But by far the greatest problem now confronting the country is that the Buhari administration is not pretending to be a Northern administration. By all intents and purposes, it is really a Northern administration foisted, willy-nilly, on the entire nation. Here lies the danger that is hanging on the nation like the Sword of Damocles.
When Nigerians trooped out enmasse to cast their votes in the 2015 general elections, particularly in the presidential election which was held on March 28, 2015, they all had one thing and one thing only in mind. That thing was that with the way the country was almost being run aground by the leaders or politicians at the helms of affairs at that time, the country needed to be saved from sinking into a bottomless pit. That was why the ‘change’ mantra of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gained so much momentum, culminating in the resounding victory of the APC at that election. It couldn’t have been otherwise though.
By the time the presidential election came up, it was obvious that there were visible signs that the country was systematically heading for the rocks. In other words, the ship of state had become so rudderless that only a careful pilot could steer it safely to shore. This was reflected in the wild jubilation that heralded the Muhammadu Buhari administration on May 29, 2015. That day, the majority of Nigerians threw away their differences, be it political, ethnic, religious or otherwise, to join in the celebration of a new dawn.
At the Eagle Square, Abuja, venue of the swearing in ceremony, Nigerians from all walks of life, spotting colourful dresses, struggled for space as early as daylight broke in order to secure a vantage position to witness the epoch making event. And by the time the swearing in of the new president in whom Nigerians had unflinching hope and belief got under way, it was clear that Buhari was the man of the moment because every turn during the occasion attracted wild applause from the ecstatic crowd.
The highlight of the ceremony was the inaugural speech of the newly sworn in president. In the speech, Buhari made it clear that his coming to power was to right all the wrongs of the past, particularly the issue of endemic corruption which has put the nation on a cliff-hanger. His speech was punctuated by ceaseless applause. At a stage, the new president, with all the emphasis at his disposal, said: “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody”. This statement drew a loud applause. After the ceremony, this same statement dominated discussions all over the country. Newspaper columnists and features writers used all available space in the newspapers to analyse this particular statement, while radio and television commentators turned it into a huge discourse. This was all attempts to find the true meaning of the president’s figurative expression.
It is now 14 months, that is, a year and two months since the new president assumed office. From all indications, the president has kept his promise to wage a relentless war against corruption although some people are of the opinion that the anti-graft war is one-sided or targeted at the president’s political opponents. Others have even gone to the extent of calling it a sort of vendetta against those who may have wronged the president in the past or other imaginary enemies. Whatever the case is, the war against corruption is ongoing and it has made those in government to thread more carefully, a departure from the past when stealing was done with impunity.
The untold hardship in the land has found expression in a situation where people can no longer feed, cannot afford hospital bills and salaries of millions of workers are not paid. In the internally displaced persons’ camps, malnutrition reigns supreme and even at that, the food items that trickle into the camps are diverted or stolen by those in charge of the camps. That illustrates the level of hunger that now pervades the land.
Having said that, my worry is that the economy of this country seems to be headed for the doldrums. The minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, confirmed this in a statement which became front page news in most national dailies last week, when she was quoted as saying that Nigeria was “technically in recession”. Before this, the naira had depreciated to N373 to the dollar in the regime of freefall in which the national currency has lately found itself. The untold hardship in the land has found expression in a situation where people can no longer feed, cannot afford hospital bills and salaries of millions of workers are not paid. In the internally displaced persons’ camps, malnutrition reigns supreme and even at that, the food items that trickle into the camps are diverted or stolen by those in charge of the camps. That illustrates the level of hunger that now pervades the land.
But by far the greatest problem now confronting the country is that the Buhari administration is not pretending to be a Northern administration. By all intents and purposes, it is really a Northern administration foisted, willy-nilly, on the entire nation. Here lies the danger that is hanging on the nation like the Sword of Damocles. The analysis is simple. Today, all the important security agencies in the country are not only manned by Northerners, they are Northerners of a particular religious’ extraction. They are all Muslims.
Look at the roll call: Minister for Defence, Brig. General Mansur Muhammed Dan Ali (rtd); Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazzau (rtd); National Security Adviser (NSA), General Babagana Monguno (rtd); Director-General (DG) Department of State Security, DSS, Mr Lawal Musa Daura; Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Ibrahim Kpotun Idris; Director-General (DG) Defence Intelligence Agency, Air Vice Marshal Muhammed Saliu Usman; Comptroller-General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd); Comptroller-General of Immigration, Muhammed Babandede; Comptroller-General of Prisons, Mr. Ahmed Ja’afaru; Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr Abdullahi Muhammadu; Chairman Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Mustafa Magu.
There are also many other appointments in the president’s office, other parastatals and agencies. They include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Babachir Lawal; the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari; the Principal Secretary to the President, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed and many others.
There is precedence to what is going on now. In January 1966, when the late Major General Johnson Umunakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, as the most senior army officer, seized the mantle of leadership from Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and his band of coupists, the first thing he did was the promotion of 22 Army officers.
It is now common to see people talking in hushed tones about the direction of the Buhari administration. While many believe there is a hidden agenda of a Northern domination, others are saying there are plans to Islamise the country. Some even say that there are plans for a substantial part of the monies currently being recovered from those who have stolen the country blind, to be spent on the Northern parts of the country. To them, the Southern part of the country may receive just a little to deceive the people that the government is impartial in the disbursement of the funds.
There is precedence to what is going on now. In January 1966, when the late Major General Johnson Umunakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, as the most senior army officer, seized the mantle of leadership from Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and his band of coupists, the first thing he did was the promotion of 22 Army officers. Surprisingly, 18 of these officers were Ibos, his ethnic group. This infuriated most of the Northern officers led by the late General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, late General Joe Garba, General Theophilus Danjuma, and others.
When the regional military governors were later appointed for the three regions, Hassan Usman Katsina, was appointed the governor of the Northern region. This turned out to be a turning point because as soon as the appointment was announced, some frontline emirs in that region simply came together and led a delegation to Katsina to brainstorm with the Emir of Katsina, where Usman Katsina hailed from as a prince.
The aim of that meeting in Katsina, was for the Northern region to secede from Nigeria. Recall that it actually took a lot of persuasion to convince the North to accept to join the rest of Nigeria during the various talks and conferences preceding the independence of the country on October 1, 1960. (To be continued next week.)
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