The-comparism-of-atiku-and-buhari-nigerians-should-please-open-their-eyes
September 7, 2020 | News
THE COMPARISM OF ATIKU AND BUHARI – NIGERIANS SHOULD PLEASE OPEN THEIR EYES
The polity was astir, recently, over the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as the presidential standard bearers of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, respectively. While President Buhari was handed a re-election ticket with 14.8m votes in the APC’s direct presidential primaries, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar won the PDP’s presidential primaries in Port-Harcourt with 1,532 votes. His closest challenger, Aminu Tambuwal got 693 votes.
Since then, there has been countless write ups, talks, articles, opinions and views of Nigerians about the these two – Buhari and Atiku, over their prospects and chances of clinching the Presidential election seat come 2019. For Atiku (born 1946), he worked in the Nigeria Customs Service for twenty years, rising to become the Deputy Director, as the second highest position in the Service then. He retired in April 1989 and took up full-time business and politics. He ran for the office of governor in the Gongola State (now Adamawa and Taraba States) in 1991, and for the Presidency in 1993, placing third after MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) primaries. In 1998 he was elected Governor of Adamawa State. While still Governor-Elect he was selected by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate Olusegun Obasanjo as his running mate. The duo went on to win elections in February 1999, and Atiku was sworn-in as Nigeria's second democratically elected Vice President on 29 May 1999. Abubakar's second term as Vice President was marked by a stormy relationship with President Obasanjo. His bid to succeed Obasanjo did not receive the latter's support, and it took a judgment of the Supreme Court to allow Abubakar contest after he was initially disqualified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the grounds that he had been indicted for financial misconduct by an investigating panel set up at Obasanjo's behest. The Supreme Court ordered the electoral commission to restore Abubakar's name onto the presidential ballot. Abubakar ran on the platform of the Action Congress, having quit the PDP on account of his issues with President Obasanjo. Abubakar lost the election, placing third after Umaru Yar'Adua and Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
For President Muhammadu Buhari (born 1942), he is a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army and previously served as the nation's Head of State from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power in a military coup d'état. Then, Buhari unsuccessfully ran for the office of President of Nigeria in the 2003, 2007, and 2011 general elections. But he persisted until December 2014, when he emerged as the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the March 2015 general elections. Buhari won the election, defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. This marked the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent President lost to an opposition candidate in a general election. He was sworn in on 29 May 2015. Buhari has stated that he takes responsibility for anything over which he presided during his military rule, and that he cannot change the past. He has described himself as a "converted democrat."
In other words, while Atiku is known to be a former Custom official-turned-business man and then Politician, Buhari is a retired soldier of the Nigerian who turned a politician. That means both men have tasted power, they are both of the same age bracket, and both are Fulani Muslims. Agreed that Buhari started his career life as a soldier and then rose in the military to become a Major General, and was once a Military Head of State, but the name Buhari, has always been known to send cold-shivers down the spine of people and fear into the hearts of some Nigerians simply because he is known to be a stern and well-principled person, who has remained in the opposition from 1999 as a politician, till he was elected President under the now ruling APC till date. Many have labeled Buhari as a tribalist, while some have accused him of nepotism - that he only appointed people of his tribe and loyalists into key positions in his government.
On the other hand, Atiku, who started out as a public official in the Nigerian Customs before delving into politics, is today known as a businessman to the core, and some Nigerians even equate him to US President Donald Trump, who has always been a business mogul. Some believe that if Atiku is elected, he will boost the Nigerian economy, just like Donald Trump is doing with the US economy. For us, though Atiku may be a businessman, but he is nothing like Trump in all aspects. Everybody knows Trump as a no-nonsense man to the core, who is always blunt and precise when taking decisions, either as a businessman or a politician. This even makes him look more like Buhari, and not Atiku.
Atiku is known to be a very unstable and waving politician who is always ready to do anything, including bending the rules, just to become President of Nigeria at all cost. This was demonstrated recently during the ‘rain of US dollars’ alleged to be donated by Atiku and other PDP Presidential aspirants at the PDP Presidential Primary in Port-Harcourt. The same Primary that led to Atiku being elected as the PDP Presidential flagbearer in the 2019 Presidential elections. Again, agreed that Atiku is a businessman, but the question we all should ask is where did he get his wealth from? Yes, he was a custom boss for some years, but that was it, and the next thing we know is that he said to be a co-founder of INTELS, an oil servicing business with extensive operations in Nigeria and abroad. He is also said to be the founder of Adama Beverages Limited, and the American University of Nigeria (AUN), both in Yola, Adamawa. So, the question is, was it the money he made from being in the Nigerian Customs that he used to established these states businesses and the University? If that is the case, then we think everyone should join the Nigerian customs to make the billions of Naira.
