[size=18pt]General Buhari's Maiden Speech: - January 1984[/size]

In pursuance of the primary objective of saving our great nation from total collapse, I, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari of the Nigerian army have, after due consultation amongst the services of the armed forces, been formally invested with the authority of the Head of the Federal Military Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is with humility and a deep sense of responsibility that I accept this challenge and call to national duty.



As you must have heard in the previous announcement, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1979) has been suspended, except those sections of it which are exempted in the constitution.The change became necessary in order to put an end to the serious economic predicament and the crisis of confidence now afflicting our nation. Consequently, the Nigerian armed forces have constituted themselves into a Federal Military Government comprising of a Supreme Military Council, a National Council of States, a Federal Executive Council at the centre and State Executive Councils to be presided over by military governors in each of the states of the federation. Members of these councils will be announced soon.The last Federal Military Government drew up a programme with the aim of handing over political power to the civilians in 1979. This programme as you all know, was implemented to the letter. The 1979 constitution was promulgated. However, little did the military realise that the political leadership of the second republic will circumvent most of the checks and balances in the constitution and bring the present state of general insecurity. The premium on political power became so exceedingly high that political contestants regarded victory at elections as a matter of life and death struggle and were determined to capture or retain power by all means.



It is true that there is a worldwide economic recession. However, in the case of Nigeria, its impact was aggravated by mismanagement. We believe the appropriate government agencies have good advice but the leadership disregarded their advice. The situation could have been avoided if the legislators were alive to their constitutional responsibilities; Instead, the legislators were preoccupied with determining their salary scales, fringe benefit and unnecessary foreign travels, et al, which took no account of the state of the economy and the welfare of the people they represented. As a result of our inability to cultivate financial discipline and prudent management of the economy, we have come to depend largely on internal and external borrowing to execute government projects with attendant domestic pressure and soaring external debts, thus aggravating the propensity of the outgoing civilian administration to mismanage our financial resources. Nigeria was already condemned perpetually with the twin problem of heavy budget deficits and weak balance of payments position, with the prospect of building a virile and viable economy.




The last general election was anything but free and fair. The only political parties that could complain of election rigging are those parties that lacked the resources to rig. There is ample evidence that rigging and thuggery were relative to the resources available to the parties. This conclusively proved to us that the parties have not developed confidence in the presidential system of government on which the nation invested so much material and human resources.While corruption and indiscipline have been associated with our state of under-development, these two evils in our body politic have attained unprecedented height in the past few years. The corrupt, inept and insensitive leadership in the last four years has been the source of immorality and impropriety in our society. Since what happens in any society is largely a reflection of the leadership of that society, we deplore corruption in all its facets. This government will not tolerate kick-backs, inflation of contracts and over-invoicing of imports etc. Nor will it condone forgery, fraud, embezzlement, misuse and abuse of office and illegal dealings in foreign exchange and smuggling.



Arson has been used to cover up fraudulent acts in public institutions. I am referring to the fire incidents that gutted the P&T buildings in Lagos, the Anambra State Broadcasting Corporation, the Republic Building at Marina, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Capital Development Authority Accounts at Abuja and the NET Building. Most of these fire incidents occurred at a time when Nigerians were being apprehensive of the frequency of fraud scandals and the government incapacity to deal with them. Corruption has become so pervasive and intractable that a whole ministry has been created to stem it.



Fellow Nigerians, this indeed is the moment of truth. My colleagues and I – the Supreme Military Council, must be frank enough to acknowledge the fact that at the moment, an accurate picture of the financial position is yet to be determined. We have no doubt that the situation is bad enough. In spite of all this, every effort will be made to ensure that the difficult and degrading conditions under which we are living are eliminated. Let no one however be deceived that workers who have not received their salaries in the past eight or so months will receive such salaries within today or tomorrow or that hospitals which have been without drugs for months will be provided with enough immediately.We are determined that with the help of God we shall do our best to settle genuine payments to which government is committed, including backlog of workers’ salaries after scrutiny. We are confident and we assure you that even in the face of the global recession, and the seemingly gloomy financial future, given prudent management of Nigeria’s existing financial resources and our determination to substantially reduce and eventually nail down rises in budgetary deficits and weak balance of payments position.The Federal Military Government will reappraise policies with a view to paying greater attention to the following areas:



