Editorial: Pres. Buhari's UN Speech: A Complete Irony Of What He Practice In Nigeria

Buhari at the United Nations General Assembly. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

•As He Urged World Leaders For The Recognition Of A Palestinian State, Whereas He Orders The Torture And Killings Of IPOB/Biafra Agitators Back In Nigeria

By Chukwuemeka Chimerue | For Biafra Writers
September 21, 2017


The insincere and ironic speech presented by Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari at the ongoing 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, has left so much to be desired.

Apart from his usual case-making for assistance in his sectional anti-graft war and the repatriation of looted funds whenever he finds himself outside the shores of Nigeria, he ironically demanded for the restructuring of the United Nations while back home in Nigeria, Buhari and his cabals are opposed to the idea and has shut their ears against those clamouring for the restructuring of the country.

Quoting the President on the need to restructure the UN, he said, “To restructure or not to restructure is no longer the question– the United Nations must be restructured for it to remain relevant for years to come. How to restructure the United Nations should be our priority number one. Several ideas are out there. All that we need is to get them together and agree on what works for the people of the world...”

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In the above-quoted text from Buhari, it can easily be deduced that he is an exemplary embodiment of preaching that which is very difficult for him to do. World leaders cognizance of the political happenings in Nigeria must have scuffed and taken his words with a pinch of salt.

Also included in his presentation at the General Debate, was his advocacy for the World leaders to help in eradicating terrorism particularly the ISIS, also shedding more light on the need for the elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapon. It was noted that Buhari focused more on the worries, headaches, and challenges of other nations of the world who are far more better in standard than Nigeria, neglecting the myriads of challenges and collapse his own country has recorded and is still recording. However, these are not going to be my major point of discussion in this piece.

It was highly noted with disgust, the manner with which Buhari presented himself as a democratic president. His anti-violent speech was deeply ironic and unlike him. He made a case against the brutal violence and human rights abuse of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

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According to him, “The international community cannot remain silent and not condemn the horrendous suffering of Rohingya Muslims.”

While his comments might appeal to Rohingyans, many Nigerians will be wondering why he doesn’t practice similar sentiments with similar events back home.

Still on this, permit me to quickly assert, the words of Nigeria's former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in condemnation of Buhari's insincere UN speech against human rights abuses which he has constantly violated in Nigeria.

Kayode said, “You condemn the killing of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar yet you slaughter Igbo Christians and Shiite Muslims in Nigeria and you turn a blind eye as your Salafist Fulani kinsmen and herdsmen butcher northern and southern Christians.

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Back in December 2015, months after his assumption of office, a skirmish between Nigeria’s military and the members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN; a Shiite Muslim group precisely in Kaduna State, saw “more than 350 people,” including women and children, unlawfully killed according to Amnesty International, the human rights group.

Borrowing from Amnesty, the military tried to “destroy and conceal evidence” of the killings. Nearly two years after the brutal and reckless massacre of the Shiite Muslims and despite a court order for his release, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, the leader of the Shiite group, is still being detained by the government.

Again, speaking about the Biafra agitation in the country, which Buhari has handled in a most callous and cruel manner, using the military forces to arbitrary clampdown on civilians of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, who is going about their agitation for an independent state, in a most peaceful and internationally recognized manner as enshrined in the provisions of the United Nations Charter for the Declaration of Rights of the Indigenous Peoples(UNDRIP).

Buhari's military might, the brutal show of force and high-handedness in dealing with proponents of the Biafra agitation, has left many dead, injured and their human rights been abused and trampled upon by his Forces.

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Recently, the Nigerian military forces who were deployed to the Southeast to carry out an operation codenamed "Operation Python Dance", instead of fighting crimes and advocating for peace and normalcy in the already tensed atmosphere they have created, culminated into many wanton and extra-judicial killings of the people of IPOB, including invading the house and firing lethal bullets at the private residence of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

The world's recognized human rights body, Amnesty International had on various occasions, indicted the Nigerian army of high-handedness and excessive use of force and brutal intimidation on peaceful and unarmed IPOB/Biafra agitators in the country and is currently investigating the extrajudicial killings orchestrated by the Army in recent times.

However, adding to that, it also came as a puzzle to many observers when Buhari continued to advocate for the independence of the Palestinians at the UNGA while he has murdered and subdued those demanding the same rights in his backyard.

In his speech he conspicuously noted; “We at the United Nations need to do more to bring about a more equitable world where a large group of people does not feel suppressed, undervalued and I alienated. Last year, I talked about the need for Palestinians to have their own separate State. Progress has not been made on that matter in the past one year. It is one of those problems that we must not pass to another generation.

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“Any glaring unfairness, like the Palestinian case, diminishes our moral authority to preach and lecture the world on other cases...”

