₦airaland Forum

Saturday, 12 March 2011 00:29 STANLEY NKWOCHA
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Counter accusations have trailed the alleged frustration of opposition parties by sitting governors from campaigning for the April polls. And this is threatening the conduct of the elections. STANLEY NKWOCHA writes.


In 2007, the Peoples Democratic Party PDP was the party to beat in Bauchi State. However, the day the then All Nigeria Peoples Party, (ANPP) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari visited the state and campaigned with Isa Yuguda, who was ANPP gubernatorial candidate was the day the curtains got drawn for the PDP. The party lost.

Excited by the successes recorded the previous day in Bauchi State, the Buhari fever headed for neighbouring Gombe State, where its rally was slated to hold at the Gombe State Township Stadium. The pomp and pageantry experienced in Bauchi State turned the opposite as the general could not hold his rally. Same day, the stadium started witnessing renovation. All attempts to hold the rally proved abortive as a frustrated Buhari made a u-turn.

Another electioneering year has rolled in and again, the politicians and their antics are here. This time, except if checked, it may spell disaster for free and fair elections cherished by everyone. Already, series of arrests of opposition party leaders and candidates have become the order of the day, so much so that in frustration, destructive tendencies, as witnessed in Suleja last week have become the alternative.

Alluding desperation and fear on the part of the PDP, the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change, said it was clear that the posture of some PDP governors was antithetical to the rule of law, just as it made a mess of President Goodluck Jonathan’s promise of free and fair elections.

The arrest of the governorship candidate of the CPC in Katsina State, Senator Yakubu Lado, last Saturday, threw up serious comments and counter reactions. It is alleged that the arrest of Lado was ordered by the state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema after a clash between the PDP and the CPC supporters at Makauraci Village in Rimi Local Government Area of the state.

“We are not afraid of anybody. We are ready to protect lives and property and deal with troublemakers. We shall invoke Sections 119, 128 and 131 of the constitution, which gives us power to deal with any troublemaker,” Shema had said.

Tear gas was let loose when CPC supporters protested Lado’s arrest as it took the intervention of the Police to bring the seeming riot under control. It was alleged that a sister of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Mario Tafida, said to be asthmatic, was affected by the tear gas the Police released.

In Ebonyi State, the governor, Mr. Martin Elechi, had disallowed the ANPP from holding its rally in Abakaliki, the state capital. Reason? Elechi alleged that the party chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, an indigene of the state, had a “nefarious agenda.”

Same story goes in Benue State, where the ACN accused the state government of preventing it from holding its presidential campaign at the IBB Square, Markudi. The government on its part however, denied the allegation.

A PDP chieftain, who spoke to the media, was quoted as saying: ‘’The PDP as the largest political party in Africa, has the responsibility to allow democracy to go on, and this can only grow if all parties are allowed to ventilate their positions to the public. So it is not the policy of the PDP for any party to be denied the use of facilities. It is not excusable, whatever the technical limitations that might exist in the use of a public facility, it is difficult to sell it to the public that you are not denying the use of that facility to a party because of political differences.

“So, there should be no attempt to deny any party the use of public facilities within the state. Once a particular political party has made use of that public facility, all other parties must have access to the use of it.”

But this would not go down well with national publicity secretary of the ACN, Lai Mohammed. The outspoken politician said, “It does not only show desperation and frustration on their part, it also shows that they are jittery.” He said that after years of fruitless leadership, the PDP was resorting to what he termed ‘underhand tactics’. Lai said that this act, if not stopped, was capable of derailing the elections, and in effect, the transition programme.

Lending its voice, also, the ANPP attributed the attacks from the PDP on what it termed the party’s imminent loss at the forthcoming April elections. ANPP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, said the desperation on the part of the PDP was being shamelessly discharged.

“We have been telling the whole world that if there is a free-and-fair election in Nigeria today, the PDP will fail woefully. They have devised a means to coerce the opposition into submission, so that they can write the results (of the election) as usual,” he had charged.

Eneukwu added that the PDP was aware that if it permitted a free and fair election and also allowed the opposition to campaign, it would meet its waterloo.

Said he, “The PDP threw the 12 years Nigerians gave it into the dustbin. They have no campaign issues. What issue will you tell someone who gave you 12 years and you did nothing?”

Yinka Odumakin, the spokesman of the CPC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), posited that the governors’ intolerance was “a sign of the end time of the PDP, ” adding that “the PDP has never won any election. It is now scared because it sees that its defeat is imminent.”

The conference of Nigerian Political Parties also said it was not surprised at the PDP’s resort to violence. It warned Nigerians not to be carried away by the assurances of the government on the safety of lives and property in the country ahead of the elections.CNPP’s national publicity secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, accused the PDP of having “an incurable electoral phobia.”

“Anytime they see signs of free and fair elections, they resort to violence and intimidation. They will do anything to prevent a free and fair election in the country,” Osita pushed.

Meanwhile, the INEC chairman, Dr Attahiru Jega has warned state governments that have formed this habit to desist from it or face its wrath. This is just as parties signed a code of conduct to guide them ahead the April polls.

“We have heard of reports of state governments barring opponents and parties from campaigning in their states. Banners and posters of opposition parties and contestants are also being destroyed. Public media are not providing equal opportunities in terms of coverage of political parties-political parties want to pay for slots to air their campaigns and are told that slots have been bought up by other parties.

‘’We shall not tolerate this, and be rest assured that INEC reserves the right to bring such persons to probity and met out appropriate punitive measures. This is a last warning”, Jega stated.

As it is now, the die seems cast. But if the violence raging at rallies is anything to go by, then it may be proper for the PDP, fingered as the chief culprit in this game, and indeed, other political parties to become tolerant of themselves as the looming crisis from experiences of the past weeks could be disastrous.

http://www.leadershipeditors.com/ns/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26773:april-polls-between-pdp-and-opposition-rallies-&catid=63:politics-and-policy&Itemid=194

I thank God for God.

FINALLY, THIS IS BUHARI'S WIFE

http://www.leadershipeditors.com/ns/


THE ONE WITH RED HEAD GEAR IN WHITE/CREAM DRESS.

^^^^

 Dream on, yes MTN has more coverage but does that make them the best service provider?

Its people that vote, not structure, i know what i want, 12 years of failed promises is not one of them.


I know what i want and alot of people i believe know what they want too.

jpy!!!

To GEJ :
Why do you have Dokpesi and IBB on your campaign train even after accusing them of bombing Nigeria?

May 2010, you said Nigeria is going to have 6,000MW by December 2010, we are now in March 2011, still struggling with 3,600MW, what happened to your promises? water shortage or traffic at the port?

Why did you have to cancel the FEC meeting just because you're campaign? you suspended the job of a president of Nigeria for a campaign of PDP for the PDPs? is this how you are going to run for another 4 years?

Lastly, Why do you think you can run the country on luck since you never ever dreamt of becoming the president of Nigeria in the first place?


To Buhari :

Who's going to run the government when you finally win, you or Bakare?

You said by 2015, we'd have 10,000=15,000MW, how do you intend to achieve that within 4 years knowing that PDP has in 12years not been able to even generate 2,000MW?

Your manifesto looks nice, but with a retrogressive senate house, how do you intend to pass most of these good things into action?

To Ribadu :

How do you intend to fight corruption when Tinubu is known to have been rumored to be corrupt while you were the head of EFCC?

Do you think you have the willpower to withstand criminals we have running the country if you win the presidential race?

Life without you is like a dry throat without sight of water.

^^^^

Help yourself, all you seek is in here.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-622847.96.html

^^^

Then you need to fly home to do that, you have to sacrifice something for the good of your country.

Fly home and contribute you quota.

naijaking1:
^^^^
Don't you guys like the way every party has access to the TV? GEJ must be commended for his openess.
In the horrible days of Abacha and his cousin Buhari, the opposition never smelled the TV stations, not to talk of airing their own views.
Long live democracy

Which access to TV? when it's CPC turn, they must the audio and sometimes show back of the campaign ground instead of the main place, infact there was a time the camera kept showing the wrong flag of the party instead of the blue flag, they kept showing red and white flags.


This is the only CPC rally NTA showed for close to 1hr, the rest has always been on and off, they cut, show cut, before you say jack, they switch to PDP rally or even PDP women rally.

His family.

^^^

He's got no choice but to do what's right!

The ones being built around Ipaja and Ikorodu goes for N5.4M

http://www.youtube.com/user/buhari4change


Do not let this opportunity pass you by.

The time is NOW!!!

How is N5milla too much to be paid by a level 5 civil servant for a 2bedroom bungalow, water, complete WC, fenced compound, security and all that?

You have 10-15 years to pay the rest 70%.

Divide 70% into 10-15yrs, how's that too much to be paid for someone who wouldn't think of buying water again, paying for house-rent e.t.c?

^^^^


Open a new thread with this article okay?

@OP


I cannot but say this election is for Buhari to lose.

BABA OYOYO
BABA OYOYO
BABA OYOYO

these were the words at the KEBBI state rally.


I am coming with pix soon.


SEA OF HEADS!!!

Buhari/Bakare is here to win.

It shouldn't cost more than between 5milla to 8 milla.

I am tired of posting this, but i think i need to.


Now take this:


I read your article with the above caption and was compelled to write a rejoinder because of the inaccuracies it conveyed. The article only succeeded in exposing your ignorance of what has been happening in Nigeria, not surprising to me because you have stayed too long in the West and have no clue or is it due to some deliberate intellectual mischief? It may be better if you start writing on Memphis Tennessee, the civil right movements and how Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis since you know that place very well to have been given the city’s key before you get enlightened on local politics back home in Nigeria and start writing. I am really disappointed with that article and other ones you have previously wrote. It is obvious that your article wanted to attack the personality of Buhari but it ended up with bunch of contradictions and lack of scholarship. I cannot defend both Atiku and Jonathan because they all have case files before EFCC. While Atiku has one with respect to PTDF, Mr. Jonathan’s wife has a case file involving 12 million dollars when he was Governor of Bayelsa and she was arrested by EFCC then. Jonathan became Vice President and now Acting President and the case has since died silently. However, on Buhari I need to put the records straight point by point, I hope my rejoinder will be given the same publicity as your initial write up.

