Did Buhari go too far?

General Muhammadu Buhari.

General Muhammadu Buhari’s recent warning against rigging in 2015 elections has pitched the opposition against the Presidency and Peoples Democratic Party. Sam Egburonu, in this report, examines the allegation that the retired general went too far in his choice of words.

If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood,”- General Muhammadu Buhari.
Former Military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, may not have anticipated the kind of controversy the statement he made on Monday is generating across the country, considering that he probably considered the occasion to be a mere family meeting. As the National Leader and Presidential Candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the retired army general was addressing a delegation of the Niger State chapter of his party. So, like a father to his children, he spoke freely in Hausa language: “God willing, by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way. 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,” he said.
Perhaps because of his stature as former Head of State, the statement, which many Nigerians described variously as weighty, unbecoming of an elder statesman, deep, reckless or forthright, immediately struck a major chord that has both electrified the Nigerian polity and pitched opposition political parties against the Presidency and the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The Buhari’s utterance has also brought to the fore sensitive issues like fears over 2015 elections, rigging, violence and such like. Above all, politicians and observers, while reacting to the comments are sharply divided, as they debate whether the former Head of State erred in his criticism or exceeded his limits in his diction.
Blunder or forthrightness? 
While his political party, CPC, and most of the other opposition political parties have insisted that the general’s criticism was in order, the presidency, the ruling People’s Democratic Party and some other Nigerians have expressed disappointment at his choice of words, arguing that he went too far when he alluded to a bloody aftermath of 2015 elections.
First to react harshly was the presidency. In a statement, signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Dr Reuben Abati, the president said the former head of state’s statement was “unfortunate and unbecoming of a former head of state.”
The statement 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 labelled 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 of Nigeria.”
The Presidency also said: “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…
 “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.”
Some other Nigerians have also come out to condemn the general utterance.  For example, Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Rev. Felix Ajakaye, described the statement as “provocative” and “unguided” and must be checked, noting that the former Head of State was in the habit of threatening the nation as he similarly threatened the nation that he would make government ungovernable for the president if the election of 2011 was rigged.
Speaking with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, during the week, he said” “Nigeria belongs to all of us, we have no other place to go and we should watch our utterances, no matter our status.
“We are in a very trying time and we need to be prayerful and work our prayers; we need to be positive and concrete in our thoughts and work our thoughts.
The clergy added that “The former Head of State ought to have been invited by security agencies for questioning if we are in other climes. I don’t know what our security agents are still waiting for. No matter whose ox is gored, if another person had made such a statement, they will say he is planning something against the country.
Buhari and his supporters were not perturbed by the presidential tongue-lashing and condemnations by some Nigerians. Reacting to allegations that the presidency may be considering the option of issuing arrest warrant against Buhari as a follow up to the explosive utterance, the former military leader said only those currently contemplating to rig the 2015 elections could have been afraid of the threat of a violent response.
The National Secretary of the CPC, Alhaji Buba Galadima, explaining the Presidency’s response said, “They are picking on the General because it is him they are afraid of and because once you take away rigging, they are gone; but they have forgotten that their master, Obasanjo was the first to talk of do or die, do or die means blood, if you don’t do what I want I will kill you, that is what he said.
“The issue is very simple; if you are not a thief why should you be afraid if they say whoever steals should be killed? That is why they are afraid.”
A member of CPC Renewal Committee, Comrade Wilfred Frank Agbotobo, from Bayelsa State, who defended Buhari told The Nation that PDP response to Buhari’s statement lacks content and logic. “The presidency and the PDP should realise that contrary to their distorted, narrow thinking, Buhari has over the years cultivated love, loyalty and respect in the hearts of the multitude of living fellowership in the South-South who cherish him in high esteem. Presently, there is recovery and deep regret over the manipulation that led to the emergence of the present apparently confused PDP administration. 
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the leading opposition political party in the country, was also not impressed by the response of the Presidency. The party therefore scolded the administration for launching a personal attack on Buhari, just because he gave “a valid warning against election rigging.”
The ACN added that the verbal attacks against Buhari were reflective of the determination of the ruling administration to use the instrument of power to return itself to power.
In a statement, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, issued in Osogbo, Osun State, the party said Buhari’s statement was “nothing but a warning against those who may be planning to rig the 2015 general elections hence should not have rankled anyone who believes in free, fair and transparent polls.”
‘’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,’’ ACN queried?
The party said Buhari’s warning was in order, considering 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. The debate is still ongoing.

