It gives me great joy and satisfaction that many Nigerians are increasingly becoming politically conscious. Current trends in the Nigerian polity especially as it relates to the expression of interests and opinions and the ferocity of same gives me hope that Nigerian leaders may not have it easy emasculating the will and expectations of ordinary Nigerians.
The race for the Presidency of Nigeria in this year 2015 is not one that can easily be predicted given the incumbency of President Goodluck Jonathan, the seeming popularity of General Mohammadu Buhari and the perhaps unprecedented level of interest by all Nigerians.
It would be putting it mildly to say that majority of Nigerians are unimpressed and disappointed at the leadership of President Jonathan. I am too. Nigeria is indeed experiencing perilous and turbulent times to such an extent that for many APC sympathizers, even though they see the party as a choice between a rock and a hard place, whatever change is available is acceptable. This is a dangerous gamble that calls for extreme circumspection. No matter how discouraged we feel about President Jonathan’s inability to solve the myriad of problems that plague Nigeria especially the terror of Boko Haram, Nigerians must be alert to resist this mindset caused by the traumatic experiences we have been compelled to cope with to such an extent that our memories and judgments are impaired to think that a Buhari-led presidency surrounded by some “hawks” whose records of service in the past are not in any way inspiring, would be a better alternative to usher in the much touted change.
After fifteen years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria, I am ashamed to call our democratic practice nascent. While the Nigerian brand of democratic practice may not be the hallmark of democracy as it is practiced in the West, we are definitely on the path to strengthening our democratic culture. The ghosts of military rule still lurk in the shadows. The delinquency of our politicians does not help matters. The only ray of hope is the increasing political consciousness, awareness and participation of ordinary Nigerians.
Buhari’s antecedents and persona represent everything that is antithetical to democratic practice, not just at this time, but to the very foundation of our democracy. Firstly, Buhari represents the military institution which cannot be exonerated from the mess that Nigeria is today by virtue of its dominance of political power. Secondly, Nigeria does not need another President with antecedents of suppressing the opinions and civil participation of Nigerians, and the Press. In a democracy, citizens are persuaded by sound reasoning expressed in valid arguments and regulated by the rule of law and not by the brow-beating that was the hallmark of the Buhari/Idiagbon regime. Thirdly, Nigeria deserves an intelligent, articulate and mentally alert President with the capacity to understand and analyze issues critically; one with clarity of mind to know where his certificates are and not one that “assumes” that they were with military authorities. I have watched his campaign rallies and I am not convinced that the change we need is someone who throws about catch phrases without any lucid explanation of supposed solutions to our problems.
Is it not an insult to our collective intelligence that the APC candidate has shunned a political debate that would have afforded Nigerians the opportunity to assess their candidates to determine their suitability for the offices they seek on the spurious excuse that the organizers would be biased against their presidential candidate? If Buhari enjoys such widespread popularity as the party makes it seem, why not allow Nigerians to be the judge? If it turns out that the organizers were indeed obviously biased, would it not have been to his advantage as the situation would have won him more sympathy? Or are some people trying to shield Buhari from facing Nigerians because they are afraid he would fumble thereby exposing his alleged intellectual hollowness and physical frailty?
Will Nigerians be hoodwinked in the name of change to hand power over to those strongly suspected of complicity in the insurgency that threatens the very existence of our nation? The death of Nigerians in their thousands from the terror of Boko Haram tugs at our national conscience. The psyche of the average Nigerian is so traumatized from these experiences that we want to administer a pre-conceived and pre-manufactured antidote as medication to an ailment which root cause probably originates from the same agent. Can we entrust our secular state and democracy to a Buhari who has openly advocated for the implementation of Sharia law all over Nigeria; someone so consumed by religious bigotry that he ordered his Muslim brothers and sisters not to vote for Christians?
Most people may think this is a Christian versus Muslim affair; but traditional religionists, humanists, atheists, pagans, etc will not be spared either. The separation of religion from the State is one that would definitely be critical to Nigeria remaining as one national entity.
