₦airaland Forum

babadee1:
More PDP propaganda, this time it's OIC membership. Let's be clear on the facts. Buhari had nothing to do with Nigeria's membership of OIC. Gowon (a Christian) registered us as an observer country in 1969 and IBB (GEJ's father) registered us as a full member in 1986. During his brief regime Buhari refused to sign on to make Nigeria a full member of OIC despite intense pressure from some international Muslim interests.
By the way, most of the OIC member states are secular countries, and many are majority Christian countries. For example, Ivory Coast, Benin Republic, Togo, Gabon, Uganda, Cameroon, Mozambique, Sierra Leone etc. All fellow African countries with more Christians than Muslims and yet full members of OIC. Sharia has not been implemented in any of those countries yet. Please let's not give in to fear or propaganda.

I repeat,no religious blackmail would becloud our clamor for CHANGE against corruption and bad governance! GEJ and his supporters are using religion(the opium of the masses) to divide Nigeria further,a dangerous strategy that is bound to backfire!

What else is the motive of a president that now uses the church's pulpit on a very regular basis, to make public statements on issues affecting both Christians and non-Christians? Is that not religious bigotry and fundamentalism?If it were to be a muslim president going to mosques every friday to address Nigerians,how would Christians feel?

I just pray that GEJ and his supporters would not end up breaking up Nigeria along religious line.Is Nigeria the only secular member of OIC? Why are the PDP propagandist always provoking religious sentiments?

Religion is the major preoccupation of the president and his supporters. GEJ now uses the church's pulpit to make public statement on issues concerning both Christians and non-Christians,at a frequency never experienced in the history of this great nation,yet no body has described him as a religious zealot or fundamentalist.

GEJ's presidency,no matter how long or short will end one day,but the bad religious legacy could disunite Nigeria forever.

The heart of man is full of wickedness and mischief.

Did Buhari ever told us he had a Masters degree at the war college?

CHANGE is not easy,it comes with a lot of sacrifice!

No amount of blackmail would distract us from the clamor for change against corruption and bad governance!

Mischief makers should visit this site to know the real truth about Buhari's statements:

FactChecki.ng

Where is GEJ's manifesto?

I think we would add more value to the society if we compare GEJ and GMB's manifestos.There is no perfect document,the fairest thing we can do is to compare the manifestos of the main alternatives we have.

godox2:
Kare jini biri jini is another way of saying the survival of the fittest.
NCC should find a way of sanctioning any media that print any wrong translation just to sell or wrongly label somebody. If GMB is responsible for the post election violence in 2011 what has GEJ been waiting for? Is GMB greater than Nigeria? Or is he GEJ afraid of GMB? Nobody will have total control of his supporters. Foreign clubs play at abroad but the players individual supporters use to fight or even kill themselves does that means the players are responsible for that? Pls Leave GMB alone and focus on issue based campaign or else very soon power must change hand.
Thanks.

Another master stroke!

lawbabs:
PDP wont go far with these propaganda. It will only make them worse. Why does Jonathan find it difficult to get thinkers and brilliant guys to help his cause. All theses propaganda wont work this time.

I think this sums it up!

GMB is becoming more popular.Change is not easy,it comes with a lot of sacrifice.

Only a fool would not remember that the same GMB had lead Nigeria before and the country was far more peaceful and prosperous than now!

Descartes:
...and you want Nigerians to trust a SCAMMER

This is a very stupid comment.How his he a scammer? Has it been proven that his original documents are not with the military board as at the time of submitting his form?

Sometimes I wonder why some people could be so mischievous.

GMB swore to an oath that his documents are with the secretary,Military Board,yet they have concluded that he has no certificates nor went to school.

Is it not for us to wait to confirm that his documents are not with the secretary,military board?A lot of reasons could have led to that.Perhaps he submitted his credentials for physical verification but were not returned at once.And since he never had intention of leaving the army,he went on with his career unperturbed?Or it could even be a recent development perhaps in respect of his pension.etc,etc Perhaps also,he is already making efforts to retrieve his documents from the military board.We all know how slow things could be in Nigeria.

