The following are the ten sinful women or those women who are accursed and who will be removed from the mercy of Allaah تعالى:

1. Tattooing: the one who does it and the one who gets it done.

2. Plucking the eyebrows: the doers and the one who gets it done.

3. Artificially creating space between the teeth to look beautiful: the doers and the one who gets it done.

Source (Hadith): ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood said: I heard the Messenger of Allah saying,

❝ Allah has cursed the woman who does tattoos and the one who has them done, the woman who plucks eyebrows (al-naamisah) and the one who has it done (al-mutanammisah), and the one who files her teeth for the purpose of beauty, altering the creation of Allaah. ❞ 

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5931; Muslim, 2125)

4. Adding false hair: the provider of false hair and the one who gets it done.

Source (Hadith): Narrated Ibn `Umar and Abu Hurairah : The Prophet ﷺ has cursed the lady who lengthens her hair artificially and the one who gets her hair lengthened, and also the lady who tattoos (others) and the one who gets herself tattooed.

(Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (5933, 5934, 5937, 5940, 5942, 5947, ) and Saheeh Muslim (5298, 5300) and also reported on the authority of `Aaishah)

5. The woman whose husband is angry at her:
Source (Hadith): Narrated Abu Hurairah:

The Prophet said,
❝ If a woman spends the night deserting her husband's bed (does not sleep with him), then the angels send their curses on her till she comes back (to her husband). ❞ 
(Saheeh Buhari (3237, 5193, 5194) and Saheeh Muslim (3366, 3368))

6. Those who imitate men:

Source (Hadith): Narrated Ibn `Abbaas: Allah’s Messenger ﷺ cursed those men who are in the similitude (assume the manners) of women and those women who are in the similitude (assume the manners) of men. (Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (5885))

7. Those Women who are Ungrateful to their Husband:
Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet said,

❝ I was shown the Hell-fire
and that the majority of its dwellers were women who were ungrateful. ❞ It was asked, ❝ Do they disbelieve in Allah? ❞ (or are they ungrateful to Allah? The prophet replied, ❝ They are ungrateful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the favors and the good (charitable deeds) done to them. If you have always been good to one of them and then she sees something in you (not of her liking), she will say, 'I have never received any good from you.' ❞
(Saheeh al- Bukhaaree Vol. 7 Hadith no.5197)

8. Those Women who wears Perfume and goes out (to the market or mosque):

It was narrated from Abu Moosa (Radiyyallahu Anhu) that the Prophet said, ❝ If a woman puts on perfume and passes by people so that they can smell her fragrance, then she is such and such, ❞ and he (Salalahu Alayhi Wasalam) spoke sternly - meaning an adulteress (zaaniyah).

(Narrated by Abu Dawood (4173) and al-Tirmidhi (2786); classed as saheeh by Ibn Daqeeq al-Eid in al-Iqtiraah (126) and by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi)

N.B: It is not permissible for women to put on perfume, whether she is going to the mosque or anywhere else; rather it is narrated that women are specifically forbidden to use perfume when going to the mosque.

Source (Hadith): It was narrated that Zaynab, the wife of ‘Abd-Allah ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with her and her husband) said: The Messenger of Allaah said to us,

❝If one of you (women) wants to go to the mosque, let her not put on perfume.❞
(Saheeh Muslim (443))

9. Women making a wanton display of themselves (Tabarruj) and showing their charms and not adhering to correct Islamic hijab and noble Islamic manners.

10. Those Women who pile their hair on top of their heads(camel hump hijab), they will not see Paradise or smell its fragrance:

Narrated Abu Hurayrah (Radiyyallahu Anhu) that the Prophet ﷺ said:

❝ There are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not seen: men with whips like the tails of cattle with which they strike the people, and women who are clothed but naked, walking with an enticing gait, with something like the humps of camels on their heads. They will not enter Paradise nor even smell its fragrance, and its fragrance can be smelled from such and such a distance. ❞.
(Saheeh Muslim)

Al-Nawawi said concerning the meaning of this passage: “clothed yet naked” means that they will uncover part of their bodies to show their beauty, so they will be clothed yet naked. And it was said that they will wear thin clothes which shows what is beneath them, so they will be clothed yet virtually naked.

