GENERAL Muhammadu Buhari, long after he is gone, will be remembered by two profound statements he made while alive. The first is this: “The present and future generation of Nigerians have no other country than Nigeria.

We must stay here and salvage it together”. He made this statement in 1984 when he was a military head of state who overthrew a democratic regime. His austere regime occasioned a massive brain drain when many Nigerians started trooping abroad for greener pasture.

The second was made when a group of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, loyalists from Niger State paid him a visit in his Kaduna residence recently. He was quoted in the media as saying: “God willing by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way.

If what (happened) in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood”.

Coming exactly a year after the 2011 general elections when his supporters killed many innocent Nigerians in the North, including some members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, mainly Christians from Southern Nigeria, this statement must rank as the most irresponsible ever made by a political leader in this country. Unfortunately, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has cleared Buhari of wrongdoing, saying it was merely a warning that the next elections should be free and fair. Surely, there are many more responsible and effective ways of passing the message? How do Buhari and his supporters in the ACN, CPC and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, expect the parents of the slain NYSC members to feel after reading a statement that effectively says Buhari has no regrets for what his supporters did?

After nearly 10 years of active partisan politics, it is increasingly clearer that Buhari is not psychologically prepared to carry out the necessary adjustments that will make him a successful democrat. He is very experienced, and many people believe he has the capacity to bring about change needed in the system. The question is: How does he get into the presidency, since he has shown he cannot win elections and is not prepared to do so?

It is a job you cannot get through appointment or coup. You need votes to get there. How does Buhari get the votes? And why is he not doing the things he needs to do in order to get the votes? And what are the things he is not doing?

Number one: He is not up to the off-season politicking that will earn him relevance. Immediately after the polls and his usual legal pursuits he goes home and is not heard of again until the next election. And yet, many opportunities exist during the off-season period for him to show Nigerians he is the leader they should have in the State House. How many times has he expressed an opinion on the economy? Power generation? Ways out of fuel imports? Ways of bringing the Boko Haram insurgency to an end?

Why did he not attend the
Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu burial with a large delegation of his party chieftains and make a nice speech to show his personal reconciliation with a man he battled on the war front 45 years ago? Does he think that the role which President Jonathan played in the state burial of the hero of the Igbo nation will be forgotten in 2015? Does he think his continued exclusion of the South East, South-South and North Central from his political calculations is something for which he will be rewarded with votes from these areas in 2015?

Number two: When was the last time Buhari wore an Igbo, South South or Yoruba attire to public function? Why is he always making his most profound political statements in Hausa? Why are there no interactions between him and prominent politicians, businessmen and leaders from anywhere else apart from the North East and North West? During the previous elections he hardly campaigned outside the North. On the other hand, his opponents, Obasanjo, Yar’ Adua and Jonathan swept the entire landscape over and again campaigning.

We have heard Buhari’s threat about bloody dogs and baboons. It will be a foolish parent who will allow his child to do his/her NYSC in Arewa North in 2015. Those who are forewarned are fore-armed. When Buhari’s al Majiri army hits the streets in 2015, we hope Buhari, his children and relations will be at the forefront. We hope it will no longer be the children of the downtrodden who will kill and die for him. The earlier that Buhari realises that he, not external forces, is responsible for his series of electoral defeats, the better for him and the would-be victims of his dogs and baboons democracy.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/05/dog-and-baboon-democrat/