President Muhammadu Buhari has reflected on the complexities
of the Nigerian condition, concluding that neither ethnicity nor religion was
to blame, “but we ourselves,” for inherent injustices.
The President spoke recently while receiving members of the
Muhammadu Buhari/Osinbajo (MBO) Dynamic Support Group, who visited State House,
Abuja, to present a compendium of five years achievements of the
administration.
President Buhari went into the trajectory of his struggles
to get justice at the courts, after disputed results of presidential elections
in 2003, 2007, and 2011, submitting that people who ruled against him were of
his own ethnic stock and religious persuasion, while those who stood up for him
were of other faiths and ethnicity.
“Our problem is not ethnicity or religion, it is ourselves,”
the President submitted.
His words:
“After my third appearance in the Supreme Court, I came out
to speak to those who were present then. I told them that from 2003, I’d spent
30 months in court.
“The President of the Court of Appeal, the first port of
call for representation by presidential candidates then, was my classmate in
secondary school in Katsina. We spent six years in the same class, Justice
Umaru Abdullahi.
“My legal head was Chief Mike Ahamba, a Roman Catholic and
an Ibo man. When the President of the court decided that we should present our
case, my first witness was in the box.
“Ahamba insisted that a letter should be sent to the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to present the register of
constituencies in some of the States, to prove that what they announced was
falsehood. It was documented.
“When they gave judgment, another Ibo man, the late Justice
Nsofor, asked for the reaction from INEC to the letter sent to them. They just
dismissed it. He then decided to write a minority judgment. That was after 27
months in court.
“We went to the Supreme Court. Who was Chief Justice of
Nigeria (CJN)? A Hausa-Fulani like me, from Zaria. The members of the panel
went in for about 30 minutes, came back to say they were proceeding on break.
They went for 3 months. When they came back, it didn’t take them 15 minutes,
they dismissed us.
“In 2007, who was the CJN? Kutigi. Again, a Muslim from the
North. After 8 months or so, he dismissed the case.
“Again in 2011, because I was so persistent, Musdafa, a
Fulani man like me, from Jigawa, neighbor to my state, was CJN. He dismissed my
case.
“I’ve taken you round this to prove that our problem is not
ethnicity or religion. It is ourselves.
“I refused to give up. I had tried to wear Agbada after what
happened to me in Khaki. Something was done to me, because I did something to
others. You know it. In the end, I myself was arrested, sent to detention, and
they were given back what they had taken. I was there for three and a quarter
years. This is Nigeria.
“I hope historians and intellectuals would document this,
because it is a fantastic state of political development. Let our grandchildren
and great grandchildren see how we came along. We didn’t get it as easy as
other people think. Not because God has given us great population and
resources. We have suffered along the line.
“I try to mention these things because you got yourselves
together, used your resources, energies without any input from me. I cannot
thank you enough. I’m very grateful to you and to Nigerians because in 2019, I
visited all the states, the people that turned out to see me across the country
(because I’m dedicated to serve Nigeria and Nigerians), the love is genuine.
“Thank God that over the years, they can’t accuse me of
corruption. And I’ve been everything; Governor, Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Head of State, President and in my second term. I thank you that
nobody forced you, but you got together, used your energy, time and resources,
I thank you very much. I assure you, history will do you justice.”
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