Tuesday 26 June 2012

2015: A damned bloody presidential prediction!

Gen. Muhammadu BuhariGen. Muhammadu Buhari, a former Head of State shoots from the hips and does not suffer fools gladly. For three consecutive terms, he has run for election with the hope of beating the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and for three times he had failed. Despite announcing recently and in the aftermath of the 2011 election that he is done with the race, Buhari has in the past few days stirred the Hornet's nest by predicted bloodshed in 2015 if, in his views, elections are rigged "again". Coming at a time Nigerians are still struggling with the general insecurity in the country, not a few are worried that the General may belaying the foundation for another round of bloodletting. EMMANUEL ENYINNAYA APPOLOS, reports.
"If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon will all be soa Red in blood."

With the above quote, former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, sounded a blood chilling warning about the conduct of the 2015 presidential election, which is three years away.

Buhari ran for the presidency in 2003 against former President Olusegun   Obasanjo   on   the platform of the All Nigeria eoples Party, ANPP and lost. He fought the battle from the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal to the Supreme Court and lost. In 2007, he came out again on theplatform of the ANPP and ran against the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. He lost again. He also fought up to the Supreme Court andlost by a split decision of four to three against Yar'Adua.

But that battle separated him from his then party, ANPP, following the party's decision not to follow him on the court journey. Thus, when he came out again in 2011, he ran against President Goodluck Jonathan, on his own platform, a special purpose vehicle called the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, a party he founded himself.

In all the three elections, Buhari believed that the PDP rigged him out from winning the elections. He also believed that the courts' decisions which went against him were influenced by the PDP. He is angry. He appears frustrated by his inability to fulfill the dream of ruling Nigeria.

The last time he made such a comment, during the 2011 presidential election that he lost to Jonathan, Nigerians indeed, paid with their blood. At the flag off of his campaign in Kaduna in March 2011, Buhari had told his supporters to lynch anybody who attempted to rig the 2011 election. He had said, 'Tbu should never leave polling centres until votes are counted and the winner declared and you should lynch anybody that tries to tinker with the votes".

He went on to lampoon the PDP for misruling Nigeria since 1999. In his words, "We are internationally recognized for corruption, inefficiency, business uncertainty and infrastructural decay. For 12 years., the PDP government has failed to tackle all these problems in spite of the resources at their disposal. We can and we must reverse these trends." He said the first step to achieving that was for Nigerians to vote PDP out. "They are finished. They have passed their sell-by date1'

Soon after, the blood of scores of southerners flowed as the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Jonathan the winner of the election. A massive crisis erupted in major cities of the north, leaving in its wake death of thousands ofinnocent Nigerians, mostly from the southern part of the country with many of them being Youth Corps members, who were posted to serve on the compulsory one year national service. Their major sin was that they worked as ad hoc staffers of the INEC in the election. Since then, blood has continued to flow unabated in the north.

The latest being the bloody onslaught unleashed on churches, government establishments and public places in the north by Islamic insurgents, Boko Haram. As far as Nigerians can remember, two things stand out in the battle between Buhari and the PDP, which led to his latest outburst.

One: Jonathan defeated Buhari in 2011 through the massive votes of Nigerians. Two: Buhari said blood would flow if he didn't win. He lost and, as predicted, blood did flow. During the week, Buhari trod the beaten path and declared that 2015 would be bloody. He went further to identify three types of Boko Haram operating in Nigeria,   and  described  the Jonathan administration as the biggest Boko Haram in the country.

Buhari told members of his party who visited him in Kaduna, that "since the leaders do not listen to anybody but do whatever they wish, there is nothing the North can do".
He added: "I will like to quote Prof. Ango Abdullahi, who said there are three Boko Harams, including the original one, led by Muhammed Yusufu, who was killed and his supporters tried to take revenge in attacking the law enforcement agencies and politicians.

'There is another developed Boko Haram of criminals, who steal and kill. The biggest Boko Haram is the Federal Government." He went further to drum it into the ears of his followers, perhaps the same people who decoded his speech in 2011 that: "If what happens in 2011  should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon will all be soaked in blood."

Jonathan, who failed to ensure that the masterminds of the post 2011 election crisis in the north, were brought to book, has decided to engage Buhari in media war this time, describing the Daura, Katsina State-born soldier-turned-politician's comments as 'unbecoming of a former head of state.' Jonathan's response to Buhari contained in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Communications, Dr Reuben Abati, reads: "The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to unfortunate statements in the media made by former Head of State and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) in which he allegedly predicted bloodshed in 2015 and labeled the Federal Government-led by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as "the biggest Boko Haram".

"But perhaps the most unfortunate part of the statement was the portion in which Buhari said that, "Since the leaders now don't listen to anybody but do whatever they wish, there is nothing the north can do." "We find it very sad that an elder statesman, who once presided over the entirety of Nigeria? can reduce himself to a regional leader who speaks for only a part ofNigeria.

