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:
Kennedy Emetulu
(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 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 are 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?
( 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’Adiua 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!