₦airaland Forum

Plshavmercyamen:
The PDP publicity Secretary in Ondo State have suceeded in accentuating the alarm raised by the APC. But, he should know that the majority of Ondo indigenes and residents who are for and with the General wil not fold their hands and watch a disgruntled paid minority stone the People's General. It's indeed a risk not worth taking and PDP should be held responsible if anything untowards happens in Ondo State on Saturday.

mrsuccessful:
KADUNA, Nigeria — Boisterous crowds packed the streets for the retired general, while young men climbed lampposts, walls and billboards to glimpse his gaunt face. Others danced on careening motorcycles, brandishing homemade brooms, symbols of his campaign.

With Nigeria’s presidential election only weeks away, Boko Haram’s unchecked rampaging here in the country’s north is helping to propel the 72-year-old general, Muhammadu Buhari, to the forefront.

After ruling Nigeria with an iron hand 30 years ago as the country’s military leader, Mr. Buhari is now a serious threat at the ballot box, analysts say, in large part because of Boko Haram’s blood-soaked successes.

“The state is collapsing and everybody is frightened,” Jibrin Ibrahim, a political scientist with the Center for Democracy and Development in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, said of Boko Haram.

“They are able to capture more and more territory, but also increase the level of atrocity,” he added. “A lot of people are frightened that these people can take over the whole country. So a lot of people are saying, ‘Give Buhari a chance.’ ”

A Buhari win would be a rare upset for the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, in a country where petrodollars have long flowed and the presidency has great latitude to distribute them.

But oil prices have crashed; attacks on schools, markets and entire villages continue unabated; and Nigeria’s army has been thoroughly incapable of stopping Boko Haram, which now controls substantial portions of the northeast and regularly sends the country’s soldiers fleeing.

“We have to solve it; it’s the first problem of the country,” Mr. Buhari said tersely about the battle with Boko Haram during a long day of campaigning this week.

“This should have been an easy one,” added the former general, who is believed to have been a target of bombings in this city over the summer in which dozens were killed. “But it has been allowed to develop over five years.”

There is much at stake in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, even as it falters — the currency has dropped sharply, questions are swirling about the ability to pay civil servants and the country’s oil-money reserves have withered. The campaign has become a vociferous, at times violent, joust between Buhari partisans in the mostly Muslim north and supporters of Mr. Jonathan in the largely Christian south.

Mr. Buhari’s tenure as Nigeria’s military ruler was brief: a 20-month stint in the 1980s, ended by another military coup. Yet it is remembered with trepidation by many Nigerians. His self-proclaimed “war against indiscipline” was carried to “sadistic levels, glorying in the humiliation of a people,” wrote the Nobel laureate and writer Wole Soyinka.

The current president and his party, which has held power since military rule ended more than 15 years ago, have made this past a central part of Mr. Jonathan’s re-election strategy, hoping to fan old fears about the general.

Full-page newspaper ads suggest that Mr. Buhari is eager to introduce Shariah law all over the country, beyond the northern states where it already exists (in the campaign, Mr. Buhari has not said that).

Other ads remind readers of the retired general’s coup-prone past. (Historians say that even before Mr. Buhari came to power in a military coup at the end of 1983, he played an active role in the coups that marked Nigeria’s early years.)

But Mr. Buhari’s supporters are far more interested in the instability shaking the north, urging a total overhaul of the lackluster fight against the Islamists. Many of them turned out in this northern metropolis this week for a glimpse of the general, who has traded his medal-bedecked uniform for traditional robes and thick-framed spectacles.

Hadiza Bala Usman, the main campaigner for the return of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram last spring, was waiting for the general at the airport here. She helped start the group that pressed the government on the fate of the girls, demonstrating for weeks in a public square in Abuja. Nine months after their abduction, the girls remain missing.

“The resources meant for the military don’t go to the military; the bullets and boots don’t go to the soldiers,” Ms. Usman said. “And what is happening to security, you see it in all the sectors.”

“The support we’re giving” to Mr. Buhari “is for ending the insurgency,” she added. “And so no more children are abducted.”

A retired general in the crowd of supporters, Alhassan Usman, who is not related to Ms. Usman, agreed, expressing anger that Boko Haram had gained the upper hand over Nigeria’s soldiers.

“The issue is lack of discipline; the commander has eaten his money,” he said, arguing that officers take money meant for soldiers, who then see little reason to obey orders.

Mr. Buhari stood as ramrod straight as he had in the days when he rose in a coup against Nigeria’s fledgling, but corrupt, democracy. After taking power, he soon instituted what he called his attempt to straighten out a chaotic nation — making tardy civil servants, even older ones, perform frog jumps, for instance, and jailing journalists for critical articles.