The economy will be given a new impetus and better sense of direction.
Corrupt officials and their agents will be brought to book.
In view of the drought that affected most parts of the country, the federal government will, with the available resources, import food stuffs to supplement the shortfalls suffered in the last harvest.
Our foreign policy will both be dynamic and realistic. Africa will of course continue to be the centre piece of our foreign policy. The morale and combat readiness of the armed forces will be given high priority. Officers and men with high personal and professional integrity will have nothing to fear.



The Chief Justice of Nigeria and all other holders of judiciary appointments within the federation can continue in their appointments and the judiciary shall continue to function under existing laws subject to such exceptions as may e decreed from time to time by the Federal Military Government. All holders of appointments in the civil service, the police and the National Security Organisation shall continue to exercise their functions in the normal way subject to changes that may be introduced by the Federal Military Government. All those chairmen and members of statutory corporations, parastatals and other executive departments are hereby relieved of their appointments with immediate effect.



The Federal Military Government will maintain and strengthen existing diplomatic relations with other states and with international organisations and institutions such as the Organisation of African Unity, the United Nations and its organs, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, ECOWAS and the Commonwealth etc. The Federal Military Government will honour and respect all treaties and obligations entered into by the previous government and we hope that such nations and bodies will reciprocate this gesture by respecting our country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.




Fellow Nigerians, finally, we have dutifully intervened to save this nation from imminent collapse. We therefore expect all Nigerians, including those who participated directly or indirectly in bringing the nation to this present predicament, to cooperate with us. This generation of Nigerians, and indeed future generations, have no country other than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together.

May God bless us all. Good morning.

[size=18pt]05 January 1984 - ITN News (video clip)
GEN. BUHARI PRESIDES AT SWEARING IN OF MILITARY GOVERNORS AND WARNS THEM OF PENALTIES FOR CRIME AND CORRUPTION. (video clip)[/size]

[flash=500,500]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_JjYG-ef8M?version=3[/flash]

http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1984/01/05/AS050184005/?s=nigeria&st=2&pn=96&sortBy=date
(this clip starts moving after first 35seconds)

Nineteen military governors were formally appointed by the new Head of State, Major-General Mohammed Buhari, and other members of the country's Supreme Military Council (SMC) in Lagos on January 4 to run Nigeria's federal states.

General Buhari attended the official swearing-in ceremony, which came four days after he led a bloodless coup ousting former President Shehu Shagari.

Speaking at the ceremony, Buhari reminded his new governors of their duties.All were chosen, he said, for their ability to discharge their responsibilities in the best interests of the country.He went on to warn them that crime and corruption for personal gain, one reason for the coup, would be ruthlessly punished.

General Buhari added the corruption and hoarding in the private sector would not be tolerated.He ended his speech by telling the assembled governors they were answerable to the country's military chiefs of staff and subject to redeployment at any time.

All former state governors have been given a week to report to police.

General Buhari has pledged to revive the country's economy and also to end the armed robberies in major cities that have become commonplace in the last few years.The fate of former top officials in the Shagari administration is still to be decided by the new military government, and Shagari himself is being held in custody.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.64.html

[size=60pt]^^^

Buhari is a religious bigot.

BTW, your stu.p.id. way of posting speeches made about 3 decades ago whenever Buhari is mentioned is doing more damage to his already bastardized image than good.[/size]

^
He is not a religious bigot, do you know that his driver and cook are christians?

Also I heard one of his wives was a christian.

ttt

Abacha was actually a patriotic Head of State  that  advanced Nigeria.

I would categorise Abacha and Buhari as patriotic Nigerian leaders.
Did you know that Abacha refused any IMF loans and never devalued the Naira even by a single kobo over his 5years in power?
Babangida and Obasanjo are enemies of Nigeria and once they snatched power by poisoning Abacha, we have been in a downward spiral.

