femicyrus:
Brother bombay(did not want to mention your real name) I had since notice that you have not been coming to church for some time now and I never knew you would go this far by coverting to islam. With due respect to our dear muslim brothers and sisters, bro bombay was a good brother. The love of money may be the reason for his present status and may not be representing your true position on the subject matter so please accept our apology. The church committee will meet this sunday on his issue and we will surely pay him a visit.
Thanks

Is that the best you can come up with.

Buhari is uneducated and has simply lost touch with modern day politics. Being an opportunist in the army is not "100%" equivalent of being educated. He will continue to see things from a narrow perspective. A man who time without number has made unguided statements that have fuel or resulted in the killings of innocent Nigerians is not fit to rule Nigeria. His analysis of Nigeria situation is not different from that of an Almajiri in the street of Sokoto and kano state.

LFJ:
Another psychiatric patient on the loose. May God cure your madness.

Buhari is uneducated and has simply lost touch with modern day politics. Being an opportunist in the army is not "100%" equivalent of being educated. He will continue to see things from a narrow perspective. A man who time without number has made unguided statements that have fuel or resulted in the killings of innocent Nigerians is not fit to rule Nigeria. His analysis of Nigeria situation is not different from that of an Almajiri in the street of Sokoto and kano state.

The twin towers of terror, Mohammudu Buhari and his co-traveler Tunde Idiagbon, plotted and terminated the second republic. The second republic was never a worthy venture considering the excesses and corruption of the epicureans in Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Adisa (the self-processed and heavily deluded AMA, Always Mentally Alert) Akiloye's National Party of Nigeria (NPN), but only the people have the right to terminate it through the ballot box. But Buhari has no regard for the ballot box or democratic process that engenders and enthrones democratic regimes. Like any soldier of fortune with a huge personal agenda, Buhari overthrew the government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He accused the civilian administration of corruption and bad governance; he called them names and came to the conclusion that they will be "summarily disciplined." On December 31, 1983, Mohammudu Buhari rolled back the hands of the nation's development and stymied the progress of Nigeria. He decided to clean up the mess left behind by the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and restore order. But rather than dealing with the crooks, philanders, epicureans, grabbers and looters in the NPN and hold them accountable, he chose to punish only a section of the political landscape; he focused on the political opposition that controlled less than 30% of the funds at the time. Buhari arrested, detained and tried all the governors of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) while the erstwhile leaders of the NPN were left untouched and a mere handful of them kept under house arrest.

Buhari's was a selective approach to governance and justice. Not a single Hausa/Fulani man or woman was arrested, interrogated, detained, brought to trial or sent to jail during his dictatorship despite the legions of Southern non-Muslim 'infidels' he detained without trial, sentenced for flimsy reasons, or murdered by retroactive law. It was only Umaru Dikko he went after - for whatever personal reasons - among the dozens of NPN chieftains, but he kept the likes of Professor Ambrose Ali, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin and Chief Bola Ige in prison. He tried them and retried them until they were found guilty. His goal was to find them guilty and it was at all cost. For him it was better to find the 'infidels' guilty rather than trouble the 'elect.' Buhari incarcerated the UPN governors who brought development to their people and their states and rewarded NPN governors who could not account for the revenue allocations they got and the loans they borrowed with house arrests and freedom to move around! It was Buhari's Northern Agenda, an agenda soaked in his belief in a pious North and determination to deal ruthlessly with the 'infidels,' from the Christian South and its inferior Muslim population who were not Muslim enough.

The repeated imprisonment, trials and tribulations heaped on the UPN governors hastened the untimely demise of Chief Olabisi Onabanjo and Professor Ambrose Alli. Buhari lacked the conscience to care; he was least interested in the fairness of his action. All the ministers of the National Party of Nigeria and their party chieftains such as the former president Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Suleman Takuma, Adamu Ciroma, Yahaya Dikko and many others were left untouched; they were too pious and of a special Northern breed to be touched. Buhari settled for scapegoats and 'infidels' from the South to justify that he was cleaning the nation of corruption when in fact he wore a garment of greed and excesses. He showed very little respect for the law of the land. He even went a step further to backdate laws in order to ensure that three suspected drug pushers, Bartholomew Owoh, Bernard Ogedengbe and Lawal Ojuolape were found guilty by retroactive law, but then that was a drug trade that prominent Northern Nigerian businessmen were well noted for. In doing this, he insulted the civil society and drew the anger and criticism of the Nigerian media, labour unions, the Nigerian Bar Association, the National Association of Resident Doctors, and many other unions and organizations. Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and his brother, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti suffered greatly from the inhuman actions and detentions of Buhari and his band of plunders. The three drug suspects were found guilty and murdered by retroactive law. Decree No. 20 of 1984 was not only inhuman and illegal in its composition, it was draconian and a law made by fools, because suddenly action that we acceptable and normal when taken were strangely turned into criminal actions. The Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree 4 of 1984 was Buhari's gift to the Nigerian Press and its first victims were The Guardian's Tunde Thompson and Nduka Iraboh.

