Nnamdi Kanu’s cause is just, Col. Umar says in rebuke of Buhari

Retired military head of Kaduna state Abubakar Dangiwa Umar has characterised the outgone Buhari administration as Nigeria’s most corrupt, while defending the separatist effort of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

In an interview with the Sun Newspaper, the fiery ex-military officer said the former president elevated “personal interest above national interest.”

“President Buhari had the opportunity to declare his assets publicly before and after his Presidency as he promised to do while campaigning for the office. He failed to do so. His assets declaration to the Katsina farmers is meaningless and doesn’t meet the legal requirements and expectations of the general public. It also does not matter if he left the Presidency poorer. Truth is that he presided over the most corrupt administration in the history of this country,” he said.

Mr Umar spoke of “moral corruption” of the former president in allowing government ministers to disproportionately allocate several federal projects to his home town of Daura in Katsina state.

“Consider, for example, the siting of over 20 major Federal Government’s projects in the President’s hometown, Daura. Senior members, including ministers and military Service Chiefs, engaged in very embarrassing and unethical acts to appease and ingratiate themselves to the president by gifting him projects from their ministries, departments, agencies and services. These were accepted with gratitude. It was the height of ethical and moral corruption that the president accepted a gift of an Air Force Reference Hospital from his Chief of Air Staff when Daura does not even have a landing strip,” he said.

“The rail line from Kano to Maradi was only approved because it passes through Daura and not for any socio-economic value. It ranks lowest in the nation’s infrastructural priorities. Less so that it is being financed with a $1.9 billion Chinese loan. This project must be discontinued. Work so far done should remain a monument of corruption. The two federal roads leading to Daura from Kano and Katsina are being dualised, while all roads leading to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, are yet to be completed.

“The Lagos-Ibadan expressway connecting the North with the two South Western ports is still under construction. Construction of the East-West Coastal highway has been abandoned. The second Niger Bridge remains uncompleted even though it was commissioned by the Buhari administration. General Buhari’s decision to relocate to Daura from Kaduna must be on account of Daura being more urbanised and secured than Kaduna.”

Insecurity and IPOB

Mr Umar said the former president failed to take adequate action against insecurity under his watch. On the escalation  of the separatist push by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), he blamed the government’s mishandling of the group’s protest.

“Separatist movements; these have existed since amalgamation in 1914, but grew during the struggle for independence and soon after. Sections or regions which felt aggrieved or marginalised by unfavourable Federal Government’s policies sought relief through different means, which include threat to exit the federation.

“The Biafran secession which led to the 30 months civil war was the most successful attempt at separation. Since then, separatist threats had been peacefully handled and discouraged. The current Biafran movement as represented by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was given traction by President Buhari’s discriminatory and exclusionary policies against the Igbo, hence the Igbo voting decision by which they gave General Buhari five per cent of their votes and, therefore, undeserving of key appointments in his government.

“No person of Igbo extraction was found worthy of appointment as head of any of the security services in all of President Buhari’s eight-year tenure. We must view the Nnamdi Kanu-led IPOB separatist struggle in this context. The young man is fighting a just cause. God forbid that we succeed in creating a nation in which citizens, particularly the youths, remain passive in the face of injustice. The Federal Government must obey court’s decision and release Nnamdi Kanu. IPOB must pursue its objective peacefully. The current violent struggle is disruptive and injurious to the nation and more so to its kinsmen.”