WE ARE ENTITLED TO OUR OPINIONS,
NOT OUR OWN FACTS
"The difference between stupidity and
genius is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein
Okay, so much has been said about that
AIT/PDP N5million a broadcast
'documentary'. Agonizing as it was, I
sat through all its 56 minutes, twice.
"The Real Buhari" they tittle it. Whether
sponsored or not, whether it was paid
for or not, it was an insult to
professionalism on so many levels. It is
unethical to deliberately lie, even for
journalists. Yeah, there are some truths
in the documentary, but measured on a
"truth-o-meter", I'll say it is about 90%
full of inconsistencies, ramblings,
convenient incomplete truths and
outright lies. I'm only entitled to my
opinions but not my own set of facts,
because opinions change and differ,
but facts are, I want to look at the most
of the most outrageous issues raised in
the documentary.
1) Selective Prison Therapy?
In the documentary it was said that,
"Buhari protected Kangiwa", and that
"No Northern Muslim Governor from
NPN was tried". That second Republic
Sokoto State Governor, late Shehu
Kangiwa was not jailed by General
Buhari's regime because he is a
Northern Muslim. To start with the man
died in November 1981 while playing
polo. That is 2 years before Buhari
came in. May be he should have
exhumed the body, then prosecute and
haul it into a prison. On the AIT claimed
that only Aper Aku of Benue state was
tried, nothing could be father from the
truth. And this why. Including Shehu
Kangiwa that died 25 months before
Buhari/Idiagbon regime to over,
between 1979 to 1983 there were 8
NPN Governors; 7 of these Governors
(Kwara, Niger, Sokoto, Kaduna Bauchi
and Gongola) were Muslim. Now let's
see about the 7 Muslim NPN Governors:
<> Awwal Ibrahim (Niger);
<> Adamu Attah (Kwara);
<> Tatari Ali (Bauchi);
<> Shehu Kangiwa (Sokoto), died 1981;
<> Garba Nadama (Sokoto);
<> Bamanga Tukur (Gongola), and;
<> Lawal Kaita (Kaduna).
Garba Nadama took over as Governor in
1981 after Kangiwa died. He was given
a life sentence. Both Bamanga Tukur
and Lawal Kaita, now deeply rooted in
PDP, ruled for only 14 weeks but were
given harsh sentences of about 100
years each. One is forced to ask, where
did AIT source its own information? Oh,
I get it. It was a deliberate
misinformation to portray Buhari as
anti-Christians, anti-South even though
11 out of his 19 Governors were
Christians. By the way, 15 Nigerians
served as ministers under Shagari. 12
were from the North. 2 from South West
(Wahab Dosumu and Richard Akinjide)
and only 1 (Sylvester Ugoh) from South
East/South. No one is complaining. But
we are trying to demonize a man who
played the politics of appointments fair?
2) Beginning of Fundamentalism
We have heard people link GMB to
signing Nigeria into Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Or that
GMB's regime killed Fela's mother. First,
Nigeria was signed into OIC 1986 by
certain "President" IBB. He was in IBB
jail that year. Buhari was not the Head
of State. The Oga of your employer
signed us in. Second, Fela's mama was
murdered (caused to die) by another
military regime in 1978. That is a whole
72 months before Buhari came to
power. In line with this deliberate
attempt to play with timelines AIT/PDP
claimed that Fundamentalism started
during the time of Buhari; specifically in
1984. The allegation is that, "General
Buhari's reign witnessed the beginning
of religious fundamentalism in Nigeria".
They showed remnants of the
Maitatsine sect were destroyed in Kano
in 1980, led by Mallam Musa Bakanike,
a staunch follower of Mohammed
Marwa Maitasine resurfaced in Yola and
crushed again in March of 1984.
Musa Bakanike's sect was presented as
the first of its kind in Nigeria. Saying
that 1984 was the beginning of
fundamentalism is akin to saying Boko
Haram started with Shekau in 2010. The
first clash was in 1975 with the Tatsine
fundamentalist and our government was
1975. Then in 1980 and 1982. By the
way, the 1,000 people whose deaths
were regret in the commentary are the
militant followers of Musa Bakanike. We
lost about 5. No wonder they cancelled
history classes in our secondary
schools.
3) Crating Umaru Dikko Was Bad For
Our Image?
Fela's song about an alleged
$2.8billion that was missing was
referenced. Here's the thing, when he
sang about that $2.8b, he specifically
mentioned Pa OBJ, not GMB. But, here
is the rub. So, how can Buhari who
stole $2.8billion from his country and
hides in Midlands bank in the UK,
orchestrated the kidnap of the second
republic minister of Transport and
Chairman of some task force rice, Alhaji
Umaru Dikko, for stealing money and
lodging same in the same UK? He also
detained their plane, British Caledonia
and its crew, and also jailed two British
citizens for 14 years? Are these people
listening to themselves at all? So,
sponsors of this documentary are
against the attempt to bring Dikko back
home; a man the British classify as a
'thief', and were alleged to be protecting
him only because they want to retain
his loot in their economy? If this is not
a free advert for General Buhari, I don't
know what is. At least, a man who is
ready to go after a known thief in
another country will not tolerate the act
at home or pardon convicted felons.