LEXYLOV:

The truth is that, Not just only the politician, but any corrupt or lazy body who can remember the event of buhari/idiagbon administration of 84/85 will definitely scare of the man coming back to the top seat. simply because the man will totally sanitized, Jailing and recover all the barrels of looting that make them to be top shot. I guess God is not yet ready to deliver 9ja, When that time come we will have someone who will demonstrate what happen in Buhari/Idigbon administration in a real time again. Babangida is the tool of punishment the devil used to teach us a bitter lesson. I wish buhari/idiagbon succeeded in using that wasted 15 or 16 years babangida/abacha used in the office, I tell you the truth Nigeria of today would have surely be one of the greatest. Don't be offended, you can only know if you are matured enough at that time.

GEJ aka Fuel Subsidy aka Tenure Elongation aka any crap goes as long as it is impresses him aka Second in comman to Ngozi Ikwela is the PRICE OF FEAR

give the man credit where credit is due. he was and still is an honest man. the only man in 9ja who is able to stop corruption. and anyone who says otherwise is corrupt himself and therefore likes the way the system is.

i tire

[size=18pt]2nd March 1984 – ITN NEWS
GENERAL BUHARI VISITS YOLA AFTER QUENCHING RELIGIOUS RIOTING THAT LEFT DOZENS DEAD.[/size]
Nigeria's military ruler, Major-General Mohamed Buhari, visited the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola - in Gongola state - February 29 to assess the extent of damage caused by violent communal rioting two days earlier.

The known death toll from the religious disturbances is nearly 140, with at least another 60 persons injured, some critically. Gongola's acting state governor, Colonel Cyril Iweze, blamed the turmoil on fanatical followers of Moslem fundamentalist Muhammadu Marwa Maitatsine's religious sect. Marwa himself was killed in vicious rioting three years ago, when an estimated 4,000 people died.

In disturbances on February 27, the army was eventually called in to quell resistance from thousands of religious fanatics, at least 715 of whom were arrested by security forces.

General Buhari visited the Yola Specialist Hospital during his one-day tour of the gutted city, and also met with the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Mustapha Aliyu, to discuss the situation.


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.64.html

GenBuhari:

Abacha was actually a patriotic Head of State  that  advanced Nigeria.

I would categorise Abacha and Buhari as patriotic Nigerian leaders.
Did you know that Abacha refused any IMF loans and never devalued the Naira even by a single kobo over his 5years in power?
Babangida and Obasanjo are enemies of Nigeria and once the snatched power by poisoning Abacha, we have been in a downward spiral.

I totally agree with your views on Babangida and Abacha. As for Obasanjo and Buhari, I agree with you but only to some extent.

Anyone who says Buhari was a good leader is definitely less than 30 years old.

Facts:

1. Buhari is a weak leader. He was sooooooo weak, his deputy was ruling for him.
2. He was soooooo  weak, the coup that removed him was about the most peaceful in Nigerian history. He couldnt even give any resistance because his deputy, Idiagbon, was out of the country.
3. His leadership was so bad, he didnt even have army rank and file that believed in him or fought for him.
4. He didnt fight any corruption anywhere. He arrested those he didnt like and tried to use corruption to smear them. Prof. Ambrose Alli was one of his victims. The man, who was one of the foremost doctors Nigeria has ever produced, died because of incaceration. Till today, nothing corrupt has been found on him.
5. I was very aware when Buhari was there, the only thing he did was WAI and that was nothing but the same sharia style discipline practiced in countries like Afghan and Syria. They were even flogging girls who wore trousers on the streets. It was pathetic. If the guy had stayed on for up to five years, he would have taken us 20years backwards.
6. The guy had no ideas. He was a complete dunce for the almost 2 years he ruled. Didnt even have a timeline back to democracy. He wanted to be a life president. I cant forget so easily.
7. There was absolutely no reason for him to have truncated the democratic process then but he did because he was covering his oil deals he did under the OBJ government. He was head of petroleum ministry when some major petroleum frauds were carried out in this country. His claim that Nigeria was sinking was complete bull.crap. So why did Nigeria not crash economically after he was overthrone? The guy was a complete religious bigot with a sharia agenda.
8. He openly declared Moslems should only vote for Moslems. Such an i.diot!