1. Mitary Training: Buhari does not fit in to the profile you wrote. In case you don't know Buhari graduated as a military officer (lieutenant) in Aldeshot UK. He went to the US National War College Carlisle in Pennsylvania from 1980 -1981. That is where the most respected officers of the US army such as Collin Powell attended to become generals. He was at the Defense College of India as well. By all military standards, his training is superb and the best any general can get in the world. Buhari was not some idle sitting General on baboon tree as you stated in your write up when he was in the army. In 1982-1983 when Chad took over our land with more than 19 villages like what the Cameroonians did with the support of France in the case of Bakassi, he then Brigadier Buhari led a successful operation as the GOC to push back Chad and reclaim our territory. If it was Buhari, there is no way as President, he will hand over Bakassi to Cameroon, that is true patriotism. I am not Buhari's relative and I have never met him in my life. But I have taken the pain to know a lot about him by reading facts because I believe among all the possible candidates vying for the Presidency now that may end up ruling Nigeria, he is the best qualified. Someone challenged me on the comments section of Sahara Reporters that I must compare General David Petreaus (The General Commanding Central Command in the Middle East of the US Forces) and Buhari; that is a tall order. They did not serve in the same army but still you have to give it to Buhari. Buhari as Lieutenant after graduating from the UK royal army fought in the Congo in 1964-65 as part of the first mission forces to stabilize the country during it first civil war and won the Congo Medal. He is comparable to Petreaus of US in terms of war command and strategy training. Petreaus Attended the US War College, Pennsylvania to become a General, Buhari went to the same college from 1980-1981 to be General even though Petreaus did, Buhari is his senior even by the US army rankings. Buhari fought a dangerous battle in Congo as a Lieutenant and won the Congo medal, Petreaus did not. Buhari fought in the Biafra civil war as a captain; Petreaus has not fought in a civil war. Buhari commanded an army division to defend his country against Chad, Petreaus commanded an army division to destroy a country Iraq. Now anyone who wants to can compare them.

2. Buhari's family background: Buhari came from a poor family in Daura. He is not the typical northern prince that you may think of. He lost his father Mallam Dauda, when he was young and his uncle took care of him and sent him to school and after secondary school, he joined the army and went to train in the UK royal army. You should have found out about all that before you write your article. It is because of his kind of background and the suffering he went through that he has no sympathy for corruption and the northern traditional ruling families fear him. Quite unlike Atiku, IBB, Yar'adua, Abdussalam etc, he has no traditional title, he refused to accept one from any emir even though they want to give him one even today. The masses in the north have decided to give him one. They call him Baba Buhari Shugaban talakawan Nigeria (Meaning our father, Buhari the leader of the masses).

3. Buhari, the so called Jihadist: Buhari was the first person to fight religious extremism in Nigeria. Anyone can go and find out about a group called Maitatsine in the north that took up arms in 1984 in the name of Jihad in States like Kano, Maiduguri, Bauchi and Adamawa and what he did to them. You also need to read about his refusal to allow every tom manliness and harry to become a pastor or imam in Nigeria like what is happening today. That is why we have so many religious crisis in the country because illiterates are parading themselves as Mallams and Pastors and fomenting trouble in the land. In respect of Nuhu Ribadu, Nasiru El Rufai, two of the most recent distinguished northerners anyone likes to mention, I would like to let you know that they have learnt a lot from Buhari as well. Nuhu got the opportunity to fight his first battle of corruption when he was doing his NYSC in 1984 when Buhari was investigating the 1984 thieves, Nuhu served in the Ministry of Trade where the import license scams took place and it is there, he told us on one occasion while delivering a lecture, that he got the inspiration to fight corruption and decided to join the police after his NYSC. In the case of El-Rufai, he also worked as consultant for PTF when Buhari was its chairman. Not surprising that they are hard working and distinguished. However, just before the 2003 elections, mischief makers like Atiku went to the south to misinformed people that he is a jihadist and support Sharia. If that is the case distinguished southerners both Christians and Muslims alike will not have supported him and I am talking of people like late Gani Fawehimi, who invited him to his house and raised Buhari’s hand before the media for all of us to see. People like Olu Falae, Tam David West and the like who still say a lot of good things about him and are supporting him. The truth must be told this time.

4. IBB's Coup against Buhari: Buhari refused to accept IMF loans and refused to devalue the naira then and I am glad you acknowledge that in your article and because of that he had to go because the west didn't like him so they used IBB to bring SAP that scuttle our econo y and put us in 18 billion dollars debt even though we sell oil. Meanwhile, he has retired General Ali Gusau in 1984 because of disagreements regarding work and defense contracts as reported along with Babangida, the duo planned the coup and when they succeeded, Babangida recalled Ali Gusau back to the army and made him his chief of Defense Intelligence. By the way, I would like you to know that Buhari sent Gusau on training to UK and US in intelligence and security while he was head of state. He made IBB his chief of army state but IBB is nothing short of a traitor to Buhari just the same way Dimka and Bisalla were traitors to Murtala in the 1976 coup.

5. Buhari planned a coup because of missing oil billions: He planned a coup against people like Umaru Dikko the then transport minister who were giving themselves import licenses for rice and skimming Nigerians and the like of Dr Tahir, the communication minister, who were importing horses and their food from Argentina. I met late Dr. Tahir who became Buhari's supporter in 2003, when I visited him in 2002 he told us that what Buhari did then was right, because they have lost their direction as a government. Dr. Tahir was a man of high intellectual capacity with a Phd in sociology from Cambridge, he spoke the truth. What Buhari did as a petroleum minister was the successful supervision and construction of three of the nation refineries, over 4000km of pipelines and 28 depots that we have failed to maintain today and so we import oil. How much has been stolen in just the turnaround maintenance of the refineries between Obasanjo and Abdussalam and still the refineries are not working? Over 4 billion dollars from 1999 to date. Infact before Obasanjo left, he auctioned one of refineries to Dangote at about 250 million dollars, something worth more than 3 billion dollars, Yar’adua reversed that sale.

6.Buhari and PTF: It is obvious you have not been home for long and so you are writing on what you don't know. On PTF, Buhari rehabilitated universities in Nigeria, provided textbooks for libraries and I am a witnessed, I used them for my final year project with PTF written on them. He supplied buses to the universities that time universities have no means of transportation. He built lecture theaters that I have studied in. We were happy to drive in the PTF buses and go for excursions to Kainji and Ajaokuta. What happened in PTF was after Obj won election even before he was sworn in and seeing the PTF records, he said he is going to ban PTF because it has no constitutional backing in a democracy. Because constitutionally all revenues must go to federation account and allocated by RMFAC. So when he was sworn in, he appointed a sole administrator, Dr. Haruna Adamu to investigate PTF hoping he will find something against Buhari. But it ended with Haruna going to jail for stealing $100 million dollars and it is in the records and newspapers in case you don’t know.

7.Missing PTF Money: . Let me tell you if that money you are talking about was missing in PTF, in both 2003 and 2007 elections, PDP and OBJ will have used that against Buhari just like he did to Atiku and PTDF and how he intimidated IBB on Glo by arresting his son, but OBJ cannot because he knows the man is so clean and that is who we need today in Nigeria. You can accuse Buhari for high handedness when he initially came in to power in 1983 by sending the politicians to Kiri Kiri with long life sentences but not corruption. Looking back to the 1980's , I can say Buhari was even compassionate. During that time, in Ghana and Congo and several African countries where they were coups, people like Rawlings in Ghana executed the government officials by firing squad or hanging but Buhari just jailed them. Some Nigerians are now even clamoring for a revolution or the Rawlings style.

8.Buhari and Democracy: Since the time he joined partisan politics, Buhari has conducted himself in the most admirable manner to anyone who knows what African politics is. Whenever, he lost, he went to court to follow due process. He has been in court for more than 20 months in one occasion making his case. He refused to mobilize his follows to rise against the Government or become unruly. If you don’t know he has such a large following but even if you think he doesn’t look at what is happening in other African countries. Raila Odinga and Kenya, they almost went to civil war because of elections. Morgan Tseveingire and Zimbwebwe, the country is now in shambles.

9. Let me be categorically clear, I am not saying Buhari is Saint Buhari and has no faults. I have my own different opinions on him as well but given our circumstances and the practical reality we are facing the main options we have in 2011 are BUHARI, ATIKU, BABANGIDA, GOODLUCK, the rest of the candidates are not yet out and I have not seen someone with their political heavy weight, we may be left with only the option of electing Buhari if we want to move this country forward. In a real political fight, Jonathan may not survive the intrigues. I don’t have anything against him but I am waiting for him to prove himself on electricity. I am even helping him because I have given his government a plan on how to fix it in the next one year, I hope he can deliver on the electricity promise to prove to us that he can lead and solve our problems.

Finally, if you think my points are not correct or I am being dishonest, I think we have no other option than I challenge you to a debate on your write up perhaps with Sahara reporters and informed journalists and historians as panelists. You are in Tennessee, I am in Pennsylvania, so we can meet in the neutral middle state of Ohio in a city like Cincinnati for the debate. I can pay for your travel fare from Memphis if you want me to. After the debate on Buhari with facts and defending the trash you wrote, then we can put it in on Youtube and Sahara reporters that way Nigerian’s will be more enlightened. I am not intimidated by the bunch of acronyms and titles after your name. It is dangerous to be writing silly stories and misleading people, it is not helping the situation in Nigeria.

MK Hassan can be reached at mk.hassan@hotmail.com

PDP is known for all these!!!

Aisha please get us out of this suspense, we want to see her pictures

UC with 20pips spread? where?

PDP piss your pants

more

Bauchi

^^^^

cAN YOU SHOW US THE DAUGHTER HE MARRIED

I read your article with the above caption and was compelled to write a rejoinder because of the inaccuracies it conveyed. The article only succeeded in exposing your ignorance of what has been happening in Nigeria, not surprising to me because you have stayed too long in the West and have no clue or is it due to some deliberate intellectual mischief? It may be better if you start writing on Memphis Tennessee, the civil right movements and how Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis since you know that place very well to have been given the city’s key before you get enlightened on local politics back home in Nigeria and start writing. I am really disappointed with that article and other ones you have previously wrote. It is obvious that your article wanted to attack the personality of Buhari but it ended up with bunch of contradictions and lack of scholarship. I cannot defend both Atiku and Jonathan because they all have case files before EFCC. While Atiku has one with respect to PTDF, Mr. Jonathan’s wife has a case file involving 12 million dollars when he was Governor of Bayelsa and she was arrested by EFCC then. Jonathan became Vice President and now Acting President and the case has since died silently. However, on Buhari I need to put the records straight point by point, I hope my rejoinder will be given the same publicity as your initial write up.

