Temple Chima Ubochi
ubochit@hotmail.deBonn, Germany
Go put your creed into your deed (Ralph Waldo Emerson)That which we call sin in others is experiment for us (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
All of us are experts at practicing virtue at a distance (Theodore M. Hesburgh)
The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself (Jane Addams)
One should examine oneself for a very long time before thinking of condemning others (Molière)
am at pains understanding our politicians and elder statesmen. Obasanjo and Chibike Amaechi have all returned to their vomits. For instance, Chibike Amaechi said this in 2011: "Be watchful of those people that walk about carrying brooms and their houses are dirty, they are not to be trusted". Today, where is Mr. Amaechi?
Obasanjo was hopping mad when President Jonathan called him a Motor Park Tout due to his attitude and utterances, but, a friend of mine asked what is the difference between a real motor park tout and Obasanjo, when he ordered his Ward Chairman to tore his PDP membership card, while the members of the PDP from his Ward 11, Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State, were watching, cheering and clapping. Such behaviour is the trademark of the head of the touts, and such scene usually happens at motor parks. So, President Jonathan was right!
These are Buhari's words, on Jan 30, 2015, as recorded by Saharareporters:
"Fellow Nigerians, People accuse me of many things. But one thing they never accuse me of is corruption. They never accuse me of mediocrity, or of lying. People accuse me of many things. I have led this country and I have a record. We were not perfect, but we were effective; we solved problems, and we made Nigerians proud. In our government, we fought corruption, we stabilized the Naira, and we shut down insurgency. We shouldn't forget so soon that there was the Maitatsine ravaging the North east and we dealt with it. We also overran the Chadian rebels. We rebuilt industries, Nigerians queued up and treated each other with respect; Nigerians took pride in our reputation for discipline. The world admired us. We were proud to be Nigerians. However, because they can't attack our record, they accuse me falsely of ethnic jingoism; they accuse me falsely of religious fundamentalism. Because they cannot attack our record, they accuse us falsely of calling for election violence - when we have only insisted on peace. Even as Head of State, we never imposed Shariah. All my running mates have been either Igbo or Yoruba and are always devout Christian of indisputable repute. I have and will continue to condemn those who burn God's places of worship, be they churches or mosques and wish God's judgment upon them. As your President, their punishment won't stop there, we will also ensure Boko Haram and other such elements, are found, are arrested and face the full wrath of the law as punishment for their crimes against our country. My dear friends, this is very important to note: It doesn't matter if you are Igbo, Yoruba, Ijaw, Hausa, Idoma, Efik, Ekwere, Urhobo, Igala and, no, it does not matter if you are Christian, Muslim, animist or atheist: we need a new direction under a new leadership. The task ahead will be challenging and daunting, but it is surmountable. This is what leadership is about. My only desire is to prove to you that Nigeria can truly work. Allow me prove to you that in your lifetime, you can be proud of this country. Let me make you this promise today: We will protect your children. We will protect your wealth. We will make this country work again. This is why I am running for the office of the president of Nigeria. This is my promise."
- Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR)".
Let me devote Parts 12 and 13 of this article in deciphering Buhari's words above:
First and foremost, Buhari has got no ballast whatever to be the President of Nigeria in this modern age! Buhari said above "But one thing they never accuse me of is corruption": That's not true; in the preceding part of this article, I gave a graphic detail how the Transparency International data from 1979 till date, shows that both General Buhari and Former President Olusegun Obasanjo's tenure were more corrupt than President Goodluck Jonathan's tenure. Buhari said above "They never accuse me of mediocrity, or of lying": That's not true; before now, Nigerians never knew that Buhari was not qualified to join the military when he did, or, that he joined the military with only a testimonial from his principal, also, Buhari lied under oath when he swore that his credentials were with the Nigerian military, which turned out to be false. Buhari said above "I have led this country and I have a record": Fine, but Buhari has been telling Nigerians not to judge him based on his past record, so which record is he talking about here? His past record which he proudly referred to above is nothing to be proud of, and if Nigerians should assess him on that, which they have to do, he has no chance of smelling the Office of the President of Nigeria again. His record was just plain baleful.
