Elder statesman and leader of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has said the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to protect Nigerians from massive poverty and security challenges in the country.
He warned that any attempt by the President to seek a second term next year might instigate a radical constitutional or proletarian revolution that would sweep away mediocrity in government and install credible leadership in the country.
Musa, a former governor of Kaduna State, while reacting to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s memo to Buhari over the state of the nation, advising him not to seek re-election next year, accused Obasanjo of complicity in the nation’s woes today by supporting Buhari’s electoral victory in 2015.
He said Obasanjo was part of those that encouraged the victory of Buhari to run an administration that has now plunged the nation’s economy into disarray through poor governance, pointing out that the only hope left to Nigerians now is to use the National Assembly, as the institutional organ that can retrace the nation’s present gloomy condition, by instituting radical laws to check the executive and the Presidency from misrule.
Musa queried: “In the first place, is Obasanjo deceiving us? This is because Obasanjo is one of those who supported Buhari for the presidency as a civilian candidate. Didn’t he know Buhari more than we know him, as they were in the Army together and were doing everything together? In 2015, Obasanjo knew Buhari more than we civilians ever knew him, and he recommended him for the presidency.”
“Now, he can regret ever recommended Buhari for certain reasons. Did he express such regret in his letter? Why does he want us to believe him if he is not suitable for 2019? We already know that Buhari’s government is a failure. Let us make our own decision. The situation in Nigeria today is terrible. Is this a government?” he queried.
Musa argued further: “The state of the nation is negative and it has been so since the Army took over since 1966. For some years after Army take over, we have seen traces of improvement, particularly in the case of national unity. But after four years of military rule, we saw the negative state of Nigeria growing even more.
“Now, the state of the nation in many respects has gone so bad. What we expect would happen would inevitably happen. There will be a constitutional or proletarian revolution in Nigeria with the present situation. Whether we like it or not, if constitutional revolution will not work, there would be a proletarian revolution, because the state of the nation is so negative and people are suffering so much.
“The economy is in the dark and this government is not capable of providing solution. We must change the philosophy of basing things on self-interest first and public interest second or even secondary. Otherwise, we have to change the social economic and political system controlling all areas of development in the country.
“We can do this effectively by bring in the leading role of the state in the economic development to ensure peace, equality, dignity of the human person and progressive development of the country. You cannot do this by market economy, which has never progressed any country since after the world wars and colonialism.”
Besides, Musa explained that the poor state of the economy and security challenges in the country today, which he said the government has allowed to persist through poor governance, is to say the least appalling.
He insisted: “There must be a political change through constitutional or proletarian revolution.”
He added: “But if a qualitative political change fails, as the change we expected will be a change from the minds of the people, then the next thing will be constitutional revolution. But the change of mind of the people and constitutional change are based on peaceful change.
“But if the two fail, then the people who suffer so much from economic and security challenges may take laws into their hands in a proletarian revolution, as it happened in other countries. The people can checkmate them from using incumbency power or factor in 2019 and bring about a constitutional revolution.
“The constitution and legal system of the country must work to chase away bad government. The people can do this through the National Assembly, which can advance the law into something that can protect the people against bad governance and the present suffering and insecurity.”
He continued: “All governments before Buhari listened to what we were telling them. And when Buhari came, they were shocked, but we will continue to express our minds and if this government does not allow the politicians and the laws to work, thinking that it will only rely on power, then anything can happen.
“The other governments who did the same thing that we are experiencing today regretted their actions through the political change that chased them out.”
On his part, former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, urged Buhari to heed advice of Obasanjo not to seek re-election.
Ezeife said: “It is a good suggestion; Nigerians don’t want to continue to take giant steps backward.”
But Plateau State Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashir Musa Sati, described Obasanjo as a bunch of contradictions, judging from the letter.
Sati, in a chat with journalists in Jos yesterday, said Obasanjo, a serial letter writer, has been constantly inconsistent, pointing out that no regime passes without greeting it with the so-called letter.
Reminded that Obasanjo did not write any letter to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, he quickly reminded journalists that he single-handedly imposed Yar’Adua on Nigerians, adding that writing a letter to him would have amounted to writing a letter to himself, because he installed him.
“In the history of Obasanjo, he is known to be constantly inconsistent. Is there any President that he has not written a letter expressing his disappointment? He forced the late YarAdua on the people. He was the only exception.
“Obasanjo was a military head of state and later civilian President. Let me remind him that there is no country in the world where a former head of state or President will ask a sitting President to go and rest. This is a democracy where every person has the right to aspire to any position. He is not the one to decide when that person should go or to re-contest,” he insisted.
While noting that Obasanjo’s long letter relies so much on hear-say, Sati argued that it is untenable, saying it is not always easy to dismiss the messenger and concentrate on the message. “We can’t throw away the messenger and concentrate on the message alone.
“I have one fear: Obasanjo chided the two parties. APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but the messenger (Obasanjo) was not able to come out with an alternative. People believe it is just a mere figment of his own fertile imagination,” he said.