1. Mitary Training: Buhari does not fit in to the profile you wrote. In case you don't know Buhari graduated as a military officer (lieutenant) in Aldeshot UK. He went to the US National War College Carlisle in Pennsylvania from 1980 -1981. That is where the most respected officers of the US army such as Collin Powell attended to become generals. He was at the Defense College of India as well. By all military standards, his training is superb and the best any general can get in the world. Buhari was not some idle sitting General on baboon tree as you stated in your write up when he was in the army. In 1982-1983 when Chad took over our land with more than 19 villages like what the Cameroonians did with the support of France in the case of Bakassi, he then Brigadier Buhari led a successful operation as the GOC to push back Chad and reclaim our territory. If it was Buhari, there is no way as President, he will hand over Bakassi to Cameroon, that is true patriotism. I am not Buhari's relative and I have never met him in my life. But I have taken the pain to know a lot about him by reading facts because I believe among all the possible candidates vying for the Presidency now that may end up ruling Nigeria, he is the best qualified. Someone challenged me on the comments section of Sahara Reporters that I must compare General David Petreaus (The General Commanding Central Command in the Middle East of the US Forces) and Buhari; that is a tall order. They did not serve in the same army but still you have to give it to Buhari. Buhari as Lieutenant after graduating from the UK royal army fought in the Congo in 1964-65 as part of the first mission forces to stabilize the country during it first civil war and won the Congo Medal. He is comparable to Petreaus of US in terms of war command and strategy training. Petreaus Attended the US War College, Pennsylvania to become a General, Buhari went to the same college from 1980-1981 to be General even though Petreaus did, Buhari is his senior even by the US army rankings. Buhari fought a dangerous battle in Congo as a Lieutenant and won the Congo medal, Petreaus did not. Buhari fought in the Biafra civil war as a captain; Petreaus has not fought in a civil war. Buhari commanded an army division to defend his country against Chad, Petreaus commanded an army division to destroy a country Iraq. Now anyone who wants to can compare them.

2. Buhari's family background: Buhari came from a poor family in Daura. He is not the typical northern prince that you may think of. He lost his father Mallam Dauda, when he was young and his uncle took care of him and sent him to school and after secondary school, he joined the army and went to train in the UK royal army. You should have found out about all that before you write your article. It is because of his kind of background and the suffering he went through that he has no sympathy for corruption and the northern traditional ruling families fear him. Quite unlike Atiku, IBB, Yar'adua, Abdussalam etc, he has no traditional title, he refused to accept one from any emir even though they want to give him one even today. The masses in the north have decided to give him one. They call him Baba Buhari Shugaban talakawan Nigeria (Meaning our father, Buhari the leader of the masses).

3. Buhari, the so called Jihadist: Buhari was the first person to fight religious extremism in Nigeria. Anyone can go and find out about a group called Maitatsine in the north that took up arms in 1984 in the name of Jihad in States like Kano, Maiduguri, Bauchi and Adamawa and what he did to them. You also need to read about his refusal to allow every tom manliness and harry to become a pastor or imam in Nigeria like what is happening today. That is why we have so many religious crisis in the country because illiterates are parading themselves as Mallams and Pastors and fomenting trouble in the land. In respect of Nuhu Ribadu, Nasiru El Rufai, two of the most recent distinguished northerners anyone likes to mention, I would like to let you know that they have learnt a lot from Buhari as well. Nuhu got the opportunity to fight his first battle of corruption when he was doing his NYSC in 1984 when Buhari was investigating the 1984 thieves, Nuhu served in the Ministry of Trade where the import license scams took place and it is there, he told us on one occasion while delivering a lecture, that he got the inspiration to fight corruption and decided to join the police after his NYSC. In the case of El-Rufai, he also worked as consultant for PTF when Buhari was its chairman. Not surprising that they are hard working and distinguished. However, just before the 2003 elections, mischief makers like Atiku went to the south to misinformed people that he is a jihadist and support Sharia. If that is the case distinguished southerners both Christians and Muslims alike will not have supported him and I am talking of people like late Gani Fawehimi, who invited him to his house and raised Buhari’s hand before the media for all of us to see. People like Olu Falae, Tam David West and the like who still say a lot of good things about him and are supporting him. The truth must be told this time.

4. IBB's Coup against Buhari: Buhari refused to accept IMF loans and refused to devalue the naira then and I am glad you acknowledge that in your article and because of that he had to go because the west didn't like him so they used IBB to bring SAP that scuttle our econo y and put us in 18 billion dollars debt even though we sell oil. Meanwhile, he has retired General Ali Gusau in 1984 because of disagreements regarding work and defense contracts as reported along with Babangida, the duo planned the coup and when they succeeded, Babangida recalled Ali Gusau back to the army and made him his chief of Defense Intelligence. By the way, I would like you to know that Buhari sent Gusau on training to UK and US in intelligence and security while he was head of state. He made IBB his chief of army state but IBB is nothing short of a traitor to Buhari just the same way Dimka and Bisalla were traitors to Murtala in the 1976 coup.

5. Buhari planned a coup because of missing oil billions: He planned a coup against people like Umaru Dikko the then transport minister who were giving themselves import licenses for rice and skimming Nigerians and the like of Dr Tahir, the communication minister, who were importing horses and their food from Argentina. I met late Dr. Tahir who became Buhari's supporter in 2003, when I visited him in 2002 he told us that what Buhari did then was right, because they have lost their direction as a government. Dr. Tahir was a man of high intellectual capacity with a Phd in sociology from Cambridge, he spoke the truth. What Buhari did as a petroleum minister was the successful supervision and construction of three of the nation refineries, over 4000km of pipelines and 28 depots that we have failed to maintain today and so we import oil. How much has been stolen in just the turnaround maintenance of the refineries between Obasanjo and Abdussalam and still the refineries are not working? Over 4 billion dollars from 1999 to date. Infact before Obasanjo left, he auctioned one of refineries to Dangote at about 250 million dollars, something worth more than 3 billion dollars, Yar’adua reversed that sale.

6.Buhari and PTF: It is obvious you have not been home for long and so you are writing on what you don't know. On PTF, Buhari rehabilitated universities in Nigeria, provided textbooks for libraries and I am a witnessed, I used them for my final year project with PTF written on them. He supplied buses to the universities that time universities have no means of transportation. He built lecture theaters that I have studied in. We were happy to drive in the PTF buses and go for excursions to Kainji and Ajaokuta. What happened in PTF was after Obj won election even before he was sworn in and seeing the PTF records, he said he is going to ban PTF because it has no constitutional backing in a democracy. Because constitutionally all revenues must go to federation account and allocated by RMFAC. So when he was sworn in, he appointed a sole administrator, Dr. Haruna Adamu to investigate PTF hoping he will find something against Buhari. But it ended with Haruna going to jail for stealing $100 million dollars and it is in the records and newspapers in case you don’t know.

7.Missing PTF Money: . Let me tell you if that money you are talking about was missing in PTF, in both 2003 and 2007 elections, PDP and OBJ will have used that against Buhari just like he did to Atiku and PTDF and how he intimidated IBB on Glo by arresting his son, but OBJ cannot because he knows the man is so clean and that is who we need today in Nigeria. You can accuse Buhari for high handedness when he initially came in to power in 1983 by sending the politicians to Kiri Kiri with long life sentences but not corruption. Looking back to the 1980's , I can say Buhari was even compassionate. During that time, in Ghana and Congo and several African countries where they were coups, people like Rawlings in Ghana executed the government officials by firing squad or hanging but Buhari just jailed them. Some Nigerians are now even clamoring for a revolution or the Rawlings style.

8.Buhari and Democracy: Since the time he joined partisan politics, Buhari has conducted himself in the most admirable manner to anyone who knows what African politics is. Whenever, he lost, he went to court to follow due process. He has been in court for more than 20 months in one occasion making his case. He refused to mobilize his follows to rise against the Government or become unruly. If you don’t know he has such a large following but even if you think he doesn’t look at what is happening in other African countries. Raila Odinga and Kenya, they almost went to civil war because of elections. Morgan Tseveingire and Zimbwebwe, the country is now in shambles.

9. Let me be categorically clear, I am not saying Buhari is Saint Buhari and has no faults. I have my own different opinions on him as well but given our circumstances and the practical reality we are facing the main options we have in 2011 are BUHARI, ATIKU, BABANGIDA, GOODLUCK, the rest of the candidates are not yet out and I have not seen someone with their political heavy weight, we may be left with only the option of electing Buhari if we want to move this country forward. In a real political fight, Jonathan may not survive the intrigues. I don’t have anything against him but I am waiting for him to prove himself on electricity. I am even helping him because I have given his government a plan on how to fix it in the next one year, I hope he can deliver on the electricity promise to prove to us that he can lead and solve our problems.

Finally, if you think my points are not correct or I am being dishonest, I think we have no other option than I challenge you to a debate on your write up perhaps with Sahara reporters and informed journalists and historians as panelists. You are in Tennessee, I am in Pennsylvania, so we can meet in the neutral middle state of Ohio in a city like Cincinnati for the debate. I can pay for your travel fare from Memphis if you want me to. After the debate on Buhari with facts and defending the trash you wrote, then we can put it in on Youtube and Sahara reporters that way Nigerian’s will be more enlightened. I am not intimidated by the bunch of acronyms and titles after your name. It is dangerous to be writing silly stories and misleading people, it is not helping the situation in Nigeria.

MK Hassan can be reached at mk.hassan@hotmail.com
Reply

blackgucci:
ok .
am watching usdchf to close on the daily chart below 0.9196 to confirm h4 breakout of that level
am going in for the medium term with 150 pips SL. TP ,first lot 50 pips, second lot 100, third lot break of trendline.

nzdusd and gbpchf is also in study,

so you mean UChef is going to see 0.8xxx soon?

Buhari in the North Myth or reality?

Written by Taiwo Adisa, Group Politics Editor Sunday, 13 March 2011

GENERAL Mohammadu Buhari came to the national scene on December 31, 1983, when his name was announced as the Head of the Supreme Military Council (SMC) which overthrew Alhaji Shehu Shagari only after three months of his re-election. The soft-spoken Buhari, backed by his strong deputy, General Tunde Idiagbon, ran a regime which instilled fear into Nigerians.

Though a military regime, it took some populist steps, forcibly opening locked warehouses where food items and the like were hoarded and selling them to the needy populace at prevailing market prices. There was no hiding place for the politicians overthrown by the regime.

Buhari’s regime came on the strength of allegations of corruption against the civilian administration and he did not spare any of the main political actors. Even governors who were believed to have worked for the development of their states were clamped into long detentions and eventually ridiculous jail terms of 60 to 150 years.

The War Against Indiscipline (WAI) programme of the regime was the major tool used to whip everyone into line. There was order, a forced order at the time. Less than one year into his regime, Nigerians were already looking forward to the return of democracy and everywhere Buhari and his deputy, Idiagbon, turned to, they were confronted with the question: ‘When will you kick-start the transition to civil rule programme?’

