Femi Adesina has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a
man of iron and steel who is ready to knock sense into stubborn heads and whip
everyone into line.
Adesina stated this in his weekly article (From The Inside)
while reacting to President Buhari’s warning to troublemakers in the country.
In the article titled ‘I SUDDENLY REMEMBERED WHY I FELL IN
LOVE WITH THE PRESIDENT’, Adesina also stated that Buhari can never be accused
of genocide after Twitter deleted the president’s tweet on 1967-70 Nigerian
Civil War and his comment on treating “those misbehaving today” in “the
language they will understand”.
He added that Nigeria now needs the combination of General Buhari and President Buhari.
Please read Femi Adesina’s article below:
President Muhammadu Buhari spoke on Tuesday, warning
troublemakers in the country that the picnic was over, and the next day, I saw
this comment online from a Buharist, as lovers and admirers of the President
are known:
“I just finished watching the President on TV reading the
riot act to troublemakers, and I couldn’t be prouder of the President. I
suddenly remembered why I fell in love with the President.”
That respondent sure spoke the minds of millions of
Buharists in Nigeria and the Diaspora. The man we fell in love with is of iron
and steel, one ready and willing to knock sense into contumacious heads,
whipping everyone into line. And being kind to us in the process. A kind bully,
if you like the oxymoron.
How did things unfold that Tuesday afternoon, that led
President Buhari to make the speech that is perhaps the most epochal in recent
times?
Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, had led top guns of the electoral body into the
meeting room with the President, shortly before the scheduled time of 3 pm.
Like clockwork, President Buhari came in at the dot of the
appointed time. He never misses it. And Prof Yakubu began his briefing. What
were the main points?
*The spate of attacks on INEC’s offices and facilities
nationwide has grave implications for elections and electoral activities in
Nigeria.
*So far, there have been 42 of such attacks across the
country since the 2019 General Election. The incidents occurred in 14 states
for a variety of reasons, including bandit attack, 1, Boko Haram, 1, EndSARS
protest, 18, post-election violence, 4, thuggery during elections, 6, unknown
gunmen and hoodlums, 12.
*Thirty out of the 42 or 71% of the attacks happened in the
last 7 months.
They appear to be targeted at future elections, with the
intention to incapacitate INEC, undermine democracy, and precipitate a national
crisis.
The INEC Chairman enumerated the immediate implications of
the development, unfolded actions taken by the Commission, and asked for the
intervention of Mr President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Confronted by such graphic display of anarchy, what should a
President do? Throw up his hands in surrender, acquiesce, and tell everyone to
go home in defeat and capitulation?
Remember how we started this piece. President Muhammadu Buhari
(PMB) was once General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB), the army commander who gave
Chadian forces who made incursion into Nigerian territory a bloody nose.
He dealt with Maitatsine religious fanatics. He gave a red
card to hard drug traffickers, who were executed by firing squad.
He introduced War Against Indiscipline, and generally
attempted to make us prim and proper. He was succeeding before hidden, hostile
hands terminated the regime. Thirty years later, Nigerians yearned for that
GMB, and massively voted him back to power.
The response of the President to INEC elicited different
kinds of reactions from different people and groups. What did he say?
*Those behind the attacks on national assets want the
Administration to fail, and enough is enough. Soon, they will receive the shock
of their lives.
*Many of those misbehaving today were too young to know the
destruction that attended our Civil War (1967-1970), but those of us that were
in the fields, fighting to keep the country together, won’t just fold our arms.
We’ll rather speak to them in a language they would understand.
*I lead the country according to our Constitution, and
anyone who wants to destroy the country would answer for it.
*We are expending resources to build infrastructure, and we
won’t allow anyone destroy them. We will be harder on troublemakers.
*We have changed the Service Chiefs and Inspector General of
Police. We will give them all the resources they need, and then demand security
from them.
*We will give INEC all the resources required to conduct
elections, so that no one would accuse us of not wanting to leave office, or
that we want a 3rd term.
In reaction to what the President said, I also saw this
comment online: “His followers are reinvigorated. They are buzzing.”
True. What our country needs at this time is iron and steel.
An alchemy of GMB and PMB. We are in a democracy, yes, but democracy is no
byword for lawlessness. If anybody misbehaves in any part, repeat, ANY PART, of
the country, they need to be whipped into line.
The nation needs not go into a tailspin because some people
bear giant-sized grudges in their hearts. By the way, is there any part of the
country that does not have one grievance or the other? Is the next option then
to capsize the boat of the country? Any leader that has sworn to uphold the
Constitution would not open his eyes, and see it happen.
Leaders must do whatever they should do to maintain peace
and tranquility in their countries. Their intentions will always be
misinterpreted and misrepresented. No matter.
The good of the larger majority must be considered at all
times. North, South, East, West, anarchy should never be condoned, no matter
what some people may say.
I like how Moyosore Oyetunji, a passionate Buharist on
Facebook summarized the latest developments: “When he pleaded with you to
eschew violence, you accused him of becoming a motivational speaker, instead of
the General that he is. Now he has decided to be it, you are crying. Please,
what exactly do you want from him?”
President Buhari is not genocidal, and can’t ever be accused
of such intentions. But a leader worth his salt cannot look on, and watch law
and order break down irretrievably. It is not about a people, or region. It is
about the country he took an oath to keep together.
Every region has one grouse or the other against the state
of our union. But murder and mayhem should never be an option in resolving
matters. That is the message of President Buhari, and it should be the message
of every good Nigerian.
*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and
Publicity
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