This is unlike US Donald Trump that has a clear history of how he made his wealth and became a billionaire. We cannot say same for Atiku. Trump has never been elected in any public office nor has taken any political appointment to have acquired his wealth before he became US President. Trump actually took charge of his family's real estate business in 1971, renamed it The Trump Organization, and expanded it from Queens and Brooklyn into Manhattan. The company built or renovated skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. Trump later started various side ventures, including licensing his name for real estate and consumer products. He managed the company until his 2017 inauguration. He co-authored several books, including The Art of the Deal. He owned the Miss Universe and Miss USA beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015, and he produced and hosted the reality television show The Apprentice from 2003 to 2015. Forbes estimates his net worth to be $3.1 billion. This is a man who clearly has a ‘verifiable record of how he made his money’ to be where he is today. We cannot say the same for Atiku, whose record is full of secrets of alleged financial misappropriation and oversea money laundering, some of which have been investigated by the Obasanjo Government, and a Committee in the US Senate.
So, we can see that there is no comparism between Atiku and Trump. Those who are doing so now, are just trying to make Atiku look good in the eyes of the public, by trying to redeem his already ‘bad image’ with this absurd comparism with Trump. Trump never bought votes in the Primary that elected him to run for the US Presidency. So, whether some people like or not, the truth must be told - Atiku is alleged to be nothing but a “high-profile corrupt man” who has the propensity to sell the entire country for his personal gains. He has demonstrated his character and person with his shifting/crossing from one party to another, all in a bid to look for where that will be more favorable for him to fulfill his personal agenda of grabbling political power.
As for Buhari, he never shifted grounds as a politician, even when he lost his Presidential election three times, he remained in the opposition for a long time before being elected the President of Nigeria. Someone like Atiku, will never agree to remain in the opposition party for up to a tenure of any regime, especially when the odds will be against him. We are certain that if Atiku did not win the PDP Presidential Primary, he would have run back to the APC in the next round of elections. Even as the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku clearly has no well-defined agenda, no well-defined focus, other than the untrue songs that they are singing of him creating jobs. How? We might ask. It is evidently clear that all Atiku needs is to grab hold of political power and nothing more. For a man who allegedly bought his way with US dollars to be the flagbearer of the PDP, there is nothing he would not do during the election proper. Sadly, it is the same people who would be the ones to complain and shout ‘bad governance’, if someone like Atiku is in government; they are the same people that were taking dollars from Atiku at the said PDP Primary. The truth is that Atiku has nothing to offer. I am not a politician, neither am I affiliated to any political party. But I am of the stand that we should protect our country from falling into the wrong hands. People like Michael Ibru, Dantata, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, etc. are known businessmen. But we do not consider Atiku a businessman who will use his business acumen to impact on the Nigerian economy.
Some Nigerian elites are shortsighted and easily excited with fake stories. Atiku just wants to become a President and that is all. He is willing to use his illicit accumulated dollars to buy votes, all in a bid to rule. A man who would spend much dollars to buy delegates votes does not mean well for the country. The display and show off of dollars during the PDP Primary is enough to conclude that Atiku does not mean well for this country. And this should be a warning sign to all and sundry.
Agreed that tribalism and nepotism are big national issues in this country, but it has been a common practice in the Nigerian political domain to see political leaders favouring his own tribe and loyalists more than others, and that is the basic truth. In our Delta State for instance, former Governor James Ibori’s attention during his eight years reigns in Office was for the Oghara town axis, which is his hometown. And today, Governor Okowa’s attention is more for the Agbor’s axis. Former President Goodluck Jonathan favoured the Ijaws more during his administration, and now, President Buhari has continued on this path with his appointments. So, take it or leave it, that is the way the Nigerian politics and governance has been structured over the years. It is not a question of whether is it good or not, but it is a question of how our ethnicities have ingrained in us, the natural flare to favour our people more than others, once in positions of authority. The truth is that every tribe in Nigeria is scared of another tribe. The Isoko man is scared of the Urhobo man, and Urhobo man is scared of the Isoko man. Every tribe feel they are superior to the other. No trust between themselves. In fact, within every State, there are a lot of differences in the tribes, languages and the people themselves. So, all the over 300 tribes are scared of each other. They believe they can only be protected by their tribe’s people in positions of public service.
I have been accused by friends of partisan politics in my write ups of recent. But I am only writing my views on the Nigerian State and the way I see things from my perspective with an open heart, and without bias. So, in my own assessment on the subject matter, as a non-partisan stakeholder, is that Buhari is known as a well-principled disciplinarian, while Atiku is known as a man whose personality and actions ‘changes’ with the tide so as to grab power. Truth be told, between both men, who can best be trusted by Nigerians? I leave you to be the judge.
