Muhammadu Buhari the rejected stone…

By Jide Ajani

Is it not ironic? That, of all leaders in Nigeria’s history since independence in 1960, a certain Muhammadu Buhari, from the  sleepy  town of Daura, a self-confessed  herder (not minding the fact that he is, today, Nigeria’s President), a  former military head of state and a man known not to hide his affinity for his people, would be the one to begin this great journey to  redemption?

Late Chief Moshood Abiola and President Muhammadu Buhari

For, in the final analysis, whatever anyone may choose to say, Buhari’s move, last week, to do honour to June 12 is the beginning of the redemption Nigeria needs.   Even Hafsat Abiola Castello could not but acknowledge  that, going by the relationship  between Buhari and her father, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, it  remains surprising that it is  Buhari that would honour  Abiola.

Why would anybody choose to dishonour himself?   Why would anybody prefer ignominy to glory? From the activities of the Association for Better Nigeria, ABN -championed by Arthur Nzeribe and Femi Davies – to the greedy and unthinking and evil military officers who did not want the presidential  election of June 12, 1993 to hold, to Justices Bassey Ikpeme and Dahiru Saleh, to the late Sani Abacha himself, were they to have possessed the power of clairvoyance to know that their actions and inactions were going to be nothing other than a fool’s errand, or that everything they did would be a confirmation of the words of the Biblical King Solomon who said  ‘vanity upon vanity, all is vanity’, they would not have ventured into the voyage for the annulment of the historic election  of June 12, 1993. Their  antics and  the consequence, while it lasted,  ended  in vain, courtesy of Buhari.

And perhaps, had Olusegun Obasanjo not disdainfully scorned the essence of that mandate, by doing what was right on his first day in office – being the biggest beneficiary of Abiola’s struggle – he may have secured for himself a good place in  history. But he did not, typically and true to character.

Now, with Buhari’s legion of real, perceived and imagined acts of mis-governance,  rightly or wrongly, coupled with the level of  insecurity in the country  occasioned by herdsmen killings, it still remains one of the most unexpected spectacle that the President  would honour Abiola and apologise to Nigerians for the ills of the annulment. But it has happened.

Now,  let’s track back a bit.

Decree Number 13 Presidential Election (Basic Constitutional and Transition Provision) of 1993 did not provide any role(s) for  courts.   The jurisdiction was ousted    ab  initio.  Therefore, whatever spirit that got over Ikpeme and Saleh to first attempt to stop the election from holding and suspending the result of the programme, respectively, were uncommon spirits of evil.

One Bukhari Bello, a thoroughly detribalised northerner, who would have become INEC  Chairman on 2010, sought and got permission from the electoral body, as its Director, Legal Services, to file an appeal against Saleh’s judgement suspending further announcement of the results, at a division of the Appeal Court in Kaduna. But those who were working inside then – President Goodluck Jonathan’s head had other ideas and so Bello was never  appointed as INEC Chairman.

Colonel Abubakar Umar (ret.),  in trying to convince President Ibrahim  Babangida to ensure that the results were declared, reportedly told the latter, “The military is 85% and above for the installation of the winner of the election. And, already, about 14 states (results) had been released and Abiola won in Kano. So, I say, sir, write your name in gold. If you hand over power to the winner, you will be hailed  as the Ataturk ((Turkish statesman) of Nigeria”.   IBB, as Babangida is fondly called, was too  afraid for his life.

Prof Omo Omoruyi, then Director General of the Institute of Democratic Studies,  who also made it clear that the annulment was alien to all that was put in place for that election, said, “The programme implementation succeeded as of the June 12  presidential election. The design did not contain a booby trap. I do not want to join issues with those who were skeptical   or even cynical about the idea of transition programme originating the way it did, or being implemented the way it was. Despite the bumps, the programme delivered on June 12, 1993 and  what happened on June 23 1993  were  not part of the design and  not in the implementation strategy. I shall also state that the issues that surfaced leading to the annulment were not anticipated during the election.”

Humphrey Nwosu, the man who headed then-electoral  body,  concludes in his book  on  June 12 : “When it mattered most, and when the anti-democratic forces unleashed their strongest ‘armour and artillery’, it was President Babangida who, against all odds, allowed us on June 11, 1993, in the NDSC meeting, to go ahead with the conduct of the June 12 presidential election. Whatever happened later was external to the commission”.

Today, with Buhari’s redemptive move, there is a glimmer of hope that this man, who  was rejected at  the  polls in 2003, 2007 and 2011, can make the best of the moment by stealing the thunder.   Can anyone imagine how respected and respectable the President  would become  if, for instance, he replicates what he did for Abiola  and June 12 to the Igbo nation of South-East  Nigeria?   Or, what would happen were Buhari to move another glorious step further by recognising the injustices of the past decades to the Ogonis of South-South Nigeria?   Or the Tivs, Jukuns of the Middle Belt? The list can go on and on.   Buhari  can extend this season of healing and bring unity to a disparate nation. He has already signified his intention to seek re-election.   He is on the way to  achieving that.

This is not about politics but about the need to redeem a nation in need of a beginning that will heal wounds, wounds that continue to  stultify our  needed movement to greatness. Indeed, whatever has reawakened a consciousness of greatness of Buhari should be sustained for further acts of greatness.   Nigeria itself as a nation can become so great if only all the cobwebs of  nepotism,  ethno-religious bigotry as well as tribal jingoism, all of which have conspired to hold Nigeria down, can be done away with.   Buhari, for whatever anyone says, stands the  chance to be Nigeria’s greatest leader if he can do  what is right because, there is a world of difference between meaning well and doing well.   On the issue of June 12, Buhari has done well.   He can do better on some other issues.