It was also narrated how General
Buhari, in retaliation, ordered that the
British Caledonia plane that was still in
our airspace on its way to UK and its
crew be arrested until our plane and
crew detained in UK were also allowed
to leave. General Buhari's regime also
slammed a 14 year prison sentence on
2 Britons in retaliation to Nigerians
jailed over there. And that was the time
of "iron lady" Margaret Thatcher. If this
is not a free and unintended campaign
for GMB, I'm still wondering what is.
Who wouldn't want a man like this to be
his President; a man who is not afraid
of the Western World of Thatcher,
François Mitterand and Ronald Reagan?
At the moment, Nigerians are next
nothing in foreign lands. Will you prefer
a President who pardons, hide criminals
in Aso Rock, and protect the rest or a
President who will chase them 5,000
kilometers to other countries?
4) Deported Ghanaians and Other West
Africans
Yes, he did. But Buhari's regime was
not the first to deport Ghanaians and
other West Africans back to home
countries. Shehu Shagari's did in 1981.
Soon after the December 31st, 1983
coup, they started trouping back in. By
1985, close to 2 million illegal aliens
came back. They were believed mostly
to be economic migrants, but lots of
them were also believed to be
"miscreants and criminals". They also
took jobs away from Nigerians because
they were cheaper. In May of 1985, the
regime gave few weeks to go back. In
any case, are the promoters of this
fubar targeting Ghanaians for sympathy
votes?
5) Soldiers Vs Police
"Soldiers humiliating the police on the
streets". They tried to support this
allegation with pictures. Only that
looking at the cars, trucks, structures
and especially uniforms of both the
soldiers and the police, you'll know, if
you know, that these were more recent
pictures. In fact, one of the pictures was
of an incident that happen 2013.
6) Everything Goes: Buhari's Family Too
Many were shocked at the attack on
Buhari's daughter and late wife. It was
ill-advised. But in truth, I'm not
surprised. It is a stock in trade. I am
not expecting them to be classy. Why
expect class from a party whose media
and publicity campaign directorate is
headed by FFK? A campaign whose
mouthpiece had no qualms, whatsoever,
outing women he had slept with, who
are now married and mothers, just to
prove that he is not a bigot? Why
expect anything to be off-limits. True to
form, the man is at his maniacal,
infantile, inflammatory, and self-serving
best. He is simply pathetic. And that is
exactly what the President wants. I trust
the Buhari's campaign expects nothing
less from the other side.
7) Then The Foolish Stuff
"2015 is Muhammadu Buhari's 5th shot
at the Nigerian 5th Presidency"? Buhari
did not contest any election in 1999. He
contested in 2003, 2007 and 2011, and
is now contesting in 2015.
Then more foolish stuff were thrown in.
Late Tunde Idiagbon was described as
the regime's "Rottweiler", that large
bullish German dog. Not only is it
unnecessary but insensitive to his
family. If I'm a member of the GMB
campaign team, I'll cut out that part and
make it a part of the campaign in Kwara
State; just like I'll make Ayo Fayose's
mockery of the death of leaders from
the Northwest. That is the language
they understand. It is also really
laughable the attempt made at
mimicking Chief Alex Ekwueme,
Yar'adua, Awo, Onabanjo's voices and
mannerisms. It is even insulting how
they mimic Chief Ekwueme, presenting
him crying over the unfair treatment he
suffered in the hands of Buhari's
regime. They could have done better by
using an Igbo accented man, if at all
that is necessary. The elder statesman
speaks without the flaws and the foolish
accent we heard. Instead it was another
man who kept pronouncing blatant as
"blantant". Worst, immediately after the
terrible dramatization and voice-overs,
they justified the 1983 coup by
narrating that, it was curious that
Shagari whose "failure led to the coup"
was held up in the State House.
The narrator starts reading each quote
with the shout of "unquote" and end it
with another "unquote". May be
because it was as hastily organised, or
because that is the best they can offer.
But you can easily tell the desperate
attempt at destroying GMB in the
absence of what sell to voters.
They Were All Over And Everywhere
"Conviction by military fiat". How can
people tried under a tribunal and found
guilty of helping themselves to public
funds be referred to as convicted by
military fiat? They were found guilty of
looting! Some of us were alive, healthy
and old enough to know what transpired
then...

Gloria Okon was disappeared few weeks
to overthrowing General Buhari. The
legend of the time was that those that
Ms Okon's faked death in custody
covered the asses of the spouses of
those who conspire to overthrow the
regime, who later murdered Dele Giwa
for knowing too much about the fake
death.
Oh, and PTF? AIT forgot that President
OBJ went after it like a man possessed
by the desire for vengeance. It was
audited, nothing found. He simply
closed it down. Still, in trying to prove
GMB's "corrupt activities" in PTF, the
narrator said Ahmad Salihijo was
"curiously" reported dead. AIT/PDP
suggested Ahmad Salihijo is not dead.
Newsflash, the man has been dead
more than a decade now.
The General never smile, yet in the
same program showed more than 5
clips of the man smiling. Not to forget
his last peace meeting where he met
with the President. Importantly, if you
have ever met the man, as some of us
have, you will see an ever smiling,
playful (no nonsense, of course) and
funny man. In any case, how does
smiling change the price of goods in
the market? How will showing his '32'
address corruption or our security
problem?

Historians are liars!