On the authority of Abu Harayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (ﷺ), who said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Spend (on charity), O son of Adam, and I shall spend on you. It was related by al-Bukhari (also by Muslim).


40 Hadith Qudsi
Arabic/English book reference:Hadith 11 (40 Hadith Qudsi)

I kept wondering why we (human) don't go back to the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet. Allah in His infinite wisdom created all human from one man and woman and make us one race which is the race of human. He made us look black or white out of His supreme wisdom for easy identification for us.
Then I wonder why we (humans) have created artificial divisions among ourselves in colour, tribe, race and ethnic lines.
These divisions creation has definitely led us into the inhuman mess we are right now. Almost in every countries of the world today, you see divisions along either race or tribe or ethnic and it has been a basis for self inflicting conflicts and war. Yet we pray to the Almighty to save us from the self inflicting conflicts we created with our own hands.
The Prophet said Allah is never interested in our look (colour, beauty etc) nor in our wealth (riches, knowledge) rather His interest lies in our heart (faith, intention) and our deeds.
Why then do we base our judgements of dealing with fellow humans based on colour or tribe when indeed our creator Who knows all shows no interest in it.
The earlier we go back into the words of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet the better our world. The peace we seek is never an impossible thing for Allah to do but we have to change our ways before Allah restores peace in this world because He said in His holy book that "Verily! Allah will not change the good condition of a people as long as they do not change their state of goodness themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah)." Q 13 V 11.

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It was funny to many Nigerians when President Goodluck Jonathan on-one-occasion said that the members of an Islamic sect known as Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad but basically called Boko Haram which translates to Book is Sin, had infiltrated his government, not excluding the security agencies. The ceaseless killing and destruction

of property in the northern part of Nigeria by the sect only took the centre stage of national discourse and became a nightmare of a sort to Nigerians before a proposed amnesty to the unlawful was announced by the Federal Government (FG).

A former Governor of Abia State was quoted in March as saying that government security agents could be the brain behind the craze of the bombings that were always ascribed to be masterminded by the sect, due to the reality of unintelligence that was associated with the group’s members.

Government apparatuses did not take the comment of the ex-governor with a smidgen of the salt. They said that it was miserable that such a comment was coming from a highly placed person in the society. They also said that it was appalling that the ex-governor could make such statement that was able, according to them, of downplaying the efforts of the security operatives in the fight against the terrorists.

What these persons in the vilification exercise of the ex-governor did not realise was that the sect’s insurrection did not start this year. Some records traced when the insurgents began to cause mayhem in the country to 1999. It was the year Nigeria returned to civil rule and power shifted from the Hausa/Fulani military rulers who were changing the leadership of the country within themselves, but through coup.

Security operatives were always wielding guns in the streets in their quest to fight these hydra-headed fiends. Many security units were created out of the existing security agencies. The Anti-Terrorism Squad, a security outfit especially trained to mind the bomb activities of the dreaded terrorists was one of the newly created security outfits yet, the activities of the terrorists seemed not to abate.

The newly created security agencies were not at their best; about 50 insurgents carried out an attack in Bauchi prison on 7 September 2010. Parts of the prison were set on fire and five persons were killed. Among those that escaped from the prison were 721 prisoners, which included 150 members of the Islamist group, who were principally in anticipation of trial for sectarian aggression in the country in 2009. The authorities later reported that unspecified number of prisoners returned to the prison and others were re-arrested to complete their short sentences.

Angered by the killings and destructions followed the governor of the state proclamation on 8 September 2010 that the members of Boko Haram would be forcefully hounded out of the state if they did not leave the state peacefully. Hopes were given to tighten security across the troubled region.

There was a belief that the insurgents started to attack the northern part of the country than ever after the 2011 presidential election was announced and a southerner (Jonathan) was declared winner. The Nigerian state matched the group with action, but in its attempts to flush the terrorists out of the system, did not yield the expected result in the hands of the security operatives.

One of the failed efforts of the security operatives in curbing the menace was the narrowly escape of Abubakar Shekau understood to be the Boko Haram’s leader, who had fled Nigeria some months back. He succeeded the late Mohammed Yusuf as leader of the sect who died in 2009.