Buhari did not even consider the ministers of Alhaji Shehu Shagari who broke every law, plundered the nation's resources and spent money like it was going out of fashion for any punishment. He did not come to punish the 'saints,' because the saints are too pious. His war against indiscipline (WAI) was conceived in deceit. Only the unholy will be punished for acts of indiscipline. The pious have the right to 'take,' to 'use,' and to 'remove' whatever they want, and their taking, using and removing what they want is holy and righteous before Allah. As far as Buhari was concerned only the people in the South were undisciplined since the North was and still is pure and pious. Only numskulls will hold such silly and stupid believes, but Buhari was far from convinced about the superiority of his Hausa/Fulani race and the purity of Islam. For Buhari, he was right and pure and we (the people in the South) are dead. He considered himself sent by Allah to either purify them or exterminate them all.

The Emir of Gwandu was too pious and as such was at liberty to bring in his 53 suitcases. While the people importing contrabands were predominantly from the North, only the few from the South were arrested and prosecuted. Alhaji Jokolo, the current Emir of Gwandu and son of the then Emir recently said his father only brought back 12 suitcases and not 53. Jokolo, a former colonel in the Nigeria Army said it was General Buhari who instructed him to go to the airport to receive his father, the then Emir. Mustapha Jokolo acknowledged that several suitcases were taken straight from the aircraft to the State House. He said those were for the Chief of Protocol, Dahiru Waziri. They were all in the government of Mohammudu Buhari but Buhari did not put them on trial for bringing contraband goods into the country or for disobeying the law by not taking their luggage through the normal process of inspection. Even Buhari's brother was on that same entourage of the Emir of Gwandu, but all of them are neck and shoulder above the law, and the war against indiscipline does not affect them; they are above such petty laws that were made for commoners and Southerners.

General Buhari has very little education, like the rest of his khaki-wearing comrades who ruled Nigeria by force and by decrees. He attended primary school in Daura and later the Katsina Model School before attending military training at home and overseas. We can safely say that this is another cretin case with very little ability for creative, analytically and constructive thinking. Even his actions as military dictator were causes of concern for the academia, and they worry why any rational person will take those actions or follow the steps Buhari followed. A few months or a year in any military college or cadet program can never prepare any soldier for governance. Soldiers are trained to follow rules and to obey orders; never to run government, lead civilians or be seen in the civil society wearing uniform around. No military training prepare or pretend to prepare a soldier to run a local government or a state. Buhari was poorly educated and has a low intelligence quotient (IQ) to manage the affairs of the people of Katsina State and as such lack what it takes to manage the affairs of Nigeria. He forcefully imposed himself on the Nigerian people and made a terrible work of it; he caused confusion, did the economy no good and dehumanized the civil society. If he failed when he was a dictator, I do not see him succeeding in a democratic, give-and-take environment.

Buhari accepted the Abacha contraption and was one of the first few who embraced Abacha quite early and saw nothing wrong in the annulment of MKO Abiola's freely given mandate. Buhari was therefore rewarded with the chairmanship of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) by his friend, General Sani Abacha. The PTF had annual budgets that were far more than what most states of the federation received from the federal purse. The Fund began in 1996 with an initial capital of almost 60 billion naira. It was a duplication of social services and it became the bottomless pit that allowed the Northern Oligarchy to loot the national treasury once again. It was like the return of the Nigerian National Supply Company (NNSC) and contracts were flowing and doing so in abundance, but available only to the Oligarchy who will then turn around to sell the contract papers to a Southerner at huge profit. It all became a joke in Lagos about how some people procured the paper and made billions and some bought the paper and do all the work for little or nothing! Buhari's PTF built roads at federal, state and local government levels at a time when the Federal Ministry of Work lacked the funds to repair roads. PTF also procured drugs at a time when the Federal Ministry of Heath did not have the budget to provide drugs for federal hospitals. It was said that the PTF had 115.6 billion naira available to it as at December 31, 1997, funds that were never audited or properly accounted for. Like Abacha and the rest of his government, the PTF was set up to provide an opportunity to loot without any need for accountability; and corruption and indiscipline were never fought at that level. A wise former head of state would have seen that PTF was an alternative government and he would have rejected the offer to be part of it, but not Mr. Buhari. PTF brought untold opportunities and allowed him to practically rebuild Katsina, Kaduna and the rest of the north while a few projects were thrown at the Southern States.