The excesses of the Buhari-led regime provided the loophole for a palace coup in August 1985, when the then Chief of Army Staff, General Ibrahim Babangida, seized power. Babangida’s coup was ushered in with jubilation among the populace, which had become tired stiff of Buhari’s iron rule. Babangida, who appeared to have taken note of the general thinking in the polity, promptly announced a transition to civil rule programme, though he was to drag on the programme for eight years.

Twenty-six years after he was overthrown in a palace coup, General Buhari has retained his stiff self. Now in civilian politics, the somewhat taciturn general hardly gives much away in negotiations. Those who have worked with him said the Katsina-born general could enter into negotiations with you without placing much on the table. That, according to sources, was responsible for the inability of many of his associates to correctly read his politics.

But Buhari ordinarily appears a man that is not cut out for the wheeling-dealing of politics. He has remained his quiet self since he was overthrown by Babangida in 1985 until he was ‘resurrected’ by the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, who took over power in November 1993.

Abacha set up the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) to manage a percentage of increase in petroleum products as announced by his government in 1994. The funds to be managed by the PTF were to be devoted to road rehabilitation, construction and health intervention projects. For a government that was generally unpopular, Buhari distinguished himself through the work of the PTF. He constructed roads and stocked hospitals with drugs. Though he was accused of playing sectional politics with the work of the fund by concentrating efforts on parts of Northern Nigeria to the detriment of the South, it was clear that he did some work that stood the test of time.

His Entry Into Politics
Incidentally, Buhari’s entry into politics on April 25, 2002, when he registered as a member of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), was tainted by what was regarded as sectionalism, though the man has come to distance himself from such tendencies in recent years. Insiders in politics revealed that the decision to draft Buhari into politics in 2003 was a result of the thinking among some Northern politicians that the then President Olusegun Obasanjo should not be allowed to get elected for a second term in office. Some governors of the ANPP were said to have beckoned to Buhari, after some Northern leaders had attempted unsuccessfully to lobby Obasanjo out of the second term bid. It was understood that those who projected Buhari believed that he did well for the North when he served as chairman of PTF under the regime of the late General Abacha. He was then robed in the garb of a politician and made to face former President Obasanjo in a fierce electoral contest. At the end of the election, Buhari scored 32 per cent of the votes to come second behind the then president. His party, the ANPP, also trailed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by winning five governorship seats out of the 36 available.

If the 2003 experience was a baptism of fire for Buhari, the former head of state had become his own man in 2007. He confronted the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who was then serving as governor of Katsina State. Obasanjo stood solidly behind Yar’Adua and ensured that Buhari was defeated, not only in the states across the country, but also in his state, Katsina. The returns from the election in 2007 was, however, worse than it was in 2003 for Buhari. In 2007, Buhari and the ANPP could only score 18 per cent of the votes. The party also won four governorship seats in that election.

Having been dealt with on two occasions by the PDP machinery, General Buhari appeared frustrated by the ruling party. His own party, the ANPP, was not growing bigger. Indeed, he had started facing challenges in the party as far back as 2006 as his victory in the party’s national convention preceding the 2007 election had to be arranged following stiff competition from younger elements, including the then governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Sani (Yerima).

Buhari, in some submission, painted the nation’s democratic experience since 1999 as a catalogue of betrayals and bungled opportunities. He has also, somewhat, lost faith in the judiciary, which he believed unjustly gave victory to Obasanjo in 2003 and Yar’Adua in 2007.

He had expressed his frustrations in these words: “Our experiences at the polls are supported by credible reports from several independent, local and international observers and showed clearly that those elections were not transparent, credible, free or fair. Nor did they reflect the true will of the people.”

The Katsina-born general carpeted the judiciary for creating the impression that it was taking orders from some quarters, especially after what he described as the “overwhelming” evidence submitted by his party.

Buhari told an interviewer: “In the face of such overwhelming evidence, to the contrary, it hardly conformed to the idea of justice and it creates the common feeling that the judiciary was not acting independently.

“Democracy cannot survive if its operators refuse to play by the rules and those in authority continually conspire to subvert the system.

“Unfortunately, this country witnessed in the 2003 and 2007 elections, massive fraud, unprecedented in electoral exercises in this country.”

Coming of the CPC
Foundation for the formation of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) by The Buhari Organization (TBO) had been laid in 2006. Unlike in 2003, when the ticket of the ANPP was there for the general, he had faced some opposition in 2006. Even when the presidential ticket was granted to him, there were a number of issues relating to the integration of the TBO with the ANPP Campaign Committee. The issues lingered till after the elections and they, indeed, boomeranged after the elections, especially when the party decided to join the Government of National Unity (GNU) set up by the late President Yar’Adua.

Buhari’s running mate in the 2007 election, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, who was the National Chairman of the ANPP, had to abandon the general, following the unsuccessful bid to get him to withdraw the suit he instituted against the 2007 presidential election.

It appeared, at that stage, that the ANPP had abandoned Buhari and that what was left was for the general to set sail on another platform. It was also clear that the general did not enjoy a chummy relationship with the Kano State governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau. Ahead of the 2007 election, there were issues on whether Buhari would campaign for Shekarau in Kano or not. The feeling was that if Buhari refused to campaign for the governor in the ancient city, the mass of his followers could use protest votes to oust the governor.

But Shekarau went ahead to win the 2007 election in Kano, notwithstanding Buhari’s support. That immediately set up another front for Buhari as Shekarau also commenced a process of stamping his authority on the party. Thus, Buhari left the ANPP to form the CPC before it was too late. Today, he remained the undisputed leader of the CPC.

Buhari and the 2011 polls
Since he joined the campaign for the 2011 election on the platform of his own party, Buhari has cut an image, especially in the North. It has been said that the CPC started spreading in the states of the North like wild fire. While much of this can be said to have been fuelled by the desire in some quarters that power remains in the North, there is, however, the added version of Buhari’s personal integrity. Whatever his opponents say about him, Buhari still retains the image of an incorruptible leader out of office. He also appeals to the man on the street as a leader who can fight corruption, most probably out of the fierceness his regime fought the overthrown politicians and threw them into long jail terms in 1984.

But Buhari appeared to have allowed the frustrations of the past to get at him this time. His campaign has been much of ‘we’ versus ‘them’ stuff and he was apparently caught off guard recently during a campaign rally in Minna, Niger State, where he admonished his supporters to lynch any opponent who attempted to tamper with election results. He said in Hausa; “ku gama da shi!”

In Gombe on Wednesday, the general had to apologise to the state governor, over the vandalisation of the Secretariat of Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation by his followers. Rather than retain the campaign in the realm of issues, Buhari and members of the opposition parties have been painting the ruling PDP as the enemy that must be destroyed. Somehow, their supporters appear to be imbibing the thinking.

The Buhari thinkers, however, know their limits. The CPC, notwithstanding the feeling of invincibility by its supporters in the North, does not overrate itself. Its leaders are aware that the party is virtually non-existent in the South. Though Buhari does not want to have a repeat of the ANPP experience where he was treated as an outsider, he nonetheless understands the need for alliances and mergers. That set the stage for the talks with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The alliance could, however, not materialise before the April elections drew too close. Even now, close associates of Buhari believe that the talks should be kept aglow since they appeared to have resolved only to challenge the PDP and stall its landslide victory. A member of the CPC/ACN alliance talks, Senator Abu Ibrahim, told the Sunday Tribune recently that the plan by the opposition was to ensure that the PDP did not win at the first ballot and that the opposition plans to keep the alliance discussions alive such that it would be easily reinvented if a rerun election becomes apparent in April.

Perhaps, the coast for electoral collaboration would have been clearer for Buhari, if not for the complications with the ACN itself. Founder of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu, had planned to run as the vice presidential candidate to General Buhari. The stage was set for that when the ANPP entered into discussions with the progressives, but Buhari’s decision to go it alone and found the CPC slowed down the talks. Again, Buhari’s refusal to run on the platform of another party also slowed down the agreement. The ACN had agreed to adopt the general on condition that he would fly the flag of ACN. To avoid being caught unawares, the ACN decided to nominate Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as its presidential flagbearer, pending the conclusion of the alliance talks with the CPC. But that further complicated the matter. Upon Ribadu’s emergence, certain interests in the party started urging him not to withdraw his candidature even in respect of Buhari. The issues dragged till very late in the day and it became obvious to both parties that alliance or merger was no longer feasible.

Can Buhari pull a strong string in the coming election? Much of the answer would remain in the realm of conjecture, but a careful reading of the opposition strategy seems to point to the fact that they are almost attesting to the superiority of the PDP. Planning to ensure a rerun election, instead of planning to defeat the ruling party at the first ballot, means that the opposition believes that PDP has become too strong for them to defeat.

Again, the assumptions in the opposition circles follow the prescribed pattern of voting among the geopolitical zones in the past years. There is nothing that suggests that the opposition was thinking there could be some paradigm shift in voting pattern this time. And there are indications that point to a possible shift in voting pattern.

The search for free and fair election is one and the insistence of the electoral commission that votes would count could create problems for anyone whose projection is based on the old paradigms. For instance, opposition have calculated that the South West would vote for the ACN, based on the resurgence of the party in the zone of recent, while they also projected that the North West would vote for Buhari. The North West has about 18 million voters, while the South West has 15 million. Thus, the projection is that if the two parties can squeeze out the PDP in the two most populous zones, they would have succeeded in ensuring the inevitability of a rerun election by stopping the PDP from winning 51 per cent of the votes. This, they believe, would afford them the opportunity to actualise the much desired electoral collaboration.

This projection could, however, be hampered by the reality that younger voters would be participating in the next election than in the previous ones. Statistics of voters and the population census indicate that the youth of age 30 and below constitute about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population. This is a class that may not be easily influenced by recourse to ethnicity and religion or blind party loyalty which formed the fulcrum of the opposition’s projections.

[Pastor Tunde Bakare] Strengths and weaknesses
General Buhari said on his presidential campaign website: “As I look forward to the road ahead, I am optimistic because I believe Nigeria’s best days are still to come. Our country has a bright future, but we must work together to ensure that our shared prosperity creates new and better opportunities for us.”

He has remained consistent in his resolve to undo the PDP at the next election.

The focal point for Buhari’s campaign is the crowd that follows his campaign trail. It has been said that the former head of state has maintained a close touch with the man on the street, especially in the Northern part of the country. He is fast becoming the new leader of the Talakawa in this era. The burden of that, according to political watchers, is that many of those who constitute the crowd may not be registered voters, while some members of the party who are bent on showcasing the popularity may go all out to ensure the campaign venues are filled to the brim. Outside that, the fact that Buhari does not draw the crowd across the country is also a minus.