Buhari is a big fraud and no amount of sponsorship from his fans will persuade us.

[size=18pt]3rd January 1984  ITN News (video clips)
Buhari moves fast to rescue economy with prompt debt repayment few days after his military take over[/size]

Look at Nigerian economy after takeover by military rulers who have just paid off $50m loan;

[flash=500,500]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15xapP50Sf0?version=3[/flash]

http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1984/01/03/AS030184006/?s=nigeria&st=2&pn=96&sortBy=date

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.32.html

[flash=500,500]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBCRTG_tMu0?version=3[/flash]

http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITN/1984/01/03/AS030184020/?s=nigeria&st=2&pn=96&sortBy=date


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.32.html

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Buhari is a failed Person
we don't need another second PETER RUFAI 

[size=18pt]8th January 1984  -  The NY Times
Buhari steps up search for all Politicians and Officials who have failed to report to a Police Station.[/size]

LAGOS, Nigeria, Jan. 7— Nigeria's new military Government is stepping up searches for former politicians and officials of the civilian Government that was overthrown in a coup a week ago.

The new regime is making television appeals for news of the whereabouts of former officials and other Nigerians who are wanted for questioning and is urging citizens to telephone the police if they have information about those who are being sought.






[size=18pt]10th Janary 1984 - The NY Times
4,000 EX-OFFICIALS SURRENDER IN NIGERIA[/size]

Western diplomats reported today that as many as 4,000 officials of the ousted national and state governments had turned themselves in to the police as part of the new military Government's investigation of corruption. The diplomats said most of the former officials were released, some after their passports were confiscated. But about 400 were reportedly still held under what was described as ''military protection.''

At the same time, the Western diplomats and Nigerian sources said, many of the former officials who were on what the military Government of Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buhari called its ''most wanted list'' have managed to flee the country. Some who were abroad during the military takeover have decided to remain there.


https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.64.html

$GenBuhari:

I would categorise Abacha and Buhari as patriotic Nigerian leaders.
Did you know that Abacha refused any IMF loans and never devalued the Naira even by a single kobo over his 5years in power?
Babangida and Obasanjo are enemies of Nigeria and once the snatched power by poisoning Abacha, we have been in a downward spiral.

These kind of statements can only come from sycophants and boot lickers or at best children.

1. Nigeria's problems did not start with OBJ. It started since the civil war. Nations dont crash in a year or even ten years.
2. Refusing IMF loan is neither a sign of patriotism or economic sense. You dont solve economic problems by doing nothing. Both Buhari and Abacha had no economic plans. Abacha was worst because he just sat in Aso rock and imported girls from India and didnt care what  was happening. Thats gross wickedness. I'll rather have somebody who tried and failed like OBJ than a dormant Abacha. I can never forget the sufferings in the Abacha period. I was in University then. The country came to a grand halt several times. No bank, no fuel, nothing food. Terrible!

Anyone who says Buhari was a good leader is definitely less than 30 years old.

Facts:

1. Buhari is a weak leader. He was sooooooo weak, his deputy was ruling for him.
2. He was soooooo weak, the coup that removed him was about the most peaceful in Nigerian history. He couldnt even give any resistance because his deputy, Idiagbon, was out of the country.
3. His leadership was so bad, he didnt even have army rank and file that believed in him or fought for him.
4. He didnt fight any corruption anywhere. He arrested those he didnt like and tried to use corruption to smear them. Prof. Ambrose Alli was one of his victims. The man, who was one of the foremost doctors Nigeria has ever produced, died because of incaceration. Till today, nothing corrupt has been found on him.
5. I was very aware when Buhari was there, the only thing he did was WAI and that was nothing but the same sharia style discipline practiced in countries like Afghan and Syria. They were even flogging girls who wore trousers on the streets. It was pathetic. If the guy had stayed on for up to five years, he would have taken us 20years backwards.
6. The guy had no ideas. He was a complete dunce for the almost 2 years he ruled. Didnt even have a timeline back to democracy. He wanted to be a life president. I cant forget so easily.
7. There was absolutely no reason for him to have truncated the democratic process then but he did because he was covering his oil deals he did under the OBJ government. He was head of petroleum ministry when some major petroleum frauds were carried out in this country. His claim that Nigeria was sinking was complete bull.crap. So why did Nigeria not crash economically after he was overthrone? The guy was a complete religious bigot with a sharia agenda.
8. He openly declared Moslems should only vote for Moslems. Such an i.diot!