More roads were built in each of Funtua, Gusau, Kaduna, and Sokoto than in Lagos or Oyo State. Over 70% of the Fund's allocation went into modernizing the roads in the North. For example, roads in Malali Government Reservation Area (GRA) in Kaduna were as good as you can wish for before PTF was set up, but these roads were dualized with PTF's money all the way to Durbar Hotel and beyond. Buhari's idea of Nigeria is one in which the north is superior and it must always take the lion share of everything. Unfortunately Muhammudu Buhari is the presidential candidate of Bola Tinubu, the self-professed leader of the Yoruba people. It is very obvious they have so much in common - brash, uncreative, unimaginative and false superior air. Contractors such as Chagori and Chagori (C&C) and Afri-Projects Consortium were some of the major beneficiaries of the PTF contracts. The PTF even carried out projects in Military barracks despite the fact that those projects have been provided for in the Ministry of Defence's budget. The Armed Forces PTF was allocated 20% of the PTF funds and with it came more funds to loot and no accountability. In the final analysis it was confirmed that Buhari wasted 135 billion naira of the PTF's 146 billion and all this financial abuse during the time Abacha was waging war against indiscipline and corruption (WAIC). The joke is on Abacha, Buhari and their ilk.

Human rights violations brought the civil society in confrontation with the twin towers of terror. Buhari and Idiagbon were ruthless and they disregarded every right, every dignity and ignored every court injunction as they inflicted untold pains on human rights organizations, newspapers, labour unions, and the community of editors, journalists, writers, reporters, and opinion leaders. The twin towers were right and we were all wrong and as such detained - kept away for as long as their lordships wanted. It has often been speculated that the reason why Buhari terminated a democratic government was to give him the opportunity to remove the documents relating to the missing Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) missing $2.8 billion. For reasons relating to the missing $2.8 billion, Buhari detained, intimidated, jailed and abused people at will. His detention camps were flung open by his successor and the whole world was shocked beyond believe that a human being will go to any extent to dehumanize other human beings for no reason at all. The unfortunate traveler and the other tower in the Buhari dictatorship, Tunde Idiagbon was no doubt the honest and decent of the two men. Idiagbon was a disciplined soldier who got into a ride with a crooked driver behind the wheels.

There is no doubt in my mind that General Mohammudu Buhari failed in every area of assessment. He lacks the temperament to tolerate democratic culture, he is poorly educated and lack the creative, analytical and strategic thinking required leading a nation like Nigeria. It is true Buhari had gunned his way into power in Nigeria before, essentially an accident of history that should never have happened. He may be qualified to lead the Caliphate but even then the days of the Caliphate have receded into the footnotes of history. Buhari was a soldier who disobeyed his commander in chief and forcefully removed an elected government from office. Besides lacking the moral authority and shared values required of a democratic leader, Buhari's antecedent as minister in the petroleum ministry where funds disappeared and later as chairman of the Petroleum Trust Funds where cases of widespread corruption and sectionalism were rampant necessarily made it imperative to disqualify this former tower of terror.

MOHAMMUDU BUHARI: THE TOWER OF TERROR AND BIGOTRY

Buhari Is An Ethnic Bigot He Is Not To Be Trusted.

Buhari thrust himself into our consciousness when he truncated democracy by successfully staging a coup d’etat that sacked a democratically elected government of Nigeria in 1983.
His true character did not take long to manifest. Before our very eyes, the head of the government he sacked, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, was declared a saint and kept under house arrest while his erstwhile Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, was declared a scoundrel and clamped into Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison without any judicial pronouncement as to his guilt.
His disdain and contempt for the judiciary did not know bounds. He took it abroad and crated Alhaji Umaru Dikko, the sacked Transport Minister, for repatriation back to the country. These are some of the attributes of someone who wants to be the President of Nigeria under a democratic setting in the 21st century.
Let’s even leave his anti-corruption gaffes and pretenses which led to the easy passage of 53 suitcases belonging to a sacred cow while other Nigerians’ goods were impounded and destroyed at the same airport. This was anti-corruption war indeed!
His hatred for law, order and due process even went to the extreme. Lives of young Nigerians who were caught and tried for drug offences were executed on the orders of Buhari even with Decrees made to have retroactive effect. Is this the kind of leader we want in 2015 Nigeria?
How about the contempt for truth which to him is an anathema with his dreaded Decree 4 against journalists for publishing the truth? How would Buhari operate under the new Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill when passed into law? A leopard cannot change its spots so easily.

