RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari's burdens are too much for Nigeria

"The military council made a decision and that decision was not imposed on all the members by Buhari and Idiagbon, could Buhari unilaterally reject the collective decision of the military council?" 

 

so   eminence

 

Rank seniority and appointment confer consequentially legitimate authority, eminence, and power in the regimented armed services. As the highest ranking council member, council chairman, and Commander-in-Chief, Buhari arguably had the most influence on junta agenda development, decision-making, and decisions' implementation. If he did not, it would have been because he choose not or was spineless. Will history repeat itself if he is elected president?

Ukiwe unilaterally rejected some decisions of Babangida's military council. He resigned from the council and left the service consequence. What an honorable officer and gentleman he was. Bali was reported to have done too. Buhari could have done the same if members of the council were so disrespectful of his place in it, that they continually disagreed with him. He did not possibly because he was driving the council's agenda. Is it conceivable that he was leading the despiteful and unwilling, and happy to do so?  

 

The reference to Saul of the New testament is inappropriate in my opinion. Buhari is not Saul.  The latter's conversion was not by evolution. It was by a personal, direct, and instantaneous spiritual experience. Saul encountered Jesus on his way to Damascus to persecute the followers of Jesus. Some believers might call the episode divine intervention and a miracle.

If indeed Buhari's politics is different today, the forces behind it might very well be a combination of personal ambition, opportunism and inevitability. What else are they likely to be in a democratic (albeit imperfect) dispensation?

Saul changed his name to Paul after his conversion. He made a clean break from his past. Buhari remains firmly attached to his past. He continues to seek to profit from his past. He is yet to give up his major general designation even as the presidential candidate of a political party of civilians. One wonders sometimes who his minders are. Obasanjo, Mark, and many others did, Why not Buhari?  What is it about Alhaji, Mallam, or Mr. Buhari that is derogatory and unacceptable to him as a civilian presidential candidate in a democratic election, to elect a civilian president? Does he not accept that he is former military and now civilian? If he wins the election, will he be President General Buhari? Do Nigerians want a president beholden to a military rank?  I wonder. 

 

oa

 

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Segun Ogungbemi
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2015 5:39 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari's burdens are too much for Nigeria

 

The military council made a decision and that decision was not imposed on all the members by Buhari and Idiagbon, could Buhari unilaterally reject the collective decision of the military council? 

A former dictator could be a changed man by virtue of democratic principles and theories he has seen in the last 15 years of democratic rule in Nigeria. 

Saul in the New Testament was one of those people who persecuted the early Christians but later became a changed man and called himself Paul. And no apostles worked like him for Jesus the Christ whose followers he had earlier persecuted. 

We must see Buhari in a similar way. If the elections hold and he wins the presidential bid, four years is not too long for us to see what he is made of as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

We should graduate from the parochial thinking and move on to something more progressive and not retrogressive. 

Segun Ogungbemi Ph.D

Professor of Philosophy

Adekunle Ajasin University

Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State

Nigeria

Cellphone: 08033041371

                   08024670952

On Feb 4, 2015, at 10:02 PM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <oluifayantra@gmail.com> wrote:

Buhari was the face of the regime.

 

He is also the one seeking to benefit from that spell as a dictator, casting himself as reformer as he did then.

 

In the light of those efforts of his, people are examining his reformist credentials.

 

thanks

 

toyin 

 

 

 

On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 8:33 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:

I concede  that  'gang of two' may be more accurate than' collective leadership'.

G

-----Original Message-----
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of udoguei@appstate.edu
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2015 2:25 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari's burdens are too much for Nigeria

Gloria,

They (Idiagbon and Buhari) were referred to as the "gang of two" by some observers in those days in part because of the power they wielded. I recalled walking into the Nigerian Consulate in Atlanta and renewing my passport in less than 3 hours. I must admit that I thought it was a "miracle" when I was not asked to return in a week or month for it. Moreover, the officials at the Consulate were exceptionally cordial to me and others probably because of their policy on War Against Indiscipline (WAI).

Ike Udogu

----- Original Message -----
From: "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>
Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2015 1:52 pm
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari's burdens are too much for Nigeria
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>

> I recall that Buhari  did not rule alone. How does Tunde Idiagbon fit
> into all this?
>
> GE
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Anunoby,
> OguguaSent: Tuesday, February 03, 2015 11:51 AM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari's burdens are too
> much for Nigeria
>
> Buhari's term as military dictator was a very harrowing time for many
> Nigerians. He ran roughshod over fellow citizens'. He was arrogantly
> oblivious of the of the high cost to them in lives, dignity, and
> rights he masochistically disregarded or destroyed.
> That he was a young man then could never excuse his anger,
> hatefulness, and rage at anyone he disagreed with or despised. He
> seemed to have forgotten that he was a citizen like all his victims.
> His commission as an army officer Nigeria spent tens of thousands of
> Nigerian pounds and naira to enlighten and train, should never have
> caused or otherwise entitled him, to rule Nigerians against their will
> and severely brutalize them in the process. His oath as a military
> officer, which supposedly he freely took, committed him to protect the
> Nigerian people against foreign and domestic enemies, while respecting
> the law and their citizen and human rights in the process. He violated
> that oath and has shown no remorse. Why he chose to become a domestic
> enemy of the Nigerian people is beyond me.
> The state of the Nigerian nation at the time of his military
> intervention may not have been as well as most Nigerians wanted it to
> be. That neither warranted nor justified Buhari's utter disrespect for
> his fellow citizens' rights, and his brutal implementation of unjust
> decrees he enacted, sometimes retroactively. He violently took the
> lives of young Nigerians ( firing squad executions). He persecuted
> politicians he did not like (unjust humiliation and incarceration). He
> favored politicians he admired and liked ( affluent living
> conditions). He needlessly embarrassed Nigeria internationally
> (roguish attempt to kidnap a Nigerian politician living as a welcome
> guest in a mostly secure advanced foreign country). Why he believed he
> could pull off the kidnap attempt in that country is beyond me. Buhari
> seemed to be obsessed with arbitrarily humiliating people he did not
> like. He seemed to enjoy their pain and suffering. Not even the great
> Awolowo who was not in government at the time, was spared. He seemed
> uninterested in fairness and justice. He was an oppressive
> ruler.Buhari may  claim to have had good intentions at the time. He
> must however have known that he was doing wrong and quite oftentimes
> evil. He was well aware of the extrajudicial misery, pain, and
> suffering he was visiting on fellow citizens at the time.
> He must have known that the end does not justify the means for just,
> lawful, and moral people. He must know that the end justifies the
> means for hateful, lawless, vengeful, and violently mindless people.
> He always knew that Nigerians did not choose him to rule over them. He
> did not care. He never craved Nigerians understanding and acceptance
> of his rule, having treasonably seized power. He forced their
> compliance. His years as a military dictator were oppressive and
> wasted years.
> Some opportunists poised to criminally benefit from a possible Buhari
> presidency seem to have chosen not to hold Buhari accountable. All
> other Nigerians have chosen differently. They do not wish a rule such
> as his to ever happen again. Is there a way out for Buhari? I believe
> there might be. He must promptly come clean about whether or not he
> graduated high school if he does not wish to continue to suffer an
> integrity and trust deficit. He should as a matter of urgency
> copiously, sincerely, and unabashedly apologize to the Nigerian people
> for his misrule as s military dictator. He must promise and deliver
> restitution which must at the minimum include that he, if duly
> elected, will govern (note rule) all Nigerians under the law, as the
> leader of a people's government, be always and fully accountable to
> them, and guarantee (never deny) them their constitutional right to
> replace his as leader, with another freely elected leader of their
> choice. He needs a contract with Nigerians.
> It is quite simply not enough that Buhari's proxies and supporters
> continue to tell Nigerians that he is a not-corrupt, changed, new man.
> He may indeed be who they say he is but where is the credible,
> verifiable evidence? Not even spiritual salvation may be earned by
> faith alone. An act for a promise does not seem to me to be prudent in
> Buhari's case. If Buhari was to do the above and more, he will have
> set an enviable standard for public service in Nigeria whether or not
> he wins the election. He will have help to put politics and public
> service in Nigeria, on the pedestal that it should have been all
> along. He will also have redeem himself with Nigerians because he must
> know that the concerns they have about a second chance for him as head
> of government and state, are well borne out by their experience of his
> oppressive and unjust rule. He might also secure election victory for
> his party. He must know not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
> He will also cut his name in the stone of Nigerian, African, and world
> history. If he does not, he will remain a blot on Nigeria's political
> landscape that he has been for
> many years now.
>
> oa
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]Sent: Monday, February 02,
> 2015 10:59 PM
> To: USAAfrica Dialogue
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari's burdens are too much
> for Nigeria
>
> "One day, we woke up to the earth-shaking news that Buhari had applied
> to his school to release his School Certificate. What came out must
> have made the operators of "Oluwole" forgers park in Lagos livid with
> rage at the bastardisation of their trade by incompetent amateurs. It
> was a "cut-and-join" affair bearing the letterhead of Katsina State
> Ministry of Education, with Buhari's old man 2015 photo superimposed!
> To the best of my knowledge, Katsina State was created in 1987 and
> Buhari claims he took his WASC in 1961. Yet, Buhari's supporters
> cacophonously chorused that we should move on, the man has produced
> his certificate.
> Why this issue is important is that Buhari lied under oath that his
> certificate was with the military. He has presented none. That is
> perjury, a serious offence that could get him disqualified and even
> jailed if we had functional rule of law. Secondly, it means Buhari
> became a Major General and later Head of State without valid evidence
> he was educationally qualified for officer commissioning.
> I am afraid, even if Buhari manages to produce the genuine copy of his
> WASC, his famous claim to integrity has already been injured beyond
> repair as a result of his perjurious lies under oath. The evil that
> northern political leaders committed by bringing uneducated
> individuals into our state institutions has shown in the fact that
> these chaps ran the country aground.
> Buhari was one of such individuals inflicted upon the nation.
> During his time as Head of State, goods disappeared from the shelves,
> and food was being rationed in an otherwise capitalist state!
> Draconian laws were made, backdated and used to murder drug suspects –
> Bartholomew Owoh, Lawal Ojuolape and Bernard Ogedengbe.
> Buhari ruled Nigeria like a bushman. The Press was put in chains."
>
> - Ochereome Nnanna
>
>
> http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/buharis-burdens-much-nigeria/
>
> Hehehehehe! Now, this is how to write, entertain, and educate! We
> still have writers in Nigeria. I laughed and cried from beginning to
> end.
>
> APC has learnt a valuable lesson in its impending loss: It is a new
> world, some of us don't forget and we will hold people accountable.
> Better lock next time - without Tinubu, Atiku and Buhari! BTW,
> whatever happened to Atiku since they robbed him of the candidacy?
>
> - Ikhide
>
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