The Buhari/Bakare ticket
General Buhari seems to be passing some messages when he announced the choice of Pentecostal pastor, Tunde Bakare, as his running mate. First, he seems to be saying that the political class had betrayed him twice n 2003 and 2007. So, he wishes to go for his own man, who is not necessarily a politician. Secondly, he seems to be passing a message to Christians and others who have the feeling that the general is a religious bigot and an unbending Muslim that he could work with one of them. Whether the two issues in the calculation can yield positive results for Buhari should be left to time. But it appears there are some noticeable burdens in the choice so far.

The fact that the pastor comes from the South West, which has a liberal religious outlook, could make the choice look porous, especially when a son of the area had completed two terms in the Presidency between 1999 and 2007. Perhaps, if the cleric had come from the South East or South South, the liabilities would probably have reduced. Pastor Bakare’s church also does not have branches across the country, thus, making him only rooted in Lagos. Again, it is also debatable whether religion should be made a fundamental campaign issue in 2011Nigeria.

Sultan Abubakar’s charge on religion
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, spoke on Wednesday, when the campaign train of President Goodluck Jonathan berthed in Sokoto. The Sultan’s declaration came on the heels of serial attempts by some forces to give the coming election some religious coloration.

The Sultan said Nigerians ought to relegate issues of religion and ethnicity to the background when going into the April polls.

The monarch said: “God has a reason for making us to live together as different tribes with religious, ethnic and political differences,” adding that Nigerians ought to be seen to elect leaders of their choice for the political growth of the country.

“You must put it in your mind that seeking elective position is not a do-or-die affair,” the Sultan stated.

The declaration by the revered monarch has been hailed as a big boost for the campaign of unity mounted by President Jonathan and his supporters. Some political leaders from the North had insisted that the 2011 election should be contested by the candidate from the North, in line with the dictates of the PDP constitution on zoning. But the PDP had said that the nation’s constitution, which recognises the right of the vice president to step in when a president dies, had empowered Jonathan to succeed his late boss, Alhaji Yar’Adua. The party, therefore, granted Jonathan the go-ahead to contest the 2011 election.

Buhari’s popularity, myth or reality?
General Buhari has been painted as the most popular candidate in the North, followed by Mallam Shekarau of the ANPP and then, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the ACN. Pictures being painted in some quarters indicate that of a Buhari having a clean sweep of the elections in the North.

However, such a claim cannot be sustained in view of the statistics of elections conducted in the current dispensation. In 1999, when the military regime of General Abdusalami Abubakar conducted election, the All Peoples Party (APP), now ANPP, won seven states out of 36. That appears to be the highest the ANPP has got in this era. In 2003, when the party fielded General Buhari, the number depreciated to five states and then, four in 2007. ANPP had ruled in states including Borno, Yobe, Kwara, Kogi, Zamfara, Bauchi and Kano. Right now, what used to be a united ANPP force has been shared between that party and the CPC. The fact that Buhari’s influence has never crossed some states of the North West and two in the North East means that the CPC, a splinter of the ANPP, has a lot to do.

Apart from the division in the ranks, the CPC does not have the financial wherewithal of the PDP. In the twilight of the campaigns in the 2007 election, the party ran out cash and could not muster enough funds to pay party agents in all the 120,000 polling units across the country. A financier of the party was told that there were no funds to pay party agents in the whole of South.

The CPC, which is fashioned after Buhari’s austere lifestyle, could face this type of problem and if that happens, it would be left to rue its chances at the end of the day.

The North West: His strengths weaknesses

Kaduna
As the April presidential election draws nearer, the situation in Kaduna State, pundits have said, is still unpredictable as far as who the people would vote for is concerned. Those who are very visible and have solid campaign structures in the old crocodile state are the incumbent president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, whose running mate, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, originated from Kaduna State.
Former Head of State, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has continued to attract a large followership in the state, especially from the rural areas, while the presence of Ibrahim Shekarau and Nuhu Ribadu of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) respectively is not seriously felt in the state. Others, many have observed, were simply in the race just for the fun of it.

Although the election in this zone is heavily influenced by region and religion, those working for Jonathan in Kaduna have continued to traverse every nook and cranny of the state to project his candidature, oftentimes meeting with Islamic clerics to convince them of the need to vote for Jonathan and the incumbent governor of the state who they claimed are “good friends” of Muslims and have a lot in store for them once they emerge successful in the elections.

But hard as they are trying, some extremely knowledgeable Islamic clerics, especially in villages and hamlets where the masses abound, have continued to preach to their followers that once a non-Muslim becomes president, the Nigerian flag in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries would be flown at half mast, signifying that the country and its people would have no full recognition and respect in the Islamic world. What they did not however say was whether that happened during Obasanjo’s eight years or has happened in the past two years of Jonathan.

Even in the cities, Kaduna for example, the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria was said to have, at a meeting it held with ulamas from across the country, chided the Jonathan-led administration for allegedly being insensitive to the plight of Muslims, citing the president’s failure to take drastic action against the authorities in Plateau and Borno States as issues that must be considered before electing the next president.

Furthermore, the kind of crowd that converged on Kaduna penultimate weekend to witness the flag off of Buhari’s presidential campaign must have sent shivers down the spine of his political opponents.
But the PDP must be given the credit of good organisation in Kaduna State and the strategy it has taken to reconcile warring factions within it seems to be working. Senator Ahmed Makarfi, for instance, many have reasoned, has the political structure and appeal to woo the people to Jonathan’s side, no matter where they are or which religion they belong to. He was said to have done this before and could do it again with a genuine support and encouragement from the camp of the incumbent vice president.

In the words of an analyst, Jonathan would, all things been equal, get massive support from Southern Kaduna, while Buhari would no doubt, clinch the votes in Northern Kaduna in a clean contest. Kaduna Central, based on its cosmopolitan nature, would be shared.

Katsina
In this state, two presidential candidates are expected to get the majority of the votes in April. These are Jonathan and Buhari. President Jonathan’s chances in the state is boosted by the fact that it is predominantly controlled by the ruling PDP. This is besides the love the people have for him in the state as a result of his loyalty and support for late President Umaru Yar’Adua when they were together.
Before he became president, Yar’Adua had established a strong political base which had made the PDP to become a force to be reckoned with, overshadowing several opposition parties, including the ANPP which used to be the major opposition in the state.

It was in this atmosphere of dominance that the party produced the incumbent governor, Ibrahim Shema, who is today President Jonathan’s campaign coordinator for the North West zone. So, it goes without saying that the dominance of the party and its strong financial base are added advantages which would go long way in making Jonathan’s re-election bid a success in the state.

However, Katsina is home for Buhari. He hails from Daura Local Government Area of the state. He also has substantial support base just like his counterpart in the PDP.

It would be difficult to pinpoint where ANPP’s Ibrahim Shekarau’s chances stand as his party, which was once the major opposition, is anything but formidable in the state’s political arena. Most prominent members of the party are either in the CPC or in the ruling PDP, including two of its former governorship aspirants, Senator Abu Ibrahim and Mr. Nura Khalil, who are in the CPC and PDP respectively. Even its intended gubernatorial aspirant, Honourable Ahmed Funtua, who was thought to be making efforts to reunite the party, made a U-turn when he secured the senatorial ticket of the ACN.

The influence of former university don and ACN’s gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Usman Bugaje, raises Nuhu Ribadu’s chances of getting some votes in the state during the coming elections. In terms of popularity and support base, ACN is third in the state after the PDP and the CPC, a development that makes Ribadu’s chances as bright as that of any of the aforementioned candidates. It is said that the party has the financial resources to put together the necessary machinery to reach the electorate as well as a strong support base which has recently been shored up as a result of the party’s rising profile in the state.

Other parties also have some form of presence in the state and are said to be working for their presidential candidates, but the aforementioned parties have so far, stolen the show.

Zamfara, Sokoto and Jigawa
In these states, the story might be different for Jonathan as Buhari’s popularity has risen to an unprecedented level in recent times. Although the PDP, in these states, has a solid structure and could win elections at all levels, feelers from these states indicated that the people are so passionate about a Muslim president. Remarks coming from the likes of Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, in recent times have affected the popularity of his favorite presidential candidate in the state and beyond. The truth, however, is that Jigawa is almost certainly safe for Jonathan because of the hold and performance of Sule Lamido on the politics of the state.

Kebbi
Here, the PDP and the CPC will share spoils because the former governor, Senator Adamu Aliero is in CPC while the incumbent governor, Dakingari, is in PDP.

Kano
Politics in Kano cannot be predicted. However, going by the unfolding political scenario, three presidential candidates, Jonathan, Buhari and Ribadu, have supporters in Kano State.

Shekarau, who now is the presidential candidate of the ANPP, as a result of his immense contribution to the socio-economic development of the state in the past eight years, leads in popularity. He will, certainly, get majority of the votes in Kano, while Jonathan and others would scramble for the remnants, if there would be any.
Additional report from Hassan Ibrahim, Northern Bureau Chief

http://www.tribune.com.ng/sun/index.php/the-polity/3353-buhari-in-the-north-myth-or-reality

Johndoe100:
[b]Nigeria has always been a basket case. Things that are abnormal and aberrations takes place in Nigeria everyday; they are commonplace and they assume normality and are acceptable as part of our life. Having illiterate soldiers rail road the whole nation of well educated people was at one time acceptable in the mentality of Nigerians. At the sight of a demented soldier on national television Nigerians rush out to celebrate and welcome the new 'messiah' to Dodan Barrack. The people easily lap up the new soldier of fortune's promises and good intentions and will be glad that the thieves in babariga and tall caps (a la Shagari's) have been arrested and their political parties "dissolved." People will take to the streets to listen to all the new promises of what the new "fedra gonment" will do. They will lap up all the "summarily dismissed," "hearby dissolved," "summarily expelled," and nonsense like "this gonment will not tallrate any indisplin" from the very mouth of lowlifes who are the very epitome of indiscipline! Mohammudu Buhari was one of such undisciplined soldiers that forcefully terminated democratically constituted and elected governments. [/b]



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The twin towers of terror, Mohammudu Buhari and his co-traveler Tunde Idiagbon, plotted and terminated the second republic. The second republic was never a worthy venture considering the excesses and corruption of the epicureans in Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Adisa (the self-processed and heavily deluded AMA, Always Mentally Alert) Akiloye's National Party of Nigeria (NPN), but only the people have the right to terminate it through the ballot box. But Buhari has no regard for the ballot box or democratic process that engenders and enthrones democratic regimes. Like any soldier of fortune with a huge personal agenda, Buhari overthrew the government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He accused the civilian administration of corruption and bad governance; he called them names and came to the conclusion that they will be "summarily disciplined." On December 31, 1983, Mohammudu Buhari rolled back the hands of the nation's development and stymied the progress of Nigeria. He decided to clean up the mess left behind by the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and restore order. But rather than dealing with the crooks, philanders, epicureans, grabbers and looters in the NPN and hold them accountable, he chose to punish only a section of the political landscape; he focused on the political opposition that controlled less than 30% of the funds at the time. Buhari arrested, detained and tried all the governors of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) while the erstwhile leaders of the NPN were left untouched and a mere handful of them kept under house arrest.

