Buhari’s pathetic utterances

I AM writing this piece in a sad mood. Why wouldn’t I.
Muhammadu Buhari, retired army General was one of my
authentic Nigerian heroes, a man of untrammeled integrity and
granite cast will.
In the 2011 presidential election, I voted for him without any
qualms. I have argued strongly against the notion that he is
an ethnic jingoist or a religious bigot.
I had followed his carreer in the military; from being a military
governor to Petroleum Minister and then head of state. I could
only speak about him with utmost veneration.
When some weeks ago, the revered Sultan of Sokoto called for
amnesty for Boko Haram, I was staggered by the shift in his
posture towards these merchants of terror he had consistently
condemned without any equivocation.
But his royal majesty’s amnesty trumpet was soon chorused
by the Northern States Governors’ Forum, NSGF, and almost
with the speed of a tornado, the Northern Elders Forum, NEF,
followed, urging President Jonathan to grant amnesty to a
band of misguided, blood- thirsty terrorists.
I was disgusted by the impish and warped theory of amnesty
being propounded by these men. I was so sure that ‘noble’
men like Buhari would not lend their voices to the evil
cacophony of the NSGF and the NEF.
I argued that if Buhari had been silent, it was simply because
he didn’t want to speak against Boko Haram for political
reason. “But he will never, ever endorse Boko Haram’s
murderous activities; never,” I had argued.
But on Sunday, June 2, 2013, Buhari broke what I found now
to be his ominous silence. Speaking on Liberty Radio in
Kaduna, the reticent retired General criticized the declaration of
state of emergency in three Northern states of Adamawa,
Borno and Yobe, describing the action as a grave injustice
against the North.
Buhari holds the strange notion that while Niger Delta
militants were given special treatments, the Boko Haram
terrorists were being killed and their house demolished.
Hear this soldier: “You see, in the case of Niger Delta
militants, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua sent an
airplane to bring them, he sat down with them and discussed
with them, they were cajoled and they were given money and
amnesty”. But he was not done yet.
“They were trained in some skills and were given employment,
but the ones in the North are being killed and their houses
demolished.”
Again, I stress that I am at pains that a man I admire and
practically adore could allow his emotion to so blur his
reasoning that he could sound so parochial and pathetic. First
I want to ask Buhari, what is the cause of Boko Haram.
What are they fighting for? In the case of the Niger Delta
militants, we know about the degradation of their environment
by Nigeria and foreign oil companies prospecting and
exploiting the oil buried in their land by God.
Their land, water and even air are so polluted that survival is
put in peril. For all these threats to their lives, successive
governments in Nigeria had paid but scant attention to a
people who tragically found themselves mired in poverty by
the very natural gift that should elevate them to an earthly
paradise.
So, when the young militants found themselves with arms,
they decided to redress the gross injustice and oppression
that had pervaded for decades. And while many of us would
not agree with their violent approach, we would not deny that
they has a cause.
What is the cause of Boko Haram? They don’t want Western
education. Simply idiotic. The arms they use is a product of
Western education, so is electricity and the clothes they wear.
They said they want Islam as only religion in Nigeria. So,
some of us that are non-Muslims should jump into the river.
Very foolish. These are rascals with out a cause except
mypotic, wild and horrid religious fanaticism.
Buhari said Yar’Adua sent an airplane to pick the militants
and they brought them to Abuja. Correct. But did the airplane
land in the creeks, the abode of the militants and picked
them?
The fact is, Yar’Adua called the Niger Delta leaders and
appealed to them to persuade their ‘boys’ to drop their arms
and come for talk, for negotiation on the way forward for their
exploited and devastated homeland. And the elders returned
and met their wards in the creeks and convinced them to meet
with Yar’Adua.
The militants in deference to their elders sat with Yar’Adua
and negotiated the Niger Delta question. They did not
negotiate out of fear; but they didn’t fear to negotiate.
I ask Buhari, where are these terror elements called Boko
Haram? They remain ghosts, apologies to President Jonathan.
The Niger Delta elders and leaders went to the creeks to fetch
their boys. Buhari is both a leader and an elder. I ask him,
where are those sons of terror? Why can’t he and the likes of
Professor Ango Abdullahi (of Ali-Must-Go shame) fetch their
boys so that Jonathan can also send an airplane to fly them
to Abuja.
The Northern leaders, including the Sultan of Sokoto,
clamoured for amnesty for the murderous gang. Jonathan
accepted and set up an amnesty committee.
The foolish boys in reaction said it was Nigeria and Jonathan
that needed amnesty. As if this reaction is a huge shame to
the Northern elders and to the Nigerian governments because
they are forcing amnesty on killers, gangsters and animals
that have no iota of remorse.
As if all that was not enough, they increased their barbaric
unslaught not only on innocent Nigerians but the police and
the military, killing and maiming in horrifying proportions.And
you said Jonathan should not declare state of emergency?