Isa Mansur
A. A Hero (1980s – 1990s)
I was just above two years old when Major General Muhammadu Buhari, as he then was, took over power on January 1st, 1984. By the time he was toppled in August 1985, I was just four. I, therefore, have not much recollection of what his 20 months stewardship as military head of state was like. The only vivid recollection I have about him, as at then, was the discussion I heard my mother and my grandmother doing a day after he was toppled about “juyin mulki”. I asked my mother what it was, and she replied that “an cire shugaban kasa an a canza wani”, meaning: “the president has been removed and replaced with another one”.
For the next eight years as we grew up under the military presidency of General Ibrahim Babangida, we heard nostalgic stories from our parents, teachers and elders alike about how patriotic, well-intentioned and great the short “purposeful and corrective” regime of General Buhari was. We were told how his government vigorously fought corruption, indiscipline, economic sabotage, armed robbery, drug trafficking etc in an effective and non-nonsense manner! Typical of Nigerians, the incumbent president then, General IBB, was being portrayed as a stinkingly corrupt devil who conspired with his fellow unpatriotic colleagues in the military to truncate the good government of GMB in a place coup! IBB was being accused then of “institutionalizing corruption”, “selling” the country to the IMF and the World Bank, dancing to the tunes of Western Powers etc A hero was created of Buhari in our minds then – a non-nonsense, non-compromising, incorruptible, patriotic and pro-masses general who could have rescued the country out of the woods if not for the inglorious action of IBB and co that unpatriotically and selfishly removed him from office.
As a junior secondary student in 1992, I stumbled upon my father’s 1986 edition of the Newswatch magazine that made a cover story with the title: “Where is Buhari?”, or something to that effect. The magazine gave detailed description of how GMB was toppled, including how he was arrested in the Dodan Barracks, and also the travails of his family after the coup, especially that of his now late wife, Safina Buhari. Describing how Buhari was arrested, the writer mentioned how a “stoical” Buhari was found in his living room by the heavily armed majors and how they informed him that they have effected a change of government and that they were there to arrest him. GMB, according to the report, responded to the heavily armed officers with: “Why is there so many of you? One man is enough to arrest me and, in any case, one bullet is enough to do the job.” The general requested for a permission to go and dress properly, which was granted by the young officers. He went into his bedroom and emerged later fully dressed in his military uniform. Before being taken away, according to the report, the general retorted to his captors: “I may no longer be the Head of State, but I am a superior general who still deserves to be respected!” The young officers smartly saluted the general and whisked him away! This further consolidated the hero status of the general in my mind.
The government of General Sani Abacha, in a credibility shopping effort, brought GMB from his post-detention retirement and appointed him as the head of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) for the purpose of judiciously investing a portion of the proceeds generated from the sell of petroleum into the provision social services and infrastructural development. At that time when government’s primary responsibility of taking care of the citizens welfare has virtually ceased, PTF brought a serious relief to the people and was a huge success. It was visible all over the federation particularly in health, education, agriculture and transportation sectors. The hero!
In late 1998, I came across a book written by a lady, Rosaline Odeh, titled “Muhammadu Buhari: the Nigeria’s Seventh Head of State”. The book was a biography of the general and it documented his rise in the military, the various military and political appointments he held as well as how he discharged each effectively. I particularly found very fascinating the book’s description of how GMB, as the GOC of the 3rd Armored Division Jos, effectively dealt with the Chadian army’s invasion of some Nigerian islands on the Lake Chad. The book detailed how, as the commander, GMB relocated from Jos to Maiduguri and how he daily goes to the front to ensure the operation is successfully executed. The Chadian were not only sacked out of the occupied Nigerian territories, but were chased several kilometers into the Chadian territory, something that nearly caused a rift between the general and the then civilian government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. A hero!
2. A Savior (2000 – 2015).
The return of democratic rule in 1999 and the emergence of General Olusegun Obasanjo as the democratically elected president sees the North relinquishing power to the South after twenty years (1979 – 1999). While the return of democratic rule, after years of military dictatorship, was some sort of relief to the ordinary Nigerians, here in the North relinquishing power to the South created a sense of fear, anxiety and mistrust among majority of the people. Some actions/inactions of the OBJ government such as the mass retirement of mostly northern officers in the military that served political appointments, the alleged movement of military hardwares from the North to the South, the Sharia implementation agitations and the government’s response to it, rampant ethno-religious violence in the North, alleged marginalization of the North in appointments in the military and the civil service, the OPC’s series of violence against northerners in the Southwest etc, further aggravated the feelings marginalization and/or even persecution by majority of the people in the North.
