Buhari’s credentials in people’s parliament

SIR: The forum was Radio Kwara’s popular programme, “The Platform”, described as “The Court of Public Opinion”, and “The People’s Parliament”. The edition in focus here is that of Wednesday, January 21, 2015. A guest was expected, but it didn’t work out, and so the phone line was thrown open. Many of the callers couldn’t understand why Governor Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti State) should assume that General Muhammadu Buhari would die earlier than himself, since only God can decide, and that age and sickness are not even absolute yardsticks on that score. 

   Some of the commentators went as far as saying that the death sentence passed on Buhari by Fayose is in tandem with his (Fayose’s) antecedents. Another caller regretted that Fayose is a disgrace to the people of Ekiti. What of the former Governor, Kayode Fayemi, who said that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) was not responsible for the crisis rocking Nigeria’s Governor’s Forum, when it was obvious that GEJ did not want Governor Rotimi Amaechi to be re-elected as the Chairman of the Forum? Seeing Fayemi’s support, GEJ proposed to give him a national award. But, Fayemi didn’t go for the award probably because GEJ’s PDP won the election against him before the award’s D-day. 

    In summary, Nigeria is bereft of good leaders. PDP has been promising and failing on electricity, pipe-borne water, roads, etc., 1999-2015. Unfortunately, instead of the governors under the leadership of Tinubu in the southwest to face positive pro-people projects, including pipe-borne water, roads, etc., they started demolishing people’s houses in the name of roads, without paying workers and pensioners regularly.  Supposing Kwara State was under Tinubu, houses would have been demolished in some towns. Yet, without any demolition, life is going smoothly in Kwara State, relatively speaking. 

   The foregoing cannot of course rule out the fact that the PDP has overstayed, and that Nigeria seriously needs General Muhammadu Buhari’s discipline and meticulous probity. Change is imperative. Callers on “The Platform” wondered why anybody should question the secondary school certificate of a graduate of the U.S. War Academy. I recalled on the programme the fact that Buhari was, at different times, Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Petroleum Minister, respectively. He was brilliant and trusted by the military leaders who would not want to put a thief in charge of such ministries. The PDP is cleverly distracting Nigerians from Buhari’s enviable records as opposed to GEJ’s failure in respect of terrorism, electricity, corruption, and a collapsing economy. Yes, Jesus warned against demonic rulers’ yeasts. Terrorism in Rivers and Ekiti states tells tales to sages.

• Pius Abioje, 

University of Ilorin.

Join Our Channels