Buhari is a big fraud and no amount of sponsorship from his fans will persuade us.

This @GenBuhari is so hilarious. After a coup, you arrest people and lock them up because you have to secure your catch. It has absolutely nothing to do with your love for country. It is just a very selfish act. So post all the crap you like, it wont deceive a fly

dmainboss, if u had a chance to rule, would u be corrupt or not

dmainboss:

Anyone who says Buhari was a good leader is definitely less than 30 years old.

Facts:

1. Buhari is a weak leader. He was sooooooo weak, his deputy was ruling for him.
2. He was soooooo  weak, the coup that removed him was about the most peaceful in Nigerian history. He couldnt even give any resistance because his deputy, Idiagbon, was out of the country.
3. His leadership was so bad, he didnt even have army rank and file that believed in him or fought for him.
4. He didnt fight any corruption anywhere. He arrested those he didnt like and tried to use corruption to smear them. Prof. Ambrose Alli was one of his victims. The man, who was one of the foremost doctors Nigeria has ever produced, died because of incaceration. Till today, nothing corrupt has been found on him.
5. I was very aware when Buhari was there, the only thing he did was WAI and that was nothing but the same sharia style discipline practiced in countries like Afghan and Syria. They were even flogging girls who wore trousers on the streets. It was pathetic. If the guy had stayed on for up to five years, he would have taken us 20years backwards.
6. The guy had no ideas. He was a complete dunce for the almost 2 years he ruled. Didnt even have a timeline back to democracy. He wanted to be a life president. I cant forget so easily.
7. There was absolutely no reason for him to have truncated the democratic process then but he did because he was covering his oil deals he did under the OBJ government. He was head of petroleum ministry when some major petroleum frauds were carried out in this country. His claim that Nigeria was sinking was complete bull.crap. So why did Nigeria not crash economically after he was overthrone? T[b]he guy was a complete religious bigot with a sharia agenda.[/b]
8. H[b]e openly declared Moslems should only vote for Moslems[/b]. Such an i.diot!

Buhari is a big fraud and no amount of sponsorship from his fans will persuade us.

@dmainboss
You're so right on point here. Thanks.

al-qaeda:

dmainboss, if u had a chance to rule, would u be corrupt or not

What kind of silly question is that? Be serious my friend. What we are discussing is a serious issue.

1. Buhari didnt fight any corruption. I was very much aware of that when he ruled. He was just a weak military dictator hiding behind a strong deputy. Very much like Abacha hiding behind the dark shades.
2. Strenght and weakness is not determined by a man's ability to shout and act and put up a face to deceive. It is in making tough decisions to help society and sticking to it. Much like GEJ is doing.

So sorry i wont fall for that. Try something else.

dmainboss:

What kind of silly question is that? Be serious my friend. What we are discussing is a serious issue.

1. Buhari didnt fight any corruption. I was very much aware of that when he ruled. He was just a weak military dictator hiding behind a strong deputy. Very much like Abacha hiding behind the dark shades.
2. Strenght and weakness is not determined by a man's ability to shout and act and put up a face to deceive. It is in making tough decisions to help society and sticking to it. Much like GEJ is doing.

So sorry i wont fall for that. Try something else.

Epic @ the bolded.

And nobody is afraid of him. We dont just like him Period. Is that so hard to understand?