But how Shekau escaped arrest in Kano when a joint security team stormed an apartment in the Naibawa Darnamawa area of the city, where he had for long been hiding, did not meet the eyes. This was coming after sometime in mid December 2011, a shared team of the State Security Service, the Nigerian Army, and the Police hurricaned the apartment after the SSS had placed it under 24 hour supervision for a handful of days.

What Nigerians were told was that Shekau was almost taken-into-custody when effusive armed members of the sect commenced a ferocious attack on the security team, scything down three police officers on the spot. Nigerians were also told that while the swap of fire between the security team and the rebels lasted, a Golf car with registration number, AE 913 TBW, went-fast into the compound. In a short time, Shekau and his family members were sprinted into the car and transported off. And many Nigerians wondered where the security operatives who engaged the indefinable terrorists in the alleged exchange of fire were and the Golf moved out with Shekau.

And as soon as the car sped off, said a report, the sect members who engaged the security team, pulled back and fled in different directions; one sect member was killed in the process, two ran-away with bullet injuries, while one Suleiman Gambo (alias Babangida) was arrested. The Golf car that was used in shipping Shekau away was said to have been later recovered from Gambo’s apartment in Sokoto. By Monday, 05 March 2012, the news of Shekau escaping arrest was everywhere. His wife was arrested and two top politicians were probed over the sect’s funding. A former governor’s relation (not the Abia’s) was also said came under inspection. All boiled down to one or the other connection they had with Boko Haram.

An account said: On December 23, the team traced the Boko Haram leader to a house at Mando area of Kaduna, and to another apartment at Badarawa area of the city. The house at Badarawa was put under surveillance by the SSS before the joint security team stormed it in full force on December 26. However, the team found no one in the apartment as Shekau was believed to have left the house two days earlier, suggesting that he got intelligence he was being trailed.

When the arrest was carried out by a team of security personnel, Boko Haram attacked hospitals and schools in that regard. Reports of Sunday, 24 March 2013, said that 127 prisoners escaped in a Nigerian jail attack. This occurred when gunmen attacked their jailhouse in Adamawa State. As of the time the report was made known, a prison chief said the prisons authorities had not made any re-arrest.

An Adamawa State prison chief confirmed to newsmen that only one prisoner was shot, and that was in the leg. A deputy comptroller in charge of the Ganye prison was shot dead by the gunmen in the attack. The gunmen also killed 25 people in chain of attacks on different locations of that day in Ganye. The tools the gunmen were said to have used in any attack were bombs, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, and other dangerous munitions. They did not spare prison, police station and bank in their operations, including their mastery in mowing down human beings, which had left about 4, 500 people dead since 2009.

There was always panic in the areas where the sect had attained the status of celebrity, especially in the North-East. Benue was one of the states. The state did not know peace on Saturday January 5, 2013, when another Boko Haram agent known as Ali Jalingo escaped arrest in Gboko South of the state from a combined team of soldiers and men of the State Security Service with bullet wounds.

Like many dismayed Nigerians about the news, a former Lagos State Police Commissioner expressed shock over the escape of Ali Jalingo. He described it as shameful, and advised that the officer in-charge for intelligence gathering should be held legally-responsible for their powerlessness to bring the wrongdoer to book. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) recommended that the police commissioner to whom the escape was linked and other persons connected with Boko Haram’s activities be arrested and prosecuted. The association also described the development as shameful and that it was an authentication of the fear that some officials of the security agencies might have conciliated over the Boko Haram insurgency.

Hear the ex-cop’s chief: “In one breath we were told the kingpin was arrested while on the other hand we also heard the suspect escaped.”

A former Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zakari Biu, was dismissed when a suspected Boko Haram member, Kabir Sokoto, escaped from his custody at Abaji, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory. Sokoto was the alleged mastermind of the Christmas Day bombing of Saint Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State. Arrested at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja, Sokoto was said escaped while being taken for a search of his apartment 24 hours later.

