Buhari with limited powers under a democracy is far better than a PDP with almost absolute power. Look how Jonathan has morphed, after only one year in power (not even full power at that). PDP must die. Simple.

@poster why are you campaigning for him? Is diz a campaign ground?

The simple universal truth is that PDP and all it stands for is a failure. So, whoever the party presented to run is immaterial. In fact a Fashola in PDP would have been a failure in Lagos State.

So, I would rather now vote my dog than PDP. I had made the mistakes in the past, not anymore. PDP should go please. Nigeria and Nigerians are suffering.

engkorede:

@poster why are you campaigning for him? Is diz a campaign ground?

Huh?? Where U dey since wey people dey campaign For GEJ Na wa for some Stup!d Ppl Self !!

BUHARI CARRY GO, UR RECORD STILL BETTER PASS THE REST , PDP power, Nigeria Say Buhari !! Na Buhari Or No One else !!

WE DIDN'T KNOW who was questioned for smuggling 53 suitcases stuffed with US dollars out of MMA during his regime.

I would have prefered Buhari if his younger version:Ribadu wanst contesting.Nigeria no longer needs aged leaders who wont be multitasking like dia international counterparts in this mordern times.
Moreover,the truth is ;if CPC and AC dont form an alliance.PDP shall win.they better get serious!.
My preference
1)Ribadu 2)Pat Utomi 3)Buhari, to hell with Poverty Development Party that couldnt fix electricity in 12 years!!

The truth of the matter is that Buhari is still the most credible among the other 3 major candidates. He has a strong hatred for CORRUPTION[the main menace destroying our dear country], he is honest and determined to stop the national cakes from been shared within some few microscopic individuals but all Nigerians. It's just that TRUTH is bitter and people are not ready to hear it. Buhari is the man!

Somethings you don't know about Buhari


Muhammed Kabir
A Rejoinder to “Buhari, Atiku, Go and Rest” written by Naiwu Osahun: a response from MK Hassan

Dear Naiwu Osahun,
I read your article with the above caption and was compelled to write a rejoinder because of the inaccuracies it conveyed. The article only succeeded in exposing your ignorance of what has been happening in Nigeria, not surprising to me because you have stayed too long in the West and have no clue or is it due to some deliberate intellectual mischief? It may be better if you start writing on Memphis Tennessee, the civil right movements and how Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis since you know that place very well to have been given the city’s key before you get enlightened on local politics back home in Nigeria and start writing. I am really disappointed with that article and other ones you have previously wrote. It is obvious that your article wanted to attack the personality of Buhari but it ended up with bunch of contradictions and lack of scholarship. I cannot defend both Atiku and Jonathan because they all have case files before EFCC. While Atiku has one with respect to PTDF, Mr. Jonathan’s wife has a case file involving 12 million dollars when he was Governor of Bayelsa and she was arrested by EFCC then. Jonathan became Vice President and now Acting President and the case has since died silently. However, on Buhari I need to put the records straight point by point, I hope my rejoinder will be given the same publicity as your initial write up.

1. Mitary Training: Buhari does not fit in to the profile you wrote. In case you don't know Buhari graduated as a military officer (lieutenant) in Aldeshot UK. He went to the US National War College Carlisle in Pennsylvania from 1980 -1981. That is where the most respected officers of the US army such as Collin Powell attended to become generals. He was at the Defense College of India as well. By all military standards, his training is superb and the best any general can get in the world. Buhari was not some idle sitting General on baboon tree as you stated in your write up when he was in the army. In 1982-1983 when Chad took over our land with more than 19 villages like what the Cameroonians did with the support of France in the case of Bakassi, he then Brigadier Buhari led a successful operation as the GOC to push back Chad and reclaim our territory. If it was Buhari, there is no way as President, he will hand over Bakassi to Cameroon, that is true patriotism. I am not Buhari's relative and I have never met him in my life. But I have taken the pain to know a lot about him by reading facts because I believe among all the possible candidates vying for the Presidency now that may end up ruling Nigeria, he is the best qualified. Someone challenged me on the comments section of Sahara Reporters that I must compare General David Petreaus (The General Commanding Central Command in the Middle East of the US Forces) and Buhari; that is a tall order. They did not serve in the same army but still you have to give it to Buhari. Buhari as Lieutenant after graduating from the UK royal army fought in the Congo in 1964-65 as part of the first mission forces to stabilize the country during it first civil war and won the Congo Medal. He is comparable to Petreaus of US in terms of war command and strategy training. Petreaus Attended the US War College, Pennsylvania to become a General, Buhari went to the same college from 1980-1981 to be General even though Petreaus did, Buhari is his senior even by the US army rankings. Buhari fought a dangerous battle in Congo as a Lieutenant and won the Congo medal, Petreaus did not. Buhari fought in the Biafra civil war as a captain; Petreaus has not fought in a civil war. Buhari commanded an army division to defend his country against Chad, Petreaus commanded an army division to destroy a country Iraq. Now anyone who wants to can compare them.