The grounds on which General Buhari is being promoted as the alternative choice are ... not only shaky, but pitifully naive. History matters. Records are not kept simply to assist the weakness of memory, but to operate as guides to the future----Wole Soyinka 2007

Buhari is perpetually un-electable because of his insensitivity to Nigeria's diversity and his parochial focus are already well-known." - Mallam Nasir el-Rufai

Reasons Why You Should Avoid Buhari Like Ebola Virus

Sahara Reporters

6 Reasons Why You Should Avoid Buhari Like Ebola Virus

1. Violence

He makes provocative statements that are capable of putting the country in crisis. This attitude caused the death of hundreds of innocent lives after the 2011 elections where about 10 youth corps were also murdered in cold blood. 2015 is not here, but he has already promised "dogs and baboon..." Compare this with the US election where Romney wasted no time to congratulate Pres. Obama or the Australian election where the incumbent, Rudd lost and quickly congratulated Abbott. A great leader should always place national interest above personal ambition.

2. Bigotry

He's intolerant of any idea other than his own, especially on religion, politics, or race. No wonder he doesn't criticize anything that concerns his religion, no matter how bad. Hence, his obvious sympathy to B'Haram. A good leader should have listening ears, take a stand on what is good but also allow people to air their views and be entitled to their opinions.

3. Principle

He's not a man of principle, that is why he has been jumping from one party to another, even aligning with known corrupt elements in the hope of actualizing his presidential ambition. Great leaders don't do this. They always stick with like-minds, no matter the situation.

4. Lack of Democratic Features

Though, his admirers want us to believe that he was invited to lead after the coup but the fact is that he wasn't the most senior office at that time. Nevertheless, we've not forgotten the obnoxious Decree 4 - against which truth was no defence. He used this to jail journalists and attempt to cow the whole media. He did not also make any plan to organize election and handover to a democratic govt.

5. Tribalism

The lopsided execution of PTF projects which was 74% and 26% (according to PTF Situation Report, Vol 2, 98) in the north and south respectively showed his tribalistic nature. The dumping of Dr. Alex Ekwueme in Kirikiri maximum prison and Shagari placed under house arrest was beyond tribalism.

6. His 2-year reign as a Head of State left no legacy

Buhari's 2-year iron-fist rule left no legacy in Nigeria. There is nothing we can point at now that was established by his govt. Or should we call the cancellation of Lagos monorail as his legacy after-all Nigeria till date has no monorail?

Lets end this part 1 with the quote of October 4, 2010: "Buhari is perpetually un-electable because of his insensitivity to Nigeria's diversity and his parochial focus are already well-known." - Mallam Nasir el-Rufai

Buhari is uneducated and has simply lost touch with modern day politics. Being an opportunist in the army is not "100%" equivalent of being educated. He will continue to see things from a narrow perspective. A man who time without number has made unguided statements that have fuel or resulted in the killings of innocent Nigerians is not fit to rule Nigeria. His analysis of Nigeria situation is not different from that of an Almajiri in the street of Sokoto and kano state.

Change can only come from a man whose views and passion are driven by his love for the Nigerian people not ethnic and religious bigotry.

Buhari need not be reminded how he forced his way into leadership through a coup d'etat, Sometimes i ask myself when Buhari is not involved in political party affairs, or not attending a political of national event what other way have Nigerians been able to see him in action progressively. Be it through social activities, developmental projects, perhaps through writing by having a column in one of the national dailies etc. How can such a man claim to be interested in Nigeria, when one hardly hears or sees him been involved in one productive thing or the other within or outside the country. Only very often when there are political power jostling does he become more heard and seen It is high time our more educated, patriotic, charismatic and intelligent young men and women start taking a place in our nations politics and governance so we do not continue to see these same old faces who have little or nothing more to contribute to the positive growth of our dear Nigeria.

.Buhari is a politician that thinks along religious and regional lines.

