Is there any way of accounting for the Sharia crisis in Nigeria without reference to the role of General Mohammadu Buhari? I think not. It is indeed plausible to attribute the cult like followership Buhari persistently enjoys among the electorate of the Muslim north to the role he played during the Sharia crisis-it was the role of ‘We vs them’, of the demagogue; and resulted in the effect of uniting this sub-regional group behind him ready to do battle. It was this pedestal that provided the platform for his repeated presidential candidacy since 2003. What, for instance, divisive political significance would you attribute to the following recall? At the peak of the violent upheaval wreaked by the Sharia crisis in 1999, there was a council of state meeting. At the end of the meeting, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar addressed the press and reported that the council had resolved that all the Sharia crisis affected states should revert to the status quo ante - to give room for the resolution of the impasse. The intent and projected effect of this decision was to facilitate return to normalcy and calm in society. Later the same day, Gen. Buhari went on the BBC Hausa Service to accuse the vice-president of lying - and as Buhari probably intended, the immediate consequence of this denial was to add gasoline to the raging Sharia inferno. By what logic can we argue the contrary -that Buhari did not recognise the potential of his denial to worsen an already bad situation? Anybody interested in further evidence of this negative divisive role would be well attended by the internet archives. To bolster this resume, the former military head of state went to address a quaranic recitation ceremony in Sokoto in 2001 where he entertained the obliging rapturous crowd with a typical belligerent defiance that ‘Muslims should vote for only those who would protect their religion’. What effect would it have on the country if an aspiring Christian denominated presidential candidate or former Nigerian head of state also went around saying Christians should vote only those who would protect their faith? It is noteworthy that he didn’t advise his audience to vote for those who would fight corruption, who would develop the economy, who would unite the country. Now if you were an undeveloped young Muslim mind regularly listening to this persistent sermon of social and religious division from the leading opinion leader in your region what are your chances of defining your frustrations in the same manner as the simplistic Boko haram delinquents? This sub-regional animus, of course, accelerated with the failed power rotation arrangement (of 2007) - predicated on the assumption that a serving president would live out his tenure and not succumb to precipitate exit. The unambiguous implication of the spate of mutinies, treacheries and betrayals within the Nigeria army is that to a lesser or higher degree the country no longer enjoys the benefit of a united military. It also explains the relentless embarrassment and ridicule the Army has suffered in the fight against the insurgency - particularly after the Chibok abduction incident. Would the military be deemed less inherently unworthy were we to know that conniving officers were in the habit of arranging Boko Haram ambush of their own troops? If we do not relish the slightest opportunity to condemn Jonathan, may be our eyes would sooner have opened to the reality of a nation at war with itself. Why would it take all of 18 days - as alleged, for the president to believe that the abduction was indeed for real? Did he receive information to the contrary from any authoritative channel and disregarded such? Would a president’s decision be informed by any briefing other than those he received from the regular institutional channels of communication? If these channels had been compromised and infiltrated, does it make sense to suggest that maybe he was deliberately misled? Let me end today’s submissions with a revealing quote from an American scholar, Professor Richard Joseph: “For a start, it has been unclear how Boko Haram is financed -- and how much assistance it might be receiving from disaffected members of the northern Nigerian elite, as well as those holding government positions at the federal and state levels.”
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:01:02 +0000