President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Day broadcast elicited strong reactions from across the country, with Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), lawyer Mike Ozekhome (SAN), former Edo State governor Adams Oshiomhole, 2014 National Conference discussant Dr Junaid Mohammed, amongst others, giving their opinion on the polarising speech.
President Buhari while addressing the nation on October 1, 2017, warned against the sustenance of ethnic agitations, Buhari had, in the broadcast, said: “As a young army officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic Civil War costing about 2million lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering. Those who are agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through,” he said.
Chiding leaders of the region involved, the president said: “I am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there the consequences of such folly.”
Buhari’s Govt Always Has Excuses — Ohanaeze
Responding to the broadcast, the apex Igbo cultural organisation, Ohanaeze, through its national publicity secretary, Prince Uche Achi Okpaga, who described Buhari’s policies as “sentimental, lop-sided and sectional,” advised the APC-led Federal Government to always take responsibility for the current situation in the country.
“The issue is that the Buhari administration has always found one excuse or the other for the challenges facing the country. They have never taken responsibility before (because) they were not prepared to rule Nigeria. “Hate speech started from Buhari and he has continued to implement policies against the existence of Ndigbo. The agitations did not come from oblivion; it is part of his policies which I describe as sentimental and lop-sided. These policies had over time fuelled agitations and, so, he should not blame Igbo leaders but his administration.”
We Blame Agitation On His Administration, Not Igbo leaders – ECA
The Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA), in a statement, said it was a regret that the President, helped by his kitchen cabinet, had continued to see Nigeria on an ethnic prism. ECA Secretary, Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, while reacting to the speech said: “Mr. President has finally confirmed to all and sundry that he is light years behind global trends and far away from the political reality of the Nigerian situation. This is exactly what happens when a leader surrounds himself only with his kinsmen. They erroneously mistake their sectional worldview the national interest.
“Gen Buhari has clearly misread the resolve of the younger generation to change their lot in Nigeria through any means necessary. “His kitchen cabinet is obviously living in an ancient world where the fear of the inevitable restructuring forced them to take solace inside the cocoon of an outdated, unrealistic northern daydream of forcing Nigerians to head to a National Assembly which was created by a discredited military constitution.
“The obstinacy of those scared of the inevitable new people’s Constitution, regional autonomy, and true fiscal federalism gave birth to the agitation for secession; this same obstinacy will ultimately destroy Nigeria. “As the agitation rebounds and resurges, time will unveil the price we all will pay for delaying the return of Nigeria back to regional format.”
Buhari Trying to Push S’East out of Nigeria — Ezeife
Former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife on his part said President Buhari was trying to push the region out of the Nigerian State.
“Buhari is the engineer of the problems. He is trying to push the South-East out of Nigeria by marginalising, dehumanising and humiliating them,” he said, adding that the development led to the agitations by the youths that has now morphed into a national concern.
“The young ones couldn’t understand what he was up to and so they reacted as young people. We didn’t have these problems under President Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua or Goodluck Jonathan but, immediately Buhari took the oath of office and swore to protect the Constitution, he reneged on such things as the federal character. He told us he belongs to everybody and to nobody but we have seen that he belongs to Katsina,” he added.
Buhari’s Hatred For Igbos Manifested – Ozekhome
Rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, flayed the speech as “not good enough.” Describing the speech as “disappointing,” Ozekhome noted that President Buhari left the real issues for trivialities, wondering why the Commander-in-Chief failed to say a word on the threats issued against the Igbo by the Arewa Youths.
According to him, the President’s perceived hatred for the Igbo, again, manifested in his national broadcast, saying his description of the nation under his stewardship is “far from reality.”
“The speech was bereft of nobility of statesmanship, and devoid of a calm grasp and appraisals of the dire straits Nigeria is currently in.
“The broadcast was rabidly narcissist, parochial, nepotic and clannish, as it failed to see anything wrong with the blatant and well reported threats by the Arewa youths to quit fellow Nigerians from their domains.
“The speech followed his now well worn out fixation of perceived hatred for the Igbo race, whose leadership he needlessly scurilized and lampooned, for allegedly being behind IPOB and other agitations.
“I doubt and didn’t hear him mention anything about gun wielding herdsmen that literally vanquish citizens in their own homesteads across Nigeria.
“The President celebrated mediocrity and edified his government’s non-performance two and half years down the line.
“I genuinely wondered if he was discussing the same country, Nigeria, that I am in, or another utopian planet Mars.
“The beautiful picture of a peaceful country he painted so glowingly and artistically with the paintbrush of breathless satisfaction is quite different from the stark reality on the ground, which every beleaguered Nigerian labours under.