Buhari he is an radical we don't need that type of person as president he should go and become an imam we welcome him with open arms.

Buhari is clueless in a democratic setup he will ever remain a failure. He was kicked out by ibb. Because he could not even manage few group of fellow coup plotters.

I 'll always maintain that Buhari will make a very good Islamic state LEADER rather than Nigeria president.

Technical knockout

Buhari is uneducated and has simply lost touch with modern day politics. Being an opportunist in the army is not "100%" equivalent of being educated. He will continue to see things from narrow perspective. A man who time without number has made unguided statements that have fuel or resulted in the killings of innocent Nigerians is not fit to rule Nigeria. His analysis of Nigeria situation is not different from that of an Almajiri in the street of Sokoto and kano state.

Two shoots gbosa gbosa i dey laugh o

For a long time now, the voice of General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) has been a constant buzz on the Nigerian political scene. Actually, for a while — after the election of 2007 — the erstwhile autocratic military head of state rescued himself from the political scene, complaining bitterly and implausibly that he had been cheated out of presidential election victory.

Then, propelled by his unfulfilled appetite for power, he re-emerged soon after. It is entirely understandable that he couldn’t stay away for long.

Any observer of the Nigerian political scene in 1984 has to know that Buhari is a man with an imperial bent and an oversized ego. During his short-lived tenure as Nigeria’s military head of state, he imposed his will as no other had done before or after.

His War Against Indiscipline (or WAI) permeated every aspect of Nigerian life, for better and for worse. He brooked no dissent. His Decree No. 4 was as draconian a law as Nigeria has ever witnessed. Under the decree, many a journalist was imprisoned for questioning Buhari’s policies or even inveighing against military rule.

Some pundits have claimed that many of the dictatorial excesses of Buhari’s tenure were actually attributable to his second in command, the late General Tunde Idiagbon. I am more inclined to believe that Buhari was the ideologue behind the policies and Idiagbon was his strategist.

Not that it matters that much. Buhari was the head of state, and whatever happened under his watch should duly be credited to (or blamed on) him.

The important point now is that Buhari’s tenure was too short to quench his appetite for power. And that’s why, even after publicly shedding tears in 2007 and vowing to leave politics, he came back with more doggedness than ever before.

While Buhari was the flag bearer of the All Nigeria People’s Party, he had little chance of being elected president. His political fortunes improved somewhat when he bolted from the ANPP to form the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2010, but it was not enough to hoist the presidential banner.

That’s why Buhari’s claim of being cheated out of the presidency in 2007 and 2011raised serious questions about his political astuteness.

Then Buhari started to push harder for the merger of parties that could challenge the PDP. He must have realised at last that his losses in previous contests had little to do with being rigged out and much to do with his narrow electoral base.

Now with the merger of the CPC and the Action Congress of Nigeria and two other parties to form the All Progressives Congress, Buhari has overcome the problem of a narrow base. And for the first time since his overthrow in 1985, he has a better-than-realistic chance of becoming Nigeria’s president.

Problem is that while Buhari has solved the problem of his narrow electoral base in terms of party formation, he has not shed his narrow political ideology. Rather than truly reaching out and positioning himself as a healing force in Nigerian politics, he is demonstrating ever so convincingly that he is too provincial to be president.

If the APC nominates Buhari for the presidency in 2015, it would be opting for someone who is anything but progressive. And the party is likely to lose the very advantage of its prospective size by the fact that Buhari continues to be divisive and alienating.

There is no better evidence of this than his interview last Sunday in Kaduna with Liberty FM’s Hausa Service Programme, ‘Guest of the Week.’

In the interview reported in the Punch, Buhari blasted the ongoing military campaign against Boko Haram, claiming that they are getting harsher treatment than the Niger Delta militants. Moreover, he attributed the rise of Islamic militancy to the Niger Delta insurgency.

Perhaps, Buhari is not aware that the Joint Task Force that was deployed in the Niger Delta to combat the militancy there used jets, naval gunboats, and armoured vehicles. Perhaps, he has not heard of the razing in 1999 of Odi village in Bayelsa State by the Nigerian military and many more such communities since then.

Buhari rightly points out in the interview that the arming of Niger Delta youth by politicians who were running for office played a major role in the militarisation of the region. What he doesn’t explain is how that gave rise to the ethno-religious campaign being waged by Boko Haram.

