According to the Cable,
reflecting back in 2011, General Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), called for a revolution in Nigeria —
albeit through the ballot box.
Via a statement by Yinka
Odumakin, his spokesman at the time who has now turned to one of his fiercest
critics, Buhari asked Nigerians to make exceptional sacrifices to assert their
collective will in the country.
“The Egyptian pro-democracy
campaigners defied all odds to achieve their set goal of terminating the
30-year old grip on power by Mubarak. Their tenacity has again confirmed the
truism that no force on earth can stop a people determined,” he said.
This was not the first time
the president called for mass action — he did the same in 2003, after losing
the presidential election to incumbent Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP).
In June 2003, supporters of
the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and Buhari, began a mass protest against
the outcome of the April 19, 2003 presidential election in Abuja.
The protesters were
reported to have massed at the Court of Appeal, venue of the Presidential
Election Petition Tribunal to witness the proceeding.
They would later spill over
to the streets where they chanted anti-government slogans against the Olusegun
Obasanjo government.
A REPEAT IN 2011?
In the same statement
calling for a revolution in 2011, Buhari commended the Egyptian military for
refusing to attack “the forces of change”.
“The military in Egypt
showed exemplary conduct with the way they refused to be used to attack the
forces of change,” Buhari was quoted to have said.
“They showed the whole
world that there is a clear difference between the state and those who
temporarily occupy political offices for a fixed tenure. This is a lesson for
our security agents who have been used to subvert the will of the people at
elections in recent past.
“The time has come for our
own security forces to demonstrate similar valour by putting national interest above
that of individuals when there is a clash between the two.
“Unlike the Egyptians who
went through self-denial for 18 unbroken days to achieve their aspiration for
leadership change, Nigerians just have to take their voter cards, vote on each
election day and ensure that their votes count and are properly counted.
“It is time to demonstrate
people’s power to free our country from those who have held it hostage for the
last 12 years and are threatening to keep it so for 60 years.”
BUHARI COMMENDS EGYPT’S
REVOLUTIONARIES
The CPC flag bearer
commended the revolutionaries in Egypt, asking Nigerians to emulate them and
support themselves regardless of religious divides.
“More importantly Nigerians
have to learn from the way faiths integrated to achieve national aspiration.
Christians formed rings round Muslims as they observed their Jumat prayers
during the demonstrations,” Buhari said.
“For us as a people, we
need to also move from balance of hate to balance of faith as the Egyptians
practically demonstrated on the field of battle for change.
“Rather than allow
ourselves to be divided by our faiths, we must emphasise what binds us together
and areas where the shoe pinches us collectively as people with common
humanity. With all sense of modesty, this is part of what the Buhari-Bakare
candidacy represents.”
LOVE EGYPTIANS
REVOLUTIONARIES, ARREST NIGERIA’S?
Buhari, who would later win
the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections, has formed a government, which has
remained hostile to revolutionaries and civil disobedience — regardless of
tribe and religious inclinations.
Omoyele Sowore, the
convener of #RevolutionNow, was arrested by the Department of State
Services(DSS) for planning civil disobedience — once commended by Buhari.
The police have described
the planned civil disobedience as treason and terrorism. In Buhari’s defence,
his supporters claim Buhari only asked Nigerians to “draw the right lessons
from the 18-day revolution which saw Hosni Mubarak quitting office after 30 years;
and do the needful to effect a regime change in Nigeria at the April polls”.
Since winning elections in
2015, Buhari has asked Nigerians to stop addressing him as a general but simply
as president — with his handlers stating he has become a reformed democrat.
Source
Cable NG
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