That tarnished past has been, if not forgotten, at least pushed aside by many in the tumultuous jumble of Nigerian history. Mr. Buhari is expected to do particularly well in the Muslim north, his home turf, on Election Day, as he did in an unsuccessful run four years ago.

Still, his campaign faces stiff obstacles. Tens of thousands of people in northern Nigeria have been displaced by relentless violence, and many of them will be unable to vote in the Feb. 14 election.

This week, the streets of Kaduna were packed three-deep with people, many waiting since early morning or trekking miles from nearby villages to see him. Partisans yelled as they climbed on the general’s vehicles, frenetically brushing windshields with the symbolic brooms.

Mr. Buhari spoke only briefly to the packed stands in a downtown stadium, vaguely promising greater security, prosperity and better education. But the words appeared not to be the point. It was his presence, and an implicit promise of austerity and military action, that the crowd seemed to want, after years of scandalous stories in the Nigerian news media about missing oil funds and high living by officials in Mr. Jonathan’s administration.

“The enthusiasm for Buhari is almost like a religion,” said Nasir el-Rufai, a former government minister running for governor of Kaduna State.

“Look at all these people,” he said, pointing at the crowds pressing up against his own car before the general arrived. “They are all waiting just to see Buhari.”

As military ruler, Mr. Buhari expelled tens of thousands of immigrants from other West African countries, blaming them for the country’s problems. His government also carried out a bizarre kidnapping plot targeting a former minister who had fled to London. It involved Israeli secret agents, giant packing crates and anesthetic drugs.

In an interview, Mr. Buhari said that the times had changed and that he had changed with them.

“I operated as a military head of state,” he said. “Now I want to operate as a partisan politician in a multiparty setup. It’s a fundamental difference. Whatever law is on the ground, I will make sure it is respected.”

Yet it is Mr. Buhari’s long military career, not the respect for civil liberties he has proclaimed later in life, that will ultimately swing voters wary of his past, analysts say.

“You’ve got the Boko Haram in the northeast, where they bomb churches and marketplaces, and slaughter children,” he said.

But he also noted the security problems in the nation’s south, where militants at oil fields have created havoc for years. “No highway in the country is absolutely safe,” Mr. Buhari said.

Though supporters insist he will knock out the Islamists “in a month,” the retired general is far more cautious. He spoke of a methodical approach, declining to say whether he would fire the country’s top military chiefs.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/world/africa/muhammadu-buhari-nigeria-election.html

cheruv:
lBy Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

“I remember in 1985 in Africa Hall that he
was for confirmation of Dr Peter Onu of
Nigeria, who was acting Secretary General
but Nigeria’s Head of State Gen
Muhammadu Buhary was adamant in his
support of Niger’s candidate, Idi Omaro, a
Fulani Muslim. In a meeting, a handful of
Presidents led by Nyerere met with Gen
Buhary and Nwalimu begged him: ‘Please
give us Peter!’ Buhary refused and forgot
even to be courteous to his old peers. What
was astonishing, when the vote was in
favour of Niger’s candidate, the Nigerian
Head rejoiced to such a degree that he was
unable to control his emotions. That was a
moment I witnessed and was convinced
that General Buhary would not last long as a
leader.” –--- The OAU: Reality Or Fiction by
Ibrahim Daggash, former Head of
Information and Communication,
Organization of African Unity (OAU); pg 69;
ISBN 1-9044722-25-3

It is unheard-of in
history that a self-respecting leader of a
country would vote against his country’s
candidate in international diplomacy. But
here, you have it in black and white, in a
book, that former Head of State General
Muhammadu Buhari would rather have a
Fulani Muslim candidate from Niger instead
of Nigeria’s own esteemed Dr. Peter Onu.
Not even the highly revered then President
of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere could make
Buhari to change his mind.

This kind of
bizarre shamelessness is why Nigeria is the
laughing stock of the civilized world. It is
unthinkable that any leader, anywhere
would insult his own country by backing an
opponent from another country.