Many Nigerians bewailed that disciplinary action be meted out to the joint team of security officials who allowed Jalingo to escape. What the security operatives succeeded in doing, according to investigation, was to demolish a residential apartment contended to be harbouring the suspect. This was after soldiers numbering about 10 in number kept vigil in the area. They also arrested a girl staying with him, a Gboko’s friend and landlord. Not even the house-to-house search in the wee hours of the day conducted by the operatives, who were armed to the teeth, saved the situation before Ali was later arrested through a hint believed that was afforded by his brothers known as Hassan and Husseini. Seemingly, Ali accepted having links with the sect but denied membership of the sect.

Before Ali was re-arrested, it was counter excuse and blame by security operatives on the other. A Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) said: "It was not the police in Benue that carried out the operation. The incident happened in Gboko, Benue State, but it was the military and the state security service in Abuja that carried it out. And so we (Benue police command) cannot give the details of the incident and I cannot tell you anything more than that."

This was also how a suspected Boko Haram member, who was linked as the bomber of the Main Mosque, Hausa Quarters in Sapele, Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State, which incident the security agents purportedly tried to underplay died on December 10, 2011, and no tangible result, was given as to what killed the once dreaded terrorist. All that was told by the security operatives was that the detained Boko Haram agent gave up the ghost a few days ago following the failure of the medical team at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) to save his life after weeks of medical attention.

It was in the hearsay that Boko Haram henchmen lived in affluence, anywhere they were spotted in any area. They were not without suicide vehicles charged with bomb; and bulky number of GSM recharge/sim cards, face masks, vital bank documents and suicide bombers’ note. The escape of arrest by Boko Haram members upon the heavily armed combined team of the security operatives was full of suspicion of having organised connections with the powers that felt they were. That notion came to glare with the arrest of one of the sect’s suspected leaders, Hassan Pagi Bukar, right in the house of a 2003-2007 member of the House of Representatives, at Gwarimpa area of the Federal Capital territory, FCT, Abuja.

But all that was heard later of the incident was that the member of the House of Representatives was briefly arrested and interrogated and was released on condition that he should be visiting the security agency that effected the arrest on appointment. It was learnt that interrogation of Bukar disclosed that he (Bukar) was briefly a member of the sect and his duty was to clutch to robbery activities by divesting members of the public of their cars, of which he implicated the former Rep, as one of the buyers of some of the stolen cars.

While some persons purportedly connected to the business of Boko Haram were let loose or they loosed themselves, on Tuesday 16 August 2012 a Brigadier-General, a former Commander, 33 Artillery Brigade, Bauchi, was arraigned before a Special Court Martial over the escape from the brigade’s detention facilities of two detainees suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect who were arrested over an assault in Bauchi late 2010. Inaugurating a six-member panel in Jos, the GOC, 3 Armoured Division, a Major-General said that the Brigadier-General was indicted for complicity by a military investigations report.

That showed it was not out of place when a source said that a security consultant claimed that Boko Haram was sponsored by wealthy Nigerians. This consultant who was a guest on a Channels Television’s morning programme, Sunrise Daily, was speaking against the background of the events in Borno State, where the military Joint Task Force (JTF) announced the arrest of one Shuaib Mohammed Bama in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and described him as: “A high profile Boko Haram Commander who has been on the list of wanted terrorists operating between Bama and Maiduguri.”

The SSS linked the arrested Boko Haram Commander to Damboa Road, GRA Maiduguri, in what was described as “a serving senator’s house” representing Borno Central Senatorial district. The senator accepted that the suspect was his nephew but however denied that the Boko Haram member was arrested in his house. He held that the suspect was arrested in a house belonging to a former governor of the state. Ostensibly a Speaker of Kogi House of Assembly was dragged to court by two lawmakers under him in relation to Boko Haram matter.

The escape of Boko Haram members from the security operatives’ custody nearly became a culture. On November Friday 9, 2012 the news of a commander of the sect known as Sani Mohammed escape from police custody in Abuja had filtered into the air on Thursday 8, where he was kept with other terror suspects. He was regarded as a notorious terrorist, who was arrested with Kabir Sokoto in January, 2012. The Force Headquarters nonetheless rebuffed the claim, and said that no terror suspect escaped. But according to reports, security sources substantiated that Mohammed made-off from custody.

