Northern Nigeria And Her Invalids, When Shall Nigerians Have Respite (2) By Kelechi Abonuyo

‘‘A person seriously injured and fractured from a road traffic accident when brought to the emergency room, the first priority of the doctors is to secure an intravenous line. Meaning, get a drip set working into his veins to protect his vital organs like the heart and kidneys from the effects of shock and loss of blood. The fractures even though serious and the source of the blood loss may take days and weeks before they are even attended to besides the superficial dressings. Nigeria now needs peace and stability first. Then we talk of good governance later, even though it’s the source of the predicament we are facing.’’………….Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.

Standing tall and lanky in October, 2016, beside Angela Merkel – a world renowned woman leader in Germany, in this 21^st century, President Muhammadu Buhari quipped. He says, ‘‘I don’t know which party my wife belongs to but er…er, she belongs to my kitchen and my living room, and the other room……’’. He said this when he was responding to a media chat on his political trajectory.

If Mr President’s comment was made privately in a Roman Catholic seminary – an exclusive men-only world, it would have been taken as one of those quips. Instead, Mr President was talking to the comprehensive world, where women had accomplished (and are still accomplishing) lofty goals. Mrs Aisha Buhari represented the women. Her husband squandered the opportunity to endear himself with positive message to the women, especially Nigerian women.

Politics world over is played within the same rules. There is always some sort of gratifications and patronage to political party strongholds and individual donors. The party does this. It must also show inclusiveness and equity. Those are the truths of politics, which we don’t say openly.

In July, 2015, in Washington DC, USA, President Buhari (PMB) quipped again when he was responding to a media question asked by a woman, on politics of inclusiveness and equity. He said to his audience and the wider world, ‘‘I hope you have a copy of the election results……….. .’’ Buhari was unambiguous in his government’s resolve to redistribute commonwealth on the basis of electoral votes received. The constituencies such as the Niger Delta and the Eastern parts of the country, who are mainly in the opposition, gave him 5% of the total votes.

According to him, ‘‘in all fairness, those who gave 97% should be appreciated’’, although the president’s maths was wrong as 97% and 5% is more than the basis of percentage (100%), unless he meant 95% or 3% respectively.

Today, there has never been a time with high ethnic tensions in Nigeria as we have it now. Consequently, many regions, and rightly so, are calling for restructuring or secession. Strife and frustrations nowadays are neck-to-neck with socio-political circumstances of 1984/85. During that time, Gen Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), the then Chief of Army staff, actually used the soldiers to create strife and hardship in order to give Gen Buhari a bad reputation. IBB was laying the groundwork for possible takeover of government. At that time, Gen. Buhari didn’t see beyond his nose as he trusted his lieutenants and the mission.

Today the cabals are at it again, laying their groundwork. In the president’s absence, they put a clog to the wheels of the good governance. They want to frustrate Vice-President Osibanjo – a loyal and dedicated deputy to the president. In the president’s absence, they effected and exonerated Senator Bukola Saraki, whom was reported corrupt and under charge.

These obviously show that the president is no longer in charge, if at all he is conscious from wherever he may be.

This is perhaps the reason Sheikh Ahmad Gumi said to him, ‘‘a Believer is not stung from the same hole twice. Men used your innocence before to get power and dump you. Please be sensible today. Some other men still want to use you to get power and surely they will dump you again. You don’t share the same philosophy at all.’’

One good way that the president can be sensible today is to resign his presidency on health grounds, so [that] his more conscious deputy can take charge. It does not matter whether or not the Jackals and Hyenas are expelled from ‘‘the Kingdom’’ at the return of the ‘‘Lion-King.’’

Obviously, as we can now realise, the president’s obsession and philosophy of fighting corruption is not the priority of Nigeria today. Today, what Nigeria needs most is peace and stability. Tomorrow, we can talk of fighting corruption really.

Every nation of the earth, including those whose stock-in-trade is criticism for Nigeria, has fair share of corrupt practices. Nations have different pseudonyms for it.

Before our eyes, Nigerians saw how the National Assembly frustrated some of the president’s moves to change some of the ways we do business. This prompted Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who ran the strongest presidency in Nigeria’s history, to advise PMB to spend money in order beat the National Assembly into shape. He told PMB to spend money to effect the necessary changes, so Nigerians can have respite. In spite of the advice, PMB seems fixated in his hard line posture.

In part one of this series, we said that the president’s weakness is his inability to control men under his charge. Today, we need to add to it. His weakness is also his strict and obsessive rejection of corruption. When you view the president in a plane mirror, you see austerity measures. As an ardent Muslim, PMB ought to know better what Islam says about the use of public money. In spite of the fact that his Islam is a pragmatic religion, it still allows the use of Zakat and public wealth as an instrument to pacify and lure influential people for some reasons of investments, peace and stability.

In politics today, this means lobbying or security vote. So obviously men are controlled by money, which was the basis of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s genuine advice. No doubt, if the present government’s policy is strictly centred on plugging all holes, in the president’s own campaign words, then the president will have problem with men, including his kitchen cabinet and some foreign investors. Nigerians will suffer!

