by Olusegun Dada
He cried so we could understand what he saw and wanted to change. We laughed at him. We scoffed at his pain and today we cry? Who is laughing last?
In my lifetime, I have taken certain decisions. One of the biggest and most thoughtful however, was voting the Congress for Progressive Change in the 2011 elections. I remember arguing with most of my friends during his campaign trail on why GMB (General Muhamadu Buhari) being president would have been the best thing to happen to our country’s already diminishing state. I made a case for how GMB would have liberated our country from the shackles of corruption and corrupt elements parading themselves at the time as leaders.
Say what you will about the man, he remains, till date, the only individual we tested with the keys to our treasury and our funds didn’t disappear into thin air. Like any other world class leader, GMB isn’t perfect. He was alleged to have abused human rights while he was military head of state but he was never accused of stealing or overseeing the looting of government funds. He remains till date the only Nigerian head of state who never stole a kobo of government money. He remains the only Nigerian leader till date to have never condoned acts of corruption or corrupt elements while he was in the corridors of power. He proved this beyond reasonable doubt as Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Energy, 1976-78, Chairman, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and Head of State and Commander in Chief, Nigerian Armed Forces, 1984-85.
The purpose of this write-up is not to present GMB as a magician or a superhuman who could have waved the magic wand and made all our country’s problems go away in two years. But I am certain that under GMB as president, we wouldn’t have had;
1. A president who is not remotely in connection with the sufferings of the masses.
2. A president who would have been globe-trotting the world while the citizens of his country are driven out of their homes by flood.
3. N5,000,000,000,000 wouldn’t have disappeared under his watch within two years of his administration without a single conviction.
4. GMB wouldn’t have boasted on national TV that he didn’t give a damn about citizens asking him to declare his assets
5. A terrorist sect that has taken responsibility for murdering thousands of Nigerians wouldn’t have held the nation to ransom under GMB
6. N2,100,000,000 wouldn’t have put on shoes and disappeared from the Nigerian minting and printing company without people whose sole responsibility was safeguarding these funds answering for it.
7. Fuel subsidy thieves would have been answering seriously for the crimes of stealing from the Nigerian people.
8. GMB as president wouldn’t be spending N1,000,000,000 as feeding allowance.
9. He wouldn’t be leaving our unborn grandchildren with scores of debts that even their generations can’t ever repay.
10. Nigeria won’t be in so much mess both locally and internationally as it is today.
11. We wouldn’t be spending N2,000,000,000 on a banquet hall we don’t need when we have 112,000,000 out of a population of 167,000,000,000 who live on $2 a day.
12. We won’t be inside IMF’s back pockets right now with our neck deep in debt.
You may wonder if am psychic for pre-empting what Buhari would have done differently if he was Nigerian president today. His antecedents as a leader have brought me to this conclusions. He was a man who during his campaign, advised all criminal elements to flee the country or face prosecution if he became president. He attended every presidential debate to let his voice be heard. He didn’t abscond from confrontation and didn’t shy away from fielding questions.
Some days to the 2011 elections, GMB wept before a press conference. People claimed it was a political stunt to garner sympathy votes. He was a man who saw tomorrow. He cried so we could understand what he saw and wanted to change. We laughed at him. We scoffed at his pain and today we cry? Who is laughing last? We wail at the spate at which the man we elected as leader (God knows I never voted for him) rape the country dry. Today at least, some of us know better. Buhari was everything, but he was not a thief. He wasn’t a man to tolerate thieves either. He is a man who was willing to liberate the nation from the shackles of oppression and criminality. In my humble opinion, he is a living legend.
If he contests in 2015, I will do more than just vote. And that is a promise.
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Dada Olusegun is a registered member of Congress for Political Change (CPC), he is a writer cum social change advocate. He is a political columnist on #EkekeeeDotCom and contributor on numerous online blogs and newspapers. He is a motivational speaker who is also involved in youth empowerment and enlightenment programs nationwide. He tweets from @Dolusegun.
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija
NONSENSE! EVERY NIGERIAN KNOWS HOW CPC KILLED CORPERS IN THE NORTH. CPC WILL NEVER WIN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. BUHARI IS JUST AN ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS WHO WANTS TO ISLAMISE NIGERIA. WE WILL NOT AGREE. GOODLUCK JONATHAN IS BETTER.
BUHARI'S GOVERNMENT WERE FLOGGING PEOPLE IN THE STREET WHEN HE WAS HEAD OF STATE, WE HAVE SEEN WHAT HE CAN DO, WE DONT WANT TO SEE THAT AGAIN.
Indeed true is coming out.Gen.Buhari is d best.
NIGERIA SAI MAI GASKIYA
NIGERIA SAI BUHARI
tears…
Indeed GMB is a man of God & he is a man who does not permit nonsense,he has the wisdom of ruling Nigeria because many thought that been a presedent is an easy task whereas the story is different. My prayer is that God Almighty provides our nation with good leader who will have good plans for our nation not someone that will want to sell our nation to foreigners(white men) only to feed his own mouth.
Indeed JMB is a man of God & he is a man who does not permit nonsense,he has the wisdom of ruling Nigeria because many thought that been a presedent is an easy task whereas the story is different. My prayer is that God Almighty provides our nation with good leader who will have good plans for our nation not someone that will want to sell our nation to foreigners(white men) only to feed his own mouth.
Fellow 9jerians, let support our president in hz administration. GEJ is jst but a human being, d 2011 election as far as i know wz free n fear, it wz highly contested. Wat i xpect d losers 2 do would've bn 2 support GEJ 2 move us forward if dey ever had a good plan 4 our country, bt d reverse is d case. Whether we believe it or not we r brothers, diz is demonstrated wen we meet at d diaspora. Let also practice it at home, GEJ is our president, if he fails, we all fail n if he succeed, we succeed. Wat we lack most is patience, we want 2 hav it nw or never, there r countries dat r ruled by jst a single president for 30-40yrs, ours jst 4 to a maximum f 8yrs our pants n boxers r falling 4rm our waist. God help us!
GMB is not different from our leaders, past and present. He may be honest and courageous but his disrespect for human rights is very fundamental. He is therefore not as innocent as you are painting him.
I begin 2 sense something when u say ''with GMB as president, we wouldn't have had diz sect dat terroriz 9ja'' let d sect cont. GMB's time is history. If nt 4 lack f proper undstnding, dada or whatsoever u call urself haz indirectly reveal d root f d islamic sect. Of d truth, if GMB bcoms president n d activities f d sect seizes, another group wil also make hz administration ungovernable. Let our conciences b our guides!
You are speaking out of ignorance, whom did late Gen.Azazi the former NSA who had all priviledged security information at his finger tips linked with a sect i.e bokoharam, it wasn't Buhari nor CPC but PDP,Why was he sacked? because he revealed the truth out of frustration.Stop being a tool in the hand of the PDP mind manipulation machine if you are not one of the machines yourself.Ndume arrested with link to bokoharam his he a CPC member or has any link with Buhari, No but a PDP senator.Pls. be reasonable and use your own common sense although it is said not to be common
Dada all nigerians are d same even if we vote u in dia u wil stil do d same so stp all dis critisizin & political talks of urz ok ?
The Nigerian youth is still far from knowledgeable. In this internet and blog age, I see that people are more interested in getting their voice heard than spending time quietly studying to become as knowledgeable as possible about this complex world we live in only made more complex by human failings
There were three major candidates in that election; can the author or the respondents explain to me why the third person wasn't mentioned? I know what excuses you have, I just want you to mention it. IBB did the worst to have organised his overthrow but do you know he took a cue from the Nigerian people? Una never ready
@OIbhagui
Please please and please. Buhari's time has passed. He should accept it and sit all the way down.
Fantastic, I pray others should have the wisdom to understand
The argument shouldn't be whether GMB can fight corruption or not, the argument should be if he is able to rule Nigeria at 73. For me, I think we should be looking for a young and credible Nigerian that can inject our political landscape with mordern and effective polices as seen in other developing countries. Or don't we have young and credible Nigerians? Or maybe GMB is still a youth.
Beckoning on GMB to shoulder Nigeria's responsibility isn't the best practice, he has been there and as such must not be entirely trusted. GMB, at best, should be a kingmaker and not a king. At his age, he should canvass support for a young Nigerian, equip him/her with the basic leadership credentials and allow him/her function within the confines of best practices in govt. Only then will I believe in him. A man as old as GMB still canvassing for the highest political office in Nigeria must have to be looked with eyes wide open..
GMB is good, no any iota of doubt about that, but you all are not being fare to the 70 years old man, the structure has not changed in any way, The PDpigs still own everything in INEC, appoints RECs e.t.c. Manipulate the mindset of gullible Nigerians, I love the General but 2015 I am going for a Ribadu, I won't allow my father at 70 to be dragged into a system that hasn't changed in anyway. Let Dada and others begin to pursue genuine electoral reforms leading to the complete adoption of the Uwais report then Gen. Buhari can be encouraged to support Nuhu Ribadu who I believe will equally fight corruption to a standstill and has become a nightmare to many politicians.
GMB is good no any iota of doubt, but you all are not being fare to the 70 years old man, the structure has not changed in any way, The PDpigs still own everything in INEC, appoints RECs e.t.c. Manipulate the mindset of gullible Nigerians, I love the General but 2015 I am going for a Ribadu, I won't allow my father at 70 to be dragged into a system that hasn't changed in anyway. Let Dada and others begin to pursue genuine electoral reforms leading to the complete adoption of the Uwais report then Gen. Buhari can be encouraged to support Nuhu Ribadu who I believe will equally fight corruption to a standstill and has become a nightmare to many politicians.
@ those talking of human right abuse…let me ask, is law against same sex not human right abuse to some people?human right..human right. There is limit to human right. However, there is democratic rules n institutions to check any president. So the fear of human right violation by Buhari should not be an issue.
From all indications buhari would have been a solution to nigerian socio economic problem,we heartily neglected they opportunity of rescuing our dear nation. Today what goes up comes down, were are we with they PDP mafians and hope in they next presidential election we make a shift.
Truth is, if GMB was President, corruption will be widely reduced. However, that's not enough to make him d best man. We need to address the issue of human rights. Has he changed? He also comes with a big baggage. Only Nigerians can decide which is better (or safer), Corruption or threat to human right. . . I think they are all from the same rotten generation, we need to brace up and get ready to give power to the right people, and not get satisfied with mediocrity. . . 2015 is around the corner!
GMB is the most honest and reliable…So said the Generals.
I would join you, and that is a promise! They will fight tooth and nail to make sure GMB does not get there because they know all of there secretes will be in the open and all defaulter, looto crazies will all be jailed. I can assure if GMB is elected, all the politicians in Nigeria will flee.
Absolutely correct analysis.