President Muhammadu Buhari was Military Head of State from 1984-85. His claimed principles including a zero-tolerance for corruption and fierce patriotism in that era partly propelled his return as a two-term elected – not necessarily democratically elected – President. He encapsulates Karl Marx’s assertion that: “History repeats itself; first as a tragedy, then, as farce.
” He was known as a tough and determined general who as the General Officer Commanding the Third Division in Jos, without permission, led troops to clear Chadian troops who had occupied some Nigerian islands in the Lake Chad area. Tragically, as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, he has in the past five years Nigeria, presided over a country under continuous Islamist terrorist attacks and occupation in the North East.
Also, murderous herdsmen attack all political zones in the country, while his government is yielding large parts of the country in states like Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and Niger, to organised bandits with whom serving governors negotiate. As a military leader, Buhari felt a duty to run the country in the interest of the populace with little or no discrimination.
But as President, he is not even contrite in announcing that he is a sectional leader who is primarily responsible not to the entire populace, but to those he claimed, voted for him.
