The attempt to snuff life out of one of
Nigeria’s most revered former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, in a
fiendish operation which would have passed for a routine
Boko Haram attack if their hand had performed their enterprise, would have
thrown Nigeria in turmoil of unimaginable proportions as President Jonathan
submitted days ago.The failed “assassination attempt,” as Buhari tagged it, may
not be unconnected with the grand plot to silence the opposition. This is
coming on the heels of the impeachment of Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state and
the tightening of impeachment noose around Governor UmaruTanko Al-Makura of
Nasarawa state. Clearly, the shades of the varying scope of operation to hunt
down those who pose a threat to the present government as enshrined in the
alleged sniper’s list former President Olusegun Obasanjo divulged in his
missive is being made manifest.Surely, the mere knowledge of an alleged sniper’s
list should be instructive to the opposition party leaders.Impeaching
opposition Governors one after the other, it now appears, is part of the grand
scheme.
To underscore the gruesome motive of the
perpetrators, eyewitness accounts said the bomb-laden car single-mindedly
targeted the vehicle conveying the APC chieftain to Daura, his ancestral home
from Kaduna. It hit target but the bulletproof construction of the SUV ensured
the General escaped death by the whiskers. To the ‘terrorists’, they came
agonisingly close.
How can we forget retired General Muhammadu
Mamman Shuwa? In November 2012, the civil war veteran was killed in cold blood
by unknown gunmen in his Maiduguri home yards away from soldiers idling away in
enforcement of law and order. Boko Haram, the usual suspects were fingered. Had
Buhari suffered a similar fate, the perpetrators would use the sect to divert
attention from the perpetrators.
The PDP have sold a dummy to Nigerians for
too long that the sponsors of terror were members of the opposition, All Progressive
Congress (APC), but this attack have vindicated the much maligned progressives.
Buhari has openly challenged those who accuse him of religious fundamentalism
to come out and show proof. No one till this day has any clue.
Forirredentists, who think the attack on
Buhari's life was stage-managed, let them continue to stew in their bitterness
and wallow in their chutzpah. Same people who peddle such falsehood of a
self-masterminded attack won't roam within a metre radius of a spot of a bomb scare.
Any reasonable Nigerian will acknowledge the risk in masterminding such an
attack as the probability that it could spiral out of control is higher than
its success.
The political elite in the ruling party
must truly be frightened by Buhari's growing popularity ahead of the 2015
elections even though the media coverage on the General is frequently negative
with unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations. It has rather won him more
support from discerningNigerians who cannot be misinformed or misled by
needless propaganda.For his loyalists across the country, they can boldly say
of him, "All I need from Buhari is his word, I can take it to the
bank."Such is the cult-like following that Gen. Buhari wields that he need
not rent a crowd, or share rice to garner support.
This is because of his glowing and
incorruptible antecedents.Very few people in this country will occupy the
number one position to live a modest and Spartan life afterwards like him.He
occupied lofty positions like theGovernor of the defunct North-Eastern State of
Nigeria, Head of State, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources and
Chairman of NNPC, Chairman of Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF).He could easily
be one of Nigeria's wealthiest politicians with oil blocs to boot because he
birthed and supervised the establishment of our existing refineries. Today, we
import 70% of the fuel we use because those after him have literally crippled
the refineries. He could have retired into stupendous opulence like the
Danjumas, Obasanjos, and Abachasof this world. But Buhari bucked the trend and
chose the honourable path.
His detractors and traducers are
uncomfortable with him around the political scene. Maybe he scares them with
his incorruptible, uncompromising, sober, painstaking personae he exudes; his
intolerance of impropriety - a major fault of the privileged political elite –
scares them. He is everything they are not.
There have been various attempts to erode
the electoral value of a man who has validated his cast iron reputation for
accountability and transparency coming out unscathed from probes regarding his
tenure asChairman of PTF.And as Buhari’s staunch loyalist in Mallam Nasir el-Rufai
posited that his antagonists "have changed our politics into that of
ethnicity and religion to divert attention from their incompetence, lack of
capacity and looting of the treasury… PDP is scared of Buhari’s integrity and
his track record of doing the right thing and ensuring that people are brought
to justice when they break the law. They are afraid of that day when he will
become President."
With the failed attempt to take General
Buhari's life, the burgeoning army of opposition against the General of
impeccable integrity would now sit back, maybe have a rethink, recall their
foot soldiers masked in the toga of Jihadists cutting short the lives of “infidels”
they see as living corpses.
In the 2011 presidential elections, the
man they hate to see even in their
dreams, got over 12 million votes with a party that was formed barely 10 months
to the election without the support structure and votes a state Governor or
even a Local Government chairman would have brought into the party. He had no
war chest or federal might to manipulate voters and electoral officers, a trick
the PDP has perfected over the years. But Buhari’s enormous star power earned
him a couple of senators and a state governor after the elections. It won’t
take a political scientist, a Nostradamus or some prophetic unction to work the
numbers in votes the General will pull in 2015 with the 15 Governors in the APC
fold!
Those who plotted the dastardly act are
enemies of Nigeria, they neither seek its prosperity nor tranquilitybut thrive and
profit from the chaos, bloodshed and colossal sleaze. They are afraid of the
intimidating profile of the former Head of State and his acolytes in the
opposition party.
Whoever wanted Buhari dead has made a super
hero of him. Of all the reasons why Buhari was wanted dead, the 2015 general
elections keep popping out of every possibility and conspiracy theory.Inadvertently,
they only succeeded in raising his popularity meter. With the overwhelming outpouring
of emotion and support, the retired General has reaffirmed his status as a political
heavyweight and gladiator who remains a top contender for next year’s general
elections.
Please follow the writer on twitter, @tilevbare.
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