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Pendulum: How Buhari Can Avert This Looming War
By Dele Momodu
Fellow Nigerians, I know some fanatical supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari and his ruling party APC will likely dismiss this intervention as coming from an alarmist or Prophet of doom, but so be it. History has taught me a lot of lessons and so has Literature done as well. Anyone familiar with Literary appreciation would have encountered what is often referred to as “tragic heroes”, an oxymoron of sorts. Many leaders usually end up as tragic figures because of their proclivities for obstinacy and obduracy. They are haters of criticism and truth who see enemies in every critic.
When President Buhari won the election against an incumbent President in 2015, it was a miraculous achievement. The mandate handed to him was overwhelmingly national and there was palpable joy in the land that something new and remarkably progressive was going to happen. Change was the Mantra and Change was what everyone including some of those who did not vote for him believed would happen. Nevertheless, no one expected the President and his team to perform an instant magic. Things had gone from bad to worse under the various PDP administrations that we had somehow chosen to afflict us. It was obvious that the years of decay could not be susceptible to any quick fix. Many of us were already frustrated with the rascality and profligacy of PDP. That was why they were voted out. Despite not expecting immediate solutions from the Buhari government, we expected Buhari to stabilise the polity and the nation, not to make them overheated or worse, but alas.
Four years have passed since that landmark victory and the fifth one is already climbing on top of it. I will not bore you with the events of recent times gone past. The future has arrived and at least, for now, or till the Supreme Court decides, for or against, we are stuck with Buhari, a leader who has turned lethargy, laggardness and sluggishness into a veritable art form. Anyway.
I’m always willing to give everyone another chance because no one is perfect. At President Buhari’s age (he is nearer 80 than 70), no one expects him to change his stoic habits much. Indeed, some of those habits can be for the good of the nation if properly harnessed and channelled. If as they say, old habits die hard, we can at least help the President to hear and see what Nigerians and the rest of the world think of him and why he must have pity on millions of hapless Nigerians by doing the right things.
Walahi, I don’t believe Nigerians are difficult to govern. We are a breed of people who demand precious little from the leaders. Accordingly, the simple things make us happy and satisfied. Most governments have understood this aspect of the Nigerian psyche and exploited it. Labour union strikes have petered and fizzled out, in some cases, even being moribund at inception simply because the government has offered carrots and palliatives to weaken the resolve of the people and bring them to a situation where they are only puppets on a string. The people hardly demand innovation or creativity. In any event, those qualities are seemingly lacking in our present leaders.
It is the lack of creativity, and a bit of flexibility, that is destroying the ruling party APC and by implication the nation. APC was born in anger, deprivation and hostility. The Party is a product of division and strife. Little wonder that it appears to be plunging us towards the abyss that is called war. If APC is not careful the Party will leave a legacy of having been birthed in conflict and having lived forever in warmongering. That’s the biggest tragedy afflicting a party that once held out so much promise and opportunity but frittered it away. Of all the possible political afflictions in the world, the worst is the lack of security, particularly under the reign of a retired Army General, whose biggest qualification for his present job is the rank and status he attained in his previous military existence. It is interesting to observe that on that occasion the country was involved in a war of attrition from which it has not recovered to date. The suspicion, mistrust and distrust that the civil war engendered will take generations to heal. However, we must make great effort to heal those wounds and ensure that the kind of debilitating soul-destroying war that the country fought never repeats itself.
Today, as if we never learnt our lessons, Nigeria is in the throes of the beginning of another monumental conflict that will make the civil war pale into insignificance. Many of the people I know have resigned themselves to fate. They are expecting the worst to happen, any time from now. But I pray against all evil machinations against our dear beloved country. No calamity shall befall us.
Yes, the drums of war are beating loudly. The ill-assortment of hopeless drummers appear rugged and determined to achieve the worst. The rest of us seem helpless, hopeless and hapless. The hawks are flying in their legions, the doves have crumbled and crumpled and have retreated into their nests. Only one man can stop the imminent explosion and that is the father of the nation, President Muhammadu Buhari. No father ever watches his children perish in fire without making every effort to rescue them. President Buhari must wake up from his petulance and act like a true father of all. He must not be peeved or angered by the insults and abuses that have been hurled at him. When he chose to once more be the helmsman of this foundering ship, he committed himself to become a rallying point, a unifying role model. He did not sign up to be the person who would not only superintend and supervise the break-up of the country but be the undertaker for the numerous millions of bloodied bodies that such a ruinous venture will unearth. President Buhari knows more about the recriminations, repercussions and heavy price of war as a veteran combatant himself. Nigeria cannot afford another bloodletting.