All my conjecture(neither for or against) is just to allude to the fact that until proven that GMB was lying,mischief makers should please take a break!

bruno419:
Yes we love him....






#nohomo

Are you an illiterate? How can ''him'' refer to plural ''presidents''.

Correction: We love them!

According to Nigeria's constitution,all that is required to be the president is a proof of been educated up to at least school cert level:

131. A person shall be qualified for election to the office of the President if -
(a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth;
(b) he has attained the age of forty years;
(c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and
(d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.


It's time to face the real issues facing us as a nation

According to Nigeria's constitution,all that is required to be the president is a proof of been educated up to at least school cert level:

131. A person shall be qualified for election to the office of the President if -
(a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth;
(b) he has attained the age of forty years;
(c) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party; and
(d) he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.


It's time to face the real issues facing us as a nation

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

ABUJA – Head, Media and Publicity of the Buhari Support Organization, BSO, Dr. Chidia Maduekwe last night debunked the insinuations in most quarters of the society that the academic records of his principal and presidential candidate of All Progressive Congress, General Mohammdu Buhari was in doubt.

Speaking with Vanguard, Maduekwue said it was a well orchestrated strategy by Buhari’s detractors to sway the minds of the public against him, assuring that they would not succeed.

According to him, the opponents, he said were afraid of Buhari’s candidacy hence the smeared campaign against him.

He wondered how a former military Head of State and three times Presidential candidate in previous elections would suddenly be found wanting in his academic qualifications.

buhari221

“There should be no iota of doubt about General Mohammadu Buhari’s qualification. The records are there. He was not just a school prefect but a Head Boy. In the ages past, you can not enter the military school if there is any questionable mark about your school certificate or WAEC result as it were.

“So, that is clear. Your entry must be on acceptable pass mark before going to the military academy. Of course, the records are there both in Nigeria and outside Nigeria for anybody to cross check. We thank God we now live in the age of online.

“You can google everything. I mean, he couldn’t have run the presidential election for three times…and each time his documentation must be assessed by INEC. But now is the first time they are coming up with that.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/buharis-academic-records-intact/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.vf7ODu32.dpuf

rhymz:
U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E!!!
Sheikh Ima Sadiq, Islamic Scholar And Pa Buhari
Strong Supporter on Twitter.
WHY THEY HATE PRESIDENT JONATHAN
SHARIA.
1] "Any Nation that is not under Sharia law is a
lawless Nation and ungodly nation. We must address
this in 2015 Insah Allah.
SOUTHERNERS MUST NOT CAMPAIGN FOR
JONATHAN IN THE NORTH.
2] "You can't be in our land and not supporting us, is
surprising seeing some people from south east and
south south promoting GEJ in the North.
3] "Sule Lamido has compromised his faith by
supporting Jonathan, he is so much taken away by
worldly pleasure. Attack on Buhari is an attack on
Islam"
THIS IS THE CHANGE BUHARI AND SUPPORTERS
ARE TELLING NIGERIANS.
The Change is going back to DARKNESS.
The Change is about Religion.
The Change is About Sharia
It has nothing to do with the real Change, but Hate 8
Religious domination.
WE MUST JOIN HANDS TO STOP THEM.

Only a fool would be moved by all these relentless,perpertual,desperate and wicked moves to discredit Buhari.
It is very intriguing that their only weapon is religion!

Use of a fake twitter handle is and old trick,they should try something else!

I vote for Buhari

blemon44:
why is he denying it ?
he just want to get in power first

before he can extablish the evil that are in his heart


those people that are debunkin GEJ and supporting buhari
will soon turn against him
but it will be too late for them

This man what is your problem with the implementation of Sharia?

Sharia is strictly meant for the muslims only.It does not apply to Christians.