Are you guys not ashamed that you cannot produce another good candidate and you want to keep recycling that old foo.l. Haba, you guys try and regroup and come up with something better. This is beginning to sound like broken record. Old school mix. Even Bright Chimezie sounds better right now, honestly!

Boko Haram Leader

Bad Market Buhari

dmainboss:

What kind of silly question is that? Be serious my friend. What we are discussing is a serious issue.

1. Buhari didnt fight any corruption. I was very much aware of that when he ruled. He was just a weak military dictator hiding behind a strong deputy. Very much like Abacha hiding behind the dark shades.
2. Strenght and weakness is not determined by a man's ability to shout and act and put up a face to deceive. It is in making tough decisions to help society and sticking to it. Much like GEJ is doing.

So sorry i wont fall for that. Try something else.

thx for answering my question. just as expected. i rest my case.

Buhari would have made a good president, but he ruined his chances with his past utterances and actions.
He was not a bad GOC in Jos, in fact he was known to be fair and straightforward. (How I take sabi? I be an ex-BB)
He has loads of baggage, e.g his fellow Hausa Fulani elites think he has an axe to grind with them, on account of how they flocked to IBB as soon as Buhari was overthrown.
Down South, the Southerners are very distrustful of him and his mien. He looks like he has agenda to pursue, an agenda that has religion and bigotry written all of over it.
The Middle Belters don't trust him at all, at all. Why He is part of a Northern establishment that specialized in using Middle Belt Officers to do their hatchet jobs. He is also viewed as one from a place that has sent the highest number of Middle Belt Officers to the gallows.
Even if the election is conducted a 1,000 times, BUharia and IBB will always lose in the Middle Belt. The reason is very simple, this zone has a very high number of retired military men who saw and/or know the so-called Buhari and IBB first-hand. It will take a non-military connected northern candidate to win the votes of the Middle belt, as things stand. Should anyone doubt the power of ex-soldiers, go and read the role of the ex WW 2 veterans in the struggle for independence in Africa and other places.

[size=18pt]Buharinomics - General Buhari’s economic program marshaled out to salvage the nation in 1984 [/size]

http://www.elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5720:is-general-buhari-the-problem-with-nigeria&catid=36:pointblank&Itemid=83

Buharinomics was General Buhari’s economic program marshaled out to salvage the nation in 1984. He summarized the objective of his economic policy (as articulated in the 1984 budget) as follows: "To arrest the decline in the economy, to put the economy on a proper course of recovery and solvency, and to chart a future course for economic stability and prosperity" (West Africa, May 14, 1984). He had previously done similarly, in March while receiving the visiting Sudanese President, Gaafar Nimeiri. Upon his inquiring of what the new military government had in mind for the nation it then ruled, Buhari said to him: "The priority [of his administration] is for economic recovery, providing employment opportunities, improving people's living conditions, consolidating internal security and ensuring foreign respect" (Africa Now, March 1984). In a nutshell, Buharinomics set out to arrest the decline in the economy and refocus it towards recovery. Buharinomics was to wean the nation off consumerism and profligacy, while channeling it towards frugality and productivity. To accomplish this, the government was to cut down on its expenditure, engage in more efficient restricting and controlling of foreign exchange outflow, undertake the revival of the country's productive capacity (concentration was on agriculture), and broaden government's revenue base.

The first test of Buharinomics was implemented to revive the comatose banking industry and arrest local currency hoarding. In April 1984, the government ordered a change in the color of the Naira. This action was dubbed the “real coup” by unscrupulous business men and politicians who had almost eliminated the need for commercial banking in Nigeria by keeping their moneys under their mattresses or by trafficking them into neighboring West African countries. This currency change, which forced all holders of the naira notes into exchanging them for the new naira notes at commercial banks, infused billions that had remained unaccounted for into the banking industry and eliminated counterfeited currencies, which had inflicted inflationary and other nefarious effects on the economy. This measure had an immediate revitalizing effect in the banking industry and was an unqualified success. Banks that were close to collapsing became vibrant again, to the extent that some of them began to hire hitherto unemployed Nigerians.