Still on Buhari’s comment

Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd),

Ex-Head of state’s statement might have been failure of statesmanship, but only the guilty should be afraid

Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), former Head of State and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 general elections is not new to controversy. Before the 2011 elections, his statement calling on the people to defend their votes against riggers generated uproar and was believed to have goaded the violence that engulfed some parts of the northern region after the elections. Perhaps, this must have informed the Presidency and the ruling People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) vituperation against the brutally frank admonition of Buhari while recently receiving CPC’s supporters from Niger State in his Kaduna office. 
Buhari reportedly said “God willing, by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way. If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood,’’ He further alluded to Prof. Ango Abdullahi’s statement that 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; another Boko Haram of criminals that steal while the third and the biggest one he calls the current Federal Government.
Buhari has since been attacked from the Presidency that described his utterances as quite unbecoming of a statesman. The PDP was unsparing; it said the general is ‘inflaming the orgy of violence’ and proclaiming him a ‘bloodthirsty leader without democratic credentials.’ The ruling party cockishly wants the Federal Government to send him, a retired general, to lead the ECOWAS military contingent to Mali or Guinea Bissau so as to, in its view, ‘exorcise the bloodletting demons apparently haunting him. ‘Isn’t this a mockery of the government’s decision to send troops to Guinea Bissau and Mali to help maintain the peace? So, the soldiers are being sent to those countries so as to ‘exorcise the bloodletting demons apparently haunting’ them?
We condemn all forms of violence that can destabilise the already volatile security in the country. In the past, we had unequivocally condemned such statements from Buhari and others in that class. We recollect pointedly too in 2011 that we chastised Buhari for the statement he made calling on the almajiris to defend their votes with anything, at a period that was very close to the election.
At this point in time, the election is still very far and people are beginning to see desperation on the part of those in power who are ready to cling to power at all cost. The symptoms of an old political malaise is manifesting in the touted ‘Jonathan 2015 Project’, while the people are getting worried and hopeless that their votes may not count again in 2015. That must have informed Buhari’s statement. 
Rather than seize the opportunity to assure Nigerians that nothing of such will happen, the Presidency and the ruling party joined issues with the general, resorting to official blackmail and intimidation in the process. Yet, it is very clear that the ruling party has the worst electoral record since the inception of this democratic dispensation in 1999. Even the late President Umaru Yar’Adua under whom the current president served as deputy publicly acknowledged that the election that brought him to power was flawed. So, the fear of rigging has always been amongst the populace. 
We would have expected the Presidency and the ruling party to douse the tension by allaying the fears of the public about the suspicious manner in which the Federal Government has so far conducted elections in the country. After all, Buhari’s comment has received positive remarks from other segments of the society other than those benefiting from the ruling party. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), CPC and other opposition parties have shared the views expressed by Buhari. Even the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) has lent its voice in support of the critical issue that Buhari’s statement raised, at the same time cautioning the general against inciting statements.
Aliu Babangida, Niger State Governor and Chairman of the NSGF presented the position of the group after its recent meeting in Kaduna, to wit: ‘Again, certain facts are understood; that if this happens, that would happen... May be those who may be too concerned (about what Gen Buhari said) have not looked at what other eminent Nigerians have been talking about. I saw one that said Nigeria is going to be Somalianised....’ 
We share their views that a government that cannot guarantee free and fair elections and can still not provide good roads, effective transportation system, workable healthcare delivery services, good security and more importantly, stable electricity like Jonathan’s has no business aspiring to continue in power. Yet, it would want to rig election to sustain itself in power.
We want to make it known to those whose plan it is to rig the 2015 elections that the John Kennedy’s universal dictum of 1962 that “those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable” was not just a paper statement. Nigerians have been pushed to the wall- if they turn back, the consequences may be better imagined. Buhari might have needed to bring some finesse to bear in his utterances, given his status in the country. But then, the Jonathan administration too has to check itself and review its policies. Any government that takes the people for granted as this government has done, especially in the arbitrary fuel price hike, must expect some unpleasant consequences. Moreover, the winner-takes-all attitude of the government is not helping matters. Above all, we must say that electoral violence is itself an act of violence against the people and no one can legislate about how people will react to such.  

