Dr. Fredrick Fasehun is the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) and the new founder of the recently registered Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). Fasehun is unapologetically backing President Goodluck Jonathan ahead the February 14 general elections. In this interview with Deputy Political Editor, JONATHAN EZE, he listed the achievements of the incumbent and urged Nigerians to vote overwhelmingly for him as a show of gratitude for what he has done for Nigeria. It’s a New Year sir, what are your expectations on the political turf? First of all, let me wish you a Happy New Year. May this be the best year you and your family have ever known. This is an election year in Nigeria, and the next one or two months will be crucial to the progress and health of the nation. It will decide whether Nigeria will continue as one nation or smash into smithereens, as prophesied by the superpowers. Will this year confirm and consolidate our democracy or will it be remembered by generations to come as the year Nigerians endorsed their nation’s death? For many Nigerians, the elections loom with fear and trepidation. Politicians have so heated up the polity that, where we should be looking upon the polls as a routine chore, we have been psyched up into viewing them as a looming landmine capable of triggering a national implosion. This is why the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), a major stakeholder in the elections, has deemed it expedient to offer direction in order to pull the nation back from the brink. With the current atmosphere created by the aspirants, do you think there is hope for the nation? Today, Nigeria staggers under insurgency and terrorism that is very alien to our ethnic and national character. And we have some do-or-die politicians to thank for this. Insurgency and terrorism descended on Nigerians in the wake of the 2011 elections, after politicians of a particular coloration swore to make the country “ungovernable” should they lose the polls. When Nigerians massively rejected these politicians at the polls, these bad losers made good their threats and unleashed the dogs of war through the North-Eastern part of the country. Since then, Nigeria has become one massive killing field with an internally- displaced population of over three million. Shall we cower before those who have brought this tragic and catastrophic atmosphere upon us and reward them with the presidency? Will history play any part in determining fundamentally the result of February 14 Presidential election? One of the unfortunate attributes pinned to Nigerians is our collective amnesia. Nigerians have short memories. Erected on the tombstone of our untimely deceased memories are sculptured tombstones, etched with the annoying words, “forgive and forget.” And yet, it is said that a nation that turns its back on its history will never embrace development. Even if we forgive, must we forget? And then, must we forgive people who deliberately scripted the misfortune of their own nation? Must an entire nation subscribe to the self-serving blackmail of an individual or his sectarian interest group? Can we not stop to think of the political possibilities in our chequered political history? Do we really lack the faculties to remind ourselves of the lessons of history lest we fall into that mistake that keeps recurring in our political life, that mistake that we as Nigerians have been unable to wean ourselves? The problem of Nigeria is not our politics but the fact that we forget too soon. We feel the pain of our flagellation just at the time we are being flogged. Afterward, we go about as if nothing has happened in our history. General Buhari seems to be enjoying goodwill of Nigerians and just like in 2011, when every Nigerian stood for Jonathan, don’t you think the people might have their way? No doubt, General Muhammadu Buhari is a man of history. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is a man of history too. But on which part of history do these two personalities stand? It has nothing to do with the calling and profession of these two men, one being an academic, a Doctorate Degree holder and a lecturer in a tertiary institution; the other, a retired General and former Military Head of State, who seized power through a Military coup in 1983. But obviously, as there are worthless scholars so there are wicked Generals; and noble Generals abound in the barracks even as excellent academics flock the ivory tower. But each man chooses his own path, and the cloak does not make the monk. There is a messianic feeling when the name Buhari is mentioned. What is your take on his overwhelming popularity? General Buhari has often been painted as the Messiah Nigerians have been waiting for. This is turning truth and logic on the head. For the avoidance of doubt, General Muhammadu Buhari is not the saviour Nigeria has been waiting for. The truth is that under Buhari’s “Holier- Than-Thou” façade lurks a smelly throat of evil. Instead of standing for election, General Muhammadu Buhari should in fact be standing trial before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for crimes against humanity over the killing of thousands of Nigerians in the ongoing insurgency and terrorism instigated by him and his supporters. What economic credentials can Buhari flaunt today? What industry has he engaged in since he retired from the Army 29 years ago, to show that he has a hands-on experience to manage men and enterprises? Even in politics, his most visible pastime, what amount of success has he recorded? When he twice failed to win the presidency through the All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP), he abandoned the party and founded the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), where he failed to win the election again. Thereafter, he co-founded the All Progressives Congress (APC), on whose platform he will attempt election again this year. He had unsuccessfully contested the presidency three times already and failed in 2003, 2007 and 2011. He failed against fellow retired General Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West, against Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua a Northerner like himself, and against Dr. Goodluck Jonathan from the South-South. His hypocrisy was recently demonstrated and exposed at the National Convention of the APC. Feigning incorruptibility, he willingly became a beneficiary of the bribe that his supporters, APC governors and businessmen, doled out to delegates to secure his victory. When he served as Petroleum Minister, the N2.8 billion fraud broke out, signifying a new height in corruption in the country. This was a man who served as Chairman of the Petroleum Task Force (PTF) under General Sani Abacha and pretends he made no money. Let him render account for his PTF years. We challenge Buhari to declare the true state of his health. What ailment is he nursing in his vital organs? To prevent history repeating itself, to the frustration of his zone, his kinsmen and indeed all Nigerians should ask this General to subject himself to an independent medical assessment. Have Nigerians forgotten that in 1983 General Muhammadu Buhari overthrew the democratically-elected government under President Shehu Shagari, and unduly dissolved all political parties and democratic structures? Nigeria has never recovered from that brazen Military intervention. You seem not to appreciate anything about General Buhari. Is it a personal feeling or you have ample reasons not to believe in his presidency? General Buhari promulgated the draconian Decree 4 of 1983, where it became an offence to publish the truth, a situation that effectively gagged the Press and resulted in the unjust jailing of Messrs Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of The Guardian newspapers. He Jailed the Afro Beat Musician, Fela Anikulapo- Kuti, for alleged currency trafficking, yet he allowed 53 suitcases of currency belonging to an Emir to pass through the eye of the Nigerian needle at the Ikeja Airport, Lagos; His regime placed a ceiling on the age of Nigerians travelling for pilgrimage to Mecca, yet his deputy General Tunde Idiagbon broke the law and hypocritically took his under-aged son for a trip to the Holy Land; He displayed unrepentant ethnic bigotry and tribal jingoism, jailing Southern politicians like Ambrose Ali, Bisi Onabanjo, Jim Nwobodo and Adekunle Ajasin, while allowing their Northern counterparts liberty to roam free; He held in prison the Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme, while allowing the President great liberty in a token house arrest; Searched the hallowed home of the revered Chief Obafemi Awolowo, UPN Founder and Leader; Had terrible human rights records, by running the infamous Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO) detention cells where people were held without trial in subhuman conditions; Signed the retroactive killing of three young men accused of drugpushing, an offence they committed when the law stipulated only a jail sentence; Displayed utter insensitivity and racism -when he led a protest to then Oyo State Governor Lam Adesina, after long-suffering villagers mustered the courage to finally launch a reprisal attack against the cows of Fulani herdsmen who unleashed orgies of raping, pillaging and killing against their community. Have Nigerians forgotten that Buhari showed disdain for the traditional institution by the shoddy treatment and banishment his regime handed down to the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade?.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 17:39:38 +0000
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