When Bob Marley and the Wailers started creating evergreen hits decades ago, they never knew Nigerians who dare to criticize Muhammadu Buhari will be tagged as Wailers. Last week the Sultan of Sokoto commendably joined the ranks of Nigerians who have been wailing without any response or solution from Buhari. Some bold Nigerian comedians like I Go Die have joked about the president’s need for a hearing aid. Others like Reno Omokri have tagged themselves as Buhari tormentors by wailing weekly continually about Buhari’s inability to govern. And about the worsening situation in Nigeria. But to have the present head of the religious and traditional institution in Northern Nigeria speak openly about the gory state of insecurity in northern Nigeria with regards to the actions of bandits, is unprecedented especially with a kinsman as the president. For this, I commend the Sultan. When the like of Femi Adesina and Lai (The Lying) Mohammed would make us believe that all is well with us, the Sultan has spoken and none of the attack dogs of this administration is dogged enough to bark. They cannot bark because they cannot be more Catholic than the Pope. The Sultan – Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, who is the 20th Sultan is not just a traditional ruler, he is the head of millions of Muslims in Nigeria. He is also the grand patron of Miyetti Allah (Fulani herdsmen) and the head of the Fulanis in Nigeria.

Being the grand patron of Miyetti Allah, the Sultan can be accused of complacency and complexity in the provocations orchestrated by the group he patrons. He can also be accused of speaking too late because all that is presently happening has been happening during the first few years of the Buhari administration. His silence against the backdrop of divisive utterances by Miyetti Allah has been a cause for concern. Being a retired Army Colonel, his silence about the unprofessionalism of the Nigerian Army and the continued retention of the incompetent service chiefs is also another reason the Sultan’s recent remarks about the operations of bandits, can be said to be late and inadequate. The killing of more than 100 Zabarmari farmers by Boko Haram ordinarily should provoke the greatest of outrage, even greater than #ENDSARS, but nothing has happened. Nigerians generally and northerners especially have often suffered under the cloak of selfish and incompetent dictators whose access to the petroleum resources from southern Nigeria has not left any positive impact on their lives of the masses.

In the past, many Nigerians thought northern Islamic leaders were honest, incorruptible, and had the ability to govern. Unfortunately, the run of Sani Abacha and Muhammadu Buhari has debunked this claim among objective thinkers and observers. On the contrary, Southern leaders like Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan have contributed to the socio-economic development of Nigeria more than virtually all the northern leaders of Nigeria combined even though they are also flawed leaders. The case of Muhammadu Buhari is particularly heartbreaking. The present governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai who is a kinsman of Buhari stated long ago how unintelligent and incompetent Buhari was but changed his narratives when the gang-up against Goodluck Jonathan started. Among other allegations, Jonathan was called a drunk from the Niger Delta who gets himself intoxicated with alcohol from dawn to dusk. Today Nigerians know better because his presidency saw a decrease in the activities of Boko Haram. His administration helped Nigeria to become the biggest economy in Africa. And as well as build Almajiri schools and 6 Federal Universities in the 6 geographical zones of Nigeria. Again, I commend the Sultan, but he must do more than talking about bandits. He must talk about Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, the service chiefs, and restructuring among other pressing issues that are making northern Nigeria increasingly inhabitable.

Ata Ukuta, Editor – www.towncryyers.com