Moreover,the constitution of Nigeria is very clear on sharia:

260. (1) There shall be a Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

262. (1) The Sharia Court of Appeal shall, in addition to such other jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it by an Act of the National Assembly, exercise such appellate and supervisory jurisdiction in civil proceedings involving questions of Islamic personal law.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, the Sharia Court of Appeal shall be competent to decide -
(a) any question of Islamic personal law regarding a marriage concluded in accordance with that law, including a question relating to the validity or dissolution of such a marriage or a question that depends on such a marriage and relating to family relationship or the guardianship of an infant;
(b) where all the parties to the proceeding are Muslims, any question of Islamic personal law regarding a marriage, including the validity or dissolution of that marriage, or regarding family relationship, a foundling or the guardianship of an infant;
(c) any question of Islamic personal law regarding a wakf, gift, will or succession where the endower, donor, testator or deceased person is a Muslim;
(d) any question of Islamic personal law regarding an infant, prodigal or person of unsound mind who is a Muslim or the maintenance or the guardianship of a Muslim who is physically or mentally infirm; or
(e) where all the parties to the proceedings, being Muslims, have requested the court that hears the case in the first instance to determine that case in accordance with Islamic personal law, any other question.


Please let us learn to tolerate each other.No body has ever applied sharia law on non Christians.And that is why the only recognised leader of Muslims in Nigeria,the sultan, said that Boko Haram is not an Islamic group.Sharia is not implemented by violence,bombing,kidnapping,killing and raping.

IBB is afraid of Buhari.

Only the people of Nigeria would decide!

major466:
I was Startled when I heard this:
Question: How will you manage the Nigerian economy visavis the drop in international oil price?
Buhari: I will stabilise the oil price and run an accountable government.

This is the most clueless answer I have ever heard since I was born.

You are the clueless one.This is what GMB said:

" I think it is absolutely necessary to make people accountable....we heard about the mismanagement of the oil industry which accounts for 95% of our earnings. Thus we need to stabilise the oil market because other sectors will take time. The immediate plan is to stabilise the oil market and (thus) stop wastages. But without accountability, even if oil sells at over 110 dollar per barrel, it will still mean nothing"

Safari29:
U guys are cowards. ameachi went to national tv Channels to challenge anybody who says he hasn't paid all staff salaries down to the cleaner yall didn't come out.infact thr man said he just signed December salaries 4 days ago.

God bless you.I also watched Amaechi on channels.I am still waiting for the unpaid workers to publicly disprove him.

The world is full of mischief and wickedness.Allegations bordering on someone's integrity (which could destroy that person for life!) should be made with evidence and the fear of GOD .

Until proven to the contrary ,I do not think Wike can be trusted with the mandate of the people.

double0seven:
As a Christian, and as a Southerner, I think I'll rather listen to an upright and pious Christian leader like Kumuyi, not the likes of Isong or others like him in the rank and file of CAN who under their leader Oristsajafor have turned the body into an extention of their PDP.

They do not speak for Christians, they speak for themselves; they want to continue to enjoy the patronage and generosity of GEJ's corrupt Administration.

Kumuyi is an upright man of G, devoid of love and craving for materialism and extravagance.

Kumuyi orders Deeper Life
members to get voter cards ( ADVISES NIGERIANS TO SHUN ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS)

DECEMBER 24, 2014 BY

KAMARUDEEN OGUNDELE

The General Overseer of Deeper Life
Bible Church, Williams Kumuyi, has directed all members to get their
voter cards to vote for a credible
government in 2015 elections.
He reiterated the need for people to
shun religion and ethnic sentiment
in choosing leaders in the elections.

Kumuyi spoke on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti while declaring open a three-day revival, in Ekiti State, in an event organised by Pastor Debo Taiwo.

He said, “I declare that all members
of deeper life should go and get their voter cards so that we will vote for a credible government. Whoever is voted, if he is not doing the right thing, then we will have the right to complain. “If we must vote for the right kind of people, we must exercise our right to vote.