READ FULL > > >

www.scannewsnigeria.com/politics/buhari-the-only-leader-ever-who-voted-against-his-nation/



lekwa akuko m fotara maka buhari na udi asi o kporo umu Igbo.ihere megbuo rochas na ndi otu ya

Abagworo:
Lies! Lets face issues please. No Hausa man seized any Igbo properties. Ma na ibia na ali iguocha ta ndi be Jonathan nochiri ulo ndi nnana ayi ruru na iguocha. Ha turu asi na obu ndi ihuruoha ma na o bu ndi Bayelsa meru ihe ojoo nkea. Onye agbata obi gi napuru gi ihe gi ka onye ugwu njo. Even in the 10 commandments "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour.

naijadeyhia:
Na wa o Ikenna27 so you registered in 2009 and since then you have only made 13 posts. Indeed there is a big vacuum where your brain used to be. 13 posts in 6years? Haaaaaa unbelievable. Are you still using dial-up when others are now on 4g. Chai chai chai diaris God o. Abi you dey send your posts to Nairaland via Nipost?

joeyekembele:
Buhari was asked to present a certificate but not a fake statement of result printed in the the school letter head paper. Certificates are issued from examination board directly. This is a clear case of result falsification and forgery. It's certificate we wanna see but not falsified statement of result issued by one mallam called principal. His certificate must also show his passport sized photograph taken when he was in school and not one taken as an old and expired gag.

Adminisher:
Who told you that anybody is saying that the picture was his picture when he was in secondary school. Does your WASC result and testimonial have your picture?. The picture was added by the school only recently but I think the certificate is genuine.

filiks:
Did you even take a look at that trash? And to observe 700 and something people liked your comment goes a long way to show how blind majority of our people are. Damn!

Caseless:
go to court.

patrickmuf:
Popping champagne for this great news...
Haters, whatcha say?

Alphaoscar:
FFK is a huge disgrace to Yorubaland.

babadem2much:
This guys are scared of what will befall them if GMB emerges the president, i swear jail the wait them with dia lies as what is written is written

Raiders:
did the VP Sambo produce his certificate to INEC? Buhari and the VP both claimed their certificate was lost in a fire and both have sworn affidavits.

kennyamusan:
Now don't u see it amusing,same Military said they have the certificate,same military said they only have recommendation,I think the military should be the one we should be pressurizing to publish the certificate if truely it is with them. Now look @ it dis way,if truely he has none,y is GEJ not contending that in the court of law 2. INEC has the sole power to disqualify any certificate incase of forgery,y is it delaying 3. The US Military have all come out to say they know about it,so y d stress of all PDP Members 4. PDP have all written to appropriate quaters but discovered that what it is being said by Buhari is false 5.Why now,he did it for two times,y should GEJ watch him get away with it twice ? It was so glaring that he would win but this time,he never envisage this kind of opposition,so he was taken aback. 5.I would really love to see a healthy debate between both of them and not this 'I would build prison/school,he doesn't have certificate,he doesn't have phD,he doesn't know how to use a computer,he is a muslim/christian etc,we should have moved beyond that because what the common man is interested in is FOOD for the stomach.

asha80:
pls and pls do not fall for that if a gov spreads his development it would seems as if he is doing nothing...that is what ochendo and his likes has conditioned your mind to accept..do you travel outside abia for gods sake?In my state the only problem I have with rochas is the quality of some of his projects but to say he focused on only a part of the state?that's unthinkable for anyone to say so..what of the former gov of anambra that spread his development even more to the rural areas making those places to have equal development with others?why is one a gov of a state?is it not to develop the STATE?....if one wants to develop a particular lg why not become the lga chairman? What if a gov comes after someone focuses on aba fir eight yrs and decides to focus on abia north no matter any challenge aba or umuahia zones encounters?is that not after 16 yrs of neglect of umuahia zone?.is that what you want?...haba it does not lead to any progress unless u see a step forward and two step backwards as progress and make no mistake there is money to tackle all sectors and zones if you have a focused leadership and not one would do little job in his zone and pocket the rest of the money

asha80:
I am from Imo...that style will cause an uproar in my state..however I have observed that abia runs highly caustic and clannish politics..I don't see how abia will progress with that style of politics

asha80:
@Remarkable so a person becomes a governor with the sole aim of developing only his zone abi?what a brainwashed thinking

Mosesm:
I was watching Rivers state APC Guber campaign live of Channel TV mesmerised by the slogan MR PRESIDENT MY PRESIDENT BUHARI BUHARI MY GOVERNOR MY GOVERNOR DAKUKU DAKUKU. I just saw this headline and felt duty bound to shut this morons up once and for all. Being a highly formally educated person myself with a doctorate in engineering, and masters in law, public and project management and Business adminstration, and now a dutiful student of native intelligence, I think I am very qualify to make this submission. Get the fact right, these cabals will never go down tamely not with the rogue Mossad operatives involvement. PDP is gone for good no doubt.

I want to refer the readers to the story of probably the MOST POPULAR LEADER of his time described by President Obama as the MOST POPULAR PRESIDENT, popular and competent.