To cut down on government expenses, the federal work force was cut by 30% and imports for 1984 pegged at 4 billion pounds (mostly on basic foodstuffs, spare parts, and raw materials for local industries), against 14 billion pounds spent in 1983. To ensure that Nigeria remained respectable on the international business world, Buhari committed to honoring Nigeria’s debt payment schedule irrespective of the limited earning potential of Nigeria. In August 1984, Buhari was on one of his meet-the-people nationwide tours, which he began as soon as the administration got on its feet. Everywhere he went, the people embraced him, coming out en mass and ushering him tumultuous cheers and unreserved applause. In one of his speeches to the people (this one in Owerri), he reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to honoring its debts, the dire economic situation notwithstanding. "The task of this administration is how to persuade Nigerians to understand that for a number of years to come, we would be paying debts, the roads may be long and thorny but we believe that on our shoulders lies the responsibility to save our fatherland from devastation that has resulted from mismanagement" (Newswatch, February 18, 1985).

Buhari could not have been any more correct in his statement above. Assuming Nigeria took no further loans, its breakdown of loan repayments was as follows: 3.9 billion naira ($4.4 billion) in 1985, 3.7 billion naira ($4.19 billion) in 1986, 2.8 billion naira ($3.2 billion) in 1987, until a decrease to 703 million in 1991 (Concord Weekly, May 6, 1985). Nigeria’s precarious financial situation made it impossible for it to finance capital projects and meet up its balance of payment obligations. With oil export pegged at 1.3 million barrels per day by OPEC, borrowing from external sources became necessary. To this effect, Nigeria proposed borrowing 1.795m naira to finance its capital project from the IMF. The patriotism with which General Buhari handled Nigeria’s dealings with the IMF was the highlight and beauty of Buharinomics.

In order to qualify for the loan, IMF gave Nigeria certain conditions which must be met. In 1984 when the naira exchanged for $1.34, the IMF demanded a minimum of 60% devaluation of it. Buhari refused, agreeing only to a "crawling peg"—a mechanism whereby government would realign the currency gradually, forestalling or minimizing economic and social dislocations because of such drastic devaluation of its currency. In addition to the devaluation of the naira, IMF demanded that government took other drastic actions:  (a) The government must remove its subsidy on petroleum. (b) It must curtail its expenditure. (c) Government must rationalize its tariff structures. (d) It must put a freeze on its wages. (e) It must put a total end of non-statutory transfers to State governments, (f) Government must at least institute a 30% raise on interest rates—government resisted this because the decline in its revenue earnings and its debt obligations made it almost impossible to raise interest rates without triggering inflation (West Africa, May 14, 1984).

The Nigerian government and veteran economists in Nigeria (like Aluko, Onosade, Okigbo, etc) could not make sense of being asked to devalue its currency when Nigeria’s imports were in dollar and its export (fixed quantity of oil) was also in dollar. The implication of devaluation was that Nigeria would pay more to import lesser quantity of goods than it did prior to any devaluation. It would also export the same amount of oil it exported before any devaluation and derive lesser revenue than it received before any devaluation The impacts of it debt payment would have harsher effect on the citizenry if the naira was devalued. This did not make any economic sense to Buhari; it struck him as an insult on the intelligence of the African. Finance Minister Onaolapo Soleye and Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji who led the Nigerian delegation to the last negotiation in Washington were chewed out by US Federal Reserve Chairman, Paul Volcker, for presenting the Nigerian governments rejection of most of these recommendations. For rejecting the IMF conditions and the loan, the Buhari administration got into the black book of Washington. Already, it had earned the dislike of 10 Downing Street for cutting down Nigeria’s imports from the UK by about 350%. In any case, without the IMF loan, government was still in a bind as to how to finance capital projects and pay for imports, especially spare parts for local industries, food items, etc. At this juncture, the genius and resourcefulness of Buharinomics illuminated to the delight of the African.