He advised Nigerians to look at the past record of politicians and the manifesto of their parties in choosing their leaders in 2015. “We should not vote for people because we are from the same area or of the same church. People should vote based on the credentials of the leaders. We have to look at the records of those that are contesting for us to elect credible leaders that will bring development.
“It won’t be wise for people to start
voting for somebody because he is
from your area or is a member of
your church. This is the more reason why people should speak through the ballot by participating actively in the electoral system.”

He also appealed to politicians to
learn to accept defeat in elections
while urging winners to be magnanimous.

http://www.punchng.com/news/kumuyi-orders-deeper-life-members-to-get-voter-cards/

Q.E.D.

This is how religious leaders should talk.Long live pastor Kumuyi.Religious or ethnic sentiments and intolerance will only further impoverish the masses.

menesheh:
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=96875

http://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/bishop-isong-dares-buhari-to-publicly-promise-not-to-islamise-nigeria.105157/

Rubbish!

If as a military head of state,he did not islamise Nigeria,so how practicable under a democracy?

I just pray that Nigerians would not allow religious intolerance and bigots to disunite us as a nation.We should realise that Muslims have a right to their law,the sharia,but definitely not through violence which GMB never supported.It has nothing to do with the Christians.Sharia,strictly for Muslims only, is already in the constitution,even GEJ that swore to uphold the constitution should implement it!It has nothing to do with islamisation of Nigeria.

The constitution of Nigeria is very clear on Sharia:

260. (1) There shall be a Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

262. (1) The Sharia Court of Appeal shall, in addition to such other jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it by an Act of the National Assembly, exercise such appellate and supervisory jurisdiction in civil proceedings involving questions of Islamic personal law.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, the Sharia Court of Appeal shall be competent to decide -
(a) any question of Islamic personal law regarding a marriage concluded in accordance with that law, including a question relating to the validity or dissolution of such a marriage or a question that depends on such a marriage and relating to family relationship or the guardianship of an infant;
(b) where all the parties to the proceeding are Muslims, any question of Islamic personal law regarding a marriage, including the validity or dissolution of that marriage, or regarding family relationship, a foundling or the guardianship of an infant;
(c) any question of Islamic personal law regarding a wakf, gift, will or succession where the endower, donor, testator or deceased person is a Muslim;
(d) any question of Islamic personal law regarding an infant, prodigal or person of unsound mind who is a Muslim or the maintenance or the guardianship of a Muslim who is physically or mentally infirm; or
(e) where all the parties to the proceedings, being Muslims, have requested the court that hears the case in the first instance to determine that case in accordance with Islamic personal law, any other question.

I believe GMB meant well.He is already indirectly telling GEJ what to do!

GMB is unveiling his manifesto.Those asking him to implement his manifesto now must be clowns.So he should also solve our power and economic problems,including the looting of the treasury,before he becomes president?

I am laughing in Greek!

The problem is that we allow parochial sentiments to override our sense of reasoning.

ElekeNtioba:
Yeah, we know your real Generals. The Abubakar Shekaus from the first to the current fourth. Doing your bidding and trying to prove that you are the only who can solve the insurgency. The ultimate aim being intimidating fearful Nigerians into electing you.

Funny how Nigerians now have memory the size of a chicken's that they have forgotten the ultimate goal of this raghead who can barely hide his islamic extremism.

Whats the difference between Abubakar Shekau's dreams of an islamic caliphate in Nigeria and Buhari's dreams of Nigeria with sharia constitution??

The difference is violence! GMB never supported the use of violence to implement the sharia.There is nothing evil about Sharia.Sharia is a constitution for the muslims ,just like the Nigerian constuitution. It has nothing to do with Christians,because it can only be applied to any muslim that embraces it.Please google is your friend.find what sharia law is all about(not about those using violence to enforce it,please)

The constitution of Nigeria is also very clear about sharia:

260. (1) There shall be a Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

262. (1) The Sharia Court of Appeal shall, in addition to such other jurisdiction as may be conferred upon it by an Act of the National Assembly, exercise such appellate and supervisory jurisdiction in civil proceedings involving questions of Islamic personal law.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, the Sharia Court of Appeal shall be competent to decide -
(a) any question of Islamic personal law regarding a marriage concluded in accordance with that law, including a question relating to the validity or dissolution of such a marriage or a question that depends on such a marriage and relating to family relationship or the guardianship of an infant;
(b) where all the parties to the proceeding are Muslims, any question of Islamic personal law regarding a marriage, including the validity or dissolution of that marriage, or regarding family relationship, a foundling or the guardianship of an infant;
(c) any question of Islamic personal law regarding a wakf, gift, will or succession where the endower, donor, testator or deceased person is a Muslim;
(d) any question of Islamic personal law regarding an infant, prodigal or person of unsound mind who is a Muslim or the maintenance or the guardianship of a Muslim who is physically or mentally infirm; or
(e) where all the parties to the proceedings, being Muslims, have requested the court that hears the case in the first instance to determine that case in accordance with Islamic personal law, any other question.



Enough of all this religious blackmail against GMB. The spread of sharia across Nigeria is for only Muslims that would want it to apply to them only.

GMB has never pretended not to be a muslim. However ,that someone is a devout Christian or Muslim should not be a subject of blackmail.Religious intolerance is the bane of the Nigerian society.

adbokus:
you are stupid for insulting that fellow! What he posted follows a sensible line of reasoning, why does he not use all that clout to help put insurgency to permanent rest now than wait until february until something starts getting done about it. Jonathan is Nigerian, he is a Nigerian, it's Nigerians who are being killed incessantly here. Some here have constantly, without fail, labelled the incumbent as 'clueless' and what not and that's ok, now let the 'clueful' general pitch in and help put an end to the meaningless&heartrending massare! Is that too much of a reasonable idea for you...

How can people be this daft?

Who is suppose to meet with the generals,GEJ or GMB?

Is GMB by his statement not already giving GEJ some clue that he should meet with the Generals?

GMB should also solve our power and economic problems since ''he does not have to be in power to contribute to his own nation''.He should also have stopped the looting of the treasury .

Many souls have allowed parochial sentiments to override their sense of reasoning. I am shaking my head!

sawdust:
somebody please give me a reason to vote this man come 2015
So he knows his meeting with Generals can end the insurgency....
so why has he not met with the Generals since 2009?
Must he be in power before he can contribute to his own nation?

Can someone give me another reason to believe this man has notin 2 do with dis so called Insurgents?

How can people be this daft?

Who is suppose to meet with the generals,GEJ or GMB?

GMB should also solve our power and economic problems since ''he does not have to be in power to contribute to his own nation''.He should also have stopped the looting of the treasury .

Many souls have allowed parochial sentiments to override their sense of reasoning. I am shaking my head!

HugeMac:
I hope you are not typing from a mental ward , he rejects 230 mill takes 23 mill and goes to borrow money to build house and buy form
I keep telling you people , Fact for Fact buhari is not a sellable candidate , its just propaganda and lies that make most ignorant youth to see him as a saint

It is very easy to decipher who is typing from a mental ward.

GMB had explained the issues surrounding his nomination form,stating that he only instructed his Bank manager not to dishonor his cheque irrespective of his current balance.His account must have been normalised by now.Real bankers should understand this type of transaction.Ordinarily no bank would package a loan for you to purchase a presidential nomination form.The fact that he didn't have enough balance in his account as at the time of issuing the cheque,does not imply that an inflow of N24million could not have entered subsequently.The balance in your account is a function of cashflow as at that particular moment.It wouldn't be unusual if his account is now reading say N30million.

Also being rich or poor is relative.At an exchange rate of N180 to the N1,I would not consider my self a millionaire if I do not have atleast N180,000,000($1million) assets. Whereas for others,they are millionaires!

Now who is a true nationalist? Someone that prefers to borrow money to build a house OR the one that exploits the citizenry by unfairly collecting a whopping N230million as emoluments from the public treasury,whilst millions of Nigerians agonise in abject poverty? I think only mentally derailed people like HugeMac would prefer the latter to the former.