Is this not the height of hypocrisy on the side of Nigeria's government that out there in the world, advocates for the recognition of another set of people in a far away country, to become an independent State while they have maintained deafening silence on similar demands of Biafrans in Nigeria, instead, they are being mowed down and compelled to remain in the same country with them.

It is said that charity begins at home but the scenario in Nigeria shows us a typical example where its leaders say one thing and does another. That is the rate of unseriousness and insincerity one is faced with in the leadership of Nigeria.

Perhaps, being a fanatical Muslim faithful has compelled the likes of Buhari to advocate for the human rights of Rohingya Muslims and that of the independence of Palestinian Muslims while neglecting similar yearnings of Christians in Nigeria whom he considers as infidels and less humans whose rights to freedom must be subdued and alienated.

Again, borrowing from Kayode on this, he puts it more succinctly that, “You(Buhari) declared support for the establishment of a Palestinian state yet you reject the idea of Biafra. You condemn N. Korea's  dictatorship yet you have proved to be the most ruthless dictator that Nigeria has ever known.

“Your speech at the United Nations was pitiful, shameless and uninspiring. It was a cocktail of contradictions, deceit and mendacities.”

The same President Buhari who has declared the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, a terrorist organization through his state-controlled army and his rubber stamp Southeast governors for simply demanding for a referendum as a means of resolving the national issue, is still the hypocritical character demanding for a Palestinian State at the UN General Assembly. Now tell me on which locus standi or moral authority was Buhari advocating for the independence of Palestine?

Added to the above, in the peak of Biafra agitation in the country's Eastern region, Buhari's Information Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, cautioned the international community to stop interfering in “Nigeria's internal affairs”, which they have no genuine means of handling, while on the other hand, Buhari is begging the World leaders of distinct nations to wade into the issue in Rohingya and Palestinian. Of what justification can one find in this arbitration?

Going further in his speech, Buhari also called on the UN to be mindful of “widening inequalities within societies” which may cause “frustration and anger leading to spiraling instability.” But the over two million displaced persons in Nigeria’s northeast will likely be puzzled by the president’s sentiments given that inequality, frustration, and anger are their daily realities.

Since being devastated by the long-running Boko Haram insurgency, displaced persons in the northeast have been forced to live in congested camps where hunger and disease are rife. Nearly half a million children in the region are severely malnourished, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council. Most of the internally displaced people’s camps are underfunded by the government and officials have been accused of diverting and selling donated relief materials at local markets for personal gain.

And on democracy and development, Buhari was quoted as saying that, “Our faith in democracy remains firm and unshaken. Our regional organization, ECOWAS, came together to uphold democratic principles in The Gambia, as we have them three years later in Cote d'Ivoire... In all efforts to bring about global peace, security, and development. Nigeria will continue to support the UN in all its efforts including the attainment of the 2030 agenda for sustainable goal development.”

Reacting to the above, following Buhari's despotic leadership in Nigeria where he uses the country's security apparatus to clamp down on agitators, oppositions and dissenting voices, instead of finding amicable long-term solutions through dialogue, is it not rather laughable and ridiculous that he lied to the world about consolidating on democracy in Nigeria? He has bastardized the democratic process which brought him to power. He singlehandedly eroded and jeopardized the independence and sanctity of the judiciary by brazenly refusing to obey unfavorable court orders and has executed some certain critical national projects without prior consultation with the National Assembly(legislatures).

Talking about the sustainability of the global developmental goals, in the global environment, there are expectations that qualify any serious nation. As I write, the United Nations has a sustainable development goal, with 17 goals. The question is, which of these goals have Nigeria as a serious country driven to a logical conclusion? Which of these goals has she driven to a point of saying that she scored at least 75 percent or 20 percent or 30? And she hopes that by the year 2030 when the whole processes will be evaluated, Nigerians can stand up and say "Yes, we are doing well."

I observed with keen interest, the words from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reeling out the developments and sustainable goals Israel has recorded so far, but unfortunately, President Buhari of Nigeria, couldn't boast of any. Instead, he was so enamored and overwhelmed with the problems of other countries of other continents. What a shame!

To say the least, Muhammadu Buhari as the President of Nigeria is a disaster and a lethal virus that has eaten deep into the fabric of the country that if nothing is done by the United Nations to salvage the situation, Nigeria will go up in flames which we have started seeing already.

We urge World leaders to pro-actively step into the terrible scenario of the Biafra agitation in Nigeria, as a distinct ethnic group is mapped out for annihilation by the Nigerian government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, with the view of granting and conducting a peaceful referendum to the people of Biafra, so as to determine their political future in Nigeria.

The Biafra Times 
Publisher: Charles Opanwa
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