The leadership of the APC as presently constituted, comes across as a special interest group that if allowed to control power at the centre, will metamorphose into a rebranded, smaller but even more powerful cabal that will raise the present level of corruption that we all scream about to an unprecedented new height. I shudder to imagine the main driver of a Buhari-for-president and others that we know who have so far been lucky to escape answering for their crimes, gaining access to power at the centre! If the argument is that Buhari is “Mr Integrity”, which is the only credential he flaunts but which I very much doubt given what we now know about his running of PTF, and his yet unresolved certificate issue, how effective would be just one Saint among a multitude of sinners?
While the foundation of our democracy is still faulty and terribly wobbling, Nigerians must continue to strive to balance our democracy on a scale of sound reasoning and internationally established norms of rule of law, freedom of worship, freedom of expression, equality, fairness, justice, accountability, transparency. All these, not sentiments or hate campaigns, are the ingredients that will make our democracy enduring and withstand the test of time and by implication, deliver the goods to Nigerians.
Toks Ero blogs at www.toksero.org
When God wanted to destroy a certain town and the prophet asked: If God should see a certain number of good people, would he spare destroying the town? GMB is the good one. Let us give him a chance and redeem our image.
Thank you.
Give him a chance? Based on what achievements and antecedents?
Answer to your Article:
Muhammadu Buhari, Professor Osinbajo and members of the APC campaign council met with Catholic Bishops in Abuja yesterday. Below is GMB’s speech at the meeting:
One Nation Bound in Freedom, Peace and Unity.
As our nation approaches perhaps the most crucial election in our history, all true patriots are called to deeper reflection of the basic ingredients that bind the nation together- our common freedom, peace and unity.
This reflection is even more relevant in the face of the illegal postponement of the general elections- a feat achieved through various sinister ploys and with the sole aim of avoiding the will and verdict of the people. In all of these, I feel the urgeto communicate some of my personal vision and thoughts to the people of our great country,especially on the question of religion, a sensitive matter for many citizens that has become the most frequently used tool by the ruling party. This affordsme an opportunity to give my response to the ruling party’s false propaganda and lies against my person.
Needless to say, we must at all times hold the unity,
peace and progress of our dear nation paramount and above all other considerations, especially politics. Those who deliberately disseminate divisive disinformation and attempt to stoke primordial sentiments using religion or ethnicity and create fear in the minds of our people fail the standard of patriotism this nation demands of them and deserves from them. The ruling government and PDP have adopted this sad divisive and false narrative as their strategy to prevent the inevitable change that our country and people desire and require. And they have succeeded in making some of us victims of the tales which they invent,propagate and sell as gospel truth to gullible listeners, while it is all nothing but a tissue of lies. I would like to solemnly declare that in spite of what our detractors say, I am not a religious fanatic of any sort and I have never been. In all my life, I have never supported extremism of any kind, and nowhere in my record of service to this nation can this false toga, political opponents have tried so hard to put on me, be substantiated. Indeed, it is very unfortunate and I feel extremely sad that I have to give this type of assurance.
My background is in the army, and there is no doubt that the military is the most integrated pan-Nigerian institution. And even today, the military is one of the institutions that represents the pride of our nation’s possibilities in unity.Compatriots from every corner of this country come together, work and live together, entrust their lives to each other and integrate their families. It is a military where many of my dearest friends, from all faiths and parts of the country, lost their lives defending the unity of our nation. That was the military I served in, and in that military it was impossible to be a bigot.
For me, the issue of religion was, and should always, be a matter of personal conviction. This personal conviction approach to religion has defined my work and interactions all my life, including my tenure in office as military Head of State. The religion of all those I worked with was never a factor in their progress or in what happened to them. All that mattered then, and should still matter today, are competence, integrity and readiness to be fair to all.
I was recently informed that we had a balanced cabinet with key positions such as Finance, Energy and Defence occupied by Christians. In addition, 11 of the 19 governors I appointed were Christians. My most memorable recollections of subordinate service was under Christian bosses, the finest our country had then, and among the most respected today. Indeed one of the best appraisals I received in the course of my military career was from General T.Y Danjuma.