It is high time I repeat,we faced the real issues confronting us as a nation,and stop all these madness and trashes of what GMB allegedly said or did.

Although the war against corruption cannot be won by one person alone,yet it cannot be won without the right and incorruptible leadership.

GMB might not be sell-able to the religiously sentimental,corrupt and selfish minds(and perhaps SOME very comfortable and rich individuals),but he remains highly sell-able to the average Nigerian who just wants the basic necessities of life,irrespective of the religion or ethnicity of the leader!

HugeMac:
I hope you are not typing from a mental ward , he rejects 230 mill takes 23 mill and goes to borrow money to build house and buy form
I keep telling you people , Fact for Fact buhari is not a sellable candidate , its just propaganda and lies that make most ignorant youth to see him as a saint

It is very easy to decipher who is typing from a mental ward.

GMB had explained the issues surrounding his nomination form,stating that he only instructed his Bank manager not to dishonor his cheque irrespective of his current balance.His account must have been normalised by now.Real bankers should understand this type of transaction.Ordinarily no bank would package a loan for you to purchase a presidential nomination form.The fact that he didn't have enough balance in his account as at the time of issuing the cheque,does not imply that an inflow of N24million could not have entered subsequently.

Now who is a true nationalist? Someone that prefers to borrow money to build a house OR the one that exploits the citizenry by unfairly collecting a whopping N230million from the public treasury? I think only mentally derailed people like HugeMac would prefer the latter to the former.

It is high time I repeat,we face the real issues confronting us as a nation,and ignore mentally derailed people like HugeMac.

Although the war against corruption cannot be won by one person alone,yet it cannot be won without the right and incorruptible leadership.

Ezemust:
did buhari say he's poor?no.he said he has only 1 million which is the lie we r trying to burst

He said atleast 1million. Moreover having N1million today does not mean that an inflow of N20million cannot enter your account tomorrow~


Let us try to use our senses!

montestic:
She posted this on twitter this morning.


http://www.lailasblog.com/2014/12/shan-george-fires-back-at-buhari-for.html?m=1

Richness or being poor ,is relative.That does not mean he is not comfortable, after all he is the only former head of state collecting only 10% of his annual emoluments! Whilst others collect around N230 million,he collects only N23 million! Please verify,Google is your friend..

GMB has also explained the issues surrounding hs nomination form,stating that he only instructed his Bank manager not to dishonor his cheque irrespective of his current balance.His account must have been normalised by now.Real bankers should understand this type of transaction.Ordinarily no bank would package a loan for you to purchase a presidential nomination form.

Please enough of all these mischief against the personality of GMB,let us face the real issues confronting us as a nation.

chemali:
Apart from zoology, what does Jonathan know?

Thank you for this literate question,in response to an 'illiterate' one.Once again,I pray that we would not allow parochial sentiments to override our sense of literacy!

Ikengawo:
[size=15pt]2015 ‘ll be bloody if…- Buhari[/size]


- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/05/2015-ll-be-bloody-if-buhari/#sthash.QnqOsxON.dpuf

FRIDAY DISCOURSE BY DR. ALIYU U. TILDE

Buhari vs. PDP: The Dog and Baboon 2015 Parable

aliyu.tilde@yahoo.com

A fight between the dog and the baboon must be one of those very rare encounters in the Animal Kingdom. Animals fight over territory, food, mates, and in defence of their lives, or of the young. It is very hard to foresee the two animals fighting over any of the above because on most of items, the paths of the two animals hardly cross.

In Africa and particularly in Hausaland where this near impossible idea was contrived as a proverb, such a fight can only happen under the influence of man when in hunting he sets the dog to catch the baboon or its baby. In that case, that fight would surely be one to witness.

The dog uses its power of speed and strong canine teeth, the baboon his powerful shoulders, limbs, claws, hands, and under extreme conditions, his teeth. And this condition is extreme – a fight for his life or that of his baby. So we better assume that the baboon will deploy his entire arsenal.

