Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - "Buhari is an ethnic-religious fundamentalist"

I read awesome posts like this and I regret that it is wasted on the insularity of listserves. This should be on social media, where our young are, beautiful children who have no sense of history, can hardly think critically because they have been deprived of resources by the "messiahs" that they seem prepared to die for. I am amazed at how thirsty our young folks are for history; they are beginning to use Google to reconstruct history by themselves and they are shocked by how little they know. I will continue to do my part to sensitize them to the complexity of our past and the complicity of our present rulers in that tawdry past. But I thank you for this. We must hold them accountable; we must police ourselves. 

- Ikhide

On Dec 21, 2014, at 6:20 PM, Anunoby, Ogugua <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:

"Buhari declared to the consternation of all Nigerians that Abacha was neither corrupt nor  a thief. "He did not steal Nigeria's money," he declared sternly with military fiat."

 

Ikhide

 

Does the above quote suggest that Buhari does not know what corruption is and therefore may not be able to deal with it if he is elected president? He must be the only Nigerian who did not know that Abacha was corrupt? If this was so, Nigerians should be worried about a Buhari presidency because Buhari was quite close to Abacha. Is it not possible that Buhari may not know whether or not, he himself is corrupt?

 

Does the quote suggest that Buhari was beholden to Sanni Abacha because he (Abacha) appointed him head of the PTF. Abacha rescued Buhari from the scourge of unemployment and public inconsequence. Does Buhari play favorites even against the dazzling glare of perceptible evidence? He seemingly did in the 53 suitcases scandal.

Is Buhari's profession of the truth situational? If Buhari was beholden to Abacha, why would he not be to the amalgam of scavenging politicians pushing and funding his run for the office of president, should he be elected? Buhari's supporters say he has no money because he was never corrupt do they not?

If the outcome of the 2015 presidential election will not be the replacing of like with unlike, why is a change necessary? Why does a change make sense? Why substitute a set of known problems with a different set of similar problems?

Jonathan is his party's election candidate. I do not bother with him because he is the incumbent and a known quantity. He cannot be worse than he is. The only way is up for him. Buhari is now his party's election candidate. His supporters say he portends better promise even though the facts evidently do not add up. Their narrative remains at best a hard-sell outside Buhari's traditional  constituency.

That Jonathan is bad is not to say that Buhari will be better and not worse.  Buhari's supporters demand that Nigerians make both a leap of faith and hope contemporaneously. They urge Nigerians to elect Buhari president because of his messianic qualities which they only are certain of. Is it a risk worth taking given what is publicly known about the man and his promoters and supporters, and the possible downside? It seems to me that the upside is too chancy to be likely.

Nigeria is a complex country to govern despite the ease with which positions are quite frequently taken and premonitions flouted by some forum participants. Nigeria does not need an emotive and impulsive president. Nigeria does not need an angry and self-opinionated president. Nigeria needs a contemplative, deliberative, inclusion-oriented  president.

Each voter is advised to ignore the hype. Noise is not always music to the ears. The loudest noisemaker does not always make the most sense. Each voter should think deeply before mounting their post. They should think carefully before casting their vote. They are reminded that once cast, their vote is not reversible for another after four years.

oa

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2014 9:17 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - "Buhari is an ethnic-religious fundamentalist"

 

"I am also not impressed with the narrative out there that Buhari believes in fighting corruption with total commitment, even though he may not be personally corrupt and I dare say, he is not. He allows certain things under table and in some cases, negligently aids and abets corrupt acts. Remember the 53 suit cases? What about his stewardship at PTF? It is not as flattering as some would want us to believe. And before I forget, in 2008, at the 10th anniversary of the death of Abacha, Buhari declared to the consternation of all Nigerians that Abacha was neither corrupt nor  a thief. "He did not steal Nigeria's money," he declared sternly with military fiat. This is despite the fact that several countries had returned hundreds of millions of dollars to  Nigeria as part of Abacha's recovered loot. I don't know if this position was also 'contrived' by Buhari's hate club. If not, I don't know how much good this does to the General's image as an anti-corruption leader that is being daily burnished in the media. Anyone who denies this fact of history that Abacha did not loot the treasury cannot be an honest person and for Buhari to do that speak powerfully to the charge against him. It is an eloquent testimony that tells a lot about what his promoters would not want to talk about.
The harrowing traffic chaos that we all suffer and agonise over today in Lagos is a direct result of Buhari's narrow and parochial minded view of economic affairs of this country. The cancellation of the Lagos Metro Line project  after commencement of work remains a sad reminder of Buhari's lack of vision and foresight. Tragically, those who have borne the brunt of that unfortunate action are today the very people packaging, marketing and promoting him to be president partly with the resources of the Lagos state. Thankfully, our memories are not like architecture that is often described as frozen music."

 

http://www.theheraldng.com/buhari-ethno-religous-fundamentalist/

- Ikhide

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