Last week, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, the Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, stirred the hornet’s nest with a suggestion that both President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari should not run for the presidency in order to avert a looming bloodshed that he foresees. Since then, Buhari’s supporters have called Sheikh Gumi all manners of names and in this interview, the cleric explains why he took such stance.
Recently, you wrote two letters to both PDP and APC, advising them against fielding President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as their respective presidential candidates. Why did you write those letters?
The reason for writing those letters is to try to avert a disaster that I foresee if they are allowed to contest. Why? Simply because what happened yesterday (2011 postelection violence) is most likely to happen in a bigger magnitude in 2015 when they contest, because all the parameters are there, in fact aggravated. So, for fear of loss of lives and in sympathy with those who lost their lives innocently, ethical issues demand that the two of them should forego their ambitions. If they don’t, then the responsibilities fall on their parties to do so because they are there to filter and see what is suitable for Nigerians. The question is the survival of the nation.
So, you foresee the post-election violence of 2011 happening again in 2015?
I see it in a bigger magnitude because the factors that can cause it are aggravated. A section of the country is so much depressed, suppressed and it feels cheated. So, that section will be disappointed if their candidate is not declared the winner in 2015. In essence you are saying that the north is backing Buhari and the APC while the south is for President Jonathan and PDP. If either candidate wins, the section of the country whose candidate loses will not agree. No side will agree.
Did the parties reply your letter?
None of the parties replied but I could see that there are grievances from all sides, from their supporters. Some of them seem not to be happy about it. Some said that I was expressing my personal opinion but this is more than a personal opinion. The nation needs a third voice, a voice that is neutral.
To be honest, people are afraid of the government. So, nobody can speak to the government directly. People are also afraid of Buhari’s supporters because most of them are not well educated, they are also irrational and sentimental; most of them are underprivileged, suppressed and half-baked youths in a mammoth crowd who see him as a saviour. In fact, they see Buhari as the only saviour. That’s the danger.
You also wrote another separate letter to Buhari, what did you tell him?
I told him that being a Muslim and as an Islamic cleric, we Muslims should admonish each other. Muslims should give candid advice to each other; wata wassaw bialhaqqi wata wasaw bialssabri (Quranic verse) this verse means Muslims should give mutual advice in truth and in patience. If my father were in Buhari’s shoes and he said he wanted to contest for the presidency, I would have given him the same advice that I gave to Buhari.
I will tell him not to contest; it’s not suitable for him because he was a religious leader. Even among Muslims, he was heading a sect. Buhari, even among northern Nigerians, is divisive politically. Not many people liked the way he ruled when he was the head of state. The same way, his supporters like him because of the way he ruled in the past. So, his supporters should not argue that the past is past and it should be forgotten because they are basing their love for him because of what he did in the past. Likewise, people hate him because of the past. The past is very important.
So, how can a leader who is divisive even in his constituency, rule the whole of Nigeria? We need somebody who will calm everybody’s nerves. Somebody who is neutral to everybody; be they Muslims or Christians, Northerners or Southerners. One thing that you should also understand is that what I advised Buhari to do, I also advised Jonathan to do the same. But you could see the reaction of Buhari’s followers which is abusive.
When you are discussing issues that affect human lives, they have nothing to do but to abuse you, accuse you of being sponsored or somebody will question your credibility. So, you can see the reaction of these kind of people over what I said. What of if you shock them and declare that their mentor did not win election? Who can control them? Nobody. So, this is what I am trying to avoid by trying to put my advice to the national domain so that we discuss the matter. As we discuss, people will remove sentiments and see reality.
In the same letter to Buhari, you cited instances when Prophet Muhammad(SAW), barred someone from being a leader not because he was not honest but because he was rigid to a fault. How does this relate to Buhari?
The Hadith is very explicit. One of the companions of the Prophet (SAW) asked him to give him a position of authority. The prophet said no. He said that “I love for myself what I love for you. You have a kind of weakness that you should never accept to lead even two people. And don’t even take an orphan’s wealth.‘’
This is the same man that the prophet (SAW) has said that nobody is truthful in speech like him. All the companions of the prophet (SAW) agreed that he does not like any worldly possession. He was of the view that gold and silver should not be kept for more than one day without being spent. This is the same man that the prophet advised against seeking for leadership because of certain weakness.
What is that weakness?
