Back to the Future Nigerian iron man leaves his best coup to last
| Fed-up voters look to a former soldier to solve the West African nation’s many problems
THE 72-year-old former general elected as Nigeria’s new president this week is not exactly new to the democratic process: he spent much of the past decade campaigning for the office in three successive elections — and failing each time.
But then, as detractors insist and many supporters acknowledge, Muhammadu Buhari had a long way to go to prove that he had left the military barracks behind.
He first came to power in a coup more than 30 years ago and became one of Nigeria’s harshest military rulers, waging a “war against indiscipline” that prescribed humiliating punishment for tardy civil servants.
He publicly executed young drug dealers on the beach, jailed journalists and expelled thousands of immigrants. He arrested 475 politicians and businessmen on corruption charges, trying them in military tribunals and jailing many for life. His rule lasted 20 months and ended in another coup.
That was Buhari’s past. His supporters insist that it does not reflect the present, and so does the general. He is now a sworn democrat, they say.
Yet, for many, it was precisely the ramrod-straight former of- ficer’s tough history that was one of his biggest electoral draws in a country swamped by Islamist insurgency and corruption. Buhari, voters suggested over and over, was a man who could deal with both.
His image of personal austerity — a sandal-wearing ascetic, he is one of the very few Nigerian leaders who did not emerge from office immensely wealthy — added to his appeal.
Even those who had big reservations about Buhari swallowed them as they contemplated a country that appeared to be coming off the rails under President Goodluck Jonathan.
During Jonathan’s tenure, the corruption scandals of government ministers were ignored. Parliamentary reports detailing these scandals were hushed up. Senior civil servants who exposed them were fired.
And, above all, Boko Haram, the radical Islamist group that killed thousands of civilians, stormed unchecked across the north until very recently when outside forces — mercenaries and the troops of neighbouring countries — were called in.
Writer and Nigerian Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka has been one of Buhari’s most relentless critics in a series of writings over the years. CONVERTED: Once one of the country’s harshest military rulers, former general Muhammadu Buhari has returned to power in Nigeria as a ‘sworn democrat’
Soyinka has detailed the general’s jailing of journalists and musicians, and in his memoirs called the public executions of the former general’s rule “a deliberate effort to strike terror in the heart of the nation”.
He accused Buhari of having “brutalised” Nigerians, and said that the general had established a “norm of despotism” by passing a “decree that forbade any discussion of a return to democratic rule”.
Yet Soyinka all but acknowledged recently that he would vote for Buhari.
Questioned on the campaign trail by The New York Times about aspects of his past, Buhari seemed impatient with the notion and insisted that both he and the times had changed. And he immediately launched into a rapid-fire discussion of the country’s troubles, about which he was unsparing. DAVID and Victoria Beckham have run into opposition over their plans to install airconditioning at their London home.
The Beckhams paid £31.5million (about R560-million) in cash for the detached Holland Park house in September 2013. They have been transforming the listed property into a modern family residence to be used as their main home.
The couple hit a stumbling block after their next-door neighbour wrote a strongly worded letter to the council objecting to their plans for airconditioning.
They want to install airconditioning in five rooms, including the gym and wine cellar on the lower ground floor.
The resident “totally disagrees” with the plans, saying they “will affect the historic character of the Victorian houses of the street, my house included”.
He wrote: “The council must [note] our deep concerns about all adverse impacts on living conditions from noise, vibration, dirt, pollution and dust from construction and from associated traffic, in addition to concerns about impacts on drainage, on appearance and landscape, on structural stability, and on historic buildings.”
When ready, the Holland Park home will have six bedrooms, a gym, study, office, playroom, cinema and large drawing room.
The first floor will belong to David and Victoria, and have a huge bedroom and an even bigger dressing room.
Their children Brooklyn, 16, Romeo, 12, Cruz, 10, and daughter Harper, three, will SUNNY SIDE UP: Devoted supporters of Buhari’s All Progressive Congress party celebrate his election victory in the streets of Kano, in northern Nigeria
He offered voters less of a detailed platform for his presidency than an explicit promise to clean up the mess left by the man he defeated. That bluntness is characteristic of Buhari, say those who know him.
In the northern cities that are his stronghold and are Muslim like him, he is worshipped almost as a cult figure by voters. At rallies during this campaign season, he stood stiff and erect, waving to the crowd and saying little. His presence was enough to reassure them.
On Tuesday night, the streets of Kano, in the country’s north, were lined with jubilant supporters, and some older celebrants were nostalgic for what they remembered as the good old days of Buhari’s rule.
“We need a government of Buhari’s type,” said Mohammed Inusa, a kola-nut vendor on the crumbling sidewalk opposite the emir’s palace in Kano. “When he was head of state, we were happy. The country was secure. There was development, employment opportunities.”
Buhari was born on December 17 1942, in Nigeria’s far north, the son of a village chief. He attended officer cadet school in England in the early 1960s, according to historian Max Siollun, and was active in the military coups of 1966 and 1975, later serving in successive military governments of the late 1970s, including as minister of petroleum.
In 1983, troops under his command cleared rebels from Chad from Nigeria’s border, and he then refused civilian orders from Lagos to retreat into his own country. A New Year’s Eve coup against the elected president, Shehu Shagari, then brought him to power.
Of all the peremptory episodes that marked his rule, perhaps the best remembered is the bizarre and unsuccessful kidnapping plot targeting a corrupt former minister who had fled to London, Umaru Dikko.
It involved Israeli secret agents, a giant packing crate into which Dikko was stuffed, and anaesthetics.
The episode put a severe strain on relations between Nigeria and the UK, its former colonial master, for years. OUSTED: President Goodluck Jonathan, left, with his successor, Muhammadu Buhari
UPGRADE: The Beckhams want to install airconditioning in their listed London home take over the second floor of the house.
The couple, said to be worth £210-million, intend to move into the west London home after reportedly selling their 4.8ha Hertfordshire estate, referred to as Beckingham Palace, for £12-million. They also own residences in California, Dubai and the south of France. The Beckhams sub-
“On the one hand, he was respected for bringing discipline into the community’s life,” said Toyin Falola, a historian of Nigeria at the University of Texas.
“People were reporting for work at the right time. That was a remarkable achievement. On the other hand, he was resented for being authoritarian. And he was anti-corruption. One of the reasons people voted for him this time is that, maybe, he will reduce the scale of the corruption.” — NYTimes.com mitted a fresh application for airconditioning in February, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council is expected to make a decision in three weeks.
The house was awarded Grade II listed status in the ’60s — which recognised its historical or architectural interest — before being renovated in 1990 and sold for £3.4million.
It had a full-length swimming pool in the basement which was later filled in and replaced with a family room and gym.
The Beckhams also own a
The plans ‘will affect the historic character of the Victorian houses of the street, my house included’
mews house at the rear of the property and have submitted plans for minor alterations.
Neighbours of the Beckhams this week questioned claims that the revamp would destroy the historic character of the street.
Paula Barros, 40, who works opposite, said: “They seem like a really nice, considerate family. There are no problems, that’s ridiculous.”
A porter at the nearby Libyan embassy added: “Nobody here has complained about the work. What is the problem?”