By Dele Sobowale
“It is quite impossible for those who want to gain power to avoid getting rid of those who are most likely to form the opposition” – Critias, 404 BC, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 196.
In addition to those in opposition, power-grabbers abhor those likely to form a rival source of allegiance by the people. Tinubu is President; but, he knows very well that the allegiance of the northern masses and elite remains with Buhari. So, the ex-President remains a rival who must be deleted as soon as possible. That idea was at the back of my mind when, a few weeks ago, I got published an article titled, CBN: TINUBU VERSUS BUHARI CLASH INEVITABLE. Below, I reproduce, as usual, the prophetic first two paragraphs of the article. The war is on!! And, only Almighty God knows what will follow.
“CBN: TINUBU VERSUS BUHARI CLASH INEVITABLE
When evil men must seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo; good men must try and bring into being real order of justice” – Reverend Martin Luther, Jr. 1929-1968.
The suspension and subsequent arrest of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has brought the inevitable collision between President Tinubu and ex-President Buhari closer than the two of them realise. Buhari, who hoped to have a peaceful retirement in Daura or Niger Republic, will soon discover that he had murdered sleep. Short of killing Emefiele, in order to silence him, the probe of the CBN ordered by Tinubu will reveal to what extent Buhari and his cabal, including Ministers and Advisers, privatised the bank. Since this is only a short article, and it is not my intention to reveal all the facts of violations of the Constitution, in which Buhari and Emefiele were involved, partly, this is designed to warn Tinubu that if, indeed he wants to fight corruption, he could not have started in a better place. This one will test his sincerity of purpose to the limit. To put it bluntly, the CBN was more recklessly looted, “on orders from above”, from 2015 to 2023, than even under the draconian regime of General Sani Abacha. Therefore, the first question to ask is whether or not Tinubu has the guts to step on all the toes and damn the consequences. We shall soon see”.
NO MORE NIGER FOR BUHARI
“Men make history; but, not just as they please” – Karl Marx, 1818-1883, VBQ.
Towards the end of his disastrous eight years in office, Buhari, half-mockingly, told Nigerians that if we disturbed his peace, he would move to Niger. I wrote a rejoinder asking him to go immediately – because it would be good riddance…
Now I dare him to go to Niger. Most probably, he will end up in the same black hole where the deposed President is now kept. So, Buhari is stuck in Nigeria and his successor, and leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Tinubu, had just made a pronouncement about how the CBN was managed under Buhari’s presidency. Even Bishop Hassan Kukah, who, a few weeks ago, declared the Buhari government the most corrupt in our history, did not go so far as Tinubu did in de-mystifying Buhari. This is strange politics and its ramifications are still unknown to us. This is the new President of the ruling party, not the opposition, telling Nigerians that we have been mercilessly robbed by Buhari. Please read:
Tinubu, in his address on Monday, summarised the situation under Buhari as one in which fuel subsidy payments were “being funneled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a selected group of individuals. This group had amassed so much wealth and power that they became a serious threat to the fairness of our economy and the integrity of our democratic governance… To be blunt, Nigeria could never become the society it was intended to be as long as such small, powerful yet unelected groups hold enormous influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it.” He went further to allege that there is “the elites of the elites, who have stolen so much from Nigeria that they have become so powerful as to constitute a threat to democratic governance.”
Tinubu was, of course, referring to the immediate past government of Buhari – who spent most of his eight years in office pointing accusing fingers at Jonathan and the PDP. Tinubu has merely confirmed what I have written so many times before. Buhari is a hypocrite; and he has used hypocrisy to mask the worst corruption in Nigerian history by any government. Truth is out.
Dele Sobowale writes from Lagos