Zik Gbemre.
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes as if Those Were Our Causes
The polity was astir, recently, over the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as the presidential standard bearers of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, respectively. While President Buhari was handed a re-election ticket with 14.8m votes in the APC’s direct presidential primaries, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar won the PDP’s presidential primaries in Port-Harcourt with 1,532 votes. His closest challenger, Aminu Tambuwal got 693 votes.
Since then, there has been countless write ups, talks, articles, opinions and views of Nigerians about the these two – Buhari and Atiku, over their prospects and chances of clinching the Presidential election seat come 2019. For Atiku (born 1946), he worked in the Nigeria Customs Service for twenty years, rising to become the Deputy Director, as the second highest position in the Service then. He retired in April 1989 and took up full-time business and politics. He ran for the office of governor in the Gongola State (now Adamawa and Taraba States) in 1991, and for the Presidency in 1993, placing third after MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) primaries. In 1998 he was elected Governor of Adamawa State. While still Governor-Elect he was selected by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate Olusegun Obasanjo as his running mate. The duo went on to win elections in February 1999, and Atiku was sworn-in as Nigeria's second democratically elected Vice President on 29 May 1999. Abubakar's second term as Vice President was marked by a stormy relationship with President Obasanjo. His bid to succeed Obasanjo did not receive the latter's support, and it took a judgment of the Supreme Court to allow Abubakar contest after he was initially disqualified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the grounds that he had been indicted for financial misconduct by an investigating panel set up at Obasanjo's behest. The Supreme Court ordered the electoral commission to restore Abubakar's name onto the presidential ballot. Abubakar ran on the platform of the Action Congress, having quit the PDP on account of his issues with President Obasanjo. Abubakar lost the election, placing third after Umaru Yar'Adua and Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
For President Muhammadu Buhari (born 1942), he is a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army and previously served as the nation's Head of State from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power in a military coup d'état. Then, Buhari unsuccessfully ran for the office of President of Nigeria in the 2003, 2007, and 2011 general elections. But he persisted until December 2014, when he emerged as the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the March 2015 general elections. Buhari won the election, defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. This marked the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent President lost to an opposition candidate in a general election. He was sworn in on 29 May 2015. Buhari has stated that he takes responsibility for anything over which he presided during his military rule, and that he cannot change the past. He has described himself as a "converted democrat."
In other words, while Atiku is known to be a former Custom official-turned-business man and then Politician, Buhari is a retired soldier of the Nigerian who turned a politician. That means both men have tasted power, they are both of the same age bracket, and both are Fulani Muslims. Agreed that Buhari started his career life as a soldier and then rose in the military to become a Major General, and was once a Military Head of State, but the name Buhari, has always been known to send cold-shivers down the spine of people and fear into the hearts of some Nigerians simply because he is known to be a stern and well-principled person, who has remained in the opposition from 1999 as a politician, till he was elected President under the now ruling APC till date. Many have labeled Buhari as a tribalist, while some have accused him of nepotism - that he only appointed people of his tribe and loyalists into key positions in his government.
On the other hand, Atiku, who started out as a public official in the Nigerian Customs before delving into politics, is today known as a businessman to the core, and some Nigerians even equate him to US President Donald Trump, who has always been a business mogul. Some believe that if Atiku is elected, he will boost the Nigerian economy, just like Donald Trump is doing with the US economy. For us, though Atiku may be a businessman, but he is nothing like Trump in all aspects. Everybody knows Trump as a no-nonsense man to the core, who is always blunt and precise when taking decisions, either as a businessman or a politician. This even makes him look more like Buhari, and not Atiku.
Atiku is known to be a very unstable and waving politician who is always ready to do anything, including bending the rules, just to become President of Nigeria at all cost. This was demonstrated recently during the ‘rain of US dollars’ alleged to be donated by Atiku and other PDP Presidential aspirants at the PDP Presidential Primary in Port-Harcourt. The same Primary that led to Atiku being elected as the PDP Presidential flagbearer in the 2019 Presidential elections. Again, agreed that Atiku is a businessman, but the question we all should ask is where did he get his wealth from? Yes, he was a custom boss for some years, but that was it, and the next thing we know is that he said to be a co-founder of INTELS, an oil servicing business with extensive operations in Nigeria and abroad. He is also said to be the founder of Adama Beverages Limited, and the American University of Nigeria (AUN), both in Yola, Adamawa. So, the question is, was it the money he made from being in the Nigerian Customs that he used to established these states businesses and the University? If that is the case, then we think everyone should join the Nigerian customs to make the billions of Naira.