Worried by these escapes, the presidency called for probe over the escape of Boko Haram members from the security operatives’ custody. By Saturday, 21 January 2012 it was all over the media that a National Security Adviser (NSA), (now late), had set up a high-capacity committee to investigate the then Inspector General of Police (IGP).

The committee was believed followed-up a response to the query issued to the IGP over the escape of Kabir Umar Sokoto from police custody. It was in-that-case the Minister of Police Affairs, who revealed this to State House correspondents in Abuja on Friday. Those involved in the committee were not revealed, but according to sources, it encompassed senior military officers and personnel from the Ministry of Police Affairs, and had about one week to place in its report.

The embattled IGP was given 24 hours to re-arrest the suspect, who escaped while he was being shepherded by police on a rummage-around mission in his residence. There was widely expectation that the IGP would be sacked, but the minister indicated differently. He apparently believed that the panel should be given a chance to complete its obligation first.

The Minister of Police Affairs stated: Like I did say the other time, I have given some directives. The Inspector General of Police has responded. A committee has been set up above the police which takes into cognizance experts in various aspects to come together and conduct another investigation. So, that is being assembled and they have been set up to work. I think this is how far we have gone... I have to tell Nigerians that, because an investigation panel has been set up, they (Nigerians) should be patient and allow them do their job very briefly. A time line has been given to them and at the end of that, something will come out. So, we should not preempt.

While the suspected Boko Haram members escaped from the security operatives, the police resorted to arrest a traditional ruler of a satelite town in Abuja, the Ona of Abuja, over the escape of Kabir Sokoto. The monarch was arrested alongside his son and it was believed that Kabir Sokoto escaped in his palace, having allegedly ordered the investigating team to bring the suspect to his palace before commencing on any search. It was complicity of stories!

The Federal Government believed that many of the escaped Boko Haram members left the country for Mali. Shekau, who was having N50 million ransom hanging on his head from the Federal Government, was the most sought. By December, a total sum of N290 million ransom was approved for anyone who could assist in locating Shekau and 18 other leaders of Boko Haram. The Federal Government therefore approved the deployment of 1,200 soldiers to Mali, seemingly because of the need to arrest the wounded dishonorable Boko Haram leader.

Before the officers of Nigerian Army were airlifted to Mali following the escalation of the Malian crisis, one statement credited to the Chief of Army Staff who addressed them was, “to be extra vigilant as there are indications that some terrorists had sneaked into the country with the aim of causing havoc”.

It was further learnt that Shekau could not have escaped from the country to Mali if not for the lapses in security, especially around the vast Nigerian border. It was also learnt that the Customs and Immigration authorities could have gotten the wind of his escape if not for the porous routes in the border.

In the security operatives’ marred efforts to fight Boko Haram it was said that the fugitive Shekau was wounded and caught in Mali and he later escaped. Following this occurrence the Nigeria’s intelligence unit was said to have traced Shekau to Algeria, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad etcetera, but to no avail of spotting the hideout of the terrorist, and the security operatives were back.

Odimegwu Onwumere, Poet/Author, writes from Rivers State. Tel: +2348032552855 (OR) +2348057778358. Email: apoet_25@yahoo.com

I have followed with more than a little interest the many contributions of commentators on the surprising decision of General Muhammadu Buhari to jump into the murky waters of Nigerian politics. Most of the regular writers in the Trust stable have had something to say on this. The political adviser to a late general has transferred his services to a living one. My dear friend and prolific veterinary doctor, who like me is allegedly an ideologue of Fulani supremacy, has taken a leading emir to the cleaners based on information of suspect authenticity. Another friend has contributed an articulate piece, which for those in the know gives a bird’s eye view into the thinking within the IBB camp. A young northern Turk has made several interventions and given novel expressions to what I call the PTF connection. Some readers and writers alike have done Buhari incalculable damage by viewing his politics through the narrow prism of ethnicity and religion, risking the alienation of whole sections of the Nigerian polity without whose votes their candidate cannot succeed.

