Mallam Saeed Jibrin GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI; AN HONEST AND DE-TRIBALISED LEADER, NOT AN ISLAMIC EXTREMIST, OR A SECTIONALIST,.....(DIALOGUE NO. 3)! For reasons best known to them, some Nigerians leveled General Muhammadu Buhari a tribalist, an Islamic extremist and a sectional leader. Some even went further to level him the Ayatollah of Northern Nigeria. The premise upon which they based their claims and assertions were rather curious. This discourse intends to under take a journey and inquest into the composition of the Buhari/Idiagbon regimes Cabinet Ministers, State military administrators, Members of the Supreme Military Council (SMC) and other high profile appointments. In order to mystify or demystify these misplaced perceptions, we shall also examine some of the policy statements, policy directions and some far reaching decisions taken by the regime;. 1) Of the 19 cabinet Ministers of the Buhari/Idiagbon regime, 11 were Christians, 7 were Muslims while one was an Etheist, and 8 were Southerners, while 11 were Northerners. Perhaps because the preoccupation of the regime was to render selfless service to their country, not the squandering of the countrys common wealth, and as a corrective, patriotic and nationalist oriented regime, as a result of this, appointments and other policy pronouncements and directions of the Buhari/Idiagbon administration was guided by, competency, and integrity with little or no consideration for religious, ethnic or geopolitical affiliations, and that was what might have informed the appointment of the five ministers to the so- called juicy and supper ministries to consist of all Christians, and all but only one was a Northerner. Even the governor of the Central Bank was a Christian and a Southerner. The Super ministers and their ministries are, Minister of Defence; Domkat Bali a Christian (the only Northerner), Minister of Finance; Onaolapo Soleye a Christian (Southerner), Minister of Energy/ Petroleum resources; Prof. Tam Devid West a Christian (Southerner), Minister of Justice; Chike Offodile a Christian (Southerner), Minister of Works; Patrick Koshoni a Christian (Southerner). While the Governor of the Central bank was Clement Esang, also a Christian and a Southerner. 2) Of the 19 state military administrators, 11 were Christians, 7 were Muslims, while one was an Etheist, and 9 were Southerners, while 10 were Northerners. 3) Of the 16 members of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), 9 were Muslims while 7 were Christians, and 11 were Northerners, while 5 were Southerners. From the analysis above, it is clear that based on documentary evidence, Buhari is a nationalist, a patriot who believes in equity and fairness, and a de-tribalised leader who does not believe in parochial and ethno religious jingoism. To further prove that during the Buhari regime the North, Northerners and the Islamic religion(Muslims) were at the receiving end, considering the fact that; a) of the number of Ex government officials that were tried, found guilty/convicted and incarcerated, more than 65% were Muslims and Northerners;. b) in the various successive regimes, from colonial period to date, it was only the Buhari regime that officially banned government involvement in subsidizing, stopping what ever kind of financial involvement, or sponsorship of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. To crown it all, the regime proscribed all kind of government involvement (at federal, state and local government levels), no matter how remote it may be in Hajj affairs. This singular and controversial action/decision by a Muslim and a Northerner was enough reason for the Northerners and Muslims in general to detest, hate and depopularised Buhari, and pitch him against the Northern masses and Muslims. However, rather than rejecting him, the Northern masses recognized that although the Buhari regime had gone to the extreme by taking such an antagonistic stand against Islam and the Muslims, the precarious and sorry economic mess/ circumstances, and condition the regime found itself, the said decision, though religiously offensive, but it was understandably some what tolerable. That is to say, bearing the cross as a result of the regimes unwholesome approach on Hajj, rather than to make Buhari unpopular, he has been amazingly enjoying the contrary. The truth is that, those constantly accusing Buhari as an Islamic extremist, or a sectionalist, have no any tangible or concrete verifiable facts or reasons to buttress their sentimentally preconceived claims, other than being further from the truth, being ethnically brainwashed either by the regimes victims of their own dishonesty, or judging some of General Muhammadu Buharis comments and statements out of context........(to be concluded).
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 14:43:18 +0000
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