"We now understand what his protege and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Nasir El'Rufai, meant when he wrote in a public letter in October of 2010, telling Nigerians that Buhari remains "perpetually unelectable" and that Buhan's "insensitivity to Nigeria's diversity and his parochial focus are already well-known."

"Who can know Buhari better than his own political associate? Come to think of it, as the CPC presidential candidate in the 2011 election, how many states in the Federation did he visit to campaign for votes? Buhari never bothered to campaign in the southern part of the country and consistently played up the North-South divide to the chagrin of patriotic and well-meaning Nigerians.

"As the results revealed, Nigerians will never vote for anyone who wants to divide the country. Is Buhari going to continue to be a sectional leader? "The Federal Government led by President Jonathan is not Boko Haram. Boko Haram means Western Education is sin. "That being the case, one wonders how a government that devoted the largest sectoral allocation in the 2D 12 budget to education could be said to be Boko Haram.

"Between 1983, when Buhari forcefully seized power from the democratically elected administration of President Shehu Usman Shagari, and 2012, no other administration has committed the same quantum of resources as the Jonathan administration to education in the part ofNigeria that has witnessed the most Boko Haram-related insecurity.

"Only on April 10,2012, President Jonathan commissioned the first of 400 Federal Government Model Almajiri Schools, equipped with modern facilities such as a Language Laboratory, Qur'an Recitation Hall, classrooms and dormitories as well as a clinic, vocational workshop, dining hall and quarters for the Mallams. "As Nigerians read this, more of such schools have been completed.

We now challenge Major General Buhari (rtd) to tell Nigerians what he has done, whether in his capacity as the head of a military junta or in his private capacity, to bring education to vulnerable children. If he cannot live up to this challenge, perhaps he has to reassess who really is Boko Haram.

"Buhari claims that the Federal Government does not listen. Such an accusation ought not to emanate from a man overthrown by his own hand- picked colleagues in the military for refusing to listen to advice and behaving as if he had a monopoly ofknowledge.

It is on record that the Federal Government led by President Jonathan is a listening administration hence its decision to pursue all means of resolving the Boko Haram insurgency including through dialogue. "When Buhari says that "if what happens in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, 'the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood", we hereby state that it is Buhari himself who does not listen. He has obviously refused to listen to the Nigerian People, the European Union, the Commonwealth Monitoring Group, the African Union and a multitude of independent electoral monitors who testified that the 2011 elections were free and fair and "the best elections since Nigeria returned to civil rule."

"Indeed, such a reaction from Buhari is not totally unexpected since he has become a serial election loser who has never taken his past election defeats graciously even when such elections were generally acknowledged to be free and fair. "Still on the issue of Boko Haram, we wonder what locus a man whose party's Secretary General, Buba Galadima, told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in December, 2010, that the Federal Government is underestimating the support base of Boko Haram, has to accuse a government that has been threatened on camera by the leaders of Boko Haram of itself being Boko Haram? "Major General Buhari (rtd) also boasts of his knowledge of the Petroleum Industry because of his time as Federal Commissioner for Petroleum. We wonder why he did not boast of the infamous scandal that occurred in that ministry where under his watch; billions of Naira (in the 1970s) were reported stolen, a matter which led to the setting up of the Justice Ayo Irikefe panel.

"Finally, we wish to make it known to Buhari that given his reference to "dogs and baboons", perhaps his best course of action would be to travel to the zoo of his imagination because President Goodluck Jonathan was elected by human beings to preside over human beings and it is human beings who will determine what happens in Nigeria at any material time not "dogs and baboons". If the president reserved any respect for Buhari, his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not. It toed the path of Mr. President in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Oliseh Metu, where the party also described Buhari   as   a   'blood   thirsty Eolitician   who   relishes loodshed.'

"We condemn in no uncertain terms, this shameful call for the spill of blood of innocent Nigerians to acquire political power.

We need to remind ourselves that on April 21, 2012, Buhari was reported in the media as predicting a bloody revolution in 2015. The reports in the national dailies quoting the same retired General as repeating that blood will flow in 2015 is another build-up to Buhari's relish of funeral train.

"It is unfortunate that at this time of grave security challenge, while Nigerians are burying their dead and counting their losses, Gen. Buhari, who wants to rule them, is further inflaming the orgy of violence. What a blood thirsty leader in Buhari" "It is on record that Nigeria is yet to recover from the huge losses it suffered due to such reckless and
Erovocative remarks by Buhari efore the 2011 general elections which led to a spate of bloody post-election violence across six states of the federation," PDP said.

Meanwhile, it will be recalled that the report of a 22-man Sheikh Ahmed Lemu-led Presidential Committee on Post-Election Violence, set up by President Jonathan indicted Buhari.

