zakson4real:
Let us set the records straight. As
Nigerians prepare to vote for progress
and change in the upcoming
Presidential elections, it is pertinent
certain popular statements attributed
to chief opposition candidate, General
Muhammadu Buhari are set straight for
God and man.
Firstly, did General Buhari ever say he
or they will make Nigeria
ungovernable?
The answer to this is a resounding, NO!
In an earlier write-up we carefully
researched this inflammatory
statement and discovered that it was
made by a then PDP politician, Lawal
Kaita from Kaduna. This is why the late
NSA, Andrew Owoye Azazi said that it
was internal PDP politics and their
squabbles on zoning/rotation of the
Presidency that led to the “sudden
sophistication of Boko Haram.” It was
within PDP that the discussion of
rotation of the presidency came up, and
Lawal Kaita was perturbed with
Jonathan’s decision to continue late
Umaru Yar’Adua’s term in violation of
the parties zoning policy. This was
when Jonathan promised to only
contest/occupy the top spot one
additional term (in addition to his
completing Yar’Adua’s term) and also
when some northern PDP stalwarts and
party founders threatened to make
Nigeria ungovernable. There was no
such confusion in Buhari’s CPC and thus
no need and reason for such
inflammatory pronouncements from his
quarters.
When Reuben Abati spun this
statement upon the person of Buhari,
the General took him to court for libel
and the court judgment as awarded in
Buhari’s favor. Buhari dragged Abati
and The Guardian to court via suit no.
ID/837/2011 and demanded N1billion
damages. President Goodluck Jonathan
then begged Buhari to settle out-of-
court. See in DailyPost of January 13th,
2013: http://dailypost.ng/2013/01/13/
presidency-begs-buhari-to-settle-
slander-case-out-of-court /. The
empathetic General agreed and Reuben
Abati and the Guardian where the
libelous article was published were
made to publish an unreserved
retraction of the slander against Buhari
which they did in the Guardian of July
11, 2013. This is why Reuben Abati is
called Nigeria’s evil genius. Our full
article on this with all references can be
read here on ENDS.ng: http://ends.ng/
fact-it-was-pdp-that-promised-to-
make-nigeria-ungovernable-in-2011-
buhari-never-did/
Did General Buhari promise election
riots in 2011?
The answer to this is again, NO!
General Buhari never prescribed riots or
made any threat related to such in
regards to the 2011 elections. He took
the case of election rigging to court and
never made a single statement
containing threats in relation to it. The
Lemu panel investigation of the post-
election riots cleared the General of any
guilt or complicity. The General released
an exemplary press statement on the
court’s ruling which can be read on
SaharaReporters of December 28,
2011: http://
saharareporters.com/2011/12/28/
statement-general-muhammadu-
buhari-regarding-verdict-supreme-
court-jonathans-election
Buhari did however state that if 2015
was a repeat of the rigging on 2011,
there will be a fierce fight. He used the
kare jini biri jinni Hausa proverb, which
roughly cuts as ‘the dog and baboon will
be soaked in the same blood,’ but is an
idiom which means, there will be a real
battle- could be legal; could be protests
or any other battle, as this is a mere
proverbial statement. Of course those
who wished to paint this statement
with the ‘blood’ contained in it did so
eagerly as we see they have done in
many other of his statements and
statements attributed to him. Read
more on the idiom here, by Dr. Aliyu
Tilde on PremiumTimes: http://
www.premiumtimesng.com/
opinion/5195-
buhari_vs_pdp_the_dog_and_the_baboon.
The third hallmark statement
attributed to the General: did Buhari
ever say that a war on Boko Haram
was a war against the north?
The answer to this statement as with
the rest is a resounding, NO!
Why are all these false statements
attributed to Buhari? Well, for one
reason the General is rather not that
outspoken and is a man of extreme
patience and tolerance who evidently
only used legal means to redress the
libel and false accusations against him
planed and sponsored by the
Presidency.
So what did General Buhari say in 2013?
He said, the institution of a State of
Emergency in Borno, Adamawa and
Yobe states was a declaration of war on
the north of Nigeria.
He did not say that fighting Boko Haram
was a declaration of war against the
north; no, after all he fought and
destroyed not only Maitatsine terrorists,
but also the Habre fanatical forces of
Chad. He clearly understands the need
of a real war against terror; he however
saw that Nigeria’s President and the
then army Chief, General Azubuike
Ihejirika who has been labeled a Boko
Haram sponsor by my organization,
ENDS and Boko Haram negotiator,
Stephen Davis, were not fighting any
real war against the terrorists but were
silently facilitating the continued reign
of terror and seeking all means to
destroy the northeast as it is today.
When Buhari wiped out Maitatsine in
Adamawa state, he did not need to
declare any phony state of emergency.
He did not declare one either when he
expelled the Habre Chadian forces from
the 19 Nigerian occupied Islands in the
northeast.
Today the entire Nigeria saw the
wisdom of elder statesman Buhari’s
position against the declaration of the
state of emergency and the senate
thereby refused to extend the more
harmful than good emergency rule that
failed to yield meaningful results since
it was instituted in May of 2013.
I as a proponent of the State of
Emergency in 2013 and one of those
who canvassed and pushed for it did not
quite agree with the General at the
time but now I understand his
reservations and how this declaration
and all others by the President including
his recent cessation of fire have all
been declarations of war against the
Nigerian people, particularly those
being decimated and displaced in the
northeast by French foreign forces
being organized and directed from Idris
Deby’s Chad.
In conclusion, the Jonathan government
who without any investigation
exonerated MEND who had claimed
responsibility for the October 1st 2010
Abuja bomb attack, since then decided
to pick on General Muhammadu Buhari,
his most formidable perceived
opponent and in so doing allowed and
as some say, actually supported Boko
Haram’s continued existence and
carnage while his evil genius press and
media men and the Femi twins
continued to spew slander upon slander
and libel upon libel against the person
of Buhari, spinning his every proverb out
of context, publishing twisted versions
of his every word and even reflecting
other people’s statements upon him.
Proverbs 19:9 says… who breathes out
lies will perish.
Indeed the liars shall perish. For “Their
throat is an open grave; they use their
tongues to deceive.” “The venom of
asps is under their lips.” Romans 3:13
ESV.
Dr. Peregrino Brimah; http://
ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something]
Email: drbrimah@ends.ng Twitter:
@EveryNigerian