The presidency has finally come out to acknowledge what
every forward-thinking Nigerian has concluded a long based on antecedents of
Maj. Gen Buhari. The Presidency has described former Head of State and
presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, Maj.-Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), as the major sponsor of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko
Haram and a leading protagonist of violence.
It said that apart from his ambition to rule the country
again, Buhari had refused to contribute meaningfully to actions capable of
ending insecurity in the country. Buhari, a National Leader of the CPC, had, on
the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday, said that
the Federal Government should be blamed for the lingering security challenges
in the country.
According to Punch Newspaper, Buhari also flayed the
Goodluck Jonathan administration for what he called “poor handling of insurgency”
that had led to the death of many Nigerians and destruction of properties.
While reacting to this, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public
Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said it was unfortunate that such a statement could
emanate from Buhari.
Describing Buhari as a man he respects so much, Okupe
added that he had no option but to reply to his accusations against the Federal
Government and the President.
He reminded Nigerians that Buhari had previously been
credited with a statement that he would make the country ungovernable if the
last presidential election did not favour him. Okupe said, “Everybody in this country knows that it was Buhari who vowed that if
he did not win the election, he would make the country ungovernable for this President
Goodluck Jonathan.
It was this same Buhari who said during the
electioneering period that if the votes were counted and he lost, people should
go for blood.
He is not in any position to apportion blame on the issue
of violence in the North or in Nigeria in general. He is a protagonist of
violence. The only solution he sees to his not being President is to call for
violence. This government has tried to contain some of the repercussions of the
unguarded statements made by Buhari and I don’t think anybody in Nigeria will
take him seriously on this allegation.”
The presidential aide added that if there were those to
be blamed for the insecurity in the country, the name of Buhari should top the
list. Okupe wondered why the Katsina State-born general had refused to visit
states like Borno and Yobe despite the fact that he hails from the northern
part of the country.
He said, “As a former Head of State, have you ever seen
him (Buhari) visiting Borno or Yobe States?
Have you ever seen
him show sympathy to people, either Christians or Muslims that have been killed
during these attacks by Boko Haram? Have you see him as a leader, a man who
traversed the entire length and breadth of the North especially to canvass for
votes seeking an end to the violence? Why is it that he cannot use that same
clout that he has to get leaders together and say we must put an end to this
carnage? He finds it comfortable to shift the blame to other people.
What has he done as a leader, who is from that region to
help Nigeria and the North out of this unfortunate development? Nigerians
should ask him, as a former Head of State and stakeholder in the Nigeria
project and a man who wants to be President again, if he would want Nigeria to
be destroyed up to a point before he can try to wade in? It does not work that
way.”
Okupe said that as a leader, Buhari should stop
apportioning blame, but should do something crucial to bring the carnage in the
country under control.
He reminded the former military ruler that during the
crisis in Niger Delta, leaders from the region went into the creeks and
discussed with the militants to lay down their arms. “Has Buhari done that?
When Christians were killed, he kept quiet, when mosques were bombed, he did
not say anything. He doesn’t have any other interest in Nigeria but his
inordinate ambition to rule,” he added.
In his reaction, Buhari said there was no way he could be
involved in the discussion on how to end the carnage since he was not part of
the problem. Buhari, who spoke through the National Publicity Secretary of the
CPC, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, also said it was apparent that those responsible for
the crisis in the Niger Delta were the ones that volunteered to end it.
He said, “When the Niger Delta militancy reached a
crescendo, some notable people from that region went into the creeks as he
(Okupe) alleged. The question is: ‘Who were the people who started the Niger
Delta imbroglio ab initio?’ If the people that initiated and executed a problem
decided to resolve it, what can anyone do about it? This is totally different
from the Boko Haram palaver.”
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