He was an introvert. The Prophet (SAW) said that he would live alone and die alone and will be resurrected alone. He didn’t know how to go along with the community. So, anybody who is an introvert is not fit for leadership. An introvert is somebody who doesn’t extend to people, it doesn’t matter if he is honest. The ability to control people is different. Islam is a pragmatic religion; it knows human nature.
You know that a lion is a very ferocious animal but if you feed it everyday with meat, this same lion will become your friend. So, human beings too, when you are nice to them and give them gifts, they will like you. So, that is why you have security votes in government. This is money that is given to a leader to use it to pacify his people. In modern governance, it is accepted. It’s there in Islam too. One of the sub-divisions where money of Zakat is distributed is to give it to pacify people. Not to the poor but for anybody that money is needed to pacify him. So, the judicious use of money in pacifying people is part of governance.
But Buhari portrays himself as a no nonsense person when it comes to money. That already puts him in a corner. Because of that image which he has to protect, when he declared to run for the presidency, he went to the bank and borrowed money. What is this teaching the youth? Is that the right thing to do? Which bank even gave him the money? Which bank manager will approve such a loan and under which sub-head? How can a bank manager give out money for something that is a gamble? People have started doubting if really he borrowed the money as he claimed.
For those people who don’t believe that he borrowed the money, his credibility is now on the line. A leader should be believed; when he says ‘A,’ let his ‘A’ be ‘A.’ So, it is either Buhari is telling the truth or not. If he is telling the truth, then he is teaching children the wrong way to approach leadership because people who love a leader should contribute for his cause. And if he is not telling the truth, then it is not good for us, especially we from this part of the country.
Are you regretting your action, based on the insults that you have received even from your ardent followers?
I remember someone stormed out of your weekly Tafsir, promising never to attend again when you raised the topic last week. It was just one person. And I’m very happy about it. Just like when a political scientist puts forward a theory, he needs to show its practicability. My theory is that if Gen. Buhari is denied the presidency in 2015, there will be violence.
What is my proof? If my advice to him to step down will cause this violent reaction, what more if he is denied victory? So, I’m very happy with the reaction, which is natural and this proved my forecast right. That is why I want both he and Jonathan to step down. It’s not about their rights to contest; it is about death, about people’s lives. People had died because of Buhari, should he subject the same naive people to death again?
It is being alleged that you are campaigning for a certain APC presidential aspirant, that is why you want Buhari to leave the stage so as to pave the way for him. What is the truth of this matter?
I’m not campaigning for anybody! I’m not like a politician who says something but means another thing else. I’m not campaigning for anybody. But supposing I’m campaigning for somebody, what stops me Ahmad from campaigning for anybody!? Is it wrong? Just tell me that your candidate is better than mine but why should anybody resort to abuse? The fact that they abuse shows that Buhari’s followers are not qualified to have power because they will elevate this man into a Pharaoh; nobody can advise him, if you speak against him, they will kill you. We don’t want dictators, we want people who reason, who are rational. We don’t want him at all because if he becomes president, his followers will become like Adolf Hitler’s SSS. We have to save this nation.
But has Buhari spoken to you since you went public with your advice?
No, he has not spoken to me before and after. I visited him when he was attacked by suicide bombers and commiserated with him. There is nothing personal about the issue; it’s more than Buhari, it’s more than me, it’s about Nigeria. I was in Makka in 2011 when people called me to pacify Muslims. I spoke and advised Muslims not to engage in violence.
As I finished, someone from Zaria called me and said that I was pacifying the victims because in southern Kaduna, more than 500 people were massacred. So, you can imagine what will happen this time around. This is why I’m advising them. Their supporters can abuse me and I have given them the licence to abuse me and I will pacify them. It is better for me that way, than to pacify their relations when most of them are killed.
Some people are saying that you are continuing an old quarrel with Buhari because his relationship and your late father was a bit sour when he was the head of state….
Whoever says so is trying to condemn Buhari. Why? Because my father was an internationally recognised Islamic scholar, a man of high integrity and credentials that Buhari can never get. So, if Buhari will quarrel with my father when he was the head of state, it means that Buhari is not fit to be a leader. How can he be quarrelling with everybody? Quarrelling with people who are known not to be corrupt, people who are pious. People who have dedicated their lives preaching peace, you are fighting with them. If Buhari can quarrel with my father, definitely he will quarrel with me because I’m more temperamental than my father. (General laughter).
As an ex-military man, why didn’t you use the esprit de corps among the military to advise Buhari in private instead of going public?