Buhari's was a selective approach to governance and justice. Not a single Hausa/Fulani man or woman was arrested, interrogated, detained, brought to trial or sent to jail during his dictatorship despite the legions of Southern non-Muslim 'infidels' he detained without trial, sentenced for flimsy reasons, or murdered by retroactive law. It was only Umaru Dikko he went after - for whatever personal reasons - among the dozens of NPN chieftains, but he kept the likes of Professor Ambrose Ali, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin and Chief Bola Ige in prison. He tried them and retried them until they were found guilty. His goal was to find them guilty and it was at all cost. For him it was better to find the 'infidels' guilty rather than trouble the 'elect.' Buhari incarcerated the UPN governors who brought development to their people and their states and rewarded NPN governors who could not account for the revenue allocations they got and the loans they borrowed with house arrests and freedom to move around! It was Buhari's Northern Agenda, an agenda soaked in his belief in a pious North and determination to deal ruthlessly with the 'infidels,' from the Christian South and its inferior Muslim population who were not Muslim enough,  

The repeated imprisonment, trials and tribulations heaped on the UPN governors hastened the untimely demise of Chief Olabisi Onabanjo and Professor Ambrose Alli. Buhari lacked the conscience to care; he was least interested in the fairness of his action. All the ministers of the National Party of Nigeria and their party chieftains such as the former president Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Suleman Takuma, Adamu Ciroma, Yahaya Dikko and many others were left untouched; they were too pious and of a special Northern breed to be touched. Buhari settled for scapegoats and 'infidels' from the South to justify that he was cleaning the nation of corruption when in fact he wore a garment of greed and excesses. He showed very little respect for the law of the land. He even went a step further to backdate laws in order to ensure that three suspected drug pushers, Bartholomew Owoh, Bernard Ogedengbe and Lawal Ojuolape were found guilty by retroactive law, but then that was a drug trade that prominent Northern Nigerian businessmen were well noted for. In doing this, he insulted the civil society and drew the anger and criticism of the Nigerian media, labour unions, the Nigerian Bar Association, the National Association of Resident Doctors, and many other unions and organizations. Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and his brother, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti suffered greatly from the inhuman actions and detentions of Buhari and his band of plunders. The three drug suspects were found guilty and murdered by retroactive law. Decree No. 20 of 1984 was not only inhuman and illegal in its composition, it was draconian and a law made by fools, because suddenly action that we acceptable and normal when taken were strangely turned into criminal actions. The Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree 4 of 1984 was Buhari's gift to the Nigerian Press and its first victims were The Guardian's Tunde Thompson and Nduka Iraboh.

Buhari did not even consider the ministers of Alhaji Shehu Shagari who broke every law, plundered the nation's resources and spent money like it was going out of fashion for any punishment. He did not come to punish the 'saints,' because the saints are too pious. His war against indiscipline (WAI) was conceived in deceit. Only the unholy will be punished for acts of indiscipline. The pious have the right to 'take,' to 'use,' and to 'remove' whatever they want, and their taking, using and removing what they want is holy and righteous before Allah. As far as Buhari was concerned only the people in the South were undisciplined since the North was and still is pure and pious. Only numskulls will hold such silly and silly believes, but Buhari was far from convinced about the superiority of his Hausa/Fulani race and the purity of Islam. For Buhari, he was right and pure and we (the people in the South) are dead. He considered himself sent by Allah to either purify them or exterminate them all.

The Emir of Gwandu was too pious and as such was at liberty to bring in his 53 suitcases. While the people importing contrabands were predominantly from the North, only the few from the South were arrested and prosecuted. Alhaji Jokolo, the current Emir of Gwandu and son of the then Emir recently said his father only brought back 12 suitcases and not 53. Jokolo, a former colonel in the Nigeria Army said it was General Buhari who instructed him to go to the airport to receive his father, the then Emir. Mustapha Jokolo acknowledged that several suitcases were taken straight from the aircraft to the State House. He said those were for the Chief of Protocol, Dahiru Waziri. They were all in the government of Mohammudu Buhari but Buhari did not put them on trial for bringing contraband goods into the country or for disobeying the law by not taking their luggage through the normal process of inspection. Even Buhari's brother was on that same entourage of the Emir of Gwandu, but all of them are neck and shoulder above the law, and the war against indiscipline does not affect them; they are above such petty laws that were made for commoners and Southerners.

General Buhari has very little education, like the rest of his khaki-wearing comrades who ruled Nigeria by force and by decrees. He attended primary school in Daura and later the Katsina Model School before attending military training at home and overseas. We can safely say that this is another cretin case with very little ability for creative, analytical and constructive thinking. Even his actions as military dictator were causes of concern for the academia, and they worry why any rational person will take those actions or follow the steps Buhari followed. A few months or a year in any military college or cadet program can never prepare any soldier for governance. Soldiers are trained to follow rules and to obey orders; never to run government, lead civilians or be seen in the civil society wearing uniform around. No military training prepare or pretend to prepare a soldier to run a local government or a state. Buhari was poorly educated and has a low intelligence quotient (IQ) to manage the affairs of the people of Katsina State and as such lack what it takes to manage the affairs of Nigeria. He forcefully imposed himself on the Nigerian people and made a terrible work of it; he caused confusion, did the economy no good and dehumanized the civil society. If he failed when he was a dictator, I do not see him succeeding in a democratic, give-and-take environment.

Buhari accepted the Abacha contraption and was one of the first few who embraced Abacha quite early and saw nothing wrong in the annulment of MKO Abiola's freely given mandate. Buhari was therefore rewarded with the chairmanship of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) by his friend, General Sani Abacha. The PTF had annual budgets that were far more than what most states of the federation received from the federal purse. The Fund began in 1996 with an initial capital of almost 60 billion naira. It was a duplication of social services and it became the bottomless pit that allowed the Northern Oligarchy to loot the national treasury once again. It was like the return of the Nigerian National Supply Company (NNSC) and contracts were flowing and doing so in abundance, but available only to the Oligarchy who will then turn around to sell the contract papers to a Southerner at huge profit. It all became a joke in Lagos about how some people procured the paper and made billions and some bought the paper and do all the work for little or nothing! Buhari's PTF built roads at federal, state and local government levels at a time when the Federal Ministry of Work lacked the funds to repair roads. PTF also procured drugs at a time when the Federal Ministry of Heath did not have the budget to provide drugs for federal hospitals. It was said that the PTF had 115.6 billion naira available to it as at December 31, 1997, funds that were never audited or properly accounted for. Like Abacha and the rest of his government, the PTF was set up to provide an opportunity to loot without any need for accountability; and corruption and indiscipline were never fought at that level. A wise former head of state would have seen that PTF was an alternative government and he would have rejected the offer to be part of it, but not Mr. Buhari. PTF brought untold opportunities and allowed him to practically rebuild Katsina, Kaduna and the rest of the north while a few projects were thrown at the Southern States.

More roads were built in each of Funtua, Gusau, Kaduna, and Sokoto than in Lagos or Oyo State. Over 70% of the Fund's allocation went into modernizing the roads in the North. For example, roads in Malali Government Reservation Area (GRA) in Kaduna were as good as you can wish for before PTF was set up, but these roads were dualized with PTF's money all the way to Durbar Hotel and beyond. Buhari's idea of Nigeria is one in which the north is superior and it must always take the lion share of everything. Unfortunately Muhammudu Buhari is the presidential candidate of Bola Tinubu, the self-professed leader of the Yoruba people. It is very obvious they have so much in common - brash, uncreative, unimaginative and false superior air. Contractors such as Chagori and Chagori (C&C) and Afri-Projects Consortium were some of the major beneficiaries of the PTF contracts. The PTF even carried out projects in Military barracks despite the fact that those projects have been provided for in the Ministry of Defence's budget. The Armed Forces PTF was allocated 20% of the PTF funds and with it came more funds to loot and no accountability. In the final analysis it was confirmed that Buhari wasted 135 billion naira of the PTF's 146 billion and all this financial abuse during the time Abacha was waging war against indiscipline and corruption (WAIC). The joke is on Abacha, Buhari and their ilk, and I am laughing out loud, really loud.

Human rights violations brought the civil society in confrontation with the twin towers of terror. Buhari and Idiagbon were ruthless and they disregarded every right, every dignity and ignored every court injunction as they inflicted untold pains on human rights organizations, newspapers, labour unions, and the community of editors, journalists, writers, reporters, and opinion leaders. The twin towers were right and we were all wrong and as such detained - kept away for as long as their lordships wanted. It has often been speculated that the reason why Buhari terminated a democratic government was to give him the opportunity to remove the documents relating to the missing Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) missing $2.8 billion. For reasons relating to the missing $2.8 billion, Buhari detained, intimidated, jailed and abused people at will. His detention camps were flung open by his successor and the whole world was shocked beyond believe that a human being will go to any extent to dehumanize other human beings for no reason at all. The unfortunate traveler and the other tower in the Buhari dictatorship, Tunde Idiagbon was no doubt the honest and decent of the two men. Idiagbon was a disciplined soldier who got into a ride with a crooked driver behind the wheels.

