By Femi Fani Kayode
Last month, supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC), whilst chanting “sai Buhari” and carrying brooms, stoned our candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, whilst he was on his way to a rally in the north. It happened in Yola, Adamawa State. That was the third time that that had happened in just a few days. The first time it happened in Katsina State and then in Bauchi State.
In the case of Bauchi State, the violence resulted in the brutalisation, wounding and hospitalisation of no less than six of President Jonathan’s security operatives. In Yola, just as it was in Katsina and Bauchi, the whole thing was well-orchestrated and well-funded by the APC and there is an obvious and insidious conspiracy to hurt and intimidate the president and his supporters and to prevent them from campaigning in the north. This is despite the fact that Jonathan is very popular in many parts of the north and has millions of followers there. There was also the incident in Gombe State in which a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporter had his fingers chopped off simply because he was putting up posters of Goodluck Jonathan.
We wish to assure the APC that this barbaric behaviour will not deter Mr. President from campaigning in every nook and cranny of this country because his supporters, in both the north and the south, expect no less from him. The question that Nigerians must ask is this: Will Buhari not call his supporters to order and stop this violence unless and until someone is killed? Is that what he and his APC want? Do they want the president and those that go on campaign with him dead?
Why do they delight in violence and intimidation? Are they scared of a free and fair election? Can they not handle the prospect of defeat? Has it finally dawned on them that they are going to lose the election woefully and consequently they wish to avoid that by creating a crisis in the country? We have warned them over and over again about the consequences of their reckless and dangerous behaviour, their fondness of physically attacking the president and his campaign team and their irresponsible and insatiable appetite for aggression but General Muhammadu Buhari and the APC have refused to call their supporters to order.
Instead, they have continued to relish and delight in their habitual violence and in the most heinous and hideous forms of unprovoked attacks. Worse still they have consistently encouraged such behaviour in others. It is no wonder that Buhari was once nominated by the terrorist organisation Boko Haram as their negotiator and spokesman when the idea of dialogue with the federal government was first mooted in 2014. Equally relevant is the fact that the official spokesman of the APC, Lai Mohammed, objected to the proscription of Boko Haram and described it as being “unconstitutional and unjust” a few months ago. This was after the terrorists had slaughtered over 20,000 innocent and defenceless Nigerians. Such is the love that the APC have for violence and those that revel in it.
Sadly, it does not stop there. Worthy of note is the fact that when Buhari’s supporters butchered a number of people, including some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), after he lost the election in 2011 he refused to apologise to the families of those that were so brutally and callously murdered and he expressed absolutely no remorse. This was despite the fact that the killings were done in his name and despite the fact that the Nigerian people and indeed the international community expressed their outrage about those killings and the attendant acts of violence, arson, rioting and vandalism that went with them.
Before those killings took place and just a few days before that election, General Buhari mounted the rostrum brandishing a long sword and told the mammoth crowd, in the Hausa language, to “kill” all those that opposed their will and his candidacy. Those that doubt this are free to view it on youtube because the entire episode was filmed. The result of that incitement was the massive number of killings, including the murder of children, that took place in the north after Buhari lost in 2011.
One wonders if the same uncharitable, murderous and insensitive 2011 spirit still resides in Buhari? Is there any indication that he has changed? Is he preparing for a repeat performance of what his supporters did after losing the election four years ago? Does he still hold to his “baboon and dog will both be soaked in blood” philosophy if he loses the March 28th presidential election? Are his supporters and allies still threatening to “make the country ungovernable” after he loses the election? Does he still subscribe to his chilling and thoroughly irresponsible “wait and see what happens” threat if he loses on March 28th? We sincerely hope not because this time around, he and his supporters may not get away with it so lightly.
We wish to take this opportunity to serve them a final notice of warning: if they do not desist from these unprovoked attacks and if anything untoward should happen to President Jonathan whilst he is on campaign or even after the election, the consequences will be grave and far worse than they can possibly imagine. Buhari was not attacked by supporters of the PDP when he campaigned anywhere in the south so why should President Jonathan be attacked by supporters of the APC when he campaigns in the north? Enough is enough. The madness has to stop.
The violent behaviour of the APC is utterly reprehensible and we condemn it in the strongest terms. Under no circumstances should violence be condoned or encouraged by them or anyone else because this is simply an election and not a war. The truth is that the APC has become utterly desperate because they can see defeat staring them in the face. They have found it difficult to come to terms with the fact their their candidate is a man with questionable credentials who has been rejected by the Nigerian people and who does not have the strength, energy, fortitude or vision to govern Nigeria.
They also find it difficult to accept the fact that he is a perjurer who falsely swore to an affidavit and lied under oath that he had a secondary school certificate and that that certificate was with the army. This obnoxious and odious mendacity goes to the very heart of the issue of integrity. It is indicative of the fact that not only is Buhari unfit to rule Nigeria but also that his party is a haven of questionable individuals and cesspit of shady characters. If this were not the case why would Bola Tinubu, the de facto leader of the APC and the self-acclaimed “Lion of Bourdillon”, have the nerve to boldly assert that “certificate or no certificate” the Nigerian people must vote for Buhari. Could there be a more graphic example of sheer impunity, disdain for the rule of law and moral laxity than this?
The truth is that with Buhari and all those shady characters around him, the more you look the less you see. His story and whole history is shrouded with double-speak and double-standards and we shall continue to alert the Nigerian people about the dangers of electing such a questionable character as their president and putting him in power.
Thankfully, the truth is that the Nigerian people, as wise and discerning as ever, cannot be fooled by him or the rabid and hate-filled propaganda of his cohorts. They know that if they were to put such questionable people in power it would result in utter disaster for the future of our country and for generations of Nigerians yet unborn. Buhari’s quest for power and his mantra of change is a mere illusion. He and his supporters have become victims of their own deep-seated delusions. They have become paranoid prisoners of their own horrific hallucinations. Their lust for power knows no bounds and it is driven by their demonically-inspired obsessions. They will fail simply because our people wish to move our country forward and they do not want a return to the ugly past.
By their consistent and continued acts of violence, Buhari and his APC have violated the historic Kofi Annan-led Abuja Peace Accord. Despite their desperate and continuous attempts to inflict violence on us, to silence us and to intimidate us, we shall continue to raise cogent questions about their fitness to lead our nation and we shall continue to tell the world why we believe that President Jonathan is 10 times the man that General Buhari could ever be. The game is on.
Culled from Thisday