With one or two notable exceptions, the various positions for or against Buhari have focused on his personality and continued to reveal a certain aversion or disdain for deeper and more thorough analysis of his regime. The reality, as noted by Tolstoy, is that too often history is erroneously reduced to single individuals. By losing sight of the multiplicity of individuals, events, actions and inactions (deliberate or otherwise) that combine to produce a set of historical circumstances, the historian is able to create a mythical figure and turn him into an everlasting hero (like Lincoln) or a villain (like Hitler). The same is true of Buhari. There seems to be a dangerous trend of competition between two opposing camps aimed at glorifying him beyond his wildest dreams or demonizing him beyond all justifiable limits, through a selective reading of history and opportunistic attribution and misattribution of responsibility. The discourse has been thus impoverished through personalization and we are no closer at the end of it than at the beginning to a divination of the exact locus or nexus of his administration in the flow of Nigerian history. This is what I seek to achieve in this intervention through an exposition of the theoretical underpinnings of the economic policy of Buharism and the necessary correlation between the economic decisions made and the concomitant legal and political superstructure.

Taxonomy

Let me begin by stating up front the principal thesis that I will propound. Within the schema of discourses on Nigerian history, the most accurate problematization of the Buhari government is one that views it strictly as a regime founded on the ideology of Bourgeois Nationalism. In this sense it was a true off-shoot of the regime of Murtala Mohammed. Buharism was a stage the logical outcome of whose machinations would have been a transcendence of what Marx called the stage of Primitive Accumulation in his Theories of Surplus Value. It was radical, not in the sense of being socialist or left wing, but in the sense of being a progressive move away from a political economy dominated by a parasitic and subservient elite to one in which a nationalist and productive class gains ascendancy. Buharism represented a two-way struggle: with Global capitalism (externally) and with its parasitic and unpatriotic agents and spokespersons (internally). The struggle against global capital as represented by the unholy trinity of the IMF, the World Bank and multilateral “trade” organizations as well that against the entrenched domestic class of contractors, commission agents and corrupt public officers were vicious and thus required extreme measures. Draconian policies were a necessary component of this struggle for transformation and this has been the case with all such epochs in history. The Meiji restoration in Japan was not conducted in a liberal environment. The Industrial Revolution in Europe and the great economic progress of the empires were not attained in the same liberal atmosphere of the 21st Century. The “tiger economies” of Asia such as Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand are not exactly models of democratic freedom. To this extent Buharism was a despotic regime but its despotism was historically determined, necessitated by the historical task of dismantling the structures of dependency and launching the nation on to a path beyond primitive accumulation. At his best Buhari may have been a Bonaparte or a Bismarck. At his worst he may have been a Hitler or a Mussolini. In either case Buharism drawn to its logical conclusion would have provided the bedrock for a new society and its overthrow marked a relapse, a step backward into that era from which we sought escape and in which, sadly for all of us we remain embedded and enslaved. I will now proceed with an elaboration of Buharism as a manifestation of bourgeois economics and political economy.


The Economic Theory of Buharism

One of the greatest myths spun around Buharism was that it lacked a sound basis in economic theory. As evidence of this, the regime that succeeded Buhari employed the services of economic “gurus” of “international standard” as the architects of fiscal and monetary policy. These were IMF and World Bank economists like Dr. Chu Okongwu and Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, as well as Mr SAP himself, Chief Olu Falae (an economist trained at Yale). At the time Buhari’s Finance Minister, Dr Onaolapo Soleye (who was not a trained economist) was debating with the pro-IMF lobby and explaining why the naira would not be devalued I was teaching economics at the Ahmadu Bello University. I had no doubt in my mind that the position of Buharism was based on a sound understanding of neo-classical economics and that those who were pushing for devaluation either did not understand their subject or were acting deliberately as agents of international capital in its rampage against all barriers set up by sovereign states to protect the integrity of the domestic economy. I still believe some of the key economic policy experts of the IBB administration were economic saboteurs who should be tried for treason. When the IMF recently owned up to “mistakes” in its policy prescriptions all patriotic economists saw it for what it was: A hypocritical statement of remorse after attaining set objectives. Let me explain, briefly, the economic theory underlying Buhari’s refusal to devalue the naira and then show how the policy merely served the interest of global capitalism and its domestic agents. This will be the principal building block of our taxonomy.