There is no doubt in my mind that General Mohammudu Buhari failed in every area of assessment. He lacks the temperament to tolerate democratic culture, he is poorly educated and lack the creative, analytical and strategic thinking required leading a nation like Nigeria. It is true Buhari had gunned his way into power in Nigeria before, essentially an accident of history that should never have happened. He may be qualified to lead the Caliphate but even then the days of the Caliphate have receded into the footnotes of history. Buhari was a soldier who disobeyed his commander in chief and forcefully removed an elected government from office. Besides lacking the moral authority and shared values required of a democratic leader, Buhari's antecedent as minister in the petroleum ministry where funds disappeared and later as chairman of the Petroleum Trust Funds where cases of widespread corruption and sectionalism were rampant necessarily made it imperative to disqualify this former tower of terror.

http://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/babsajayi/121010.html

Muhammed Kabir
A Rejoinder to “Buhari, Atiku, Go and Rest” written by Naiwu Osahun: a response from MK Hassan

Dear Naiwu Osahun,
I read your article with the above caption and was compelled to write a rejoinder because of the inaccuracies it conveyed. The article only succeeded in exposing your ignorance of what has been happening in Nigeria, not surprising to me because you have stayed too long in the West and have no clue or is it due to some deliberate intellectual mischief? It may be better if you start writing on Memphis Tennessee, the civil right movements and how Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis since you know that place very well to have been given the city’s key before you get enlightened on local politics back home in Nigeria and start writing. I am really disappointed with that article and other ones you have previously wrote. It is obvious that your article wanted to attack the personality of Buhari but it ended up with bunch of contradictions and lack of scholarship. I cannot defend both Atiku and Jonathan because they all have case files before EFCC. While Atiku has one with respect to PTDF, Mr. Jonathan’s wife has a case file involving 12 million dollars when he was Governor of Bayelsa and she was arrested by EFCC then. Jonathan became Vice President and now Acting President and the case has since died silently. However, on Buhari I need to put the records straight point by point, I hope my rejoinder will be given the same publicity as your initial write up.

1. Mitary Training: Buhari does not fit in to the profile you wrote. In case you don't know Buhari graduated as a military officer (lieutenant) in Aldeshot UK. He went to the US National War College Carlisle in Pennsylvania from 1980 -1981. That is where the most respected officers of the US army such as Collin Powell attended to become generals. He was at the Defense College of India as well. By all military standards, his training is superb and the best any general can get in the world. Buhari was not some idle sitting General on baboon tree as you stated in your write up when he was in the army. In 1982-1983 when Chad took over our land with more than 19 villages like what the Cameroonians did with the support of France in the case of Bakassi, he then Brigadier Buhari led a successful operation as the GOC to push back Chad and reclaim our territory. If it was Buhari, there is no way as President, he will hand over Bakassi to Cameroon, that is true patriotism. I am not Buhari's relative and I have never met him in my life. But I have taken the pain to know a lot about him by reading facts because I believe among all the possible candidates vying for the Presidency now that may end up ruling Nigeria, he is the best qualified. Someone challenged me on the comments section of Sahara Reporters that I must compare General David Petreaus (The General Commanding Central Command in the Middle East of the US Forces) and Buhari; that is a tall order. They did not serve in the same army but still you have to give it to Buhari. Buhari as Lieutenant after graduating from the UK royal army fought in the Congo in 1964-65 as part of the first mission forces to stabilize the country during it first civil war and won the Congo Medal. He is comparable to Petreaus of US in terms of war command and strategy training. Petreaus Attended the US War College, Pennsylvania to become a General, Buhari went to the same college from 1980-1981 to be General even though Petreaus did, Buhari is his senior even by the US army rankings. Buhari fought a dangerous battle in Congo as a Lieutenant and won the Congo medal, Petreaus did not. Buhari fought in the Biafra civil war as a captain; Petreaus has not fought in a civil war. Buhari commanded an army division to defend his country against Chad, Petreaus commanded an army division to destroy a country Iraq. Now anyone who wants to can compare them.

2. Buhari's family background: Buhari came from a poor family in Daura. He is not the typical northern prince that you may think of. He lost his father Mallam Dauda, when he was young and his uncle took care of him and sent him to school and after secondary school, he joined the army and went to train in the UK royal army. You should have found out about all that before you write your article. It is because of his kind of background and the suffering he went through that he has no sympathy for corruption and the northern traditional ruling families fear him. Quite unlike Atiku, IBB, Yar'adua, Abdussalam etc, he has no traditional title, he refused to accept one from any emir even though they want to give him one even today. The masses in the north have decided to give him one. They call him Baba Buhari Shugaban talakawan Nigeria (Meaning our father, Buhari the leader of the masses).

3. Buhari, the so called Jihadist: Buhari was the first person to fight religious extremism in Nigeria. Anyone can go and find out about a group called Maitatsine in the north that took up arms in 1984 in the name of Jihad in States like Kano, Maiduguri, Bauchi and Adamawa and what he did to them. You also need to read about his refusal to allow every tom manliness and harry to become a pastor or imam in Nigeria like what is happening today. That is why we have so many religious crisis in the country because illiterates are parading themselves as Mallams and Pastors and fomenting trouble in the land. In respect of Nuhu Ribadu, Nasiru El Rufai, two of the most recent distinguished northerners anyone likes to mention, I would like to let you know that they have learnt a lot from Buhari as well. Nuhu got the opportunity to fight his first battle of corruption when he was doing his NYSC in 1984 when Buhari was investigating the 1984 thieves, Nuhu served in the Ministry of Trade where the import license scams took place and it is there, he told us on one occasion while delivering a lecture, that he got the inspiration to fight corruption and decided to join the police after his NYSC. In the case of El-Rufai, he also worked as consultant for PTF when Buhari was its chairman. Not surprising that they are hard working and distinguished. However, just before the 2003 elections, mischief makers like Atiku went to the south to misinformed people that he is a jihadist and support Sharia. If that is the case distinguished southerners both Christians and Muslims alike will not have supported him and I am talking of people like late Gani Fawehimi, who invited him to his house and raised Buhari’s hand before the media for all of us to see. People like Olu Falae, Tam David West and the like who still say a lot of good things about him and are supporting him. The truth must be told this time.

4. IBB's Coup against Buhari: Buhari refused to accept IMF loans and refused to devalue the naira then and I am glad you acknowledge that in your article and because of that he had to go because the west didn't like him so they used IBB to bring SAP that scuttle our econo y and put us in 18 billion dollars debt even though we sell oil. Meanwhile, he has retired General Ali Gusau in 1984 because of disagreements regarding work and defense contracts as reported along with Babangida, the duo planned the coup and when they succeeded, Babangida recalled Ali Gusau back to the army and made him his chief of Defense Intelligence. By the way, I would like you to know that Buhari sent Gusau on training to UK and US in intelligence and security while he was head of state. He made IBB his chief of army state but IBB is nothing short of a traitor to Buhari just the same way Dimka and Bisalla were traitors to Murtala in the 1976 coup.

5. Buhari planned a coup because of missing oil billions: He planned a coup against people like Umaru Dikko the then transport minister who were giving themselves import licenses for rice and skimming Nigerians and the like of Dr Tahir, the communication minister, who were importing horses and their food from Argentina. I met late Dr. Tahir who became Buhari's supporter in 2003, when I visited him in 2002 he told us that what Buhari did then was right, because they have lost their direction as a government. Dr. Tahir was a man of high intellectual capacity with a Phd in sociology from Cambridge, he spoke the truth. What Buhari did as a petroleum minister was the successful supervision and construction of three of the nation refineries, over 4000km of pipelines and 28 depots that we have failed to maintain today and so we import oil. How much has been stolen in just the turnaround maintenance of the refineries between Obasanjo and Abdussalam and still the refineries are not working? Over 4 billion dollars from 1999 to date. Infact before Obasanjo left, he auctioned one of refineries to Dangote at about 250 million dollars, something worth more than 3 billion dollars, Yar’adua reversed that sale.

6.Buhari and PTF: It is obvious you have not been home for long and so you are writing on what you don't know. On PTF, Buhari rehabilitated universities in Nigeria, provided textbooks for libraries and I am a witnessed, I used them for my final year project with PTF written on them. He supplied buses to the universities that time universities have no means of transportation. He built lecture theaters that I have studied in. We were happy to drive in the PTF buses and go for excursions to Kainji and Ajaokuta. What happened in PTF was after Obj won election even before he was sworn in and seeing the PTF records, he said he is going to ban PTF because it has no constitutional backing in a democracy. Because constitutionally all revenues must go to federation account and allocated by RMFAC. So when he was sworn in, he appointed a sole administrator, Dr. Haruna Adamu to investigate PTF hoping he will find something against Buhari. But it ended with Haruna going to jail for stealing $100 million dollars and it is in the records and newspapers in case you don’t know.

7.Missing PTF Money: . Let me tell you if that money you are talking about was missing in PTF, in both 2003 and 2007 elections, PDP and OBJ will have used that against Buhari just like he did to Atiku and PTDF and how he intimidated IBB on Glo by arresting his son, but OBJ cannot because he knows the man is so clean and that is who we need today in Nigeria. You can accuse Buhari for high handedness when he initially came in to power in 1983 by sending the politicians to Kiri Kiri with long life sentences but not corruption. Looking back to the 1980's , I can say Buhari was even compassionate. During that time, in Ghana and Congo and several African countries where they were coups, people like Rawlings in Ghana executed the government officials by firing squad or hanging but Buhari just jailed them. Some Nigerians are now even clamoring for a revolution or the Rawlings style.

8.Buhari and Democracy: Since the time he joined partisan politics, Buhari has conducted himself in the most admirable manner to anyone who knows what African politics is. Whenever, he lost, he went to court to follow due process. He has been in court for more than 20 months in one occasion making his case. He refused to mobilize his follows to rise against the Government or become unruly. If you don’t know he has such a large following but even if you think he doesn’t look at what is happening in other African countries. Raila Odinga and Kenya, they almost went to civil war because of elections. Morgan Tseveingire and Zimbwebwe, the country is now in shambles.

9. Let me be categorically clear, I am not saying Buhari is Saint Buhari and has no faults. I have my own different opinions on him as well but given our circumstances and the practical reality we are facing the main options we have in 2011 are BUHARI, ATIKU, BABANGIDA, GOODLUCK, the rest of the candidates are not yet out and I have not seen someone with their political heavy weight, we may be left with only the option of electing Buhari if we want to move this country forward. In a real political fight, Jonathan may not survive the intrigues. I don’t have anything against him but I am waiting for him to prove himself on electricity. I am even helping him because I have given his government a plan on how to fix it in the next one year, I hope he can deliver on the electricity promise to prove to us that he can lead and solve our problems.

Finally, if you think my points are not correct or I am being dishonest, I think we have no other option than I challenge you to a debate on your write up perhaps with Sahara reporters and informed journalists and historians as panelists. You are in Tennessee, I am in Pennsylvania, so we can meet in the neutral middle state of Ohio in a city like Cincinnati for the debate. I can pay for your travel fare from Memphis if you want me to. After the debate on Buhari with facts and defending the trash you wrote, then we can put it in on Youtube and Sahara reporters that way Nigerian’s will be more enlightened. I am not intimidated by the bunch of acronyms and titles after your name. It is dangerous to be writing silly stories and misleading people, it is not helping the situation in Nigeria.

