Femi Aribisala
ON Friday, 23rd August, 1985, the military government of Major-
General Mohammadu Buhari decided to place me under arrest.
My crime was that I wrote, among others, an article entitled:
“Counter-trading Nigeria’s Future” in the National Concord,
exposing the government’s scam of diverting public funds into
private coffers through barter-trade with Brazil.
A man by the name of Benson Norman was sent from the State
Security Services (SSS) to my office to get me. Not finding me, he
left a note that I must present myself unfailingly at the SSS office
at 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi Lagos the next Monday morning.
However, on Sunday, 25th August, 1985, Lateef Aminu came first
thing in the morning to my house to inform me that the
government of Buhari/Idiagbon had been overthrown. For this
reason, I am fond of telling people that God brought about a
change of government in Nigeria just because of me. Coup-plotter
Under the Buhari/Idiagbon regime, once you ended up at 15
Awolowo Road, you may never be heard of again. Decree Number
2 of 1984 empowered Tunde Idiagbon to arrest and detain
anybody indefinitely without trial and without legal reprieve.
After Buhari was overthrown, Mohammadu Gambo opened the
prison doors of 15 Awolowo Road on public television, revealing
people in various stages of UnCloth and malnutrition that had
been kept in the dungeons without trial by Buhari’s hound-dogs.
As self-imposed Head of State, Buhari had no regard for human
rights. Immediately he seized power, he announced that he would
“tamper with” the press. Soon, the infamous Decree Number 4
was promulgated which made even the publication of the truth a
punishable offence. Under this cover, Buhari jailed innocent
journalists, including Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabo. He
abolished civil liberties, promulgated retroactive decrees enabling
him to kill Nigerians through jungle justice, proscribed civil
society organizations and professional groups and exercised
“absolute” power.
This same Buhari would now have us believe that he has gone
through some metamorphosis and has become a democrat. I am
sure you will forgive me if people like me don’t believe him. Buhari
is not, has never been, and will never be, a democrat.
Only in Nigeria would a man with his track record, who came to
power through a military coup that illegally overthrew a
democratic government, now be acclaimed as a democrat. It is on
record that Buhari’s military regime is the only one in Nigeria’s
history that failed to promulgate a programme for return to
civilian rule. Facts and fiction So what exactly qualifies Buhari as a
democrat today? Precious little!
There is nothing democratic about forming and joining political
parties just in order to be the presidential candidate. Little wonder
then that Buhari’s parties have a short shelf-life.
Buhari would like to be Nigeria’s head of state once again. He can
no longer achieve this through the barrel of a gun. The only route
now open to him is through the democratic process. That is the
reason he now conveniently fashions himself as a democrat. It is
merely a means to an end; no more, no less. Buhari’s reputation as
an anti-corruption crusader is also a myth. As head of state, he did
not make any dent in Nigerian corruption. All we got was a
cosmetic “war against indiscipline.”
The counter-trade scam happened under his watch. Rather than
deal with it, he sent his hound-dogs after nonentities like me who
dared to expose it.
That scam was no different, in scope and scale, from the
petroleum subsidy and other corruption scandals that have since
plagued Nigeria. The Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) that Buhari
headed under Abacha was also a citadel of corruption. While
Buhari himself might not have enriched himself, his cronies and
those who worked under him did so handsomely. On three
different occasions, Buhari has run for the presidency. On three
different occasions he has failed.
That should really be enough. If, as seems likely, he were to run
for the presidency a fourth time in 2015, there is no question that
he would fail yet again. Try as he might again and again,
Mohammadu Buhari can never be President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. Buhari’s sectarianism There is a fundamental
reason behind this. Buhari is a bad politician. He is an unbending
former military dictator and not a democratic consensus-builder.
Like his new ally, Bola Tinubu, Buhari is a regional, sectional
politician. Such politicians are practically impossible to package
and market nationally in the ethnically-delicate Nigeria of today.
Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir
El’Rufai, one of those Northerners who deserve to be serious
contenders for the presidency of Nigeria, observed that Buhari
remains “perpetually unelectable” as a result of his “insensitivity to
Nigeria’s diversity and his parochial focus.” This is an elegant way
of saying that politically, Buhari has an uncanny tendency to put