2. Buhari's family background: Buhari came from a poor family in Daura. He is not the typical northern prince that you may think of. He lost his father Mallam Dauda, when he was young and his uncle took care of him and sent him to school and after secondary school, he joined the army and went to train in the UK royal army. You should have found out about all that before you write your article. It is because of his kind of background and the suffering he went through that he has no sympathy for corruption and the northern traditional ruling families fear him. Quite unlike Atiku, IBB, Yar'adua, Abdussalam etc, he has no traditional title, he refused to accept one from any emir even though they want to give him one even today. The masses in the north have decided to give him one. They call him Baba Buhari Shugaban talakawan Nigeria (Meaning our father, Buhari the leader of the masses).

3. Buhari, the so called Jihadist: Buhari was the first person to fight religious extremism in Nigeria. Anyone can go and find out about a group called Maitatsine in the north that took up arms in 1984 in the name of Jihad in States like Kano, Maiduguri, Bauchi and Adamawa and what he did to them. You also need to read about his refusal to allow every tom manliness and harry to become a pastor or imam in Nigeria like what is happening today. That is why we have so many religious crisis in the country because illiterates are parading themselves as Mallams and Pastors and fomenting trouble in the land. In respect of Nuhu Ribadu, Nasiru El Rufai, two of the most recent distinguished northerners anyone likes to mention, I would like to let you know that they have learnt a lot from Buhari as well. Nuhu got the opportunity to fight his first battle of corruption when he was doing his NYSC in 1984 when Buhari was investigating the 1984 thieves, Nuhu served in the Ministry of Trade where the import license scams took place and it is there, he told us on one occasion while delivering a lecture, that he got the inspiration to fight corruption and decided to join the police after his NYSC. In the case of El-Rufai, he also worked as consultant for PTF when Buhari was its chairman. Not surprising that they are hard working and distinguished. However, just before the 2003 elections, mischief makers like Atiku went to the south to misinformed people that he is a jihadist and support Sharia. If that is the case distinguished southerners both Christians and Muslims alike will not have supported him and I am talking of people like late Gani Fawehimi, who invited him to his house and raised Buhari’s hand before the media for all of us to see. People like Olu Falae, Tam David West and the like who still say a lot of good things about him and are supporting him. The truth must be told this time.

4. IBB's Coup against Buhari: Buhari refused to accept IMF loans and refused to devalue the naira then and I am glad you acknowledge that in your article and because of that he had to go because the west didn't like him so they used IBB to bring SAP that scuttle our econo y and put us in 18 billion dollars debt even though we sell oil. Meanwhile, he has retired General Ali Gusau in 1984 because of disagreements regarding work and defense contracts as reported along with Babangida, the duo planned the coup and when they succeeded, Babangida recalled Ali Gusau back to the army and made him his chief of Defense Intelligence. By the way, I would like you to know that Buhari sent Gusau on training to UK and US in intelligence and security while he was head of state. He made IBB his chief of army state but IBB is nothing short of a traitor to Buhari just the same way Dimka and Bisalla were traitors to Murtala in the 1976 coup.

5. Buhari planned a coup because of missing oil billions: He planned a coup against people like Umaru Dikko the then transport minister who were giving themselves import licenses for rice and skimming Nigerians and the like of Dr Tahir, the communication minister, who were importing horses and their food from Argentina. I met late Dr. Tahir who became Buhari's supporter in 2003, when I visited him in 2002 he told us that what Buhari did then was right, because they have lost their direction as a government. Dr. Tahir was a man of high intellectual capacity with a Phd in sociology from Cambridge, he spoke the truth. What Buhari did as a petroleum minister was the successful supervision and construction of three of the nation refineries, over 4000km of pipelines and 28 depots that we have failed to maintain today and so we import oil. How much has been stolen in just the turnaround maintenance of the refineries between Obasanjo and Abdussalam and still the refineries are not working? Over 4 billion dollars from 1999 to date. Infact before Obasanjo left, he auctioned one of refineries to Dangote at about 250 million dollars, something worth more than 3 billion dollars, Yar’adua reversed that sale.

