Letter to Mohammadu Buhari
Dear sir, I hope this letter meets you in decent health. May Allah continue to give you astuteness and long life so that you will witness the Nigeria of your dream. Sir, I have been following your Presidential campaign across the country for a couple of weeks now. I am sorry to say that you have created a “must win” impression. From your speeches, actions and inactions, the message you have been sending to your supporters is that once you don’t win, then the Presidential election must have been rigged; that the Presidential election would only be deemed free and fair if you win. This is a very dangerous trend. Sir, you know quite alright that majority of your supporters in your stronghold of North-west and parts of North-east are mainly peasants; most of them illiterates and semi-literates. These are people that can be easily swayed into violence. Way back, you were quoted to have said at a campaign rally in Niger that your supporters should defend their votes and anybody that tries to stop them should be killed. You simply told them to go on a rampage if you don’t win. Of course, your famous threat that the dog and the baboon would be soaked in blood if election were rigged is still fresh in our memories. My dear General, when some of your party members paid you a courtesy call in Kaduna on May 16, 2012, you declared: “God willing, by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way. If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.” Haba, my General, this should not be coming from a true patriot.
You must remember that the Lemu panel on the 2011 post-election violence clearly stated that provocative utterances by many individuals and the widespread charge by prominent politicians (including you) to the electorate to guard their votes appeared to have been misconstrued by many voters to include recourse to violence, which they did. You are doing precisely the same thing again. You must stop telling them to defend their votes. I am surprised that your children and other family members were not part of the misguided people who came out in 2011 to “defend their votes.” So, it is other people’s children that should come out to defend their votes while you keep yours in the comfort of your home?
My dear General, you have failed to let your fanatical supporters know that politics is a game and you may win or lose; that voting for you massively in the North-west and parts of North-east would not automatically translate to victory for you in the Presidential election. You have deliberately refused to face the reality that just as it was in 2011, voters in South-east and South-south would most likely vote massively for Goodluck Jonathan again; that the middle Belt states, apart from Niger and Kwara, would most likely vote massively for Jonathan again; that Taraba and Adamawa states remain PDP/Jonathan strongholds. You have created the impression that your allies in the South-west would deliver the entire region to you. You failed to let them know that it would be practically impossible for you to make an impression in Ekiti and Ondo states, two strongholds of the PDP; that Lagos and Oyo states could go either way.
The minds of your fanatical supporters in the core north are glued with the impression that you must win. Sir, this your “I must win attitude” could set the North-west and parts of the North-east on fire again if you lose. Post-election violence is not necessarily because of electoral unfairness. Unfortunately, this is the impression you have been giving to your supporters. Unrealistic expectations by candidates and their followers often lead to post-election violence. Pre-election threats like the ones coming from you of recent, could also lead to post-election violence. As a patriot, you must start taking steps to reverse this impending violence. You must let your supporters realize that Allah gives power to whoever he wishes; that your reservations about the outcome of the March 28 election would be taken to the appropriate tribunal. You and your party chieftains must stop inciting your fanatical supporters to “defend their votes.” If you truly love this great country, you must ensure that there is no repeat of the 2011 post-election violence. Only you, I repeat, only you can stop this from happening. Not even the blood of a single Nigerian should be sacrificed for your ambition. Violence has no place in a democracy. You must put aside the toga of a man desperate to become the President of this country. You don’t have to be President to contribute to the development of this country. May the will of Allah be done on March 28.