Buhari at 69: The leader Nigeria lacks

“Even when he was denied the presidential elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011, General  Muhammed Buhari  (rtd) is considered to be one of the finest personalities that Nigeria has ever produced with abundant experience to direct the affairs of this country. If only Nigerians were given the chance to determine who should lead them, definitely they will vote him as their president. But here is a  country where people are never given the opportunity to vote the candidate of their choice. The cabal in the ruling party, who have considered it their duty to choose for the people who to lead them will stop at nothing to impose their puppets on Nigerians. Buhari cannot be used so, they must frustrate his presidential ambition, he must be stopped before he rescues the country from their grip.”

Those are the words of Alhaji Salihu Isa Nataro who has worked with Buhari for many years. While speaking to Sunday Trust on phone on the 69th birthday of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential candidate, he said it will be a missed opportunity for the country not to have Buhari as president, considering his selflessness, integrity, transparency and experience.

Buhari, who clocked 69 years on December 17, was born in Daura in 1942 in the present day Katsina State. He became Nigeria’s Head of State on December 31, 1983 and was over thrown on August 27, 1985 through a coup d’ etat which brought General Ibrahim Babangida to power.

The retired general was selected to lead the country by middle and high-ranking military officers after a successful military coup d’etat that overthrew the civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983. He was head of the Third Armoured Division in Jos, Plateau State when he was appointed Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

Buhari first came to public attention in 1976 when he became the Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources under then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then he served as governor of the then newly created North-Eastern State during the regime of  General Murtala Mohammed.

According to Alhaji Shehu Dauda, a follower of Buhari, the CPC leader is admired by many for his uprightness and stand against corruption since his days as military Head of State. It is a fact that we all know,  his government during the military era was revered for its ability to keep the country afloat and making progress through his economic ingenuity even when it rejected IMF loan and refused to adopt its conditions to devalue the Naira. He still made remarkable impact on the nation’s economy compared to what we witness today. Buhari, if you can recall was also praised for reducing inflation, curbing imports of needless goods and curtailing oil theft. He is the type of leader the country needs if we must grow as a nation and live a normal life different from what we witness now,” he said.

Commenting on Buhari, a former Deputy Governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Suleiman Muhammed Argungu, described him as a very good leader that the people of this country have been denied the privilege of having. He said Buhari represents the type of leadership Nigeria is lacking.

“However, he doesn’t listen to his followers but few people and this was responsible for his failure in the presidential elections he has run in this country. But he is a very nice person, very prudent, disciplined, firm and accountable. He is a leader Nigerians are missing,” he stressed.

He said with recent violence and chaos across the country, Nigeria needs leaders like Buhari to restore peace and move the country forward. “I think we need someone like him who is known to be prudent, accountable and sincere to manage our economy because he will not touch our money. When he was with Abacha, the money realized from oil subsidy was well spent by Buhari. I believe if it were he that is in power Nigerians won’t have to worry over the removal of oil subsidy being proposed by PDP [Peoples Democratic Party] government because the money realized will be judiciously spent for developmental needs of this country and its people,” Argungu stated.

Argungu said as chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), a body created by the government of the late General Sani Abacha, and funded from the revenue generated by the increase in price of petroleum products to pursue developmental projects around the country, Buhari was praised for his transparency and accountability.

Though his attempts to realize his presidential ambition are often thwarted, Buhari has vowed to fight on. In 2003, he contested the presidential election as the candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). He was defeated by the PDP candidate President Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, by a margin of more than 11million votes. It was claimed by his supporters and other members of the opposition that in some states like Ebonyi that there were more votes than there were registered voters. Although some allegations of fraud were proved in the court and the conduct of the election was criticized by the Commonwealth Observer Groups, the consensus among Nigerians was that he should not waste his time in court as he did not have the necessary resources to “buy” himself justice.

On December 18, 2006, Buhari was nominated as the consensus candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party. His main challenger in the April 2007 polls was the ruling PDP candidate, the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua who was from the same state with Buhari. In the election, 18 percent of the votes were declared for him against 70 percent for Yar’adua, but Buhari rejected the results and headed for the court again.

In March 2010, Buhari left the ANPP for CPC, a party that he had helped to found. According to him, he had supported the foundation of the CPC “as a solution to the debilitating, ethical and ideological conflicts in my former party the ANPP.”

Buhari was the CPC Presidential candidate in the 16 April 2011 general elections, running against incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP  were the major contenders among 20 candidates. The thrust of his campaign was fight against corruption. He also pledged to remove the immunity clause in the constitution which gives protection to government officials.  12,214,853 votes were declared for Buhari in the election coming second to Jonathan of the PDP with 22,495,187 votes.

However, even at 69 he still remains a “folk hero” to many for his vocal opposition on corruption, oppression of the masses and has vowed to remain in politics to fight injustice till Nigerians are freed from the grip of poverty inflicted by poor leadership and corruption.