- “I flew into Adamawa as Head of State, and that was the last you heard of the Maitatsine terrorists” – What Buhari said in Lagos
- Boko Haram by recent expert analysis is interestingly a combination of Maitatsine and a Chadian invasion – NewsRescue
Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Muhammadu Buhari today released the videos from his meet with
passionate volunteers in Lagos this week. The meeting held on Tuesday,
23 December.
He spoke with clarity and wit about issues ranking from the economy
and stablilising the naira, to politics of issues, to his stewardship
at the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). He also repeated his call for
peaceful elections and for citizens to protect their votes.
Of particular interest however are his statements on misplaced
priorities in government spending and his government’s success in
fighting domestic terrorism, a very important point in history to
remember as Nigeria battles Boko Haram.
As reported by a blogger, Joachim MacEbong, who was at the event:
One part of Buhari’s time in the military that has to be spoken about
a lot more, is his decisiveness in dealing with enemies of the
Nigerian state. He recounted an episode when Chadian troops killed
Nigerian soldiers, during the regime of Hissene Habré. This was the
despite the fact that Nigeria was giving petroleum products to Chad.
“Unfortunately for him, [Habré] those soldiers were under me”, Buhari
said, to laughter from the audience. It was one example of his dry
humour that would come to the surface a few more times.
As for Maitatsine, he describes a problem that kept recurring after
the leader of the group was first exiled by the Emir of Kano, then
returned and was killed by the police. “I flew into Adamawa as head of
state, and that was the last you heard of Maitatsine,” he said.
Buhari goes on to explain his role in events like Nigeria’s ‘observer’
status in the OIC, the so-called $2.8 billion ‘missing’ funds during
his time at the NNPC, his time at the PTF, the famous 53 suitcases
(which was apparently just luggage), and so on.
The Petroleum Trust Fund was much like today’s SURE-P. Pump prices
were going to be raised, but the Abacha government needed someone the
public could trust to manage subsidy savings. Buhari recounted how the
first N2 billion of the N53 billion spent by the PTF was in Lagos, on
projects like the Iju Waterworks. According to him, 12, 000 kilometres
of roads were done by the PTF.
As a former military ruler, some are concerned with what Buhari might
get up to if he becomes President, and whether his military instincts
will take over. He describes his moment of conversion to democracy as
when the Soviet Union collapsed without a shot being fired. For
someone whose military career went on against the backdrop of 5 coups,
one of which he was on the receiving end of, it must have been a
Damascene moment for him.
Videos:
Follow the #ThisIsBuhari campaign on Twitter: @ThisIsBuhari, on
Facebook /ThisIsBuhari
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