In brief, neo-classical theory holds that a country can, under certain conditions, expect to improve its Balance of Payments through devaluation of its currency. The IMF believed that given the pressure on the country’s foreign reserves and its adverse balance of payments situation Nigeria must devalue its currency. Buharism held otherwise and insisted that the conditions for improving Balance of Payments through devaluation did not exist and that there were alternate and superior approaches to the problem. Let me explain.

The first condition that must exist is that the price of every country’s export is denominated in its currency. If Nigeria’s exports are priced in naira and its imports from the US in dollars then, ceteris paribus, a devaluation of the naira makes imports dearer to Nigerians and makes Nigerian goods cheaper to Americans. This would then lead to an increase in the quantum of exports to the US and a reduction in the quantum of imports from there per unit of time. But while this is a necessary condition, it is not a sufficient one. For a positive change in the balance of payments the increase in the quantum of exports must be substantial enough to outweigh the revenue lost through a reduction in price. In other words the quantity exported must increase at a rate faster than the rate of decrease in its price. Similarly imports must fall faster than their price is increasing. Otherwise the nation may be devoting more of its wealth to importing less and receiving less of the wealth of foreigners for exporting more! In consequence, devaluation by a country whose exports and imports are not price elastic leads to the continued impoverishment of the nation vis a vis its trading partners. The second, and sufficient, condition is therefore that the combined price elasticity of demand for exports and imports must exceed unity.

The argument of Buharism, for which it was castigated by global capital and its domestic agents, was that these conditions did not exist clearly enough for Nigeria to take the gamble. First our major export, oil, was priced in dollars and the volume exported was determined ab initio by the quota set by OPEC, a cartel to which we belonged. Neither the price nor the volume of our exports would be affected by a devaluation of the naira. As for imports, indeed they would become dearer. However the manufacturing base depended on imported raw materials. Also many essential food items were imported. The demand for imports was therefore inelastic. We would end up spending more of our national income to import less, in the process fuelling inflation, creating excess capacity and unemployment, wiping out the production base of the real sector and causing hardship to the consumer through the erosion of real disposable incomes. Given the structural dislocations in income distribution in Nigeria the only groups who would benefit from devaluation were the rich parasites who had enough liquidity to continue with their conspicuous consumption, the large multi-national corporations with an unlimited access to loanable funds and the foreign “investor” who can now purchase our grossly cheapened and undervalued domestic assets. In one stroke we would wipe out the middle class, destroy indigenous manufacturing, undervalue the national wealth and create inflation and unemployment. This is standard economic theory and it is exactly what happened to Nigeria after it went through the hands of our IMF economists under IBB. The decision not to devalue set Buharism on a collision course with those who wanted devaluation and would profit from it-namely global capitalism, the so-called “captains of industry” (an acronym for the errand boys of multinational corporations), the nouveaux-riches parasites who had naira and dollars waiting to be spent, the rump elements of feudalism and so on. Buharism therefore was a crisis in the dominant class, a fracturing of its members into a patriotic, nationalist group and a dependent, parasitic and corrupt one. It was not a struggle between classes but within the same class. A victory for Buharism would be a victory for the more progressive elements of the national bourgeoisie. Unfortunately the fifth columnists within the military establishment were allied to the backward and retrogressive elements and succeeded in defeating Buharism before it took firm root. But I digress.

Having decided not to devalue or to rush into privatization and liberalization Buharism still faced an economic crisis it must address. There was pressure on foreign reserves, mounting foreign debt and a Balance of Payments crisis. Clearly the demand for foreign exchange outstripped its supply. The government therefore adopted demand management measures. The basic principle was that we did not really need all that we imported and if we could ensure that our scarce foreign exchange was only allocated to what we really needed we would be able to pay our debts and lay the foundations for economic stability. But this line of action also has its drawbacks.

First, there are political costs to be borne in terms of opposition from those who feel unfairly excluded from the allocation process and who do not share the government’s sense of priorities. Muslims for example cursed Buhari’s government for restricting the number of pilgrims in order to conserve foreign exchange.