6.Buhari and PTF: It is obvious you have not been home for long and so you are writing on what you don't know. On PTF, Buhari rehabilitated universities in Nigeria, provided textbooks for libraries and I am a witnessed, I used them for my final year project with PTF written on them. He supplied buses to the universities that time universities have no means of transportation. He built lecture theaters that I have studied in. We were happy to drive in the PTF buses and go for excursions to Kainji and Ajaokuta. What happened in PTF was after Obj won election even before he was sworn in and seeing the PTF records, he said he is going to ban PTF because it has no constitutional backing in a democracy. Because constitutionally all revenues must go to federation account and allocated by RMFAC. So when he was sworn in, he appointed a sole administrator, Dr. Haruna Adamu to investigate PTF hoping he will find something against Buhari. But it ended with Haruna going to jail for stealing $100 million dollars and it is in the records and newspapers in case you don’t know.

7.Missing PTF Money: . Let me tell you if that money you are talking about was missing in PTF, in both 2003 and 2007 elections, PDP and OBJ will have used that against Buhari just like he did to Atiku and PTDF and how he intimidated IBB on Glo by arresting his son, but OBJ cannot because he knows the man is so clean and that is who we need today in Nigeria. You can accuse Buhari for high handedness when he initially came in to power in 1983 by sending the politicians to Kiri Kiri with long life sentences but not corruption. Looking back to the 1980's , I can say Buhari was even compassionate. During that time, in Ghana and Congo and several African countries where they were coups, people like Rawlings in Ghana executed the government officials by firing squad or hanging but Buhari just jailed them. Some Nigerians are now even clamoring for a revolution or the Rawlings style.

8.Buhari and Democracy: Since the time he joined partisan politics, Buhari has conducted himself in the most admirable manner to anyone who knows what African politics is. Whenever, he lost, he went to court to follow due process. He has been in court for more than 20 months in one occasion making his case. He refused to mobilize his follows to rise against the Government or become unruly. If you don’t know he has such a large following but even if you think he doesn’t look at what is happening in other African countries. Raila Odinga and Kenya, they almost went to civil war because of elections. Morgan Tseveingire and Zimbwebwe, the country is now in shambles.

9. Let me be categorically clear, I am not saying Buhari is Saint Buhari and has no faults. I have my own different opinions on him as well but given our circumstances and the practical reality we are facing the main options we have in 2011 are BUHARI, ATIKU, BABANGIDA, GOODLUCK, the rest of the candidates are not yet out and I have not seen someone with their political heavy weight, we may be left with only the option of electing Buhari if we want to move this country forward. In a real political fight, Jonathan may not survive the intrigues. I don’t have anything against him but I am waiting for him to prove himself on electricity. I am even helping him because I have given his government a plan on how to fix it in the next one year, I hope he can deliver on the electricity promise to prove to us that he can lead and solve our problems.

Finally, if you think my points are not correct or I am being dishonest, I think we have no other option than I challenge you to a debate on your write up perhaps with Sahara reporters and informed journalists and historians as panelists. You are in Tennessee, I am in Pennsylvania, so we can meet in the neutral middle state of Ohio in a city like Cincinnati for the debate. I can pay for your travel fare from Memphis if you want me to. After the debate on Buhari with facts and defending the trash you wrote, then we can put it in on Youtube and Sahara reporters that way Nigerian’s will be more enlightened. I am not intimidated by the bunch of acronyms and titles after your name. It is dangerous to be writing silly stories and misleading people, it is not helping the situation in Nigeria.

MK Hassan can be reached at mk.hassan@hotmail.com

e ya,we dont know,how did you get this fact?are you his campaign manager?or aspiring to be, ?

i dont really know why Nigerians react so much to the sudden rain that rains heavily and yet stop than the the river that flows slowly in our lives. Buhari all along has been the only man to Lead Nigeria through these crisis because he is not a currupt person in all ramifications.

sometimes we have to look at the United States views of Buhari and that will tell you that indeed Buhari is an honest man. him and nelson mandela was the only people president obama personally and i repeat, persoanlly signed their letter of invitation to his inauguartion ceremony as the president of US.

sometimes i dont even see buhari as a muslim because he doesnt behave like oone, i will rather tag him a christian because he is very peaceful and upright in his dealings with his fellow humans.

i will not forget this when these people went for ruling council meeting during the time of idiagbor, idiagbor made it known that for Nigeria to have a peace of mind, that all of them that came to that meeting including will have to be killed. from that day, they sought to kill him and it was achived later.