Government has no business preferring one religion to the other. The role of government is to protect lives and properties of citizens and to respect and protect their constitutional rights. One critical freedom that every government must strive to protect is the liberty for citizens to exercise their respective faiths, Christians and Muslims or others, in a lawful manner without fear or hindrance and to prosecute those who use religion as an excuse to destroy homes, schools and places of worship.
When governments fail in that duty, they must then assist in the rebuilding of structures including destroyed places of worship and giving full restitution for lost property.
We, Nigerians, are a religious people, and the burning of places of worship constitutes one of the vilest forms of abomination to all those who believe in God. It is the
duty of governments to protect this important sensitivity.
Let me state this categorically, that I, MuhammaduBuhari, as an individual, and as president of this great country by the grace of God, given the opportunity to serve, have no personal religious agenda. And I will not entertain, consider or promote the religious agenda of anyone. I will not condone any initiative that seeks to promote onevreligion over the other. Neither I, nor my party, or any member of my team has any desire or plan to Islamize or Christianize Nigeria or support anyone with such intention.
Although I am a practising Muslim, and I have been so all my life, I have never belonged to, nor shared the views of, any extremist group. I am not even a cleric. I believe that religion is personal and private. Many of the people close to me are not of my religion. My cook and driver for 20 years are Christians, Most of my bodyguards are Christians. Some were killed while protecting me in the terrorist attack on my convoy in Kaduna. If I have not Islamized these people who serve under me, how will I Islamize the likes of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Ogbonnaya Onu, Governors RochasOkorocha, Kayode Fayemi, Rotimi Amaechi or Professor Yemi Osinbajo who
is a senior advocate of Nigeria and a pastor? Or how will I Islamize Nigeria?
Our constitution, which in many respects, is similar to the American constitution does not permit a state religion. The Sharia identified in the constitution is almost synonymous with customary law. It is only applicable in matters of personal status such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. This has been the case since the 1979 constitution. Just as no one can make any customary or any other religious law the law of Nigeria, so Sharia cannot therefore be the law of Nigeria.
My record is evidence of this strongly held belief. Before my tenure, the deadly and violent extremist radical sect, Maitasine carried out terrorist activities in the north, especially Kano; When it erupted again in Yola, during my tenure, I took direct command, and personally led the successful effort to eradicate the threat to our country.Similarly, when some Chadian insurgents attempted to occupy Nigerian territory, I led the military confrontation that eliminated the threat.
For all purposes, we must all learn to live together as brothers and sisters, because the problems that bedevil our nation do not discriminate based on religion or ethnicity. Poverty and hunger do not know or respect religion or creed. When a bomb explodes in a market, it kills and maims without regard for religion or ethnicity. The millions of the unemployed youth of our country cut across all tribes and religions.
Wicked propagandists continue to spread vicious lies about me for political gain, including claiming that I once asked Muslims not to vote for Christians. This must be the height of absurdity.How could I ever say that, when whoever voted for me would be voting for the Christian running with me on the same ticket? And how could I ever say that of Christians when my own holy book, the Qur’an, tells me that in the entire world those that arebnearest in love to me are those who believe in JesusbChrist [AS]? I ask, who, intending to win any election,ever does that? How can I choose southern Christian running mates [Chuba Okadigbo of blessed memory, Pastor Tunde Bakare and Pastor YemiOsinbajo] and with them by my side make such silly utterances? Because they have no record, they must seek to destroy our own; and because they have no integrity, they feel they must impugn our own.
We must reject those who propagate hatred, ethnicity,divisiveness, sectionalism or seek to manipulate our religious differences in such cynical fashion. On our part, we will remain undeterred: our commitment is to bring about change in the way we live and think and work in this nation; and our goal is to ensure a decent existence for all. And, by the Grace of God, that is what we will do —we will remain true to our commitment and we will achieve our goal.
May God bless Nigeria and its people for all time.
General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR