PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI ON THE CLIFF OF UNWANTED HISTORY
On May 29, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, was sworn in as
the 15th Head of State and the 5th elected civilian President in the
history of Nigeria along with his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, GCON.
It was a landmark victory for their party, the
All Progressives Congress (APC), as it was the first time in the
nation’s electoral history that an opposition party (APC) would topple a
ruling party (the People’s Democratic Party [PDP]) through the ballots
The last time an opposition party was toppled, it was through the
bullets (and not ballots) of some dissident soldiers in the Nigerian
Army on the morning of Saturday, January 15, 1966. The then ruling
party, the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), lost many of her political
leaders during that military putsch.
But the main focus of this article is the “unwarranted” history
against Buhari and every Nigerian Head of State with an Ogun State
indigene as his number two.
President Buhari hails from Daura, Katsina State, in the
North-Western geo-political zone of the country while his deputy, Vice
President Osinbajo hails from Ikenne, Ogun State, in the South-Western
geo-political zone of the country. Interestingly, every occupant, as at
today, of the first (President/Head of State) and second (Vice
President/Deputy Head of State) high offices in the nation that hails
from the South-West is from Ogun State.
The
first South-Westerner to attain that high office was Brig. Babafemi
Ogundipe (1924-1971). When Maj. Gen. J.T.U Aguiyi Ironsi (1924-1966)
assumed power as the first military Head of State in January 1966,
Ogundipe was chosen to be his deputy by the Supreme Military Council.
Ogundipe who hailed from Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, joined the Royal West
African Frontier Force in 1941, served in Burma between 1942 and 1945
during World War II. He re-enlisted after the war and rose to the rank
of Brigadier in May 1964. He was only 194 days in
office as the
de facto Vice President of Nigeria, when his boss, Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed in the
counter-coup of July 29, 1966 by northern soldiers at Lalupon, about ten kilometres from Ibadan in present day, Oyo State.
The second is Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd.), born in 1938, two-time
leader of Nigeria (1976-1979; 1999-2007), who became the country’s first
civilian president since 1983 when he took office for the second time
as an elected President in 1999.
Obasanjo hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State. Unable to afford a
university education, he joined the Nigerian military in 1958 and
received training in the United Kingdom and India. In 1967, Nigeria was
embroiled in a civil war as the Igbo, one of Nigeria’s three main ethnic
groups along with the Yoruba and the Hausa-Fulani, attempted to secede
and form the Republic of Biafra. Obasanjo was lauded for leading an
attack on Biafran forces that principally ended the war.
After the war, and a successful bloodless coup, which toppled then
Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd.) (b. 1934), Obasanjo served as
deputy to Brigadier Murtala Ramat Muhammed (1938-1976) as Nigeria’s
military leader. Obasanjo was only 200 days in office when Murtala
Muhammed was assassinated in an
abortive coup on February 13, 1976.
The third is Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya (rtd.), born in 1944 at Odogbolu,
Ogun State. He was appointed Military Governor of Ogun State from
January 1984 to August 1985. Diya was Commandant, National War College
(1991-1993) and then was appointed as Chief of Defence Staff. He was
appointed Chief of General Staff in 1993 and Vice Chairman of the
Provisional Ruling Council in 1994. As the Chief of General Staff, he
was the de facto Vice President of Nigeria to Gen. Sani Abacha
(1943-1998) until 1997 when he was arrested for treason. Nevertheless,
his office was still vacant when his boss, Abacha died of a heart attack
in June 1998.
The fourth and current occupier of this position is Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo (b. 1957), who as I have written at the beginning of this
article, also hails from Ogun State.
Among all, only Obasanjo rose to the first office from the second
office. Ogundipe “ran away” to London after the death of Aguiyi-Ironsi
while Diya who was arrested for treason was in detention at the
time of Abacha’s death and therefore could not have succeeded him as Head of State.
Another South-Westerner who rose to the first office in the land is
Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (b. 1936). Like Obasanjo, he
hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State. He is a British-trained Nigerian
lawyer, industrialist, politician and traditional chieftain. He was
appointed as interim president of Nigeria by General Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida on 26 August 1993.
His administration only lasted for three
months. Shonekan was not a Vice President but was selected by Babangida
to lead the nation as an interim leader.
In summary, it is frightening to note that every Nigerian leader with
an Ogun State indigene as his deputy, whether removed or sustained,
died in office. Now, we have an Ogun State indigene as the number two
man to President Buhari.
Though, this history happened during the military era, I hope it won’t happen in this civilian age.
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