Exactly 30 years ago today, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida overthrew General Muhammadu Buhari in what came to be known as a palace coup. I remember I was visiting an Emir and overheard the discussion about that morning’s announcement by Gen. Joshua Nimyel Dongonyaro, and one of the palace guards, a funny old man, was telling the Emir that the Buhari he saw did not have the stomach to finish even a N1 plate of food and so he didn’t think they would accuse him of “eating money.” And it was true: even those who overthrew him did not mention corruption as one of their reasons
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When the military overthrew President Shagari and Buhari emerged as Head of State on December 31, 1983, I was still in school. There was jubilation and euphoria everywhere. Like now, the economy was comatose; with many political thugs fighting to keep politicians in power, the security situation was also relatively dire; corruption was equally rampant but the politicians then were stealing in thousands, not the trillions stolen under the immediate past administration. In his inaugural address to the nation that New Year’s Eve, Gen. Buhari declared: “…this generation of Nigerians and indeed future generations have no other country than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together.”
The Buhari/Idiagbon regime detained and tried corrupt public officials and their private sector fronts. It rejected the IMF/World Bank economic prescriptions that provided for devaluation of Nigeria’s currency and trade liberalisation; instead N1 was exchanging for US $1 throughout that Buhari administration and the industries were being resuscitated. It embarked upon fundamental social re-engineering by introducing the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), and prosecuted a dynamic foreign policy that took care of the interests of Nigeria and Africa in that era’s bipolar world. There was unprecedented patriotism. Twenty months later, Buhari was overthrown and clamped into detention.
It came as natural vengeance that none of the majors that actively took part in overthrowing Buhari ever became even a one-star general! They all ended up their careers as colonels. Also, there was no better judgement of the people than the fact that, 30 years after Buhari was overthrown, the people of Nigeria gave him an overwhelming mandate by electing him as president earlier this year. In this, only he and Obasanjo were once military leaders and came back as elected presidents. Buhari also has the record of being one of only two military rulers of Nigeria who never promoted themselves while in office, the other being Nigeria’s first military Head of State, Maj. General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi.
In retirement, Buhari kept silent. Unlike Obasanjo he never wrote books or criticised his successors. He was spending his time with his family, reading and studying current issues and tending to his crop farm and cattle. Some patriots just thought of bringing him out of retirement when the nation was drifting once again and in serious need of purposeful leadership. And so, in April 2002, Buhari joined partisan politics by becoming a member of the main opposition party, the then All People’s Party (APP), which later became All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Buhari was subsequently nominated the ANPP presidential candidate for the 2003 elections. There was massive rigging which saw the return of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In 2007, he was again nominated as ANPP presidential candidate but, even the eventual winner of that year’s presidential election, the late Umaru YarAdua, declared in his inaugural address that the process that brought him to power was “flawed”. When the ANPP was totally mismanaged by some PDP moles, in the run-up to the 2011 elections, Buhari and his supporters floated a new party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which promptly nominated him as its candidate for the 2011 presidential election. Despite all the electoral flaws, he was awarded over 12 million votes by the electoral commission and was declared second in that year’s presidential election.
In the build-up to the 2015 elections, all the major opposition parties came together and merged into the All Progressives Congress (APC). There was nothing the PDP did not do to frustrate the registration of the APC including floating some mushroom organisations with the APC acronym. But the merger and registration of the APC eventually took place. During the time of the nomination of the APC presidential candidate, the PDP government did everything to make sure that Buhari did not emerge as the APC presidential candidate. In a most transparent primary election, Buhari emerged as the presidential candidate in the full glare of the public as it was televised live.
In the subsequent campaigns, there was nothing the PDP did not do to frustrate and blackmail Buhari, scuttle the election or make it impossible for a peaceful transition. They said he did not have a school certificate, a ridiculous charge against one of the most respected generals in the history of the Nigerian Army. They used ethnicity and religion in an unsuccessful attempt to divide the people and thereby destroy the nation. There was tension and most analyses predicted violence and possible end of Nigeria. But the people were simply tired of the corrupt, inept and incompetent PDP administration and decided to peacefully vote it out. There was not a single shot — no violence, no bloodshed, not even a needle pierced anybody throughout the elections. It was a peaceful revolution and Buhari defeated an incumbent who had all the resources at his disposal.
It was just like the Bible said: a rejected stone has become the cornerstone!
The elite who were afraid of Buhari were in the forefront of making sure he was elected president this year. Buhari has turned out to be the single most popular politician in the history of Nigeria. He has an unprecedented cult followership. He is one person whose word or presence could bring out millions to the streets: a portent real people’s power. Those he overthrew and those who overthrew him all came together for Buhari — a unique feat in a Third World country. They have all realised that the alternative is monumental anarchy and unmitigated disaster. If you see Obasanjo, Babangida and others coming out openly to support Buhari, you know that this is the last chance for Nigeria. For our people say that if you see a lizard running to enter fire, what pursues it is hotter than the fire!
Buhari’s selling point is his persona — a man of perpendicular integrity who was governor, petroleum minister and Head of State, yet he never amassed wealth. His sincerity is his best credential; his credibility is his shield; and his intrepidity as well as unprecedented popularity are his insurance against actual and potential oppressors of the downtrodden.
As he is known for all his life, Buhari has already started fighting corruption, and Nigeria has indeed changed and will never be the same again; for every corrupt person is now afraid. I remember when he was asked in an interview while he was military Head of State in 1985 what his ideology was; he answered in one word: “Service.” Thus, like Bob Marley, my favorite musician, sang in his song “Ride Natty Ride”: “the stone that the builder refused shall be the head cornerstone; and no matter what game they play, we’ve got something they can never take away….”
May God protect and guide our leaders aright. History is on the side of the oppressed.
Ref: http://www.leadership.ng/columns/456464/the-rejected-stone
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