By Bayo Oluwasanmi
As the eight-year tumultuous regime of General Muhammadu Buhari winds down, he will be remembered as a living legend of cruelty. Once a dictator, Buhari remains a dictator. As a democratically elected President, Buhari follows the script of world-famous tyrants. For the Butcher of Aso Rock to stay in power and maintain his grip on Nigerians, he must be brutal. The more brutal, the more effective.
For the first time, the tyrant openly confessed that he inflicted pain, injury, and suffering on Nigerians. At the 9th and final Sallah homage last Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Buhari said, “So, please whoever feels I have done wrong to, we are all humans. There is no doubt I hurt some people and I wish you will pardon me. And those that think that I have hurt them so much, please pardon me.”
Buhari’s phoney apology is too little too late. No Nigerian believes he’s genuinely sorry. Let him prove that he’s truly sorry by releasing all political detainees TODAY! God will not forgive Buhari because to whom much is given, much is expected. God gave him the rare opportunity to have served in various capacities: as governor, minister, military head of state, and civilian president. God expects Buhari to use the powers of his office to make Nigeria a peaceful, progressive, and prosperous country. And most importantly, to improve the welfare and well-being of Nigerians. Instead, all he met he destroyed. All he inherited he squandered. He killed all life. All harvest he plundered.
He multiplied and magnified the miseries of the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, the sick, and the helpless. He turned Nigeria into a wasteland and a killing field. Buhari destroyed Nigeria like no other leader in our history. He pulverized Nigerians by terrorizing and oppressing them. Buhari enjoys pleasures that caused Nigerians tears. Are Nigerians better off today than when Buhari took over eight years ago? Hell, NO! He’s leaving Nigeria worse than he met it.
Nazi Germany had its Gestapo or Geheime Staatspolize – The Secret State Police. The Shah of Iran depended on Savak, the country’s domestic security and intelligence service. Romania’s dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, had his dreaded Securitate, Department of State Security. Buhari relied on SSS, State Security Service, to hunt down critics and freedom fighters. Today, 39 years after, Buhari as a military dictator in 1984 remains a brutal despot. Buhari by action and pronouncements, literally deleted from the Constitution the rule of law, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom to protest. He unleashed assaults on the judiciary. He disobeyed court orders. He arbitrarily detained citizens for criticizing and protesting against his evil regime. He gave cover and comfort for his kinsmen Fulani herdsmen terrorists, who killed, raped, and maimed Yoruba farmers and other farmers in non-Fulani states.
Buhari as an uneducated soldier was schooled in brutality, barbarity, wickedness, and callousness. With his signature gap-tooth sick smile, Buhari is the most wicked and dangerous tyrant that ever ruled Nigeria. As a tyrant, Buhari build walls instead of bridges. He divides Nigerians by employing militaristic “divide and conquer” tactics. As a nepotist, he displayed hatefulness and abusiveness to non-Fulani ethnic groups. Buhari’s enduring legacy as a leader: rampant human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. Nigerians can’t wait for the departure of the Butcher of Aso Rock.
•Oluwasanmi, a United States of America, USA-based political cum public affairs analyst can be reached via: bjoluwasanmi@gmail.com
