Muhammad Ajah
While speaking recently at the palace of the Emir of Katsina, Dr. Abdulmumini Usman, Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, reaffirmed his love for President Muhammadu Buhari and cherished his relationship with him. He declared: “The president has been treating me as a brother. In fact, the president has taken me as a son in the way he treats me. Going by the amount of responsibilities the president has given me; it shows that he seriously believes that we can live as brothers in this country. He seriously believes in the unity of Nigeria. I pray the Lord will preserve our president to continue to lead us just as the nation has voted him to do so.”
The mere mention of the name Buhari is a solution to many problems in Nigeria. It is simply an intoxicant to millions of Nigerians. The name, in Nigeria today as always, is a scarecrow for some and a gentle guide to others. It is a name whose effects generate immediate hypertension in some, cause unconsciousness for some and relieve others of heartaches and satanic tendencies against Nigerians and the nation. A name that is so much loved by patriots and so much hated by hypocrites and conspirators. But the name has come to be a mirror in the history of Nigeria, a name that even the bad eggs cum political cabals in the society, will reckon with in future.
Yes, the love which patriotic Nigerians have for President Buhari is really immeasurable. I cannot quantify it myself, though mine overflows ordinary emotion. Great past and present military and democracy leaders in Nigeria, even at par in political influences, experiences and interests, have praised Buhari at different occasions, testifying his dignity, integrity, patriotism, dedication to national service and development, as well as Buhari’s disdain of sloth, inhumanity, indiscipline, corruption and national misconceptions.
This enthralling love and compassion was further displayed during the celebrations of two more occasions: declaration of his victory at the polls and the swearing-in. Wide and wild celebrations were observed across the nation. History has recorded these to surpass the celebration of the 1993 victory of MKO Abiola over Bashir Tofa in 1993.
Moreover, the President’s 51-day vacation and medical trip to London and the nationwide celebrations that followed his return were manifest of Buhari’s attachment to the Nigerian people and their affection for him. Many Nigerians have always been ready to lay their lives for him, not merely because he is a leader but because he is trustworthy, reliable and patriotically development-driven.
Again, an examination of the fading faceoff between him and the senate will give another side of the love Nigerians have for him. It is like the people say: “Do not our anointed any harm”. In most states especially of the north, the lawmakers fighting Buhari have difficulties in accessing their communities. Some of them have been receiving bashings from their constituencies and districts. This is an immediate reaction. Some have already been penciled down by their people never to return to the hallowed chambers in 2019. What manner of love is this?
Now, wherever Buhari goes, there is no rented crowd.
Thousands of patriots troop out en masse to welcome him. Nigerians gather in their thousands to pray for him. Even in those areas where he was presumed to be less loved, he is overwhelmingly received and hailed. All these manners of love are not for nothing. He is performing. He is slowly but steadily fulfilling his promises to Nigerians, in stimulating the economy for job creation, in the anti-corruption war and in the security of lives and property. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, confirmed this grand love for Mr. President at many fora.
When a delegation of Northern Youths Initiative for Peace and Good Governance visited him in Abuja, Adesina said: “I am glad that majority of Nigerians are with President Buhari. The level of excitement and jubilation around the country is a clear testimony of the love, confidence and belief which Nigerians have in his leadership.” This is despite the economic recession which a global phenomenon.
The man I describe as father of modern politics in Nigeria, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, described Buhari in his book titled: Not My Will: “General Muhammadu Buhari as a member of the Supreme Military Council and head of NNPC was by nature taciturn and introvert. But he took any work that was given to him very seriously.
He is reliable as he is hardworking and honest, his path of moral probity and rectitude are incorruptible”. In another quote, Obasanjo averred “There are only two honest and reliable Nigerians, myself and Buhari. All what PDP is saying of Buhari being fundamentalist are mere hot lies. They just fear, let’s go to jail”.
What else is required to sound a warning to detractors of the present government that even if President Buhari wishes to run for the presidency as long as he wishes, though I am sure he will never disrespect the constitutional provision on tenure, he will always win. Assuredly, he will not seek a third term in 2023.
He will remain who he has been, unruffled, determined and a propeller of development for Nigeria. Any critical observer of the pictures where ex-military leaders and heads of state played chess and draft will never find Buhari there, maybe an indication that he had never conspired against national interests or compromised integrity, patriotism and humanity. To say the least, one with God is majority. And if God be with him for being for Nigeria and Nigerians who can succeed in being against him? What more and what manner of love is this?
Ajah wrote from Abuja. E-mail [email protected].
