A WORSE BUHARI IS BETTER THAN THE BEST OF THE OTHER CANDIDATES

  There have been some relative mixed feelings and reactions since Rtd Major-Gen Mohammadu Buhari announced his renewed intention to run for the presidency in the oncoming General elections in Nigeria under the platform of the APC. The former Head of state who ruled Nigeria from 1983 to 1985 is being accused by his detractors of being one of those who masterminded a military coup that put an abrupt end to the second republic and a democratic government in Nigeria, an action they argued was responsible for the predicaments of our nation today, saying that if not for the military intervention, Nigeria would have advanced democratically and developmentally today much more than is the case.

  The Military is seen to have retrogressed Nigeria below acceptable standard considering our unquantifiable and numerous human and natural endowment. The military government in Nigeria is accused among other things of curtailing the rights of Nigerians and for creating despotic rulers who siphoned the wealth of our nation at the detriment of our people for decades. Although Rtd. Major- Gen Muhammadu Buhari is one of the few Major Generals who a lot of Nigerians exonerate from any registered corrupt case during his short period as the Military Head of State of Nigeria, but the fact that he had previously served in other administrative capacities without a functional legacy to show for it is what a lot of people are using against him.

  It would be recalled that Rtd. Major-Gen Muhammadu Buhari was the governor of North-eastern Nigeria between august 1975 – March 1976; he also served as federal commissioner for Petroleum and natural resources from March 1976 – June 1978. His last public office was under the despotic leadership of Late Gen Sani Abacha where he was appointed to serve as the chairman of the petroleum trust fund (PTF) between 1995 and 1999. National and international economic observers have lauded his contribution during this period, pointing it out as no doubt one of the few positive things that could be related to the unpopular and dictatorial government of Sani Abacha, although critics also faulted the 20% allocation to the military from the PTF fund under the chairmanship of Rtd. Major- General Muhammadu Buhari. But if anything, no single Nigerian government or government worker has been able to accuse this man of any act of corruption while serving in any of the many public offices he has served in.

  In a nation where corruption is almost tradition and every public servant sees the public office as an opportunity to loot public fund, I think that Nigerians are not being just to this man, Muhammadu Buhari, except of course that anyone has any proof that could implicate or indict him in any corruption case in the history of our nation.

  For those who are saying that he had been a governor and had nothing to show for it, the record shows us that Muhammadu Buhari was governor in the defunct north-Eastern state for less than a year, from august 1975 – March 1976, not even enough time for any governor to be acquainted with his office and environment, much less to begin to transform things in the state. As federal commissioner for petroleum and natural resources under the General Obasanjo led government, Buhari was also only in office for two years enough time for Gen Olusegun Obasanjo to eulogize him for his uprightness. As Military head of state, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari was only in office for two years during which Nigeria witnessed a change from the old ways of doing things in our country, the Buhari/Idiagbon tandem for the first time in a long while instilled a sense of patriotic pride into Nigerians all over the world. The tandem also made the fight against indiscipline a cardinal point during the two years period it ruled the nation.

  It would really be under the evil government of Late General Sani Abacha that Major-General Muhammadu Buhari got enough time to make an impact in government for his appointment as the chairman of the petroleum trust fund between 1995 and 1999, although many of us still would not understand why an incorruptible and ideological man like Buhari agreed to serve under such a corrupt, despotic and unpopular government, but till date, no government audit on the petroleum sector has indicted or found any atom of corruption allegations against this man, in a nation where every Nigerian public servant has investments, properties and millions of dollars attached to their names abroad.

  Another criticism that Major-General Buhari has suffered is his government´s clampdown on the press in the period he ruled Nigeria, the failure to allow for press freedom and the many persecution that Nigerians especially the people opposed to his government decisions suffered during his reign as Head of state for which many are doubting whether this apparent uncompromising ex-military officer demeanor, will ever come to fully imbibe democratic principles and allow for dialogue in the tackling of national issues . Others directly point at his dogmatic religious ideology nearing fanaticism and argue that such a bias Islamic viewpoint may not be beneficial to foster peace and stability in a diverse nation like Nigeria especially at this complicated period in our history. Another opinion poll says that Major-General Buhari has in some instances put his ambition to rule Nigeria before the peace and stability of our country especially when he was quoted to have advocated for bloodshed in the turn out that there was any form of rigging or irregularities during the national election, an irresponsible statement that has been blamed to be behind some of the upheavals and the destruction of lives and properties, especially in the northern part of Nigeria. Another point of conflict is the age of Major General Mohammadu Buhari, at 70 a lot of Nigerians, think that the ex-military man should forget about his political ambition and give room for younger and more dynamic persons to rule our nation.

  But with all the underlining condemnation of some of the unwholesome acts and errors of Major-General Buhari, it is a non-contentious fact that of all the candidates that have been presented to Nigerians at least since the return to civilian rule in 1999 till date, none can match with the ex-major General in terms of honesty and rectitude. It is not every day that you see a candidate in Nigeria disposed to probe the past leadership of the country, and that speaks massively in the favor of Major-Gen Muhammadu Buhari, it is a proved fact that no government in Nigeria has been able to fight corruption efficiently because no incorruptible leader has been discovered so far, and that incorruptible leader could well be Major General Mohammadu Buhari. Corruption can never fight corruption and since we all agree that the great obstacle on the part of our progress as a nation is corruption, we must be willing to push aside our tribalism and fight this national enemy squarely and convincingly.

  Because collating the pros and the cons put forward by those in favor and against the presidential candidacy of Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari, the only candidate in the modern history of our country who has seriously come out to say he wants to rule Nigeria unlike all the other accidental rulers which we have had in recent times, I cannot but ask the question, why the phobia for this man, Buhari? If we have allowed Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, the “father of corruption” in Nigeria and a former military head of state to rule Nigeria again as a civilian President for 8 good years, and have also allowed a sick and a weak person like late Umar Yar ardua to rule us for three years and permitted to be governed by a clueless president as President Goodluck Jonathan, can risking another four years to see the real intentions of Major Gen Muhammadu Buhari be worse than the 15 wasted years already spent in our democracy? Honestly, i think that those who are afraid of Buhari are those who have skeletons in the cupboards and those who do not have good intentions for our country.