Buhari contradicts himself at every turn: Buhari granted The Vanguard an interview recently, and there, a reporter asked him "Some people say that you expelled 700,000 migrants years back, thinking that it would create jobs; that you banned political meetings and free speech; that you detained thousands of people; set up secret tribunals; executed people for crimes that were not capital offences. Have you changed, or are these what the Nigerian people should look forward to if you win the election?" Then, Buhari answered thus: "I think I would be judged harshly as an individual by what happened during that military administration, or to extend what happened under a military administration to a democratic system". So, what is Buhari talking here about his record, if we shouldn't judge him on that? Buhari should tell us how Nigerians can judge him without referring to his past? His past is only what Nigerians have to base their judgment of him. Buhari's past is like his curriculum vitae (CV), and as somebody looking for a job, just like everywhere else, he would be assessed based on his past records in his CV. Buhari wants Nigerians to hire him as the President; his CV (his record) is what Nigerians would look at, to see if he is better qualified than the person presently occupying that position. There is no way Nigerians will sack their present Chief Executive Officer and hire another person, for that same position, if he is not better. From the records, sacking President Jonathan and hiring Buhari to replace him would be tantamount to jumping from frying pan into hell fire, and I don't think that Nigerians can afford that.
Buhari said above "I have the record": OK; Buhari was the first head of state to send a woman to a firing squad, is that a record we should be proud of? Buhari killed the three drug guys, should we clap for him? Drug pushing or peddling is a grievous offence and should attract a corresponding penalty no doubt, but, it was evil to back date a decree in order to punish those who committed an offence before the promulgation of such decree. If those guys killed by Buhari knew previously that their offence would lead to their death, may be, they could have been deterred? Who knows? Buhari did the wrong thing by backdating the decree to have those guys killed. My people say that "a law can't be made after catching a culprit (Anaghi eje Mmadu n'aka eme iwu)". Unfortunately, many of us believe that wrongs aren't wrong if it's done by nice people like ourselves. Nigeria and the whole world have condemned Indonesia for killing convicted drug offenders including Nigerians. If we condemn other countries' government, why should we tolerate what Buhari did to his fellow Nigerians, for the same offence? Ken wrote "What we are talking about here is not whether these three men abused the drugs but that justice was not served to them, rather what was served to them was injustice and anyone supporting such an injustice is a wicked person. The justice was that they should be in jail for what they did but Buhari chose to change the goal post after the game has begun and summarily executed the three men unjustifiable".
Photo from Samuel Meyiwa Khalil
Samuel Meyiwa Khalil wrote that "Buhari is Cursed" based on Bartholomew Owoh's last words before he faced the firing squad: "I did not pray to die like this. This is a terrible death. But there is one thing, I am not a fugitive. I die only to abide by the government's decision. May God forgive Buhari for spilling the blood of young people. It is a pity I am dying for not touching my fellow man's property." Read more blow. Ikechukwu Amaechi wrote "When Buhari, the cold blooded murderer, took the lives of Bartholomew, Lawal and Bernard, he thought Nigerians would forget, more importantly he thought he has silenced these young souls he murdered forever until now. He will be put through the worst humiliation of his life....starting with exposing him- for his certificate forgery, his Jihadist Agenda, Religious Bigotry, Iron Clad Support for Abacha etc".
Still talking of Buhari's record; a group of young Nigerians under the aegis of Patriotic Vanguard has described Buhari as unfit to rule Nigeria based on his past record in the public service. The group described Buhari as a man that has a weak pedigree to rule the country in 21st century. The group said it "wishes to join other Nigerians in reminding him that his past record of unaccountability in public office raises fresh concern about his integrity and suitability for the office of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces". The group also believes that if Buhari is voted in as president, he may reverse Nigerian's democratic experience, which the country has toiled several years to build. The group further stated that Buhari is not the leader Nigerians are yearning for because of what it termed "the activities of low characters who are behind his ambition". The group then challenged Buhari to disclose sources of his campaign fund, which he said he has no boldness to tell Nigerians. In the Group's word: "It has therefore become important to sensitize the general public and particularly voters on the need to be vigilant and ensure that Nigeria's democratic process is not put on reverse gear. Whereas General Buhari and the APC would want Nigerians to believe that PDP is committing more than enough public resources to the ongoing presidential campaigns based on the N21 billion raised at its fund raising, the simple, undisputable truth today is that the APC and General Buhari are virtually outspending their opponents without public disclosure of the source and the size of their campaign funds".