I wrote an open letter to Buhari so that others can learn. Not because I didn’t have access to him. Who are these others? His followers. May be I have to explain this further. In Islam, when people exaggerated their love for Jesus Christ, God showed His human weakness. He asked that don’t Jesus and his mother eat food? God asked who can prevent Him if He wants to destroy Isa (Jesus), his mother and everybody on earth? Did God want to destroy Isa(Jesus)? No.
He was trying to show that He can destroy him. So, when people elevate somebody beyond his human capacity, it is Islamic to show his human weakness. So, I have to show them, his followers, the weakness of Buhari, so that they don’t take him as a saviour. This is part of Islamic theology. So, it becomes imperative now when I see people mesmerised and infatuated that they have seen the light that will salvage them.
It is my duty to show them that he is not the light because the light of God is a protected light. This one you are seeing is unprotected. Why? It will lead people to death. Just like insects in the bush, if you light up a fire, you will see them rushing from a distance to the fire, thinking that the light is for guidance. But when they come close, it will burn them. Politics is this kind of light that burns, it is only a religious light that will protect people because it will prevent you from killing, abuses and rascality. Have you ever heard of any politician that teaches his supporters morals? In fact, they have thugs that they give drugs. So, any light that you see in a politician is the light that will destroy you.
Aren’t you afraid for your life because you earlier mentioned that some of Buhari’s supporters are irrational?
There is that possibility. But my safety is negligible compared to the mass killings that I foresee if Buhari decides to contest election and he doesn’t win. And if a war starts in Nigeria, it is difficult to end it. I did not only address Buhari but I also advised Jonathan from contesting because the same thing will happen if he wins.
But have there been reactions from the Jonathan camp regarding your advice?
The followers of Jonathan are more educated and they benefit from the system. And the followers of Buhari are more suppressed and less educated. There are few educated ones among them, even university graduates but not many of them are. So, the reaction of the Jonathan camp is more systemic and civil. I have seen paid advertisements by Governor of Akwa Ibom, distancing himself from my suggestion.
Ijaw people said that security men should come after me. So, their reaction is more civil than those who have been abusing me and even my mother. However, this shows that it is a serious issue because a segment of the society is afraid of Jonathan’s second term. So, that is why I suggested that he should give way for another person who will bring peace, tranquillity and stability to Nigeria.
For the purpose of argument, which people do you suggest should replace both President Jonathan and Buhari as the presidential candidates of PDP and APC respectively?
I don’t have anybody in mind. If Nigerians chose any two candidates, I’m together with them. What I’m proposing is to exclude people who can trigger turmoil. We don’t want turmoil in this country. We have enough. People are dying everyday. Innocent people have been killed, families have been exterminated. How can these same people, if they have conscience, come back again and say they want power? Power for what!? When you have blood on your hands and on the day of judgement you have to explain. And when these people are killed, none of these people on whose behalf they died will even go to their families and commiserate with them.
So, it’s the duty of all patriotic Nigerians, including the media, to sensitise people. We shouldn’t allow Nigerians to kill one another in the name of politics. People keep saying that why don’t I go and sit with the General and advise him privately? My answer is, I’m not speaking to Buhari alone but to him and his fanatical supporters. I want to show them that he too has a human weakness that can even disqualify him for this position that his supporters want him to attain.
Moreover, even if he gets it, he may not do what they want. And the same supporters will start abusing him. This happened to Ali Ibn Abu Talib (cousin to Prophet Muhammad[SAW]). People, who liked him, killed the Khalifa and made him the Khalifa. They found out that he couldn’t do what they wanted and in the end, they were the people that killed him. So, we have to learn from history and the vast knowledge of our literature and culture.
That is why I advise the two candidates to sacrifice their ambitions for the sake of peace and stability. And if they do not, let the wise men and good Samaritans in the two parties do the right thing. If they don’t, then I am advising Nigerians to vote against these two candidates. Because anybody who doesn’t listen to advice before getting power, when he gets it, he will be a Pharaoh.
Since you know so much about power and governance, why don’t you join a political party and run for public office?
No, no, no. I don’t need to join politics because I told you that we need a third voice. In a boxing contest, there is always a referee. Likewise in a football match. Without a referee, the two sports will be bloody. The nation needs a referee. I don’t need power at all. Yes, I’m satisfied with being a cleric, showing people the right way
Source: New Telegraph