The camera of kare jini biri jini Hausa proverb often pictures a very fierce and inconclusive fight between two contenders. We can picture the dog first barking incessantly, with its jaws wide open hoping to scare the baboon into submission. The well-built baboon, on the other hand, is not a coward. He would not jump up the trees to escape the attacking dog; he would not fly. He turns wild too, flexing his muscles, beating his wide chest and destroying the surrounding shrubs to intimidate the dog. He jumps at a branch, breaks it and hurls it at the dog, but the carnivore remains recalcitrantunder the command of his master, barking, barking … and now ready to charge.

And the fight ensues and continues for several minutes and, perhaps, hours…

As the proverb depicts, the fierce fight ends inconclusively with both parties sustaining deeps cuts and innumerable browses. Each contender was lucky to survive it and returns to its shelter licking its wounds. The dog gives up hunting for that day, returns home and is granted a sick leave by its master. The baboon keeps his life and his baby and remains in his territory or migrates to a safer one. The only conclusion reached was that the dog learned to avoid the baboon henceforth, while the baboon learned to include the dog among its dangerous enemies in the Kingdom.

In the above, I have tried to capture the proper context and scenario of the proverb. It simply connotes a situation where the fight for something is fierce, where you give your challenger a good run for his money, but where despite the ferocity of the contest, its outcome was not conclusive. In short, when you tell your contender that za a yi kare jini biri jinni, it simply means the battle will be fierce. In the case of Buhari, he was promising his supporters from Niger State that 2015 elections will be fierce; or put in another way, the PDP wIll not have it easy. Simple.

How this simple statement translated into a political missile that says Buhari is promising a bloodbath come 2015 remains one of those sad stories in our practice of journalism.

Let us have a re-read of the mistranslation:

"If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.”

Does this reflect the proper context and meaning of the Hausa proverb kare jini biri jinni that we explained above? No. That is because, among other things, if by the time both the dog and the baboon are soaked in blood, both would have been dead, a picture which the proverb never envisaged. It would have been better for the reporter to say, “Come 2015, I promise you, the fight will be fierce.”

Here, I must say that the words of Buhari were misinterpreted, perhaps deliberately, to entertain the Nigerian public with a sensational story that will keep the presently near-static mill of public opinion running once more, or to invent a weapon to knock him down again in the ring of 2015 presidential contest.

But, to be fair to the reporter also, it was a mistranslation that I think was informed by the history of the General’s consistent call for mass action since 2003, of CPC’s unguarded campaign utterances in 2011 and how they were widely believed to have inspired the post election violence that year, and of the strategy of the General’s supporters of the ANPP especially in Bauchi state in 2007, a la his doctrine of protect your votes, a kasa, a tsare, a raka.

These were the elements in the background that also informed the supporting and opposing comments which trailed the publication of that mistranslated proverb. Nigerians became divided overnight into three camps.

The first group – Buhari’s opponents – jumped at it saying, “Aha. There we go again. This notorious and bloodthirsty coup plotter is still dreaming of a bloodbath.” If Buhari, by his statement, was serving such opponents with a notice of an impending doom, they did not heed to it. They did not show any sign of repentance from the sin he is accusing them of. Instead, they continue to direct their accusing fingers at him.

On the other hand, his supporters, the second group, to me, showed the most disheartening response. They did not take the pain to verify and analyse his statement. Not a single one of them came over to say that he was misrepresented. Have they done so, it would have cooled the atmosphere and reassured us. They adopted the mistranslation, in situ, as if it were right, and presented an alibi, saying, “Only election riggers are be afraid of Buhari’s statement. Would there be a bloodbath in 2015 as a result of rigging, it is the PDP that should be held responsible.”

The third group, we the onlookers, are terrified that we will be disastrously caught in the crossfire, once more, as it happened to hundreds of Nigerians during the 2011 elections, when, especially in Southern Kaduna and Bauchi state, the lives of the innocent were lost and thousands of people displaced to date across Northern Nigeria.

