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How God, US Made Me — Buhari by baloney: 8:57am On Jul 29, 2015 |
Shortly after the August 1983 military coup that
brought a 40-year-old Muhammadu Buhari to
power, he received a phone call from a top
personnel in the United States Army. General
Smith was the Commandant of the U.S. War
College from which Buhari graduated in 1980. The
school’s 1979 set had graduated its first Nigerian,
General Wushishi, who was the Chief of Defence
in the just ousted Shehu government.
“Please, be kind to him,” General Smith said over
the phone. The essence of the phone call was not
just to congratulate Nigeria’s new Head of State,
but to ensure that the first Nigerian to graduate
from the U.S. War College would not suffer any
indignity under the government of the second
Nigerian to graduate from the same school.
Former classmates
On Wednesday, July 22, members of the U.S. War
College Class of 1980 gathered at the Blair House
in Washington, DC, to welcome the man they had
selected as their football team referee 36 years
ago. “Being referee all those years ago taught me
to be fair and just,” President Buhari said during
the meeting.
Among the former classmates gathered were Lt.
General Granrud (Commander of the U.S. forces
in Japan Rtd), Brigadier General Jack Pellica,
General Ronald Griffith (Former Vice Chairman of
the U.S. army central command ), Colonel Lany
Gordon and Colonel Paul Summerville. General
Smith has since passed on, as have all the
directing staff and a larger percentage of the old
students from the set. “This just shows that all of
us are on the queue,” President Buhari said,
“waiting for our turn.”
The Nigerian Commander-in-Chief said he hoped
that the U.S. would continue its tradition of
training Nigerians in the war college. At the time
he attended the school, he was the only African in
his class. The only other foreigners were from
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand,
France and Japan. The Japanese student went on
to become the head of his country’s army.
President Buhari then went on to update his
classmates on his life since he last saw them: his
different appointments, his accomplishments and
his family. “I have just received my 13th
grandchild,” he said.
He added that the wife they knew him with at the
time had since died, and that he had also lost a
son and a daughter from his new wife. “Of all my
eight children,” he said, “only one is a boy.” Some
of his former classmates were curious to know if
President Buhari would place his only son, Yusuf,
in the army.
“I stopped him from joining the army,” President
Buhari replied.
He explained that the military he joined was very
different from what it is today, adding that he
was the second Nigerian to be sent to the U.S.
War College—based on his records alone, without
connections. “Things took a wrong turn in
Nigeria,” he said. “Your records no longer
mattered.”
Some of the former classmates present at the
meeting stated that at the time they met
President Buhari back in 1980, they knew little
about Nigeria or Africa. They credited the Nigerian
leader with giving them their initial enlightenment
about the continent. Others recalled how he
always overworked himself.
However, President Buhari described his war
college experience as being responsible for his
subsequent life of hard work, endurance and
perseverance. “I contested for president three
times and failed,” he said. “Then I did it the
fourth time and won.” A roar of laughter followed
the president’s apt illustration.
He then rendered his narrative of the collapse of
the Soviet Union, breaking into 18 republics and
how that influenced his decision to join politics.
“The collapse of the Soviet empire in 1980
without a single shot being fired convinced that
the multi-party democratic system was the best
for all countries.”
President Buhari then expressed appreciation to
President Barack Obama and to the U.S. for the
role the country played in Nigeria’s successful
elections, recalling Secretary of State, John
Kerry’s visit to him and to former president
Goodluck Jonathan, as well as to Attahiru Jega,
the electoral commissioner at the time.
Electoral commissioner
“Kerry read the riot act to all of us,” he said,
“saying that the conduct of the election must be
free, fair and in line with the Constitution.” He
added that, without US intervention, the electoral
malpractices of the past twelve years would
likely have happened again. “God made me but
America made me,” he said.
The Class of 1980 gave President Buhari the full
assurances of their support, stating that they
were willing to use their experience to assist him
in any way they can, particularly with tackling
terrorism in northeast Nigeria. They promised to
put together and forward to him a compendium of
their thoughts on the security situation in Nigeria.
In September, President Buhari will be meeting
once again with his former classmates, at
another event scheduled to take place at the
United Nations.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/how-god-us-made-me-buhari/ |
Re: How God, US Made Me — Buhari by DaBullIT(m): 9:05am On Jul 29, 2015 |
A grateful heart will definitely get more . 1 Like |
Re: How God, US Made Me — Buhari by millhouse: 9:21am On Jul 29, 2015 |
imagine what a president is saying .....US made him !!! pathetic |
Re: How God, US Made Me — Buhari by Bern1992(m): 9:21am On Jul 29, 2015 |
TANoids are on there sick beds. Baba is sailing to Cameroon Boko Haram's days are numbered saTAN is praying against Nigeria. while Naija is blessed with PMB God Bless Nigeria 1 Like |
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