Cleric expresses concern over state of the nation.

Written by Olayinka Olukoya.

The Bishop, Remo Diocese (Anglican Communion), The Right Reverend (Dr) Michael Olusina Fape, has expressed concern over the state of the nation, calling on the federal government to rise to the challenges confronting it.
Bishop Fape said this in his presidential address delivered to the Second Session of the tenth synod of the Diocese on Friday, at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Ipara-Remo, Ogun State with the theme, “They (Christians) are not of the world.”
He urged Christians to be actively involved in the activities of their immediate environment by remaining in the Lord.
The cleric noted that the all social vices confronting the country had continued to increase on a daily basis, despite several calls to governments at all levels to checkmate those problems.
The  Bishop said, “ As Nigerians, we have no other country than this one. Therefore, we must make it as Nehemiah to seek the welfare of this nation. While so many social evils have been identified in the past year in our charge, there seems not to be respite yet for Nigerians.
“Kidnapping is still in place, the power sector is still in comatose, and corruption has become an established evil staring at us in the face as a nation in all the three tiers of government.
“Today, those who are supposed to bring succour to the masses have added to their plight. The Pension Fund that is supposed to bring succour to the retirees has been embezzled by the custodians!”
Bishop Fape noted that different probe panels investigating the corrupt practices of Nigeria’s political office holders and public servants was a pointer to the fact that the corruption was the bane of our national development.
“It now seems as if the primary assignment of the National Legislators is to probe, and revelations from the unending probes on Power sector, Petroleum subsidy, Nigerian Stock Exchange Council and Pension Fund make a mockery of our national leaders as bunch of hypocrites, who though know the truth, but cannot speak the truth because their hands are already soiled. Certainly, corruption is the bane of our development in this nation. But the question is,who will deliver us from this monster of corruption?”, he queried
On Ogun State, the Bishop commended the State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who was represented at the ocassion by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Mrs. Olayinka Kukoyi, on his administration approach to tackle insecurity in the state.
The Bishop advised Amosun to beware of political sychopants who are were only interested in deceiving him.
The cleric lauded the gesture of the Chief Executive Officer, Tanus Communication, Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, for sponsoring the Synod which was hosted last year by the matriach of the Awolowo dynasty, Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo

Jonathan and the Buhari burden

Is it time for President Goodluck Jonathan to bare his fangs against Gen. Muhammadu Buhari? OLALEKAN ADETAYO examines the feud between the duo which might be a long-drawn battle

One of the steps always taken by people who desire to do well in any position (political offices inclusive) is to keep in touch with their predecessors and tap from their wealth of experience. Such steps are aimed at learning from the successes and failures of such predecessors in order to avoid some pitfalls.

The position of the President is not an exception in this regard. Apart from the various advisory bodies, incumbent Presidents sometimes rely on their predecessors for advice on issues of national importance.

Interestingly, the nation’s constitution also recognises the importance of tapping into the experience of former presidents with its provision for the Nigeria Council of State as an organ of government. The council’s functions include advising the executive on policy making.

The Council of State consists of the incumbent President, who is the Chairman; Vice President, who is the Deputy Chairman; all former Presidents of the federation and all former Heads of the Government of the Federation; all former Chief Justices of Nigeria; President of the Senate; Speaker of the House of Representatives, all state governors and the Attorney-General of the Federation. Such is the importance attached to the wealth of experience of former Nigerian leaders.

