General Buhari is man of the moment

The focus of the media and indeed the attention of prospective voters have both been on the presidential race in which President Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and General Muhammadu Buhari (retired) of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) are the two most important contenders. The keen interest of the Nigerian public in the presidential election may have sprout from the general belief that it determines the kind of leadership and quality of governance which the next four years may be holding for the country.
Because of the traumatic memories of the 2011 post-election violence, Nigerians have been appealing to politicians and their supporters to be decent in their campaign speeches. However, expectations were dashed soon after the campaigns kicked off. President Jonathan, for instance, was so provoked by a media report that the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) had declared its support for the APC presidential candidate that he said MEND was paid to assassinate him on two occasions; a public remark that baffled many Nigerians. But that remark was only the beginning of series of accusations against the person of General Buhari.
Femi Fani-Kayode’s first outing in office as the media chief of Jonathan’s campaign organization was to ask the police to investigate the link between MEND, Boko Haram, Buhari and APC. When this too failed to damage the image and integrity of General Buhari, his secondary school result became an issue; accusing him of not having one . While this was on, the PDP again accused Buhari of mismanaging finances of the erstwhile Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) which was set up by the late General Sani Abacha. When General Buhari and other APC leaders paid a campaign visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his residence in Abeokuta, the latter absolved Buhari of any wrong doing when he served as chairman of PTF.
The certificate saga, which due to constitutional interpretation of what is meant by secondary school education was not contested in a court of law somehow died down when the principal of the school from where young Buhari graduated in 1961 published the candidate’s WAEC result. No politician among the nearly 3,000 candidates contesting for various elective positions in the 2015 general elections including 14 for the Office of the President and 2,519 for the 469 National Assembly seats has suffered as much vilification from the ruling PDP as the APC’s presidential candidate, General Buhari has so far experienced.
More mischievous in the allegations meant to bring down General Buhari’s name is the recent front page advertisement in four newspapers by the Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose in which he insinuated that General Buhari might die in office. Surprisingly but typical of such impenitent villains, the malicious governor has reaffirmed that he has no regrets over his remarks. Let us remember that it is God’s wish, and not a man’s evil omen, that shapes destiny.  Imam Attirmidhi reports on the authority of Abdullahi bn Abbas (RA) that he was once standing behind the Prophet (SAW) when he heard him say, “…Know that even if the entire (human) community were to make a concerted effort to benefit you in any matter, they would not benefit you in anything except what Allah has prescribed for you. And if they were to make a concerted effort to harm you in any matter, they would not be able to harm you except what Allah has prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages are dry”. This explains why the unsubstantiated accusations advanced by roguish critics of Buhari end in futility.
Like the former Military President General Ibrahim Babangida who recently said he is the most investigated former Head of State, General Buhari in his own moral right qualifies to be the most enduring presidential candidate whose attempts at running for the presidency suffered record resistance from ‘career’ politicians, the elites, corrupt public officers, and retired fellow military generals; but whose brand of personal discipline has kept him over the years as the only incontrovertible choice (in the past three consecutive presidential elections) of the Nigerian masses who invariably constitute the majority of registered voters.
It seems though that the last has not been heard of the groundless allegations designed by the ruling party’s foot soldiers and mercenaries to bring down General Buhari’s hard earned good name and uncommon repute. The politically motivated denigration campaign against Buhari is rather earning him popularity among Nigerians. Buhari’s matured and decent way of managing the issues may have equally accounted for his increasingly growing political charisma. And like wild fire, his prominence keeps spreading just as his political structure keeps maturing.
While ex-militants are threatening war if President Jonathan does not win in the February 14, 2015 presidential election, government (which at the time of submitting this piece was holding a Council of State meeting) is also calling for the postponement of the elections. These intrigues are reflective of the frustration that has enveloped the PDP in its bid to retain power. The party has found itself between desperation and despair. The stoning of the PDP Presidential campaign team in Bauchi by the crowd that was hired and paid for by the same party as confirmed by Governor Isa Yuguda is illustrative of the PDP’s loss of public esteem including the basic goodwill of its supporters. All the states in which the PDP Presidential campaign team was stoned are amazingly states ruled by the PDP.
In the case of APC; its rallies are always besieged by mammoth crowd that appeared more natural than artificial. The fact that the name of the presidential candidate of the APC is echoed at rallies of the PDP as happened in Kaduna and other places makes General Buhari man of the moment. May Allah (SWT) put the reins of power in the hands of those who will be committed to the common good of Nigerians; denying wicked candidates the privilege to lead at any level, amin.