The Niger Delta militancy arose in support of a negotiable demand for a more equitable sharing of revenue from the region. And so the militants focused their military campaign against the oil industry and infrastructure. They did not target Muslims or Northerners.

In contrast, Boko Haram is demanding the un-negotiable: the Islamisation of all of Nigeria. And they are bombing churches and killing Christians to advance that cause. How do such demands and atrocities compare with the activities of the Niger Delta militancy?

From his current and previous utterances, it seems certain that Buhari will be a disaster for Nigeria if he becomes president. His apparent disregard for the need for equitable redress of the Niger Delta’s grievances will certainly precipitate a titanic clash in the region.

Significantly, it was during the presidency of fellow Northerner, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, that an amnesty agreement was reached with the Niger Delta militants, resulting in the beginning of a draw down in their insurgency. If Buhari becomes president, the opposite will happen: he would stoke the militancy by words and action.

Buhari’s evident sympathy for Boko Haram also suggests that he would use his power to push Nigeria ever closer to a theocratic state (in the Muslim mould) than a secular one.

Yet, as is evident in the uprisings in Egypt and Turkey against theocracy-leaning regimes in those countries, Nigerians, including Northerners, will revolt en masse against theocratic encroachments on civil liberties. And so a Buhari presidency is certain to unleash a level of civil unrest that Nigeria has not witnessed in a long time.

In external relations, a Buhari presidency is also certain to damage Nigeria’s relations with the Western world, especially the United States. In fact, it is not an overreach to speculate that Nigeria could become listed as a terrorist state.

The US recently announced a $7 million bounty on Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau. If Nigeria elects a president who cuddles the group, the bounty would in effect be on the country.

In the interview with Liberty FM radio, Buhari said that he didn’t join the APC because he wants to be president.

“If APC fails to give me the ticket, I will remain in partisan politics and in the party,” he said. “Anyone the party picks as its candidate, I will support him because I will remain in the APC.”

Buhari is, of course, being coy about his presidential ambitions, and it is hard to take him seriously. What with his early and intense campaigning — with posters all over Abuja, I understand. Buhari does indeed belong in partisan politics, but not in the presidency.

For a long time now, the voice of General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) has been a constant buzz on the Nigerian political scene. Actually, for a while — after the election of 2007 — the erstwhile autocratic military head of state rescued himself from the political scene, complaining bitterly and implausibly that he had been cheated out of presidential election victory.

Then, propelled by his unfulfilled appetite for power, he re-emerged soon after. It is entirely understandable that he couldn’t stay away for long.

Any observer of the Nigerian political scene in 1984 has to know that Buhari is a man with an imperial bent and an oversized ego. During his short-lived tenure as Nigeria’s military head of state, he imposed his will as no other had done before or after.

His War Against Indiscipline (or WAI) permeated every aspect of Nigerian life, for better and for worse. He brooked no dissent. His Decree No. 4 was as draconian a law as Nigeria has ever witnessed. Under the decree, many a journalist was imprisoned for questioning Buhari’s policies or even inveighing against military rule.

Some pundits have claimed that many of the dictatorial excesses of Buhari’s tenure were actually attributable to his second in command, the late General Tunde Idiagbon. I am more inclined to believe that Buhari was the ideologue behind the policies and Idiagbon was his strategist.

Not that it matters that much. Buhari was the head of state, and whatever happened under his watch should duly be credited to (or blamed on) him.

The important point now is that Buhari’s tenure was too short to quench his appetite for power. And that’s why, even after publicly shedding tears in 2007 and vowing to leave politics, he came back with more doggedness than ever before.

While Buhari was the flag bearer of the All Nigeria People’s Party, he had little chance of being elected president. His political fortunes improved somewhat when he bolted from the ANPP to form the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2010, but it was not enough to hoist the presidential banner.

That’s why Buhari’s claim of being cheated out of the presidency in 2007 and 2011raised serious questions about his political astuteness.

Then Buhari started to push harder for the merger of parties that could challenge the PDP. He must have realised at last that his losses in previous contests had little to do with being rigged out and much to do with his narrow electoral base.

Now with the merger of the CPC and the Action Congress of Nigeria and two other parties to form the All Progressives Congress, Buhari has overcome the problem of a narrow base. And for the first time since his overthrow in 1985, he has a better-than-realistic chance of becoming Nigeria’s president.

Problem is that while Buhari has solved the problem of his narrow electoral base in terms of party formation, he has not shed his narrow political ideology. Rather than truly reaching out and positioning himself as a healing force in Nigerian politics, he is demonstrating ever so convincingly that he is too provincial to be president.