The man is LUIZ Inácio Lula da SILVA. He was a common SHOE SHINER that become president of Brazi[/b]l. I was chanced to be on this man team that visited South Africa where he advised that a President that will not perform better has no business seeking second term, refering to Jacob Zuma of South Africa bid then.

It will be quiet interesting to read about Lula, a man that change the fortune of Brazil for good. [b]Lula first ran for governor of the state of São Paulo in 1982 and LOST. He contested TWICE and FAILED for the presidency [/b]until 2002, when he decisively defeated José Serra for the presidency.

Lula had essentially [b]LITTLE formal education. He quit school in PRIMARY 2!!!! Even then, only a buffon will compare the competencies and charisma of leaders like Tafawa Balewa, Aminu Kano with Jonathan a PhD. Buhari HAS FAR ABOVE A SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EDUCATION. Some on legality point, he is eminently qualified having met the requirement.

SO GUYS LETS GET BACK TO ISSUE WHO IS BETTER FOR NIGERIA NOW.

PointB:
Why the recommendation?

Was he struggling academically, and the principal decided to offload him? Why not wait until he passes his final WASC? Why the hurry to push Buhari to the military then?

Something is not adding up!

theV0ice:
Section 131(d) on educational qualification says

He has been educated up to at least school certificate level or its equivalent.

The army says

It said at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday that it had a letter from the Principal of Buhari’s secondary school, dated 1961, recommending him for enlistment into the military school.

There is a lacunae in this law and that is that the constitution doesn't expressly demand a certificate

The constitution didn't ask for a certificate. It only requires that a candidate has secondary school education which a certificate might help to prove but a recommendation from the principal of the school in 1961 will also prove the same thing which is that the student attended the secondary school and received education that qualifies him for a school certificate even if he didn't write the final exam.

Note:a certificate having F9 or A1 throughout will prove the same thing which is:the student had school cert level education.

That is what the constitution stipulated. A secondary school education and a letter of recommendation from a school principal proves it.

This is my own take on it and I trust I'm entitled to my own opinion. If you disagree, lay out your own points.

Firefire:
WE NEED ONLY his O'LEVEL, a photocopy ONLY!

PassingShot:
The Nigerian Army is compromised and in a grand conspiracy against the General. Earlier, they acknowledged that they were in possession of copies of his certificates and other credentials but are now saying it's only the 1961 recommendation letter they have. Even if that's the case, it meant Buhari was duly recommended as was the practice and he enrolled and passed through the Military school So what is the fuss?

And we already know that Punch is the propaganda arm of PDP.

I have seen you apply your intelligence better than this.

The main bone of contention is his WASSCE certificate.... does the military have that?

what the military have, which somehow he is trying to wash over our eyes, is his military records, so all the exams and activities he undertook as a soldier... will be in their possession, of course.

But his WASSCE? secondary school certificate? they have searched and come out with this response...

it is simple, probably a rhetorical question, but:
does a letter of recommendation the same as a certificate? or prove that the SSCE was sat for, taken and passed?At the end of the day, they shall all be shamed.

onyfrank:
but without bias, btwn Otti and Ikpeazu who has the best record?

egift:
Before you fall victim to PDP deceit. Here are the facts.

1. Buhari is duly qualified to be President of Nigeria (see his CV below)

2. The Original Copies of his credential were looted when his home was vandalized after the coming of IBB and Buhari's arrest.

3. Buhari in his education and training in Nigeria, India, United Kingdom and the United States has qualification equivalent to Masters Degree.

4. Buhari in the election and other subsequent outings has submitted a sworn affidavit which fully backed by law.

5. Buhari have not contravened any electoral law or the constitution in all he has done.

The law says if you don't think Buhari have sufficient credentials, go to court. Jonathan is the C-in-C he knows the truth. PDP are only barraging Nigerians with this issue to see if they can distract you and smuggle their 6yrs failure of Jonathan's administration.

Buhari is, and more than qualified. Don't fall victim of PDP's campaign of madness.

This Valentine, it is all about Nigeria - Sai Buhari.

lookmangiw:
Enough of all this. You don't have his credentials but you recruited him and he rose to the rank of a general before becoming the head of state.

ICHINONYE:
Who told u Ikpeazu is our choice, when haz a faailure become our choice, if u don't kno wat to say here plee fvck off abeg

Trailblazer1:
Don't worry yourself, Tinubu is Working on it.
It will soon be ready for use.

Garrithe1st:
All hands must be on deck to rescue Nigeria from the precipice. Ibb you're welcome to the ship of change, it's not too late to repent and make amends


Anyway, we'll be watching you in 4d.

customized13:
yes that is the liberation spirit, say no PDP in abia.

thegoodone2:
If not Boko Haram, GEJ is the best president. Religion apart.