Buhari decleared war on corruption and realy achieved a huge success, meaning it is possible to be achieved. i will say that Buhari is the only saving grace left God to lift us all upfrom these nonsense.

i will also quote from PROPHET TB JOSUA that a small political party will suprise Nigeria in this very election coming up on april and i strongly belive that Buhari will definitely win this election.

i rest my case. thanks for your audience.

rizenangel:

e ya,we dont know,how did you get this fact?are you his campaign manager?or aspiring to be, ?

Stop asking questions like a toddler, if you need to contradict any of the aforementioned points, you can email the writer.

I will also cast my vote for BB! Nigeria needs people like them to forge ahead.

BB 4 LIFE

I will rather not vote than to vote for GEJ.
[size=18pt]BUHARI is the only former Nigerian leader that has no landed property in Abuja[/size]
Tell me, who among all the contestants do not have landed properties in Abuja even the "no-corrupt my-foot" Ribada is not a saint in this regards.

*yawns* now i remember why i dont hang-out in this section so often!



if we all had the zeal for a better naija with one vision/dream in mind & the effect of our decisions today on future generations in mind, what a luvly place naija would be.


singing Asa's No One knows tomorrow.

Of all the present candidates for Nigeria presidency, there is no an iota of doubt that Buhari stands head and shoulder above the rest. I am old enough to know that he meant well for the country as Head of State but the corruption infested millitary lead by Babangida would not allow him. It is not surprising that people like WOLE sOYINKA are not supporting his ambition. The professor sometimes behaves like one who is living ahead of the time; not facing reality or running away from it. He forgets that as humans, no amount of perfection will make us walk without having our heads tilted/shaken. Buhari may have made some mistakes in the past but I believe that all the good things he stands for far outweigh whatever his past shortcomings were. If Nigerians are really desirous of reaching "the promised land", Buhari remains the only candidate that has all it takes to take us there. As promising as Ribadu may appear, he is still very far behind Buhari in terms of the zeal and the readiness to step on toes. There are many interests Ribadu will still want/need to protect if he becomes the president. Or does anyone think that Ribadu will want to offend Tinubu whom himself once described his (Tinubu's) corruption as of "international dimensions". I"LL RATHER VOTE FOR BUHARI TEN TIMES THAN GEJ ONCE.

Until corruption is dead Nigeria will not move forward. #Fact
Vote Buhari Bakare, To stamp out corrupttion.

Seriously , hitherto am a fan of GEJ though av always been concern abt those that surround him. but having gone through ds thread am beginning 2 think dt av been in a wrong camp all along.
i av never giving any thought Or dAMN abt  Buhari @ all  beecos i used 2 think d man is an old school who doesn't know the latest art of governing a state like Nigeria. but from d fore going i think he is just d most clean and stainless among others contenders, d best MAN 4 d job, even better than Ribadu who will latter be controlled and arm twisted by d Tinubus .

i think we should all vote base on personalities and not parties,
these vultures we hav around av wasted enough of our glorious time, change should come.
I think i will be swinging toward the BB team now dt i know better.
pls ao can i join dem on facebook, i can't wait 2 join.

Dfash:

Seriously , hitherto am a fan of GEJ though av always been concern abt those that surround him. but having gone through ds thread am beginning 2 think dt av been in a wrong camp all along.
i av never giving any thought Or dAMN abt  Buhari @ all  beecos i used 2 think d man is an old school who doesn't know the latest art of governing a state like Nigeria. but from d fore going i think he is just d most clean and stainless among others contenders, d best MAN 4 d job, even better than Ribadu who will latter be controlled and arm twisted by d Tinubus .

i think we should all vote base on personalities and not parties,
these vultures we hav around av wasted enough of our glorious time, change should come.
I think i will be swinging toward the BB team now dt i know better.
pls ao can i join dem on facebook, i can't wait 2 join.

If you are really interested in bringing the much needed change to Nigeria, you can join the BB team on FB (click link below):

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Buhari4change-Official-Fan-Page/116280281775259