If the APC nominates Buhari for the presidency in 2015, it would be opting for someone who is anything but progressive. And the party is likely to lose the very advantage of its prospective size by the fact that Buhari continues to be divisive and alienating.

There is no better evidence of this than his interview last Sunday in Kaduna with Liberty FM’s Hausa Service Programme, ‘Guest of the Week.’

In the interview reported in the Punch, Buhari blasted the ongoing military campaign against Boko Haram, claiming that they are getting harsher treatment than the Niger Delta militants. Moreover, he attributed the rise of Islamic militancy to the Niger Delta insurgency.

Perhaps, Buhari is not aware that the Joint Task Force that was deployed in the Niger Delta to combat the militancy there used jets, naval gunboats, and armoured vehicles. Perhaps, he has not heard of the razing in 1999 of Odi village in Bayelsa State by the Nigerian military and many more such communities since then.

Buhari rightly points out in the interview that the arming of Niger Delta youth by politicians who were running for office played a major role in the militarisation of the region. What he doesn’t explain is how that gave rise to the ethno-religious campaign being waged by Boko Haram.

The Niger Delta militancy arose in support of a negotiable demand for a more equitable sharing of revenue from the region. And so the militants focused their military campaign against the oil industry and infrastructure. They did not target Muslims or Northerners.

In contrast, Boko Haram is demanding the un-negotiable: the Islamisation of all of Nigeria. And they are bombing churches and killing Christians to advance that cause. How do such demands and atrocities compare with the activities of the Niger Delta militancy?

From his current and previous utterances, it seems certain that Buhari will be a disaster for Nigeria if he becomes president. His apparent disregard for the need for equitable redress of the Niger Delta’s grievances will certainly precipitate a titanic clash in the region.

Significantly, it was during the presidency of fellow Northerner, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, that an amnesty agreement was reached with the Niger Delta militants, resulting in the beginning of a draw down in their insurgency. If Buhari becomes president, the opposite will happen: he would stoke the militancy by words and action.

Buhari’s evident sympathy for Boko Haram also suggests that he would use his power to push Nigeria ever closer to a theocratic state (in the Muslim mould) than a secular one.

Yet, as is evident in the uprisings in Egypt and Turkey against theocracy-leaning regimes in those countries, Nigerians, including Northerners, will revolt en masse against theocratic encroachments on civil liberties. And so a Buhari presidency is certain to unleash a level of civil unrest that Nigeria has not witnessed in a long time.

In external relations, a Buhari presidency is also certain to damage Nigeria’s relations with the Western world, especially the United States. In fact, it is not an overreach to speculate that Nigeria could become listed as a terrorist state.

The US recently announced a $7 million bounty on Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau. If Nigeria elects a president who cuddles the group, the bounty would in effect be on the country.

In the interview with Liberty FM radio, Buhari said that he didn’t join the APC because he wants to be president.

“If APC fails to give me the ticket, I will remain in partisan politics and in the party,” he said. “Anyone the party picks as its candidate, I will support him because I will remain in the APC.”

Buhari is, of course, being coy about his presidential ambitions, and it is hard to take him seriously. What with his early and intense campaigning — with posters all over Abuja, I understand. Buhari does indeed belong in partisan politics, but not in the presidency.

Buhari is a dunce

For a long time now, the voice of General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) has been a constant buzz on the Nigerian political scene. Actually, for a while — after the election of 2007 — the erstwhile autocratic military head of state rescued himself from the political scene, complaining bitterly and implausibly that he had been cheated out of presidential election victory.

Then, propelled by his unfulfilled appetite for power, he re-emerged soon after. It is entirely understandable that he couldn’t stay away for long.

Any observer of the Nigerian political scene in 1984 has to know that Buhari is a man with an imperial bent and an oversized ego. During his short-lived tenure as Nigeria’s military head of state, he imposed his will as no other had done before or after.

His War Against Indiscipline (or WAI) permeated every aspect of Nigerian life, for better and for worse. He brooked no dissent. His Decree No. 4 was as draconian a law as Nigeria has ever witnessed. Under the decree, many a journalist was imprisoned for questioning Buhari’s policies or even inveighing against military rule.

Some pundits have claimed that many of the dictatorial excesses of Buhari’s tenure were actually attributable to his second in command, the late General Tunde Idiagbon. I am more inclined to believe that Buhari was the ideologue behind the policies and Idiagbon was his strategist.

