Abeem:

Your assessment of Buhari is borne out of hate and prejudice for him. Or probably it was borne out of ignorance for the way the military government of that time operated. Buhari was de-facto head of state, but Idiagbon by virtue of his position as the Chief of Staff, Supreme Military Council (SMC) was saddled with executing the decisions reached by the SMC. Hence Idiagbon was perceived to wield enormous political power over the Head of State, but in truth he was only carrying out his executive functions and in reality he was subordinate to Buhari as Head of State.

Was Gowon's deputy more powerful than Gowon?

Was Murtala's deputy more powerful than Murtala?

Was OBJ's deputy more powerful than OBJ?

What of IBB, Abacha and Abubarkar?

I fail to see how one can explain the Idigbon/Buhari issue.

Afam:

Was Gowon's deputy more powerful than Gowon?

Was Murtala's deputy more powerful than Murtala?

Was OBJ's deputy more powerful than OBJ?

What of IBB, Abacha and Abubarkar?

I fail to see how one can explain the Idigbon/Buhari issue.

"Perception" and "reality" are two distinct concepts. "Perception" is the way we think about something and our idea of what it is like. On the other hand "reality" is what the situation actually holds out to be, in truth. Thus the public perception of the Buhari/Idiagbon regime was that Idiagbon was the de-facto head of state by virtue of the fact that between the duo, Idiagbon was more frequently seen and heard in the mass media than his Head of State. As Head of State, we all know that the buck stop at his desk, that is why he is more vilified today for his regime's misadventure into governance.
But having said that, let me quickly add that Buhari became Head of State by accident, on account of the death of the arrow head of the coup that ousted Shagari's government. His name was Brigadier Ibrahim Bako, who unfortunately was the only casualty of the coup.
In trying to solve the riddles of your poser, you need to understand the power equation of the country (the North and South divide) and the religious dynamics of the geo-politics of the country. Once you understand these two concepts, then your riddle is solved.
If the North produces the Head of State, the No. 2 person must come from the South. And that person that is appointed as No. 2 is usually someone that cannot threaten or undermine the authority and political interest of the North. You see, the North always think (and I am sorry to say this) that theirs is the birthright to rule the country. (Well, it is not their fault, the evil British Empire made it so before they gave us independence).
So it goes without saying that Vice Admiral Akinwale Wey or whoever it was No. 2 to Gowon cannot be powerful as Gowon. Murtala settled for OBJ, who was known to be subservient to the North and is still beholden to them. (If you don't believe me think of Shagari of the 2nd republic, and think of Yar'adua under the new political dispensation).
OBJ first time as Head of State has Yar'adua senior as deputy but he (OBJ) had a lot of Northern officers to contend with, hence he made sure to protect their interest and he was able to finish the term of his boss.
Now to our man Buhari and his deputy Idiagbon. Both are Muslims, and both are from the North, the fact that Idiagbon is from Kwara notwithstanding. So the interest of Northerners were not under any threat and Buhari can afford to go into hibernation without any problem.
My analysis will become clearer to you when you think of IBB regime and Ukiwe. The powerplay that ensued between IBB and Ukiwe led to the appointment of a yes-man in person of Aikhome. Same thing can be said of Abacha and Diya and later Akhigbe.

Your analysis does not in any way justify the erronous statement that Idiagbon was the person in charge for the simple reason that the No 2 man only gets to do what the No1 assigns to him.

On Bako, yes, he died from what we refer to as friendly fire but he was not the leader of the coup neither was he supposed to be the head of state (referencing your point that Buhari became head of state due to the fact that Bako was taken out of the picture).

We always have a way of explaining things to suit our purposes even if those explanations don't add up and its a huge problem in Nigeria.

We cannot be applying the same rules differently based on who is involved.

[qIf you can explain all these achievements to my grand dad in the village who can not enjoy electricity 2days in a week, who can not afford a bottle of kerosene to light up his lantern, not to talk of drinking good water. I will be happy


@saintchux
God bless u. my point exactly. is the average nigerian too thick to realise this? before u start to talk of reforms or fighting corruption, there is the need to alleviate the suffering of the man on the street.