MK Hassan can be reached at mk.hassan@hotmail.com

Muhammed Kabir
A Rejoinder to “Buhari, Atiku, Go and Rest” written by Naiwu Osahun: a response from MK Hassan

Dear Naiwu Osahun,
I read your article with the above caption and was compelled to write a rejoinder because of the inaccuracies it conveyed. The article only succeeded in exposing your ignorance of what has been happening in Nigeria, not surprising to me because you have stayed too long in the West and have no clue or is it due to some deliberate intellectual mischief? It may be better if you start writing on Memphis Tennessee, the civil right movements and how Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis since you know that place very well to have been given the city’s key before you get enlightened on local politics back home in Nigeria and start writing. I am really disappointed with that article and other ones you have previously wrote. It is obvious that your article wanted to attack the personality of Buhari but it ended up with bunch of contradictions and lack of scholarship. I cannot defend both Atiku and Jonathan because they all have case files before EFCC. While Atiku has one with respect to PTDF, Mr. Jonathan’s wife has a case file involving 12 million dollars when he was Governor of Bayelsa and she was arrested by EFCC then. Jonathan became Vice President and now Acting President and the case has since died silently. However, on Buhari I need to put the records straight point by point, I hope my rejoinder will be given the same publicity as your initial write up.

1. Mitary Training: Buhari does not fit in to the profile you wrote. In case you don't know Buhari graduated as a military officer (lieutenant) in Aldeshot UK. He went to the US National War College Carlisle in Pennsylvania from 1980 -1981. That is where the most respected officers of the US army such as Collin Powell attended to become generals. He was at the Defense College of India as well. By all military standards, his training is superb and the best any general can get in the world. Buhari was not some idle sitting General on baboon tree as you stated in your write up when he was in the army. In 1982-1983 when Chad took over our land with more than 19 villages like what the Cameroonians did with the support of France in the case of Bakassi, he then Brigadier Buhari led a successful operation as the GOC to push back Chad and reclaim our territory. If it was Buhari, there is no way as President, he will hand over Bakassi to Cameroon, that is true patriotism. I am not Buhari's relative and I have never met him in my life. But I have taken the pain to know a lot about him by reading facts because I believe among all the possible candidates vying for the Presidency now that may end up ruling Nigeria, he is the best qualified. Someone challenged me on the comments section of Sahara Reporters that I must compare General David Petreaus (The General Commanding Central Command in the Middle East of the US Forces) and Buhari; that is a tall order. They did not serve in the same army but still you have to give it to Buhari. Buhari as Lieutenant after graduating from the UK royal army fought in the Congo in 1964-65 as part of the first mission forces to stabilize the country during it first civil war and won the Congo Medal. He is comparable to Petreaus of US in terms of war command and strategy training. Petreaus Attended the US War College, Pennsylvania to become a General, Buhari went to the same college from 1980-1981 to be General even though Petreaus did, Buhari is his senior even by the US army rankings. Buhari fought a dangerous battle in Congo as a Lieutenant and won the Congo medal, Petreaus did not. Buhari fought in the Biafra civil war as a captain; Petreaus has not fought in a civil war. Buhari commanded an army division to defend his country against Chad, Petreaus commanded an army division to destroy a country Iraq. Now anyone who wants to can compare them.

2. Buhari's family background: Buhari came from a poor family in Daura. He is not the typical northern prince that you may think of. He lost his father Mallam Dauda, when he was young and his uncle took care of him and sent him to school and after secondary school, he joined the army and went to train in the UK royal army. You should have found out about all that before you write your article. It is because of his kind of background and the suffering he went through that he has no sympathy for corruption and the northern traditional ruling families fear him. Quite unlike Atiku, IBB, Yar'adua, Abdussalam etc, he has no traditional title, he refused to accept one from any emir even though they want to give him one even today. The masses in the north have decided to give him one. They call him Baba Buhari Shugaban talakawan Nigeria (Meaning our father, Buhari the leader of the masses).

3. Buhari, the so called Jihadist: Buhari was the first person to fight religious extremism in Nigeria. Anyone can go and find out about a group called Maitatsine in the north that took up arms in 1984 in the name of Jihad in States like Kano, Maiduguri, Bauchi and Adamawa and what he did to them. You also need to read about his refusal to allow every tom manliness and harry to become a pastor or imam in Nigeria like what is happening today. That is why we have so many religious crisis in the country because illiterates are parading themselves as Mallams and Pastors and fomenting trouble in the land. In respect of Nuhu Ribadu, Nasiru El Rufai, two of the most recent distinguished northerners anyone likes to mention, I would like to let you know that they have learnt a lot from Buhari as well. Nuhu got the opportunity to fight his first battle of corruption when he was doing his NYSC in 1984 when Buhari was investigating the 1984 thieves, Nuhu served in the Ministry of Trade where the import license scams took place and it is there, he told us on one occasion while delivering a lecture, that he got the inspiration to fight corruption and decided to join the police after his NYSC. In the case of El-Rufai, he also worked as consultant for PTF when Buhari was its chairman. Not surprising that they are hard working and distinguished. However, just before the 2003 elections, mischief makers like Atiku went to the south to misinformed people that he is a jihadist and support Sharia. If that is the case distinguished southerners both Christians and Muslims alike will not have supported him and I am talking of people like late Gani Fawehimi, who invited him to his house and raised Buhari’s hand before the media for all of us to see. People like Olu Falae, Tam David West and the like who still say a lot of good things about him and are supporting him. The truth must be told this time.

4. IBB's Coup against Buhari: Buhari refused to accept IMF loans and refused to devalue the naira then and I am glad you acknowledge that in your article and because of that he had to go because the west didn't like him so they used IBB to bring SAP that scuttle our econo y and put us in 18 billion dollars debt even though we sell oil. Meanwhile, he has retired General Ali Gusau in 1984 because of disagreements regarding work and defense contracts as reported along with Babangida, the duo planned the coup and when they succeeded, Babangida recalled Ali Gusau back to the army and made him his chief of Defense Intelligence. By the way, I would like you to know that Buhari sent Gusau on training to UK and US in intelligence and security while he was head of state. He made IBB his chief of army state but IBB is nothing short of a traitor to Buhari just the same way Dimka and Bisalla were traitors to Murtala in the 1976 coup.

5. Buhari planned a coup because of missing oil billions: He planned a coup against people like Umaru Dikko the then transport minister who were giving themselves import licenses for rice and skimming Nigerians and the like of Dr Tahir, the communication minister, who were importing horses and their food from Argentina. I met late Dr. Tahir who became Buhari's supporter in 2003, when I visited him in 2002 he told us that what Buhari did then was right, because they have lost their direction as a government. Dr. Tahir was a man of high intellectual capacity with a Phd in sociology from Cambridge, he spoke the truth. What Buhari did as a petroleum minister was the successful supervision and construction of three of the nation refineries, over 4000km of pipelines and 28 depots that we have failed to maintain today and so we import oil. How much has been stolen in just the turnaround maintenance of the refineries between Obasanjo and Abdussalam and still the refineries are not working? Over 4 billion dollars from 1999 to date. Infact before Obasanjo left, he auctioned one of refineries to Dangote at about 250 million dollars, something worth more than 3 billion dollars, Yar’adua reversed that sale.

6.Buhari and PTF: It is obvious you have not been home for long and so you are writing on what you don't know. On PTF, Buhari rehabilitated universities in Nigeria, provided textbooks for libraries and I am a witnessed, I used them for my final year project with PTF written on them. He supplied buses to the universities that time universities have no means of transportation. He built lecture theaters that I have studied in. We were happy to drive in the PTF buses and go for excursions to Kainji and Ajaokuta. What happened in PTF was after Obj won election even before he was sworn in and seeing the PTF records, he said he is going to ban PTF because it has no constitutional backing in a democracy. Because constitutionally all revenues must go to federation account and allocated by RMFAC. So when he was sworn in, he appointed a sole administrator, Dr. Haruna Adamu to investigate PTF hoping he will find something against Buhari. But it ended with Haruna going to jail for stealing $100 million dollars and it is in the records and newspapers in case you don’t know.

7.Missing PTF Money: . Let me tell you if that money you are talking about was missing in PTF, in both 2003 and 2007 elections, PDP and OBJ will have used that against Buhari just like he did to Atiku and PTDF and how he intimidated IBB on Glo by arresting his son, but OBJ cannot because he knows the man is so clean and that is who we need today in Nigeria. You can accuse Buhari for high handedness when he initially came in to power in 1983 by sending the politicians to Kiri Kiri with long life sentences but not corruption. Looking back to the 1980's , I can say Buhari was even compassionate. During that time, in Ghana and Congo and several African countries where they were coups, people like Rawlings in Ghana executed the government officials by firing squad or hanging but Buhari just jailed them. Some Nigerians are now even clamoring for a revolution or the Rawlings style.

8.Buhari and Democracy: Since the time he joined partisan politics, Buhari has conducted himself in the most admirable manner to anyone who knows what African politics is. Whenever, he lost, he went to court to follow due process. He has been in court for more than 20 months in one occasion making his case. He refused to mobilize his follows to rise against the Government or become unruly. If you don’t know he has such a large following but even if you think he doesn’t look at what is happening in other African countries. Raila Odinga and Kenya, they almost went to civil war because of elections. Morgan Tseveingire and Zimbwebwe, the country is now in shambles.

9. Let me be categorically clear, I am not saying Buhari is Saint Buhari and has no faults. I have my own different opinions on him as well but given our circumstances and the practical reality we are facing the main options we have in 2011 are BUHARI, ATIKU, BABANGIDA, GOODLUCK, the rest of the candidates are not yet out and I have not seen someone with their political heavy weight, we may be left with only the option of electing Buhari if we want to move this country forward. In a real political fight, Jonathan may not survive the intrigues. I don’t have anything against him but I am waiting for him to prove himself on electricity. I am even helping him because I have given his government a plan on how to fix it in the next one year, I hope he can deliver on the electricity promise to prove to us that he can lead and solve our problems.

Finally, if you think my points are not correct or I am being dishonest, I think we have no other option than I challenge you to a debate on your write up perhaps with Sahara reporters and informed journalists and historians as panelists. You are in Tennessee, I am in Pennsylvania, so we can meet in the neutral middle state of Ohio in a city like Cincinnati for the debate. I can pay for your travel fare from Memphis if you want me to. After the debate on Buhari with facts and defending the trash you wrote, then we can put it in on Youtube and Sahara reporters that way Nigerian’s will be more enlightened. I am not intimidated by the bunch of acronyms and titles after your name. It is dangerous to be writing silly stories and misleading people, it is not helping the situation in Nigeria.

MK Hassan can be reached at mk.hassan@hotmail.com