his foot in his mouth. He talks before thinking of the political
implications of his words. He shoots from the hip. The strength of
Obasanjo, which enabled him to capture the presidency on two
different occasions, was that he was perceived as a broadminded
politician, not overly partial to his people in the South-West. As a
matter of fact, in his first election, his people did not want him.
The strength of Goodluck Jonathan, which propelled him to win
the presidency, was that he was able to string together a coalition
that stretched both north and south of the Niger. The weakness of
Buhari is that he is totally unacceptable to people outside his
region. Buhari is a Northern regional champion. As head of state
in the 1980s, his government was unapologetically Northern.
No attempt was made to balance the ticket at the top. It was the
only regime in Nigeria’s history headed by two Northerners. When
he seized power, Buhari put Shagari, the Northern head of state he
overthrew, under house arrest. But then he jailed Alex Ekwueme,
the Southern vice-president. You may well ask what makes Shagari
less culpable for the misdeeds of the Second Republic than his
number-two man. The simple fact was that Buhari was Fulani as
was Shagari; but Ekwueme was Igbo. Impolitic words At the height
of the Sharia debate during the Obasanjo administration, Buhari
declared that Muslims should vote only for fellow Muslims.
This was politically suicidal for a man seeking national office. He
became an advocate for implementation of Sharia all over Nigeria.
He protested to the Oyo State governor, in the context of a dispute
between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farmers in the state,
that “your people are killing my people.” This turned out to be
unfounded and perhaps the reverse.
His threats during the campaign for the 2011 elections incited
widespread violence in the North after he lost. His supporters
went on a rampage; looting and killing; in spite of the fact that, by
all accounts, the elections were adjudged the most free and fair in
the history of Nigeria’s current democratic experiment.
By the time the mayhem had subsided, over 1000 people had
been slaughtered in cold blood and some 65,000 displaced.
Forgetting that a statement made in Hausa would readily be
translated into English, Buhari later declared .unapologetically in a
BBC interview: “If what happened in 2011 should again happen in
2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be
soaked in blood.” These are the tokens of an irresponsible
politician, whose ambitions for power supersede the national
interest.
Who then are the dogs and baboons that Buhari has in mind to
soak in blood if and when he loses yet again come 2015? Are they
his children or are they those of others? With the Boko Haram
insurgency in the north, Buhari played to the Northern gallery yet
again, calling the Jonathan government “the biggest Boko Haram.”
Wole Olaniyi was a fly in the wall at a meeting in Kano
Government House designed to persuade PDP rebel governor,
Rabiu Kwankwaso, to decamp to the APC. Assuming that only
Northerners were present, Buhari declared the Boko Haram was a
“strategic plan” by the government of Goodluck Jonathan to
“destroy the North.” When Jonathan declared a state of
emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states, Buhari still saw
this with Northern goggles, insinuating that the President is waging
war on the North.
President of the North
Without a doubt, Buhari has massive support in the North.
Indeed, he is the most popular Northern politician in the North
today. But that precisely remains his undoing at the centre. The
more he has been identified as a Northern champion, the less
attractive he has become as a national choice. Even in the North,
his support base is limited to the Muslim population. He does not
appeal to Northern Christians.
Then there is the added factor of the opposition of his implacable
opponents among the Northern elite. Men like Babangida and
Atiku would rather die than allow Buhari get to Aso Rock. One
thing is certain, the South-South and the South-East will not vote
for Buhari in 2015. Not only that; there are no buyers for Buhari’s
sectarian politics in the South-West.
No matter what Tinubu might be telling him, the people of the
South-West will not vote for Buhari in 2015. We already had the
template in 2011, when Buhari tried to sell himself, first by
balancing his ticket with a Yoruba man; and then by making sure
the Yoruba man is a Christian; a pastor no less. But it just did not
wash. It will not work in 2015. The worst thing that can happen to
Northern presidential aspirations in 2015 is for Buhari to be on
the APC ballot.That is a sure guarantee that the North will not be
providing the next president. Buhari would be a shoo-in in an
election for president of Northern Nigeria. But in an election
encompassing the entire country, the best he can envisage is to be
a kingmaker. He cannot be king. The nearest Buhari will get to Aso
Rock in 2015 is by attending the Council of State meetings
(culled from Vanguard Newspaper

