By Ross Alabo-George

In his exclusive piece published online and titled: “Buhari’s burning rhetoric” available at http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/opinion/opinion/8133-buharis-burning-rhetoric, Yawe wrote: “Much later, I learnt that President Shehu Shagari, a man of mild manners was very angry. The troops had been moved into Chad without consent from him as the Commander-in-Chief.

The man who went to war on behalf of Nigeria without the knowledge and approval of the President Commander-in-Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces was General Muhammadu Buhari, GOC of Third Division.

A few months later, there was another round of troop movements; this time they were not headed for Chad but Lagos. On 31st December 1983, they sacked President Shehu Shagari”.

Mallam El- Rufai

Mallam El-Rufai has talked and written so much about how instrumental he was to the emergence of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2007. No one who knew his role in the Obasanjo administration will doubt that claim. Before and during the elections, he spoke highly of the late president; he campaigned for him and in fact was one of the principal image makers for then candidate Yar’Adua.

Shortly after the governor (Yar’Adua) became president and for some reason they disagreed [unconfirmed reports suggest the disagreement stemmed from Yar’Adua’s failure to appoint el-Rufai as minister], Mallam el-Rufai became disgruntled and went on a self-exile.

With the assurance of the safety provided by distance, he launched a vituperative titled: “Umaru Yar’Adua: Great Expectation, Disappointing Outcome” against President Yar’Adua who was then struggling with his failing health, el-Rufai continued until the man died.

In his scathing attack on Yar’Adua, the man he campaigned for, using his self professed image as a reformer in the OBJ administration, el-Rufai tore into Yar’Adua, jacking him ruthlessly from the belt of his high school days and dragging him through mistakes he had made as a young man in his life, his irresponsible smoking habits, his insubordination to school authority, which according to el-Rufai, gave President Umaru Yar’Adua the high school nickname of ‘Bad Man’.

Though the CPC’s constitution is silent on the issue of zoning, Buhari and El-Rufai are from the same zone- Northwest. If Mallam El-Rufai emerges finally, it would throw up the zoning conundrum of why a candidate from the same zone as Gen. Muhammadu Buhari should emerge as flag-bearer.

If General Buhari emerges, it will also throw up the question of a one-man party, and the candidate’s protracted presidential bid and unwillingness to handover to a fresh generation.

This loathness of the old breed Northern leaders to dismount the soap box is a major problem of the North and was evident in the emergence of Alhaji Bamaga Tukur, a man just twenty three years away from being a centenarian.

In a press conference just before the PDP congress which produced him (Alhaji Tukur) as party chairman, he said: “This position is for the Daddies”, scorning his much younger rivals. For these old breeds, the likes of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai are still babies and will have to wait – they are too small.