@topic

Better alternative indeed,especially if the alternative is actually dead

[Countries like China etc are the fastest growing economies in the world today, but I can assure you you'll find more poverty there than you'd find in most African countries.
]
@joshO
still doesnt justify it.

@ topic.

Buhari might be a better alternative. Afterall spirits are not allowed to run for elective office. Buhari carry go!

Belloti are u for real? how u can say that 1 individual (Buhari) out of a population of 140 million is the only way out of our present predicament really beats me (sound similar to Abacha's campaign people?) with people like u my dear, it is no wonder we are being held hostage in our own country by a bunch of terribly corrupt (in every aspect) people who honestly do not deserve to walk the face of the earth. if we as nigeriand had any self respect left, we wont even be having this debate cos the likes of Buhari and all other extrimists would be in self exile out of utter shame for their actions.
Buharis act of performing all those dastardly acts on retrospective laws in itself is CORRUPTION!!! the earlier we stand up for our own rights the better for us. dual nationality or not, we only have one country and that is nigeria. if ghana could be turned around, so can nigeria. but it will not happen out of sycophancy.

A country that believes rumours and gossips as against facts is in trouble.

Angel, we are looking at the current political landscape and the array of aspirants on parade. Its pathetically becoming clearer that our choices might get narrowed down to this two katsina politicians. i am only asserting here that in a worst case scenario when we ended up with the double-edge gloomy faces, we may as well start getting ready for the difficult task of accepting one of them and my point is that the disciplinarian buhari is better than the sick obasanjo protege when it comes to getting us out of this cobweb of deciept and corruption.

belloti:

Angel, we are looking at the current political landscape and the array of aspirants on parade. Its pathetically becoming clearer that our choices might get narrowed down to this two katsina politicians. i am only asserting here that in a worst case scenario when we ended up with the double-edge gloomy faces, we may as well start getting ready for the difficult task of accepting one of them and my point is that the disciplinarian buhari is better than the sick obasanjo protege when it comes to getting us out of this cobweb of deciept and corruption.

We should vote for Buhari even when you have not been able to tell us why?

Yar'adua is a better choice anyday over Buhari based on their past performances in leadership positions.

We do not need a military dictator that carried out a coup and killed 3 Nigerians for drug trafficking while backdating the decree to cover such killings.

God sees the future,any of them that has any plans of Islamising Nigeria shall receive the fate of Abacha in Jesus' name.

baby, i can see your only fear is the presumed stance of buhari on religion. both of these guys are muslims and infact yaradua adopted sharia fully in katsina state, i dont think he may look more acceptable to you.

That is true. But Yar adua must know that if he mentions sharia in southern Nigerian affairs, there will be bloodshed.
and I mean real blood shed. THERE WILL BE WAR

belloti:

baby, i can see your only fear is the presumed stance of buhari on religion. both of these guys are muslims and infact yaradua adopted sharia fully in katsina state, i don't think he may look more acceptable to you.

There is nothing wrong in Yar'adua adopting Sharia in Katsina state because the state house of assembly fully passed it into law and this is democracy where the will of the people is respected.

On the other hand, Buhari, a former military leader openly asked moslems to vote for moslem candidates. This is wrong and smarks of religious bigotry. We do not need people that will divide Nigeria across religous lines.

trying to sell a Buhari candidacy is like trying to sell an Atiku candidacy - they are all excercise in futility.

Afam:

We do not need people that will divide Nigeria across religous lines.

and who has told you that Nigeria is not divided across religious lines?? Are you in Nigeria at all?? An average christian will obviously vote for a christian whether he is told to do so or not; an average muslim will definitely give his vote and support to his fellow muslim brother; it's not a new thing in Nigeria politics so stop blaming Buhari.

MKO and Tofa contested the 1993 elections, both were muslims and the South East voted for either of the 2, so does your analysis make sense here?

ishmael:

and who has told you that Nigeria is not divided across religious lines?? Are you in Nigeria at all?? An average christian will obviously vote for a christian whether he is told to do so or not; an average muslim will definitely give his vote and support to his fellow muslim brother; it's not a new thing in Nigeria politics so stop blaming Buhari.

If you are telling us how you guys vote in the North, its understandable. But that is obviously not how we vote in the South. We don't do blind loyalty in the South.

McKren:

If you are telling us how you guys vote in the North, its understandable. But that is obviously not how we vote in the South. We don't do blind loyalty in the South.

