New Telegraph

When will Nigeria be finally abducted?

INTRODUCTION

Is Nigeria not being abducted by Boko haram bandits, herders, kidnappers, armed robbers and terrorists? The scenario is frightening and heart-rending.

Let us see.

CHIBOK, BORNO STATE, 14TH – 15TH APRIL, 2014.

276 school girls abducted by dreaded Boko Haram insurgents. Former president Goodluck Jonathan was almost roasted alive. The present government’s leading lights harped on it.

The then candidate Buhari of APC and other APC stalwarts salivated over the fatal blow to GEJ’s presidency by this singular unfortunate incident. 112 so far released on payment of undisclosed huge ransom.

Fast forward. Buhari clinched power and was sworn in on May 29, 2015, with the most outstanding campaign promise (aside revamping the economy and killing corruption), being to lead from the front (as a retired former military Head of State); and crush Boko Haram. Nigerians believed him. Afterall, he fought at the war front during the three year bloody Nigerian-Biafran civil war.

 

However, let us see Buhari’s ugly tale of the tape: Dapchi, Yobe State. 110 school girls abducted on February 19, 2018. 110 have been released on huge ransom (the exact amount of which the Buhari government has refused to tell us till date). six are still held, including beautiful Leah Sharibu, who refused to recant her Christian faith. Kankara, Katsina State; 340 school children abducted in December, 2020, by about 100 Boko Haram bandits riding motocycles.

They were all released after payment of huge sums (amount not disclosed till date by an ever opaque government).

Big business. More lucrative than citing industries or setting up banks. Dangote that goes to bank to take huge loans to remain the forbes richest man in Africa will no doubt be envious and green with envy. Kagara, Niger State. 42 people, which included 27 students, three staff of Government Science Secondary School and 12 of their family members abducted.

 

Till now, they are held by the bandits. Then, only Friday, Zamfara State Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, was their next port of call. About 315 of the 500 boarded students were abducted. Governor Bello Matawalle who has so far done excellently well on security matters, and in pushing back armed bandits, is optimistic they would be released without ransom.

A common thread and trend: Girls schools are targeted. Weaker vessels. Not boys schools! Huge sums demanded as ransom. Payment made. Girls (not all) suddenly released. Bandits and Boko Haram smile to their hides out. They purchase more weapons. They wait a while. Strike again. Circle repeats itself. No Federal Government in sight.

Oh, it is in sight – but only in boasting that it will fish out the bandits and stop further re-ocurrence.

That is the end. How many students so far abducted? 276 under Jonathan. 807 under Buhari. Over 1000. This country is in a complete mess. Worse than ever before. So, when will Nigeria be finally abducted?

BALARABE MUSA, JUNAID MUHAMMED – THE EXIT OF TWO PATRIOTS

In a country where patriots have become scarce commodities; where all you see, hear of and behold are war drum beaters; where erstwhile respected Nigerians have receded into their ethnic and ethno-religious enclaves, as ethnic warlords; these great Nigerians of Northern extraction luminously stood out in their life time. In this pantheon of rare Northern breeds are few that are still alive: Bishop Kukah; Colonel Dangiwa Umar; Senator Shehu Sani; Com. Yerima Shettima; Dr. Yunusa Tanko and Nasiru Kura. They are quite few and in-between.

That is why losing Balarabe and Juniad particularly pains me.

They were soul mates with whom (especially Junaid), we regularly exchanged notes about the directionless of our otherwise great country, and its daily incremental sinking into a cesspool of nadir and on the precipice. BALARABE MUSA Balarabe Musa was elected Governor of Kaduna State in 1979, under the platform of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) founded by Mallam Aminu Kano, Balarabe (85) had soulmates in others within the same PRP- Dr Yusufu Bala Usman (of blessed memory), Sabo Barkin Zuwo (who later became Governor), Dr Michael Imoudu (famed labour leader), Abubakar Rimi (later Governor), Sule Lamido (later Governor), Uche Chukwumerije (later Minister), Chinua Achebe (epic Essayist of “Things Fall Apart” and “Trouble with Nigeria” fame); and Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila.

His reign as Governor was rudely cut short by a most controversial impeached instigated by the then NPN Federal Government. Accountant by profession, Balarabe never ceased to belly-ache over Nigeria’s problems till he breathed his last.

