What is Ndigbo’s Problem With Buhari

Like all baseless myths passed around as facts many Igbo have brainwashed themselves into believing that Buhari hates Igbo’s, but the facts do not support this assertion. 

In 2003, Buhari ran for the Presidency picking former presidential advisor and senate president Senator Chuba Okadigbo as his running mate against Obasanjo and Atiku and lost that election. 

Despite that miscalculation, he picked another Igbo man, Chief Ume-Ezeoke as his running mate and lost to Yar Adua and Goodluck Jonathan in 2007. 

Despite having these noble Igbo men, Igbo’s cast their votes overwhelmingly for Obasanjo who derived extreme joy from humiliating Igbo men. Obasanjo used that support in impeaching 4 Igbo senate presidents and used presidential influence to truncate the careers of Nzeribe and a few others while appointing easily manipulatable Igbo women into his cabinet.

Prior and during those elections Buhari travelled the length and breadth of Igbo land visiting dignitaries like the Ikemba Ojukwu who had himself suffered poor support from Igbo’s in his quest to be president under the auspicious of APGA

It was only after it was obvious to Buhari that he could not win the Presidency with Igbo people despite having them as running mates that he switched to picking Yoruba pastor running mates. He failed in 2011 with Bakare against Goodluck Jonathan before divine providence interceded in his favor in 2015 to clinch the presidency with Osibanjo. 

In those elections especially in 2015, the Igbo’s once again voted massively against buhari in favor of Goodluck Jonathan perceived to be pro-Igbo yet Jonathan, besides token but prominent appointments of a few Igbo was not able to improve the infrastructure in the east. Igbo people once against showed little loyalty to Buhari who had twice tried to secure power with Igbo people. 

The biggest knock on Buhari is the perception that he is a Muslim jihadist fundamentalist with statements credited to him like “ I will continue to show in me a deep commitment to the adoption of sharia in Nigeria” on a Hausa BBC but it must be considered as the declaration of a politician speaking to his core base to get votes and after nearly 4 years in office no one can point at Islamization besides nepotistic appointments.

Perhaps the biggest perception that Buhari is anti Igbo was because of his dethronement of Goodluck Jonathan the adopted son of the Igbo’s. There was such a groundswell of mobilized angst against Jonathan that terrified southern minorities and Igbo’s into a realization that they were going to lose power and be brought back to the old days of arewa political domination which the translated into hate of Buhari, but he was just trying to become president 

It did not help that the election was served up as a war between Christianity and Islam with Buhari spearheading a Jihad to reclaim power from a Christian Goodluck Jonathan.

They other source for the conclusion that Buhari hates Igbo’s is his heavy handed suppression of renewed agitation for Biafra spearheaded by IPOB where many Igbo’s were either arrested or gunned down while “peacefully” demonstrating for Biafra along with the declaration of IPOB as a terrorist group.

The feeling of persecution has not been helped with the Army launching terribly named military escapades like Operation Python dance as an excuse to roll tanks into the east but the army has over 100 operations throughout the country today.

Nnamdi Kanu in particular has been the arrowhead for whipping up sentiment against Buhari through the instrumentality of his Biafra Radio with his vociferous insults and accusations about the agenda of Buhari, to subjugate Igbo’s.

But who is too say Buhari has been singularly heavy handed only with the Igbo’s. His army has been more ruthless in the north machine gunning down hundreds of Shiites in Zaria and again in Abuja recently. The Shia leader is under house arrest and The army has been decimating the implacable Boko harem in the North east killing many northerners. In the South South, the air force strafed the militants into submission and compliance.

In regards to suppression of IPOB in the east, there is no elderly Igbo man who experienced the civil war that wishes to see another war. The vested elite and even the Ohaneze is lukewarm about the agitation and they all agree that the agitation is being led by young men who were born after the war and the have expressed a commitment to not allow small boys who know nothing drag Nigeria into another war, hence the brutal suppression to stem the tide by Buhari who has expressed the same sentiments. 

Complaints of marginalization in the realm of appointments are difficult to dispel as there is no Igbo in the security council or Manning a security agency for the first time in history, but there are Igbo appointees like the low key publicity shy and apolitical Minister of external affairs Geoffrey Onyeama who follows Buhari on all international trips. 

It is also important to note that almost every other tribe outside the north complains of marginalization in appointments.  (To be continued I am tired)

@Terhemba Osuji is a contrarian 

**** this is not an endorsement of Buhari***