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi’s advice, ‘‘a Believer is not stung from the same hole twice’’ even rings louder today.

At various sessions of interviews granted, Gen Babangida blamed Gen Buhari on insensitivity of the complexity of Nigeria. In the morning of January, 01, 1984, Gen Buhari was comfortable with a Muslim deputy, Gen Idiagbon, not minding the plurality and sectarian nature of Nigeria. Today, it is not news when we say federal government appointments are lopsidedly a northern affair – from the military and paramilitary recruitments, clerks to the presidency.

To address the economic issues of 1984/85, his regime introduced austerity measures – which included restrictions on imports and foreign exchange. The measure was not entirely effective as it benefited few northerners. The rest of Nigerians starved as a result of high inflation and closure of import-dependent (mainly Igbo and Yoruba) businesses. For instance, a few northerners and Aliyu Mohammed’s import licenses – which were later seized – made them richer.

Meanwhile many workers were retrenched in public and private sectors. Today, in irony of sort, the foreign exchange restrictions favour Muslim pilgrims more than business men and women. It’s thought that preference should have been given more to businesses and investments, which create employment, than pilgrimage, which is a personal affairs. PMB, together with most members of his government, is a Muslim and northerner. Don’t forget!

In any case, patriotism and good intentions are not enough. There must be a permanent interest which ‘‘poisons’’ the president’s ‘‘chalice’’ inside Aso Rock. A permanent sabotage.

In every rule, there must be exceptions, which we conveniently call the ‘‘sacred cows’’. Such is the life, if a politician must succeed in public office.

So let’s get back to the Arabian poet, who said, “a fool cannot be the leader of his people but the true leader of the people must feign foolishness.”

On August 26/27, 1985, Gen Babangida concocted a cabal of Gen Buhari’s kinsmen and joined them to some field grade officers of Regular 3 Officer’s Course to depose him. None of those kinsmen cocked a gun in Gen Buhari’s defence.

According to Maj Gen M C Alli, this happened when ‘‘tensions between the Army – represented by Generals Babangida and Abacha – and the Buhari’s regime – represented by Generals Buhari and Idiagbon – came to a head.’’ The Ministry of Defence contracts and accounts were placed under scrutiny.

It is impossible to control men without money. ‘‘Everyone has got a price,’’ IBB once said.

In an interview Gen Buhari granted to one Anthony Goldman, in March 20, 2002, he confirmed that Gen Aliyu Mohammed was corruptly enriching himself with import licence and was passing contracts worth over $1.4 at that time. Gen Buhari therefore decided to plug every hole.

Gen Babangida used the soldiers to seize the passport of Sheikh Mahmud Gumi – a well-known mullah in the north, stopped his salary and had his house searched, among other pre-meditated high-handedness in the society, in order to destroy public image of Gen Buhari. All these happened under Gen Buhari’s nose.

In that interview with Anthony Goldman, Gen Buhari reaffirmed that there could be no sacred cows or extenuating circumstances under his watch.

As soon as Buhari tried to plug those holes really, Nigerians heard the voice of the then Colonel Joshua Nimyel Dogonyaro over the airwaves, with martial music. Gen Buhari had been deposed in a palace coup!

According to Dr Nowa Omoigui, ‘‘at 0600 hours on Tuesday August 27, 1985, snoozy from the laid back atmosphere of a Muslim public holiday, unsuspecting Nigerians woke up to familiar cycles of martial music interspersed with a radio announcement made in an unfamiliar voice.’’

Gen Dogonyaro told Nigerians, among other things, that some people in the Supreme Military Council had abused their power and failed to listen to the advice of their colleagues or the public, about tackling the country’s economic problems. This was followed by a more familiar voice of Gen Sani Abacha, an hour later, to announce the appointment of Gen Babangida as the new dictator.

Unbeknownst to Gen Buhari, Aliyu Mohammed’s import license and other business activities were used to raise funds for the December 31, 1983 coup, of which Buhari, although unaware of the said transactions, was the major beneficiary.

In 2015, the enormous campaign funds which helped to propel the All Progressives Congress party to victory were not entirely genuine. President Buhari cannot feign ignorance of it because he practically snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. If the funds are not entirely genuine, then there must be sacred cows.

PMB should be suspicious of his political/personal advisers, who shield him from reality. Those advisers who still urge him on to perpetuate on the presidency.

Unless PMB understands this, he will end up upsetting some interest groups, on top of instability and strife, the same way he upset the innermost cabal of officers and consequently played into the hands of his Army Chief, who had long laid the groundwork for August 26/27, 1985, confrontation.

‘‘Your Excellency, good intentions are never enough. In the past, because of your clean records and straightforwardness, you were lured by men who want only the vanities Dunyah to uproot a young democracy on the caprices of fighting corruption. Corruption is no doubt an evil but there is a more monstrous evil than corruption. That is turmoil and insecurity. Peace and stability are the most important part of governance that no price is too high for them’’……Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.

Contact the writer: kabonuyo@yahoo.com