THE BUHARI MUST GO PROTESTS (2)

Sonnie Ekwowusi writes that it is the duty of the president to safeguard the people

The catalogue of murder and abduction of Catholic priests, reverend sisters, seminarians and Nigerian citizens in general by the Fulani herdsmen explains why the catholic bishops under the aegis of the Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) are protesting and urging President Buhari to quit power. Just last week, theMetropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan added his voice to the protest by advising President Buhari to peacefully retire from office. Onaiyekan said that it is exasperating that under the watch of the country’s security forces herders are routinely slaughtering innocent citizens. He reminded President Buhari that Pope Francis is greatly worried about the killing of Nigerian Christians by the Fulani herdsmen. Note that this is the first time the catholic bishops are embarking on a peaceful protest against a Nigerian political leader. In political turmoil after turmoil, the CBCN, in their usual ultra-conservative and peaceful-loving manner, had always avoided delving into partisan politics. Instead of issuing statements condemning one political office holder or the other, the CBCN prefers to call for prayer, self-restraint, peaceful dialogue and decorum. You will remember with special poignancy that it was the CBCN that composed the prayer entitled: “Prayer for Nigeria in Distress”, a prayer for peace that is recited in all catholic churches in Nigeria today for the reign of peace and prosperity in Nigeria.

But the persistent murder of Nigerian citizens by the herdsmen and the inability of the federal government to bring the murderers to justice have become a moral and humanitarian issue which weighs on the conscience and naturally ought to elicit the comments of not only the catholic bishops but any man of conscience. In their statement two weeks ago entitled, “When will this barbarism end”, the catholic bishops stated, inter alia, “We are sad and fear that the clock is ticking. The bomb must be defused quickly before it explodes…since the president who appointed the heads of the nation’s security agencies has refused to caution them even in the face of chaos and barbarity into which our country had been plunged, we are left with no choice but to conclude that they are acting a script that he approves of. If the president cannot keep our country safe, then he automatically loses the trust of the citizens. He should no longer continue to preside over the killing fields and mass graveyard that our country has become. Repeated calls from us and many Nigerians on the president to take very drastic and urgent steps to reverse this ugly tragedy that threatens the foundation of our collective existence and unity as a nation, have fallen on deaf ears. It is clear to the nation that he has failed in his primary duty of protecting the lives of the Nigerian citizens. Whether this failure is due to inability to perform or lack of political will, it is time for him to choose the path of honour and consider stepping aside to save the nation from total collapse.”

Democracy, we have been told, is a learning process. One enduring lesson of democracy which the Nigerian voters have so well learnt and imbibed is that an incompetent president should be voted out at a periodic election. Pitched against former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 the people voted for candidate Muhammadu Buhari because they felt that Jonathan was a failure. Using the same yardstick, the voters are

THE PERSISTENT MURDER OF NIGERIAN CITIZENS BY THE HERDSMEN AND THE INABILITY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO BRING THE MURDERERS TO JUSTICE HAVE BECOME A MORAL AND HUMANITARIAN ISSUE WHICH WEIGHS ON THE CONSCIENCE AND NATURALLY OUGHT TO ELICIT THE COMMENTS OF NOT ONLY THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS BUT ANY MAN OF CONSCIENCE

likely to vote out President Buhari in 2019 because he is a failure. For example, the way President Buhari responds to certain national challenges depicts him as a very incompetent President. For example, in responding to issues relating to herdsmen killings and attacks recently, President Buhari said that the armedFulani herdsmen killing Nigerians and perpetrating mayhem across the country are part of the gunmen trained by the late Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gadaffi. It is well known that the Fulani herdsmen terrorists seen going about with their cattle are the same ones committing murder in Nigerian communities. But assuming that the killer herders came from Libya, is it not the responsibility of President Buhari to protect the territorial sovereignty of Nigeria from external invasion? By virtue ofsection 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution the security and welfare of the citizens of Nigeria shall be the primary responsibility of the federal government. The word “shall” used in the section connotes a mandatory obligation. Therefore if the Buhari government cannot protect the citizenry from herdsmen terrorism it means that it has woefully failed and therefore should quit power. Why should the Presidency squandera gargantuan $496 million in the purchase of Tucano fighter jets when in actual fact it lacks the capacity to protect Nigerian citizens from herdsmen terrorism?

Idlers sheepishly beating the drum for Buhari to continue the dance must be living in fool’s paradise. They have failed to realise that the dance is over and Buhari and the others are going home. The mounting protestations against President Buhari are signs that he will lose the next presidential election if he dares to contest in 2019.

But the pertinent question remains: Will the 2019 presidential election be free and fair? Or, put differently, will INEC be allowed to organise a free and fair presidential election in 2019? Former President Goodluck Jonathan gave INEC a free hand to organise the elections in 2015. He also displayed an uncommon good sportsmanship by promptly conceding victory to candidate Buhari even before INEC had declared Buhari a winner. Will President Buhari give INEC a free hand to organise the 2019 Presidential election as Jonathan did? If Buhari loses the presidential election will he accept defeat and relinquish power as Jonathan did in 2015? The answer to these questions is very important because Buhari is a bad loser. It is on record that in previous years in which he had lost the Presidential elections he had threatened that the “dog and the baboon will be soaked in blood”. Will President Buhari threaten mayhem if he loses the 2019 presidential election? What is even creating greater suspicion that President Buhari will not relinquish power in 2019 is that the murderous Fulani herdsmen are heavily backing him up to stay in power. If that is the case only God knows what the murderers would do with their AK-47 rifles to ensure that Buhari stays in power. In any case, by appointing his people into INEC and as Service Chiefs Buhari has more or less tried to safeguard his political future.

You can see that danger is not yet averted. The Buhari nightmare may not end soon. Watch and pray to God to shorten this period of darkness.