First, the administration sent Oil Minister Tam David West to OPEC to seek a raise in the quantity of oil that Nigeria could export. If OPEC agreed, Nigeria would expect to generate extra revenue in the long run from any increase of its oil quota and this would assist tremendously in augmenting the shortfall in the nation’s purse. Professor West came back empty handed—the US and Britain had put pressure on their puppets in OPEC (like Saudi Arabia) to refuse Nigeria’s request.

To counter OPEC’s bluff, the Buhari administration entered into a $2 billion barter trade agreement with four countries. Nigeria daily bartered 200,000 barrels of oil as follows: (a) completely knocked down parts for automobiles from Brazil. (b) Construction equipment from Italy (c) Engineering equipment from France, and (d) Capital goods from Austria. This barter trade took care of the administration’s need to have borrowed money but it intensified the ill will the US and Britain had for Nigeria. By bartering this oil, Nigeria was: (a) solving those needs which the proposed IMF loan was geared toward. Doing so without borrowing or feeling the pains of spending the meager amount generated from its OPEC approved 1.3 billion a day oil export is the stuff an economic wizard is made of. (b) Britain had been cut off as Nigeria’s major supplier of the goods which the countries in the barter agreement sent to Nigeria. (c) The US usurious money lenders were denied the chance to suck Nigeria dry through the IMF loan. (d) American and British oil companies were irate that the oil being bartered would flood the oil market, cutting in on their profits. (d) The oil being bartered was oil that used to be illegally bunkered before Buhari put illegal oil bunkering artist out of business. For once, an African country had put positive economic mechanism in place to salvage its ailing economy without swallowing IMF’s poison pills.

As far as America and Britain were concerned, there was a price to be paid by this Buhari, who thought he was smart enough not to accept subservience to their authority. To begin with, a London newspaper (The Financial Times) published Nigeria’s barter trade agreement with Brazil (which, in truth, was done in secrecy because Buhari treated some aspects of his economic policy as State secret). The British thought it was going to incite OPEC against Nigeria since OPEC as a body did not support oil bartering. Oil Minister Tam David West, in a press conference, said, “If a nation believes it is part of its strategy for national survival to do this [barter trade], why not?” To assure OPEC that Nigeria was not indulging in barter trade in order to pull out of OPEC, he added ”Our strategy is to stay in OPEC and make its presence felt, and work together on programs that will be for the economic interest of all” (Concord Weekly, May 6, 1985). There is more to this barter trade than time will permit one to detail in this piece. For now, it is worth noting that it was the major reason for which Britain and America wanted the Buhari administration overthrown.

The counter trade showcased Buhari as a visionary. He made America and Britain feel silly and they swore to get him out of office. When Babangida took over, on his maiden speech to the nation he promised to revisit the counter trade agreements. Within two weeks in office, September 17, 1985, he setup a panel to review it and recommend to his administration how to revive the economy without the use of counter trade. Babangida rolled back counter trade at the behest of his imperialist masters and at the detriment of the Nigerian nation and people.

By the time the Buhari administration was overthrown in August of 1985, Buharinomics was beginning to yield dividends. For example, the inflationary rate had fallen from 23.2% in 1983 to 5.5% in 1985. Nigeria did not regret rejecting the IMF loan because it was meeting its obligation of prompt debt payment and the bartered goods were, to some extent, holding up within the austerity measure which had been in place since the Shagari days. Food was becoming reasonably available for two reasons: (a) The emphasis paid to agriculture had resulted in abundant food harvests, especially yam tubers. (b) The border closure made it impossible for unscrupulous business men to continue smuggling food items into neighboring countries where they sold for twice their value in Nigeria.

Had Buharinomics continued for at least five years, Nigeria would have joined the Asian tigers in economic growth and self reliance. We know that to be true because Babangida came into office and did everything the IMF asked and the Nigerian economy took a dive into the gutter and has not recovered yet.

[size=18pt]Buhari never made bigotted utterances he was accused of, watch and learn:[/size]


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U6WU3oXInw?version=3[/flash]

A different person different Opinion! May God spares us and observe the time in which the wind of Change will transpire in Nigeria.

BAd or good allow Buhari to rule as well period why is everybody against him,