According to reports of the panel, Buhari's provocative remarks played a role in the bloody violence that led to the death of 10 members of the National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC) and hundreds of others after last April's presidential polls. "Provocative utterances by many individuals and the widespread charge by prominent politicians including the CPC presidential candidate to the electorate 'to fuard their votes' appeared to ave been misconstrued by many voters to include recourse to violence which they did.

However, a long interactive session was held with the CPC presidential candidate and five member delegation of the panel, led by the chairman, in the office of the CPC presidential candidate in Kaduna on 14th September 2011. It was discovered that he himself was a victim of the violence and of the destruction of his property the photographs of which were given to the said delegation," the panel's report said.

Apart from Buhari's utterances, the panel also said that the government's failure to implement reports of past commissions and panels on ethno-religious and political crises also contributed to the postelection violence and urged the government to implement the reports.

However, Buhari, through his spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, denied making inciting utterances, saying that the panel and the Federal Government were executing a
Pre-determined agenda since the DP and President Jonathan had earlier accused the CPC of being responsible for the mayhem even before the panel was raised. "Before the panel was set up, President Jonathan and the PDP had accused the CPC of being responsible.

"They have to prove that Buhari's utterances ignited the violence. There was no comment that he made beyond that people should defend their votes. The Independent National Election Commission (INEC) said people should vote, wait and defend their votes. Buhari did not say anything than people should protect their votes. They have an agenda they are executing. They are working on a script, Odumakin said.

Though, Jonathan who received the report himself then, vowed to implement the recommendations of the panel no matter the individuals involved, insisting that "the culture of impunity would be erased by the government and heavens will not fall". Months after he made the vow, nothing has happened. The panel advised President Jonathan that "people indicted by the committees and commissions concerned should be prosecuted. These recommendations are based on what the panel observed from many victims of those previous disturbances who are nursing reprisals and have only been waiting for the slightest excuse to move into action which some of them did during the 2011 election violence and civil disturbances".

Responding, President Jonathan said: "I assure you, on our part, we will follow your recommendations. You did mention that one of the problem is that when recommendations are made   to   government, government hardly implements them.

They will make speeches, make pronouncements, then the media will carry it, then they lock them up, though some recommendations may be difficult for implementations".

However? it is obvious that Buhari might not be alone in this blood thirsty adventure as his party CPC, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) have all applauded Buhan. The National Publicity Secretary of CPC, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin said that Buhari only reiterating what, in their view, many Nigerians had been saying for long.

"They are merely talking balderdash; what General Buhan has said is what many Nigerians have expressed. Remember Professor Wole Soyinka had said election rigging is violence against people and that they have the right to confront violence with greater violence". PDP colluded with Professor Atahiru Jega's INEC to foist Jonathan on us. That's why we are battling with this clueless government. There must be sanctity of votes of Nigerian electorate.

"What Buhari was trying to say is that, it would not be business as usual. So, only the guilty should be afraid of retribution. It is certain that retribution is coming. So, why shouldPDPbe afraid"? On its part, the ACF responding through its national publicity secretary, Anthony Sani, said Buhari's comment was nothing new as he noted that many eminent Nigerians including former President Olusegun Obasanjo had also inferred as such.

"Buhari has not said anything that has not been said before. What people are saying is that he should not nave said it because he has mass appeal among the people." For CNPP's Mr. Osita Okechukwu, "The problem on ground now is due to the fact that many of those holding elective positions were not elected by the people, in actual fact. Therefore, they don't have any sense of accountability and responsibility towards the people." As expected, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) also backed Buhan in the verbal fight. The party in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in Osogbo, Osun State, reiterated that the 2011 general elections remain the most systematically-rigged polls in Nigeria's history, irrespective of the so-called endorsement by some visceral foreign election monitors.

"We hold no brief for anyone, but it is true that if elections are rigged, as they have been so shamelessly and brazenly done by the PDP since 1999? naturally, people will react, and in doing so, it is impossible for anyone to predict how far things can go. This is what, in our opinion, Gen. Buhari warned against. If the presidency and the PDP have no intention to rig in 2015, why are they so worried about the consequences of such action? "The 2011 elections also left Nigeria divided along ethnic and religious lines, more than at any other time in the history of Nigeria, hence no one should tell us about the polls being the best since Nigeria returned to civil rule, just because some self-acclaimed monitors said so!" ACN said.

Can the ACN be taken seriously in the talk about systematic rigging of the 2011 elections? If the 2011 election were systematically rigged, then the question should be: how did the Bola Tinubu controlled  party   systematically fot control of the southwest in the 011 election, yet its presidential candidate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu lost in all the ACN states but for Osun State. Who systematically rigged the ACN presidential candidate out, even in Lagos State? For now though, Nigerians are waiting anxiously to know the next step that will be taken in the verbal war between Buhari, his supporters and the PDP.

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