Baba, now that you have finally settled in Aso Rock

It wasn’t a surprise then that the Northern states that voted for you in 2003, were still the same ones which voted in 2007, 2011 and 2015. You never lost ground with the North. Quite frankly, you gained more ground each time you tried. What is clear though is the fact that you only got the West and some parts of the North Central when people were tired of the incompetence of Jonathan. What does that tell you?

Another reason why I want you to work towards removing sentiment, especially religious and tribal sentiment, is because before the last elections, most Christians wanted Jonathan and most Muslims wanted you. Either way, the situation was dicey. Many Christians in the Northern part of the country were said to have voted you because they didn’t want their lives tampered with if for any reason you lost. It is also said that many Northerners in the Southern part of the country voted Jonathan because they didn’t want to have to lose their lives to militants who were loyal to Jonathan. That fear was not helped in any way as people were reminded that on May 16, 2012, Punch Newspaper reported that you promised violence if the elections did not go your way. An article by John Alechenu, Olusola Fabiyi, Tunde Odesola and Olalekan Adetayo titled ‘Buhari under fire over threat of bloodshed’ made this statement and I quote. ‘“God willing, by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way. If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood,’’ Buhari reportedly told the party members who paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna on Monday.’ All these portrayed you as very divisive and violent man. The tension was palpable before the elections and until Jonathan conceded defeat, most people thought that Nigeria would erupt in war. An Igbo man who did not travel back home told me that as soon as he came back from work on election day, some young guys came to listen to the results in front of his house. What was surprising was that they came with machetes and knives and when each state was called that showed Jonathan winning, they sharpened there weapons and taunted him about his upcoming death. When Jonathan conceded defeat, they took bags of sachet water and sprayed all over his house, telling him to count himself lucky. It was also said that Northerners who didn’t return home locked themselves in their houses in the Southern part of the country as they awaited their fate. That wound might not stink anymore but it doesn’t mean it has healed.