Here was a corper medic, for example, riding an ambulance in Toro, stopped and hacked to death by the very people he came all the way from the East to serve after his long and tedious training as a doctor, at a place where he had nobody to protect him except the mores of civilization. His sin was simply that he did not belong to the ethnic group or religion of Buhari, the opposition presidential candidate. The mob on that fateful day was found wanting in those mores, defective in conscience. That is how many like him paid the ultimate price across the state.

And there was a primary school girl in southern Kaduna, witnessing her primary school teacher hacking her father to death in Zonkwa, Southern Kaduna, for no crime but that the father belonged to the religion other than that of the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan. She never thought that the savage gene of the teacher would overcome the etiquette of civility that her familiarity with him would engender. On that fateful day, humanity was lost, the feeling of civilization was gone, and no guarantees were kept. Months after that massacre, the girl would tell her story to the ears of a deaf and dumb nation that allows the assassin teacher to walk the streets freely, earning his salary. That is how hundreds of the like of her father died and thousands of her type continue to suffer as the politicians behind the crimes remain unscathed.

To date, nobody is man enough to directly or remotely claim even a vicarious responsibility for those atrocities. The PDP that is accused of rigging the election refused to admit that it rigged it in the first place. Instead, it shifted the blame to Buhari, citing what it called his “inciting statements” at his campaign rallies. Buhari and his supporters, on the other hand, returned the blame to PDP, with three reasons: he was a victim not a partaker in the violence; the dastardly acts were carried out not by his supporters but by hoodlums who did not spare him either; and that it was in fact the ruling party that instigated the violence in the first place by rigging the elections. So did the trading in blame continued until our father, Justice Ahmed Lemu, inconclusively closed the chapter.

His panel came up with an ingeniously ambivalent verdict, saying both Buhari and the PDP are right. It said it is true that Buhari inspired the violence but it is also true that PDP's rigging machine provoked it. In effect, the report claimed, there is an egalitarian share of the blame. Case closed. Court!!!

With that we return to our churches and mosques to pray that may God have mercy on those departed souls! And may he protect us, the living, the onlookers, the ordinary citizens, from the evils of power – of its keepers and seekers alike.

I was caught by the same fever when I read the mistranslation in English. I wondered how Buhari could make such a statement after his widely condemned “lynch them” directive of 2011. But when I heard his actual words in Hausa two days ago, I quickly understood that he said nothing unusual, for it is proper for politicians to inject hope in their supporters. Telling a delegation of such supporters that his party will put up a fierce fight next time is just one of those confidence preserving measures.

With this, I hope our journalists will in future show a better sense of responsibility in their reportage. They should use their brains not their minds. We are tired of hearing Buhari mistranslated by a section of the media. More importantly, however, our politicians on both sides of the divide, should refrain from any contemplation of violence or cheating, or asking their followers to take the law into their own hands, whatever the situation would be. If they think that winning an election is a religious duty, then they must not forget that none of our two dominant religions call to violence as a means of winning power or as a reaction to defeat. In Islamic tradition, the injustice of forty years is preferred to the fitna (unrest) of a day.

The government and INEC must do their best to ensure free and fair elections in 2015. The electoral body has two years ahead to fully prepare for it and get rid of imperfections. Let there be a clean fight that ends in a clean winner and a clean loser. If the government is not ready for this, my dear friend, Professor Attahiru Jega, should throw in the towel. The defeated in this case - whether baboon or dog - must accept defeat and allow us live in peace.

If our advice is not accepted, we shall then pray that may our compassionate God deliver us from the evil of that day, when the dog and the baboon fiercely slug it out in the court of Nigerian election. We pray that He restricts their evil to them. And on that day, neither the dog nor the baboon should not return home clean. We are tired.

Oh Lord, answer our prayer.

Let all peace-loving Nigerians say Amen.

Source:http://www.gamji.com/tilde/tilde176.htm