“His speech writers either wallowed in utopian mystic of redemptive messianism, or in crass fraud and grand deception.
“But, Nigerians are no fools. Did I hear PMB say this is the first time a government at the Centre is losing the governorship, senatorial and Houses of Assembly’s elections to the opposite at the state level?
“No sir, wrong. Whoever gave Mr. President this false electoral history has done him incalculable disservice and great damage and ridicule’.
“Few examples: Remember Ondo state (Labour Party), Osun and Edo states (AC), Anambra (APGA), etc?
“Not only did the ruling PDP lose the elections to those opposition parties, the then President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan actually rolled out the drums and congratulated the new governors, Senators and House member.
“Peter Obi won the Anambra state governorship election in 2010 for the second time on the platform of APGA.
“Obasanjo was President at the Centre under the PDP, just as Bola Tinubu won the Lagos state governorship seat twice under AD and ACN, with Obasanjo as president under PDP at the Centre.
“Buhari lost yet another golden opportunity to balm bruised nationalities’ ego and cement Nigeria’s yawning cleavages, hate and divisiveness.
“Must everything be predicated on falsehood, force, threats and gun boat diplomacy, viet armis?
“It didn’t ever work. When he applied such excessive force and threats to the Niger Delta militants, I counseled then it would not work.
“The marginalised youth picked up the gauntlet, serially blew up oil pipelines, tore up Nigeria’s oil jugular into smithereens.”
Nothing interesting from Buhari – Junaid Mohammed
In his reaction, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said the speech lacked substance, adding that there was nothing interesting about it. He said: “I feel very sad that Nigerians have found themselves in this quagmire and it is very unfortunate. Unfortunately, he surrounded himself with family members who have no experience about government. So what do you expect from such government? “I strongly believe Buhari cannot take this country to the Promised Land and, for him to be telling us his experience as a junior officer in the military when the country needs urgent attention is unbecoming of a leader.”
Speech Is Opportunity To Bring Nigeria Back On Track – Afenifere
For the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, the President has the opportunity to bring Nigeria back on track by restructuring the country.
Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said: “The only way Nigeria will not disintegrate under him (Buhari) is for him to begin to lead the conversations around the need to restore Nigeria to better federalism as promised in the APC manifesto.
“He still has the opportunity to bring Nigeria back on track. The call for restructuring is the call for a better Nigeria, the call for restructuring is to avoid a breakup.”
Buhari’s Thumbed Up By ACF
The ACF, however, welcomed the President’s speech as soothing, saying it was the way to go. The ACF in an email reaction sent to Vanguard through its Publicity Secretary, Muhammadu Ibrahim Biu, said the speech was “a score card of the Buhari administration on securing, economy and corruption which was the hallmark of his campaign promises. “ACF advocates peaceful and meaningful dialogue on all issues of national importance and the use of our democratic institutions to achieve better results. Agitations that come with threats and intimidation have no place in our present democratic dispensation. ACF would, therefore, support any restructuring that comes with clarity of purpose and is just, fair and equitable to all sections of the country,” he said.
Buhari Deserves Applause – Oshiomhole
Former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, while also praising the President’s speech said: “I think the President’s speech made it clear about what is being expected and the progress made so far. The president has emphasized that the unity of this nation is non-negotiable and that is the stand of most of us. That is sending a message to all those who are plotting one evil or the other against this nation. The President also emphasized plans to create more employment for our youths to check restiveness. So I see hope because if you look at where we are coming from you will know that we are on the right track with President Buhari as President. He deserves applause for this,” he said.
That Speech Lacks Substance – PDP
The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech on Nigeria’s 57th Independence anniversary as empty and lacking in substance.
In a statement issued by the spokesman of the party, Dayo Adeyeye, the party said: “Like every other right thinking Nigerians, the PDP, watched with utter shock and disbelief, the address made by President Buhari to the country’s on the occasion of Nigeria’s 57th Independence anniversary.”
The party said though it never expected anything fantastic from the president but the level of emptiness portrayed in the statement was too grave to be ignored.
He said any attempt to hoodwink Nigerians again would not succeed this time around; as the speech, tailored towards deceiving the populace who are already in the worst form of livelihood brought upon them by the ruderless Government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) could not do the magic they hoped for.
“We feel ashamed on behalf of the APC government which promised much but almost three years into its tenure, has no meaningful development to show to the people except mere continuous deceit, blame game and display of lack of vision in actualisation of its bogus campaign promises for good governance.
“We hope and pray along with all Nigerians that this nightmare will quickly be over to give way to a new dawn of PDP administration,” the party said.
