DELE MOMODU: THE TRUTH ABOUT BUHARI

I will explain it away by quoting from one of my favourite books. The title is Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Ferreira. His thesis is that the oppressed man respects and fears only one man, his oppressor. 

Nigerians have, for so long, been intimidated by the big names, by the big men. Perceived big men because when you actually search them, they are empty. My life is not in the hands of any big man. That is why I am a builder. I love to build from the scratch. 

Nigeria is a country of ‘ready-made’. We like importing. We like the easy road. But I like to take the hard road, less travelled. So, for those who wrote me off, I only have one thing: sympathy.

There is this fixation that only some group of people are qualified to rule Nigeria, and others are not qualified. For instance, tell me how General Muhammadu Buhari is better than me. 

Try and convince me how he is better than me. He forced his way into politics in 1983 through a coup. He was not a politician, he was a soldier. What is the role of a soldier? It is to protect and destroy. 

The man forced his way into politics. On account of that alone, he is disqualified. People cannot praise any man that commits treason against his fatherland.
What evidence do we have (that he has converted)? But that is number one. 

Then, number two: Let us assume that we forgive him (Buhari). By the time he forced his way into politics in 1983 I was already in politics. I can tell you that I started politics right in my university days. I was involved in student unionism. 

By the year 1983, I was already the private secretary of the then Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Chief Akin Omoboriowo. They experienced all the riots, all the crisis in Ondo State. I was right in the middle of it all. 

By the time I was 26, I was already working for the Ooni of Ife. There was nothing more political than working in the palace of Oduduwa, where everybody came from time to time to consult the oracle.

Three: by 1988, I was working for Abiola. There was no politician who could be bigger than that. I travelled all around the country and the world for and with him. By 1993, I was a major actor in the 1993 elections. 

Put Buhari aside. Did you ever hear of the name, Atiku, before 1993 when we went to Jos, when Abiola contested against Atiku and Babagana Kingibe? Did you ever hear the name Jonathan? 

I read from Rueben Abati that Jonathan came into politics in 1998, while I came into politics in 1982. That is almost 16 years difference. So, in terms of seniority, I am senior to Jonathan in politics. When Jonathan was teaching in secondary school in the 1980s, I was already teaching A levels. 

The problem with journalists is number one: we don’t do our research. Number two, we underrate ourselves. Number three: we don’t like ourselves. We belittle ourselves. And we forget that if we belittle Dele Momodu, we are belittling all journalists in Nigeria.

As a man wrote, if Dele Momodu were to be a lawyer, he would have been the equivalent of several Senior Advocates of Nigeria put together. If I were to be in the military, I would have been a General. 

So, if you say Buhari is qualified, like some people say he is qualified on the grounds of experience, but how old was he when he forced his way into power? He was just 44. So, what experience did he have? Which school of leadership did he attend? Which training did he obtain? 

He was in power for two years with (the late General) Tunde Idiagbon, who was in charge. People forget that it was Tunde Idiagbon that was in charge. I told an editor recently that the reason why some of our guys are jumping about like frogs for Buhari is number one: collective amnesia, to borrow Wole Syinka’s words. 

We can forget things easily. We forget that Journalists had a raw deal under Idiagbon. We forget that even Nigerians had a raw deal in the hands of this man. We forget that Buhari is an excellent study in double standards. 

While Shagari, who was the president of the Federal Republic was put under house arrest, his Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, was put in Kirikiri Maximum Prisons. What offence did Ekwueme commit that Shagari and other NPN bigwigs, like Umaru Dikko, like Uba Ahmed, did not commit 1000 times? 

Sadly, most of the people who are writing today are too young to appreciate all these. Some of them don’t even know the history because they were not born then.

So, a lot of our guys are poor and suffering today and they see every rich and successful man as a rogue. They are looking for the person who will help them kill their enemies and they find a veritable tool in a Buhari or a Nuhu Ribadu. That is the attraction. It is not about their achievements. 

Ask them anything, and they will just tell you that they are not corrupt. So, who told them that I am corrupt? Have I ever been in government before? Let me finish with Buhari and take others on. 

What were the achievements of Buhari in those two years? Buhari failed so woefully that when Babangida took over power, people trooped to the streets in jubilation.

The man who will discipline will, first of all, discipline himself.

The facts are there. That is why I gave you the examples of Shagari being put under house arrest and his vice president was put in prison. What kind of stupid discipline is that?

That is number one. Number two, you are telling me a man is disciplined, and you asked the people not to bring in suitcases, and 53 suitcases found their way into our airport and they vamoosed! 

Till today, nobody has told us what was the content of the suitcases. What kind of discipline is that? I read in one of Achebe’s book, maybe No Longer At Ease, and it says, “do as I say and not as I do.” That was what Buhari’s government signified.