Mark ny words, Buhari will rule with an Iron fist. The masses will know no freedom if buhari mounts that throne.
They will not dare post any bulshit insults on fb without any lashback from the government.
We will sitback and laugh.
On the other hand GEJ is not a better alternative.
We need new people. Away with the evil men rulling naija.

delishpot:
Mark ny words, Buhari will rule with an Iron fist. The masses will know no freedom if buhari mounts that throne.
They will not dare post any bulshit insults on fb without any lashback from the government.
We will sitback and laugh.
On the other hand GEJ is not a better alternative.
We need new people. Away with the evil men rulling naija.

I keep digging up some old ugly past of buhari,which tells me that I am right to stand up against so many of my friends who's trying to defend buhari with their last blood, I pray God's will be done soon...

frakdon:
I keep digging up some old ugly past of buhari,which tells me that I am right to stand up against so many of my friends who's trying to defend buhari with their last blood, I pray God's will be done soon...

Even their words shows how evil they his supporters are. They cry blue murder when people in the north used their last blood to riot when buhari lost his ellection. They killed innocent people days after it.
Now his supporters are stating again, that they are ready to die for Buhari, what makes them different from boko haram? BH boys are willing to die for Allah, buharis boys are willing to die for Buhari. Talk about a pot calling kettle black.
And I pray that they spend their last blood voting him in. Let the rest of us have rest.

U will still kill yourself ontop person wey no know ur father matter.... Keep digging someone's past, don't go and look for a way ur life will be better, jobless scum

Sylvarresta:
U will still kill yourself ontop person wey no know ur father matter.... Keep digging someone's past, don't go and look for a way ur life will be better, jobless scum

You are the jobless one here my friend, why not keep shut if you have no meaningful comment or rebuttal?

brownlord:


You are the jobless one here my friend, why not keep shut if you have no meaningful comment or rebuttal?

go and kill urself

Nigerians wake up!
Wake up nigerians!
We need a credible leaders not corrupt infested leaders of our time!
Intelligent,competent leaders who understands what democracy means.
Leaders who could restore the image of this nation and peace to her good people.
We tired of the present leaders playing politice with our lives!
Though it is a challenging job..Who is the best choice to sit in Aso rock come 2015?
Nigerians wake up
we have gone through hell for 16 solid years..W..A..K..E..UP Nigerians!

Sylvarresta:
U will still kill yourself ontop person wey no know ur father matter.... Keep digging someone's past, don't go and look for a way ur life will be better, jobless scum

if yu don't hv anything to say, yu better go spread yur mat nd sleep before thunder go kiss yu....akpa amu!

delishpot:


Even their words shows how evil they his supporters are. They cry blue murder when people in the north used their last blood to riot when buhari lost his ellection. They killed innocent people days after it.
Now his supporters are stating again, that they are ready to die for Buhari, what makes them different from boko haram? BH boys are willing to die for Allah, buharis boys are willing to die for Buhari. Talk about a pot calling kettle black.
And I pray that they spend their last blood voting him in. Let the rest of us have rest.

guy me tire sef, I don't knw if he buhari forgot his fulani cap for aso rock, the last time he was there, yu should see hw he's been condemned everywhere he goes...

delishpot:
Mark ny words, Buhari will rule with an Iron fist. The masses will know no freedom if buhari mounts that throne.
They will not dare post any bulshit insults on fb without any lashback from the government.
We will sitback and laugh.
On the other hand GEJ is not a better alternative.
We need new people. Away with the evil men rulling naija.

Who wan vote the Terroristic Buhari?
Ko si GEJ, Ko so ibo.