It was in the above circumstances that some politicians here in the North begun to search for a leader from the region that can be put forward to led the region in its effort to both protect its interests and by extension rescue the nation from its seeming derailing under the OBJ government. With his history of integrity and patriotism, his sterling record of performance as PTF chairman and the widespread respect and admiration he has among the masses, GMB was the best person for the role at the time. Politicians, opinion leaders, intellectuals and even some of his retired colleagues in the military began to call for the general to join politics and rescue the country! He was promoted in newspaper articles, invited to deliver public lectures by universities and the Arewa House, invited to attend the declaration of Sharia by some state governors etc. By 2002, GMB that was known for seeing nothing good about politics and multiparty democracy, was convinced to join partisan politics by registering with the then opposition All People’s Party (APP). He later admitted that the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, without a single shot fired, was the reason why he became a “converted democrat.”
In the early 2000s the wind of Sharia implementation agitations was blowing fiercely in the Muslim North. After the declaration by Zamfara State, there was a lot of pressure on all governors in the region to follow suit and implement Sharia. On the other hand, quite understandably, the Christian community in the country were also afraid of the Sharia implementation and were resisting it by all the means at their disposal. The tension in the country was so high and palpable. President OBJ summoned a meeting of the Council of State to discuss the issue, among others. After the meeting, the then Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, informed the nation that the council had agreed that Sharia declaration be suspended across the country. GMB and some of the governors that attended the meeting publicly disassociated themselves from the announcement made by Atiku by insisting that no such decision was made by the Council. This singular action further endeared GMB to the people of the north. He was the only voice among the various former presidents from the region that was being heard in solidarity with the people of the region. A savior!
By 2003 GMB was on the ballot contesting for the office of the president on the opposition ANPP, while OBJ runs for the ruling PDP. With the feeling of marginalization and/or even persecution high among the people in the North, PMB was seen as the only savior that can save the region and by extension the nation from the “corrupt and inept” PDP government under OBJ. The love, confidence and trust people had for him was unimaginably fanatical. A savior!
After contesting and loosing the 2003 elections, the love people have for Buhari only increased. He contested and lost again to Umaru Musa Yar’adua in 2007. For the people, Buhari was being rigged out by the “forces of evil” that are against the emancipation of the Nigerian masses. The elections were no doubt everything but free and fair. But whether GMB at the time has enough national acceptability to win an election was out of concern to us, his teeming supporters. However, the existential threat that Boko Haram constituted to the North in particular and the nation in general under President Goodluck Jonathan, provided the necessity for a unity of purpose between the masses that supported Buhari over years and some of the elites that were against him. While the masses sees as their one and only savior and emancipator, the political elites saw him as the only formidable politician with a support base large enough to unseat a sitting president with an opposition merger. Against the odds, the savior made it in 2015! It was a historic, remarkable and exciting moment for millions of Nigerians that were tired of the status quo and yearning for positive change!
3. A President (2015-2023).
Now christened PMB, Buhari assumed office on May 29th, 2015 amidst unreasonably high hopes from most of the people that elected him to power. As a career opposition candidate, the president has vehemently criticised all the governments before him, condemning them for corruption, insecurity, poor management of the economy, high poverty and unemployment rate, fuel and power scarcity, bad education and health policies etc During his years of campaigns, he has made a lot of promises to immediately and effectively change things for the better if elected into office. Naturally, majority Nigerians expected nothing short of miracles from him.
With high hopes, acute and dwindling resources, a nation at war in many fronts, serious health challenges, endemic public sector corruption , PMB government started on a very bad and difficult footing. These, coupled with the president’s slow approach to decision making, uncompromising attitude and poor oversight over subordinates etc all contributed to the terribly below expectation and disappointing outing of PMB as the president.
Unfortunately, from his speeches and body language, PMB seems to believe, and off course many Nigerians at the time, that having a honest president who will not steal or conspire with others to steal; a president who will give all the institutions and functionaries of government the freedom and the resources to discharge their duties, based on established laws and procedures, is enough to make the nation work again and rescue it from the precipice! As a leader, he seems to believe that in as much as he has done his best, by way of approving and providing what is needed to, for example, fight insecurity and terrorism, or fight corruption, or provide social intervention, or build roads, etc he has done his best and the people down the line of authority and responsibility should be held responsible and accountable for whatever failure that may arise. In short, in as much as he has done his own part honestly and patriotically, the people and the law should hold those who haven’t done so responsible and accountable. Many of the people he entrusted make good use of this shortcomings of the president to do what they like. Either the law or history, or both, will certainly take care of this.
4. Sweet and Bitter Farewell.
As the president retires to Daura tomorrow, as his ardent supporter for many decades, I am both happy and sad for him. I am sad that the president has performed far below even the reasonable expectations Nigerians had on him in virtually all sectors. However, I am also happy for him that he has succeeded in living above board and returning home with his personal integrity intact.
I really don’t mind the insults and curses some Nigerians are raining on the president at the moment – that is our convention. From Balewa to Buhari, no leader was spared of insults and curses while in power. We only celebrate our cursed leaders in nostalgia – after they left power.