 It will therefore naturally be a thing of concern for a sitting president to have one of those who he should ordinarily rely on for advice and support to be his number one public critic.

This is the scenario currently playing out between President Goodluck Jonathan and one of his predecessors, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd).

The Daura, Katsina State-born general was the Head of State between December 31, 1983 and August 27, 1985. Since the return of democracy to Nigeria, Buhari has attempted to become a civilian president three times (in 2003, 2007 and 2011) without success.

In 2003, Buhari contested the presidential election as the candidate of All Nigeria Peoples Party.  The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in that election, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari was defeated with a margin of more than 11 million votes. He contested the result of the election up to the Supreme Court but lost. Till today, Buhari still holds the belief that he won that election but that he was short-changed by the Independent National Electoral Commission and the courts.

Buhari, as a candidate of the ANPP also contested the 2007 election which was won by his kinsman, late President Umar Yar’Adua of the PDP. In the election, Buhari polled 18 per cent of the votes cast against Yar’Adua’s 70 per cent. Like what happened during the previous election, the general rejected the result and again contested it to the Supreme Court but lost.

Yar’Adua’s admission that the election that brought him to office was largely flawed and a promise to carry out electoral reform, seemed to have confirmed Buhari’s fears that such polls since 2003 were anything but democratic.

In March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP for the Congress for Progressive Change, which he founded, with which he contested the 2011 presidency Jonathan won that election. Buhari polled 12,214,853 votes, coming second behind Jonathan of the PDP who polled 22,495,187 votes. He repeated the same ritual of approaching the courts and again lost.

Having lost three presidential elections in a row, Buhari became understandably critical of government.

Such criticism reached its crescendo last Monday, when Buhari reportedly threatened that there would be bloodbath in 2015 if its general elections do not reflect the will of the people. He thundered:  “God willing, by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way. If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood,” Buhari reportedly told the party members who paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna last Monday.

He also blasted the Federal Government under Jonathan’s leadership as the real Boko Haram (Boko Haram is the Islamic sect that has claimed responsibility for most of the bombings in the North).

Not ready to allow him have a field day unchallenged, the presidency and the ruling PDP in separate reactions fired back at the general, describing him as a frustrated serial election loser and a sectional leader. While the presidency said the statement by Buhari was “saddening,” the PDP said it portrayed the ex-Head of State as a “blood-thirsty person who lacked democratic credentials.”

The presidency, in a statement by presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, said it found it very sad that an elder statesman who once presided over the whole of Nigeria could reduce himself to a regional leader who spoke for only a part of the country.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh,  also said, “It is unfortunate that at this time of grave security challenge while Nigerians are burying their dead and counting their losses, Buhari, who wants to rule them, is further inflaming the orgy of violence. What a bloodthirsty leader in Buhari! If the retired general was suffering from combat withdrawal syndrome, then the Federal Government should allow him to lead the ECOWAS military contingent to Mali or Guinea Bissau to enable him have an opportunity to exorcise the bloodletting demons apparently haunting him.”

Metuh touched a sensitive area when he said that Nigeria has yet to recover from the huge losses it suffered due to such “reckless and provocative remarks” by Buhari before the 2011 general elections which led to a spate of bloody post-election violence across six states of the federation.

In making that assertion, Metuh apparently relied on the report of the Dr. Sheikh Lemu-led Federal Government Investigation Panel on the 2011 Election Violence and Civil Disturbances which was set up by Jonathan to probe the post-election violence recorded in some parts of the North.

While presenting the report to the President in October 2011, Lemu said the panel identified provocative utterances by many individuals and widespread charge by prominent politicians including Buhari to the electorate to guard their votes as possible cause of the post-election crisis.

Lemu said such charge by politicians appeared to have been misconstrued by many voters to include recourse to violence, which they did.