Not that it matters that much. Buhari was the head of state, and whatever happened under his watch should duly be credited to (or blamed on) him.

The important point now is that Buhari’s tenure was too short to quench his appetite for power. And that’s why, even after publicly shedding tears in 2007 and vowing to leave politics, he came back with more doggedness than ever before.

While Buhari was the flag bearer of the All Nigeria People’s Party, he had little chance of being elected president. His political fortunes improved somewhat when he bolted from the ANPP to form the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2010, but it was not enough to hoist the presidential banner.

That’s why Buhari’s claim of being cheated out of the presidency in 2007 and 2011raised serious questions about his political astuteness.

Then Buhari started to push harder for the merger of parties that could challenge the PDP. He must have realised at last that his losses in previous contests had little to do with being rigged out and much to do with his narrow electoral base.

Now with the merger of the CPC and the Action Congress of Nigeria and two other parties to form the All Progressives Congress, Buhari has overcome the problem of a narrow base. And for the first time since his overthrow in 1985, he has a better-than-realistic chance of becoming Nigeria’s president.

Problem is that while Buhari has solved the problem of his narrow electoral base in terms of party formation, he has not shed his narrow political ideology. Rather than truly reaching out and positioning himself as a healing force in Nigerian politics, he is demonstrating ever so convincingly that he is too provincial to be president.

If the APC nominates Buhari for the presidency in 2015, it would be opting for someone who is anything but progressive. And the party is likely to lose the very advantage of its prospective size by the fact that Buhari continues to be divisive and alienating.

There is no better evidence of this than his interview last Sunday in Kaduna with Liberty FM’s Hausa Service Programme, ‘Guest of the Week.’

In the interview reported in the Punch, Buhari blasted the ongoing military campaign against Boko Haram, claiming that they are getting harsher treatment than the Niger Delta militants. Moreover, he attributed the rise of Islamic militancy to the Niger Delta insurgency.

Perhaps, Buhari is not aware that the Joint Task Force that was deployed in the Niger Delta to combat the militancy there used jets, naval gunboats, and armoured vehicles. Perhaps, he has not heard of the razing in 1999 of Odi village in Bayelsa State by the Nigerian military and many more such communities since then.

Buhari rightly points out in the interview that the arming of Niger Delta youth by politicians who were running for office played a major role in the militarisation of the region. What he doesn’t explain is how that gave rise to the ethno-religious campaign being waged by Boko Haram.

The Niger Delta militancy arose in support of a negotiable demand for a more equitable sharing of revenue from the region. And so the militants focused their military campaign against the oil industry and infrastructure. They did not target Muslims or Northerners.

In contrast, Boko Haram is demanding the un-negotiable: the Islamisation of all of Nigeria. And they are bombing churches and killing Christians to advance that cause. How do such demands and atrocities compare with the activities of the Niger Delta militancy?

From his current and previous utterances, it seems certain that Buhari will be a disaster for Nigeria if he becomes president. His apparent disregard for the need for equitable redress of the Niger Delta’s grievances will certainly precipitate a titanic clash in the region.

Significantly, it was during the presidency of fellow Northerner, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, that an amnesty agreement was reached with the Niger Delta militants, resulting in the beginning of a draw down in their insurgency. If Buhari becomes president, the opposite will happen: he would stoke the militancy by words and action.

Buhari’s evident sympathy for Boko Haram also suggests that he would use his power to push Nigeria ever closer to a theocratic state (in the Muslim mould) than a secular one.

Yet, as is evident in the uprisings in Egypt and Turkey against theocracy-leaning regimes in those countries, Nigerians, including Northerners, will revolt en masse against theocratic encroachments on civil liberties. And so a Buhari presidency is certain to unleash a level of civil unrest that Nigeria has not witnessed in a long time.

In external relations, a Buhari presidency is also certain to damage Nigeria’s relations with the Western world, especially the United States. In fact, it is not an overreach to speculate that Nigeria could become listed as a terrorist state.

The US recently announced a $7 million bounty on Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau. If Nigeria elects a president who cuddles the group, the bounty would in effect be on the country.

Buhari is, of course, being coy about his presidential ambitions, and it is hard to take him seriously. What with his early and intense campaigning — with posters all over Abuja, I understand. Buhari does indeed belong in partisan politics, but not in the presidency.

Sijuade, told a US Embassy official that Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari is a religious "fanatic" who would sow discord if elected. Embassy cables published by wikileaks