This is unlike US Donald Trump that has a clear history of how he made his wealth and became a billionaire. We cannot say same for Atiku. Trump has never been elected in any public office nor has taken any political appointment to have acquired his wealth before he became US President. Trump actually took charge of his family's real estate business in 1971, renamed it The Trump Organization, and expanded it from Queens and Brooklyn into Manhattan. The company built or renovated skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. Trump later started various side ventures, including licensing his name for real estate and consumer products. He managed the company until his 2017 inauguration. He co-authored several books, including The Art of the Deal. He owned the Miss Universe and Miss USA beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015, and he produced and hosted the reality television show The Apprentice from 2003 to 2015. Forbes estimates his net worth to be $3.1 billion. This is a man who clearly has a ‘verifiable record of how he made his money’ to be where he is today. We cannot say the same for Atiku, whose record is full of secrets of alleged financial misappropriation and oversea money laundering, some of which have been investigated by the Obasanjo Government, and a Committee in the US Senate.
So, we can see that there is no comparism between Atiku and Trump. Those who are doing so now, are just trying to make Atiku look good in the eyes of the public, by trying to redeem his already ‘bad image’ with this absurd comparism with Trump. Trump never bought votes in the Primary that elected him to run for the US Presidency. So, whether some people like or not, the truth must be told - Atiku is alleged to be nothing but a “high-profile corrupt man” who has the propensity to sell the entire country for his personal gains. He has demonstrated his character and person with his shifting/crossing from one party to another, all in a bid to look for where that will be more favorable for him to fulfill his personal agenda of grabbling political power.
As for Buhari, he never shifted grounds as a politician, even when he lost his Presidential election three times, he remained in the opposition for a long time before being elected the President of Nigeria. Someone like Atiku, will never agree to remain in the opposition party for up to a tenure of any regime, especially when the odds will be against him. We are certain that if Atiku did not win the PDP Presidential Primary, he would have run back to the APC in the next round of elections. Even as the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku clearly has no well-defined agenda, no well-defined focus, other than the untrue songs that they are singing of him creating jobs. How? We might ask. It is evidently clear that all Atiku needs is to grab hold of political power and nothing more. For a man who allegedly bought his way with US dollars to be the flagbearer of the PDP, there is nothing he would not do during the election proper. Sadly, it is the same people who would be the ones to complain and shout ‘bad governance’, if someone like Atiku is in government; they are the same people that were taking dollars from Atiku at the said PDP Primary. The truth is that Atiku has nothing to offer. I am not a politician, neither am I affiliated to any political party. But I am of the stand that we should protect our country from falling into the wrong hands. People like Michael Ibru, Dantata, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, etc. are known businessmen. But we do not consider Atiku a businessman who will use his business acumen to impact on the Nigerian economy.
Some Nigerian elites are shortsighted and easily excited with fake stories. Atiku just wants to become a President and that is all. He is willing to use his illicit accumulated dollars to buy votes, all in a bid to rule. A man who would spend much dollars to buy delegates votes does not mean well for the country. The display and show off of dollars during the PDP Primary is enough to conclude that Atiku does not mean well for this country. And this should be a warning sign to all and sundry.
Agreed that tribalism and nepotism are big national issues in this country, but it has been a common practice in the Nigerian political domain to see political leaders favouring his own tribe and loyalists more than others, and that is the basic truth. In our Delta State for instance, former Governor James Ibori’s attention during his eight years reigns in Office was for the Oghara town axis, which is his hometown. And today, Governor Okowa’s attention is more for the Agbor’s axis. Former President Goodluck Jonathan favoured the Ijaws more during his administration, and now, President Buhari has continued on this path with his appointments. So, take it or leave it, that is the way the Nigerian politics and governance has been structured over the years. It is not a question of whether is it good or not, but it is a question of how our ethnicities have ingrained in us, the natural flare to favour our people more than others, once in positions of authority. The truth is that every tribe in Nigeria is scared of another tribe. The Isoko man is scared of the Urhobo man, and Urhobo man is scared of the Isoko man. Every tribe feel they are superior to the other. No trust between themselves. In fact, within every State, there are a lot of differences in the tribes, languages and the people themselves. So, all the over 300 tribes are scared of each other. They believe they can only be protected by their tribe’s people in positions of public service.
I have been accused by friends of partisan politics in my write ups of recent. But I am only writing my views on the Nigerian State and the way I see things from my perspective with an open heart, and without bias. So, in my own assessment on the subject matter, as a non-partisan stakeholder, is that Buhari is known as a well-principled disciplinarian, while Atiku is known as a man whose personality and actions ‘changes’ with the tide so as to grab power. Truth be told, between both men, who can best be trusted by Nigerians? I leave you to be the judge.
Zik Gbemre.
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes as if Those Were Our Causes