He however attempted to give Buhari a soft landing when he added that it was discovered during a long interactive session between the former Head of State  and a five-member delegation of the panel on September 14, 2011 that the CPC candidate himself was a victim of the violence as his property were reportedly destroyed.

Not a few Nigerians believe that Buhari’s latest outburst could also spark off another round of violence.

The Senator representing Oyo South, Senator Femi Lanlehin, urged the two gladiators in the face-off to sheathe their swords in the interest of the nation.

 He said, “We are in precarious times; there is insecurity everywhere. Anything that will aggravate the situation should be avoided. If Buhari had said what he was reported to have said, the President too should have ignored him.”

Also, a politician, Chief Olu Akerele, described the face-off between Buhari and Jonathan as unnecessary. The former Personal Assistant to late Chief MKO Abiola said it was unfortunate that people including the government were misinterpreting what Buhari said.

He said, “Is the FG and the PDP planning to rig in 2015? Why are they panicking, if they are not? They should even praise the retired general for speaking the truth. What he said was conditional: rig and get into trouble. The President should not divert attention from numerous problems confronting the nation which he has not been able to solve. To me, Buhari is not the reason why he has not been able to fix power, provide security, tar roads, provide jobs and other problems bedevilling the country.  Let him face governance and stop chasing shadows.”

The current rift between the two however, appears to be a long-drawn one as Buhari who has been backed by the Action Congress of Nigeria and Northern governors against the presidency, has alleged that Jonathan plans to arrest him.

A government source however, dismissed the idea of “doing anything with the army general will suggest a clampdown on opposition,” he said.

Gowon’s distortion of facts

 by AKUTA CHINEDU

This is in response to statements credited to ex-Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd), during a post-humous award ceremony for the tripod of Nigeria’s independence and First Republic leaders, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
According to a national newspaper, Gowon said Igbo leader and Biafran warlord, the late Gen. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu would have succeeded in ruling the country if he had not been checkmated when he declared the Republic of Biafra and consequently triggered the civil war in 1967.
The former head of state, who came to power during the second military putsch on July 29, 1966 and ruled till July 29, 1975 when his regime was toppled in another coup that led to the installation of the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed, spoke against the background of a documentary on the fratricidal war shown at the ceremony.
Reliving some of the events of the civil war fought between July 6, 1967 and January 12, 1970, Gowon described it as a needless war and one never to be wished for again; adding that the war would not have arisen if Odumegwu-Ojukwu had not severed the eastern part from the rest of the country.
“If there was no secession by the late Odumegwu-Ojukwu, there would not have been war. We tried all we could to avoid going to war. At the Aburi meeting (held in Ghana in January to forestall the imminent war), all that was demanded by Ojukwu, including my position, were granted. But his secession bid led to the war. If Ojukwu had not done what he did, he would have been a Nigerian and not Biafran leader. Nigerians and, indeed, the children who suffered during the war, should forgive us,” Gowon said.
Since the death of Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Gowon has made two conflicting statements. In all, he tried to twist facts about the civil war, all in an attempt to portray Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu as the aggressor. This is unacceptable.
First, I wonder why Gowon has chosen to make conflicting statements about the events that happened before and during the war, only after Odumegwu-Ojukwu had died. The question is, why didn’t he make these statements when Odumegwu-Ojukwu was alive, since both of them were the two principal actors?
Indeed, Gowon should have been kind enough to tell his audience the true reasons behind the war. The author, having gone through the Aburi meeting records, could not see where Odumegwu-Ojukwu asked for Gowon’s position; so, why would he say such things? Besides, who jettisoned the Aburi Accord – Gowon or Ojukwu? Nigerians cannot be deceived. Be it known to all Nigerians that part of our problems today is the non-implementation of the Aburi Accord by the Gowon administration. Gowon should publicly accept responsibilities for the civil war.
For the records, the war was imposed on the Igbo. Biafra was the only beacon of hope for all fleeing Igbo then. If Gowon was concerned, why didn’t he stop the pogrom in the North then? Why did he impose food blockade during the war and even after the war? What did he do about the abandoned properties? What about the policy/punishment of giving every Igbo person only 20 pounds, even if the person(s) had millions in bank accounts?
Someone should tell Gowon to stop twisting facts, if only not to reopen the wounds of the civil war.