Buhari said above "We were not perfect, but we were effective; we solved problems, and we made Nigerians proud": That's not correct, his government wasn't any effective, solved no problem and didn't make Nigerians proud, as he only concentrated on locking up the politicians and relegated the other aspects of governance to the back burner. Another thing Buhari did was to start a diplomatic row with Britain by trying unsuccessfully to kidnap Umaru Dikko from London. That singular act made Britain to stop the Visa-Free concession it gave to Nigerians entering United Kingdom. Since after that unsuccessful action to kidnap and smuggle Dikko from London to Nigeria, Nigerians have been facing an uphill battle in getting visa to travel to United Kingdom, something that was as easy as just buying your ticket, hopping on a plane and arriving in England where your passport would be stamped on arrival. Buhari said above "we fought corruption, we stabilized the Naira", that's not true; his fight against corruption was irrational and not even-handed, some were kept under house arrest, depending on such persons' tribe, while others were sent off to Kirikiri for no just reason. Buhari didn't stabilize the naira; it was the market forces, of which he had no control of, that kept naira where it was then. Buhari had no control over the price of oil, the stock market then, and so on and so forth. Buhari said above "we shut down insurgency. We shouldn't forget so soon that there was the Maitatsine ravaging the North east and we dealt with it. We also overran the Chadian rebels": That was not the whole story, because, he failed to tell Nigerians that nobody promised then to make Nigeria ungovernable for him, if he takes over; nobody sabotaged all his efforts to win the war against insurgency; and his predecessors didn't under-equip the military to prevent its personnel from carrying out coup d'état against them. Buhari should have told Nigerians that he is one of those supporting Boko Haram, and that the sect became deadlier after President Jonathan defeated him during the 2011 presidential Election. The presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Martin Onovo, said that Buhari "is too old, too sectional, very weak with several unresolved questions on his integrity, starting with the N25 billion audit report of Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), his certificate and source of his campaign funds.
He was unable to protect his government when he was the military Head of State simply because Idiagbon was absent. If he could not protect his government, how can he protect us from Boko Haram? When you are leader, you became the leader of all sections and sectors, not being sectional. A leader is not necessarily an infantry. A leader is one who is able to take the right decision at the right circumstances and motivate the people to achieve the set objective. That is the leader. It is not the highest mathematician or Army General". Buhari said above "We rebuilt industries": That was only a figment of his imagination, because, the industries started packing up with the advent of his regime; unemployment started blooming from Buhari's regime. The S+P 500 industries, which were in Nigeria during the 1980s due to the high exchange rate of the Naira to other major world currencies then, started leaving when Buhari took over. Today, they are almost gone. Buhari said above "Nigerians queued up and treated each other with respect; Nigerians took pride in our reputation for discipline. The world admired us. We were proud to be Nigerians". WAI was the only thing that worked during Buhari's regime, but, it was abused by the military and para-military agencies, as Voltaire (1694-1778) wrote that "...So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.". Nigerians are always proud people, and that has nothing to do with Buhari and his government; that is ingrained in every Nigerian everywhere, so Buhari needs not to take any credit here.
Deciphering Buhari's statement above continues in the next part!
A must watch video
Donatus Enyi wrote:
"The man is not well. Watch the attached video and tell me if he's still the man you want to be your leader in 21st century. Whether he's Hausa, Fulani, Igbo or from Jupiter, I don't care, the man was a brutal killer. Now, he is grossly incompetent and clueless, even to be an unpaid dog catcher. ……..
………..I hope the postponement of the election date will allow some intellectually and politically myopic entities enough time to see the light of the angelic truth and pierce through the smog that engulfs them. Vote with your common sense."
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