Second, in all attempts to manage demand through quotas and quantitative restrictions there is room for abuse because there is always the incentive of a premium to be earned through circumvention of due process. Import licenses become “hot cake” and the black market for foreign exchange highly lucrative. This policy can only succeed if backed by strong deterrent laws and strict and enforcible exchange rules. Again it is trite micro-economic theory that where price is fixed below equilibrium the market is only cleared through quotas and the potential exists for round tripping as there will be a minority willing and able to offer a very high price for the “artificially scarce” product. So again we see that the harsh exchange control and economic sabotage laws of Buharism were a necessary and logical fallout of its economic theory.

Conclusion

I have tried to show in this intervention what I consider to be the principal building blocks of the military government of Muhammadu Buhari and the logical connection between its ideology, its economic theory and the legal and political superstructure that characterized it. My objective is to raise the intellectual profile of discourse beyond its present focus on personalities by letting readers see the intricate links between disparate and seemingly unrelated aspects of that government, thus contextualizing the actions of Buharism in its specific historical and ideological milieu. I have tried to review its treatment of politicians as part of a general struggle against primitive accumulation and its harsh laws on exchange and economic crimes as a necessary fallout of economic policy options. Similarly its treatment of drug pushers reflected the patriotic zeal of a bourgeois nationalist establishment.

As happens in all such cases a number of innocent people become victims of draconian laws, such as a few honest leaders like Shehu Shagari and Balarabe Musa who were improperly detained. The reality however is that many of those claiming to be victims today were looters who deserved to go to jail but who would like to hide under the cover of a few glaring errors. The failure of key members of the Buhari administration to tender public and unreserved apology to those who may have been improperly detained has not helped matters in this regard.

This raises a question I have often been asked. Do I support Buhari’s decision to contest for the presidency of Nigeria? My answer is no. And I will explain.

First, I believe Buhari played a creditable role in a particular historical epoch but like Tolstoy and Marx I do not believe he can re-enact that role at will. Men do not make history exactly as they please but, as Marx wrote in the 18th Brumaire, “in circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past.” Muhammadu Buhari as a military general had more room for manoevre than he can ever hope for in Nigerian Politics.

Second, I am convinced that the situation of Nigeria and its elite today is worse than it was in 1983.Compared to the politicians who populate the PDP, ANPP and AD today, second republic politicians were angels. Buhari waged a battle against second republic politicians, but he is joining this generation. Anyone who rides a tiger ends up in its belly and one man cannot change the system from within. A number of those Buhari jailed for theft later became ministers and many of those who hold key offices in all tiers of government and the legislature were made by the very system he sought to destroy. My view is that Nigeria needs people like Buhari in politics but not to contest elections. Buhari should be in politics to develop Civil Society and strengthen the conscience of the nation. He should try to develop many Buharis who will continue to challenge the elements that have hijacked the nation.

Third, I do not think Nigerians today are ready for Buhari. Everywhere you turn you see thieves who have amassed wealth in the last four years, be they legislators, Local Government chairmen and councilors, or governors and ministers. But these are the heroes in their societies. They are the religious leaders and ethnic champions and Nigerians, especially northerners, will castigate and discredit anyone who challenges them. Unless we start by educating our people and changing their value system, people like Buhari will remain the victims of their own love for Nigeria.

Fourth, and on a lighter note, I am opposed to recycled material. In a nation of 120million people we can do better than restrict our leadership to a small group. I think Buhari, Babangida and yes Obasanjo should simply allow others try their hand instead of believing they have the monopoly of wisdom.

Having said all this let me conclude by saying that if Buhari gets a nomination he will have my vote (for what it is worth). I will vote for him not, like some have averred, because he is a northerner and a Muslim or because I think his candidacy is good for the north and Islam; I will vote for him not because I think he will make a good democrat or that he was not a dictator. I will vote for Buhari as a Nigerian for a leader who restored my pride and dignity and my belief in the motherland. I will vote for the man who made it undesirable for the “Andrews” to “check out” instead of staying to change Nigeria. I will vote for Buhari to say thank you for the world view of Buharism, a truly nationalist ideology for all Nigerians. I do not know if Buhari is still a nationalist or a closet bigot and fanatic, or if he was the spirit and not just the face of Buharism. My vote for him is not based on a divination of what he is or may be, but a celebration of what his government was and what it gave to the nation.