2015: A damned bloody presidential prediction!

Gen. 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.

How 1975 coup dragged Nigeria backwards, by Asiodu

FORMER Special Adviser to President Shehu Shagari on Economic Matters, Chief Philip Asiodu, at the weekend lamented the state of the nation and said the promoters of the 1975 military coup truncated Nigeria’s quest for true development and leap to a world power.

According to the retired permanent secretary who is now the chairman of the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries, if those who took over from the Gen. Yakubu Gowon’s administration had continued with the development plans, which the regime laid out in the 1975 to 1980 National Development plan and also did not indulge in mass sack of civil servants, the country would have been a developed nation now away from where majority of the population live in poverty.
Speaking at the 2012 yearly general meeting of the council in Lagos at the weekend, Asiodu, a former Economic Adviser to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, maintained that it was at that point Nigeria deviated from the road to development and has not recovered till date.
“The whole position is that when you have no plan, you cannot achieve anything. The coup against Gowon did two terrible things on the country, though the two leading members of that cabinet were members of Gowon cabinet, who approved the 75 to 80 National Development Plan. We were going into pulp and paper metallurgy as well as agro-allied to create a good base for our industrialisation and ensure job creation.
“But when we had that coup, not only the plan was abandoned, 10,000 civil servants were removed. And that destroyed the confidence, non-partisanship and courage in the civil service. In my time in the civil service, you can tell a minister sir, you want to do this, here are three options, and he knows you are advising him objectively, your commitment is to him and the country to succeed.
“That coup destroyed the leadership of the civil service, destroyed the people who could have been custodians of check and balances, who can say, you cannot do this or that. That was when Nigeria diverged, we were at par with Malaysia and Singapore. Today, we are 40 years behind them. We started assembling cars before South Korea, but today we are importing cars from South Korea. Should that be? But go abroad, in many universities or any institutions, Nigerians are there and on top. The coup truncated that plan.”
Asiodu called on politicians and bureaucrats to imbibe the value of responsiveness to what the people need and be always guided by the desire to want to help to lift Nigeria to a certain development platform for the benefit of the majority.
He recalled that “our founding fathers, Azikwe, Awolowo, and Balewa, the campaign then was, give us independence and we shall improve the condition of the people, and they showed it.
“As soon as we had regional government in the West and the East, there was tremendous increase in the number of farm settlement scheme, expansion in school, award of scholarship to competent deserving ones to go abroad and construction of dams as well as commitment to the drive to improve the condition of life of the ordinary man.
He called for better commitment to the state by elected officials and politicians, recalling that to accelerate development immediately after independence, Balewa and other elected officials cut their salaries by 10 per cent in order to save for developmental projects. He said it was ironical that now, about 74 per cent of the budget is spent on recurrent expenditure.
“At one time, education alone got more than 40 per cent of the budget of the Western and Eastern regions because that is the key to development. But what is it today? We are now spending 74 per cent of the resources on recurrent expenditure and overheads of, may be, 300,000 government officials and a paltry 24 per cent on education, health, manpower and power,” he lamented.
The elder statesman noted that in spite of the huge fund that had come into government coffers, no spectacular projects had been executed since 1975 when there were less fund. The government then executed most of the landmark projects in Nigeria today.
“We are saying the path we are following, this recurrent expenditure fueled by how much we are paying our officials is not sustainable. I believed the leadership should realise that what we are doing is not sustainable,” he said.
Asiodu maintained that what is being paid the elected officials cannot be justified, noting also that the current quality of the civil service is poor and no government can achieve result with a poor civil service, so the country must return to international norms in its civil service procedure.   According to Asiodu, the country does not need more than 18 ministries to drive its development plans. He said with that, Nigeria would be better coordinated and manage the level of waste in governance.

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