At various rallies by at the tombs of late Chief M.K.O Abiola and his bestially murdered wife, Kudirat, Musa, even in his old age, bemoaned Nigeria’s increasing problems. He was passionate about Nigeria as an entity. Thus, when tears had barely dried over his demise, that of Dr Junaid Muhammed emerged.

 

DR JUNAID MOHAMMED

Former House of Representatives member, under PRP, which he co-founded with Aminu Kano in 1976, this feiry, social critic of the Muhammadu Buhari wobbling regime, also germinated from Aminu Kano’s school of thought. Junaid is better remembered, not for his telescope as an accomplished medical doctor, but for his principled political activism which was ideologically driven.

His was not the run-of-the mill bread-and-butterpolitics of “Amalaism” or “stomach infrastructure”. Intellectually grounded and fiercely patriotic, Dr. Mohammed never cared about whose horse was gored whenever he took on national issues.

But for Nigeria’s politics of money-baggism and lack of ideology, the joint ticket of Donald Duke and Junaid Mohammed in the Social Democratic Party (SDP), during the 2019 presidential election, would probably have saved Nigeria from its current travails of a journey to no destination.

DR JUNAID ON ZONING AND ROTATIONAL PRESIDENCY

First and foremost, my understanding of democracy is not about the postulation of people who talk about zoning or rotation in democracy. This is because zoning or rotationing is not in any way democratic.

There is nothing inherently zoneable or rotational when we are talking about democracy. Democracy is at its finest when we talk about freedom of choice by the people. When you believe that power is just going to be rotational, then it means you also believe that power is going to be abused. But that is not my understanding of power in a democratic contest.

 

I believe democracy should be for good. To advance development, to help the underprivileged, to ensure all people have the opportunity in life and those growing have the opportunity to rise in education, basic health care and, of course, to pursue their legitimate undertakings wherever they are in the country. That is what I mean when I said democracy cannot be dissociated from the rule of law. ON USE OF POWER Anybody who believes in using power  serve his ethnic group, his religion or his ethnicity is not good for the country.

ON PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI’S PERFORMANCE

There is a massive failure of leadership on the part of President Muhammadu Buhari in particular – both his government and his party. If we want to address the problem of this country, we must begin to accept general incompetence of Buhari, his lousy party and, of course, the lousy government he put together which is made up of his relations, a class cascade of nepotism.

That is the tragedy of Nigeria today. The majority of people who voted for Buhari came from the North. They voted for him not because they know he was not competent, but because of religious jingoism, regional sentiment and other northern phenomena.

They voted for him and he has done nothing for the North. They are now saying they voted for him because he was their son. The majority of what he did were in Southwest. He brought people from the Southwest who are smarter. From the North, he picked his relations, his in-laws and, of course, his cronies and friends. He has not been a sensitive president.

One wonders how he managed to go into the Army and became a General. This is the problem we have. Unless we remove this idea about religion, region, ethnicity and what have you, we are not going to have the right people to lead us.

Buhari’s government has failed and failed woefully and I’m not alone in saying this. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was there twice has said so publicly, TY Danjuma has said so, General Babangida has said so.

Now, that the chicken has come home to roost, I want to see who will defend him. I agree we are mono-economy and with the crash in oil price, even when we have the best hand in power it will be difficult to manage our economy.

Having said that, Buhari is the worst leader we have ever had which is why it is impossible to do anything meaningful to address the issue of insecurity. In one of his last outings before he died, Junaid agreed with Bishop Kukah (fiery and outspoken Cleric) that Buhari was nepotic and sectional in his appointments, 99% of which Junaid said were not based on merit, but on his “friends, cronies, relations and in-laws”. His light also dimmed when we needed him more. For Balarabe Musa and Junaid Mohammed, may Allah grant them Alijanah Firdausi, amin.

 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” (Hubert H. Humphrey).

LAST LINE

Fellow Nigerians, kindly follow me every week, to enable us jointly put our heads together on the task of re-engineering Nigeria. We shall accomplish this right here on “The Nigerian Project”, by Chief Mike A. A. Ozekhome, SAN, OFR, FCIArb, LL.M, Ph. D, LL.D

 

• Follow me on twitter @ MikeozekhomeSAN

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