That is the greatest political difference between the north and the south. But for the north, People like Olu Falae, Obafemi Awolowo, MKO Abiola, Pat Utomi would be president and the likes of Obasanjo would NEVER have found their way to Aso Rock!
It is surprisiing that a man who could not even win his ward is presiding over the entire nation! Only in Northern Nigeria!

@all,
just a digression; I am currently watching the 60th birthday ceremony organised for Mrs Maryam Abacha (remember her), with the feudal oligarchy in the north well represented. A funny point was a tearful remembrance of Sanni Abacha by people at the gathering, with diamonds and other bling-blings almost blinding the camera.
I mean in this same Nigeria, some people are remembring Sanni Abacha "tearfully"!!! Sincerely, we have no reason to be together as one nation.

Afam:

MKO and Tofa contested the 1993 elections, both were muslims and the South East voted for either of the 2, so does your analysis make sense here?

did they ever announce the results of that election?? probably because they were both muslims that was why IBB annulled the election results. Thanx to IBB. MKO was instrumental in rigging the election that saw Shagari from no where as Nigeria's president against Pa Awo; na God catch MKO.

ishmael:

did they ever announce the results of that election?? probably because they were both muslims that was why IBB annulled the election results. Thanx to IBB. MKO was instrumental in rigging the election that saw Shagari from no where as Nigeria's president against Pa Awo; na God catch MKO.

The quote above is more than enough reason not to take you serious, what sort of conspiracy theory is this?

Thank God IBB too is a muslim otherwise you would have believed (just like a lot of people who think the same way do) what you just put down.

So, if IBB, a muslim decided to annul the election results that had 2 muslims as contenders then what can we say about that?

ishmael:

did they ever announce the results of that election?? probably because they were both muslims that was why IBB annulled the election results. Thanx to IBB. MKO was instrumental in rigging the election that saw Shagari from no where as Nigeria's president against Pa Awo; na God catch MKO.

This argument is so misguided, trying to fit it into the bone of contention is just a puzzle to say the least.

you guys are just exposing your religious and ethnic sentiments while trying to preach against it. Now that we may definitely have a muslim president why dont we look at other qualities?. My point is always the man that can help us out of this predicaments. someone that can truly fight corruption. i think buhari can guarantee that.

belloti:

you guys are just exposing your religious and ethnic sentiments while trying to preach against it. Now that we may definitely have a muslim president why don't we look at other qualities?. My point is always the man that can help us out of this predicaments. someone that can truly fight corruption. i think buhari can guarantee that.

you are correct. Buhari is Nigeria's messiah. anything PDP is an extension of OBJ irrespective of who that person is. thank God Buhari is in ANPP; if he were to be in PDP i would have been doubting his integrity. Yar'adua should not be trusted by anybody. He has not finish taking care of his home state, katsina, na Nigeria e wan come take care of?? make we hear word jo.

All this gra-gra, Buhari will not even win governor of Katsina if he were to stand let alone Nigeria.

The man should be greatful to God for being so lucky cos I think ideally he is supposed to retire from the Nigerian Army as a colonel. His skills are only needed on battle front.

Mckren, you dont know buhari from Adam so dont come here trying to mess him up like that. Buhari meant well for nigeria else he could just fashy everything and retire back to his farm and take a cool rest. but we need someone like him to clean things up, thats why he offered himself for service.

Buhari and Yar'Adua?How do you decide the better of 2 choices btw flea and lice?

Since Buhari has ruled before, it is safe to know that we have a glimpse of what he has done. Seeing what Yar'adua has done with Katsina, it is safer to hope that he can do a better job ruling Nigeria. All these military men keep coming back and I'm tired of them having the same policies over and over again. We need a change and I don't see how Buhari has changed apart from taking off his uniform.

If you sell your dog for a monkey, an animal that stoops is still within your neighbourhood

People are so quick to challenge OBJ's human right record and then go back to wish the man who ran one of the most arbitrary government in the history of our nation into power

Of course Buhari is.

9ja4eva, you are absolutely correct. But then, the days are approaching lets keep our fingers crossed. Meanwhile, i would like to stress here that i have nothing against yaradua as a person, he is obviously a very nice man.