I’m surprised that our government can’t feel the pulse of the nation and see how close we are to the precipice. This could have been easily avoided if President Buhari was willing and ready to listen to the voices of reason and wisdom. It is not too late. We are merely at the brink. We have not yet slipped over. We are close to being engulfed in the cauldron of irreversible war. We can halt this push by those who do not mean well for our country, but the President must lead. He must be the example that others will have no choice but to follow. There is no benefit, advantage or profit in fighting wars of egotism, nepotism and jingoism. There are plenty of gains and increases in unity, peace and stability. And this is no rocket science to achieve.
How can this be done? The President should make that conscious effort to see every single Nigerian citizen as his own kinsman. He should stop the seeming discrimination against certain parts of the country. He should stop the preferential treatment of some people above the others. He should not only say that he ‘belongs to no one but belongs to everyone’, he should show that he not only believes in it but that he acts and demonstrates it in everything that he does. This will go a long way to healing the wounds and divisions that presently ravages the land. Indeed, this is the crux of the matter. Too many Nigerians today feel extremely frustrated. They feel, misused, disused and abused. Apart from mass unemployment, they feel like slaves in their own country. They feel unwanted. They feel unloved. And they are undoubtedly unprotected. President Buhari must show them that Nigerians and the nation are safe and secure under his charge, that the warmongers and warlords will never have their way and that he is in charge and not just a mere ceremonial figurehead with bark but no teeth.
Furthermore, President Buhari must restore a sense of pride and belonging to every Nigerian. The narrative and discourse that we are all a bunch of useless, lazy, fraudulent, frivolous and inept people must now stop. Continued persistent use of such diatribe and tirade can only belittle and impugn the Buhari administration itself. Any government that has been in power for four years must have gone to great lengths to fix this perception of its citizens, by both nationals and foreigners alike. That is not the case in Nigeria of today and it is one of the reasons that there seems to be a gulf between our diverse peoples.
It is just unfortunate that we have to find ourselves at this unnecessary juncture. Nigeria has seriously retrogressed in every sense and indices since this government came to power. Before the coming of this government, Nigeria prided itself as the number one and the fastest growing economy in Africa. That is no longer the case today. There were pockets of terrorist attacks by Boko Haram restricted to the North East of Nigeria. There were militant attacks in the Niger Delta but these were being contained by various programmes aimed at quelling the restiveness that had given rise to such militancy. At first, it seems these became degraded when Buhari came to power, but no one can say with any degree of confidence that the war against insurgency or militancy has been won. As a matter of fact, the terrorists have continued to launch ferocious attacks. The militants that appear to have gone underground are beginning to resurface with a vengeance. More worrisome is the new trend of separationist movements who appear to get more emboldened by the day as a result of the rapidly unravelling denouement that is playing out before our very eyes. However, what is worse is another dimension to the imbroglio added by some bandits and brigands labelled Fulani herdsman from God knows where. They are now the bane of our collective existence and unity as a nation. This group crept upon us like thieves in the night. At first their existence was like a silent whisper that children would mouth in the recesses of the dark for fear of being discovered. Soon the rumours took upon a life of their own and now their existence is no longer a rumour but cold fact. Indeed, a legend is building around the destruction that they are leaving in their wake. Nigerians have suddenly woken from their slumber to discover that marauders are taking over their land in the name of grazing cattle and the palpable fear is lending voice and fillip to irridentists and divisionists. It is true that politicians want to take advantage of this sorry state of affairs, but this is only because President Buhari’s preferred solution of molly-cuddling the bad eggs is untenable and cannot work. It can only encourage those who have nothing to do but play politics with serious issues to continue at a game at which they are past masters. If one could not blame Buhari directly for Boko Haram, it is tempting to throw heaps of blame at him for his tacit support and pampering of the herdsmen who are undoubtedly members of his clan.
No one should blame us for this allegation. It is all too obvious that had Buhari treated these miscreants the way he descended heavily on Nnamdi Kanu and others accused of treasonable offences, this herdsman nuisance would have been curbed in its infancy. Sadly, till this day, it has been treated with kid’s gloves. If the government is sincere in its classification of the rampaging herdsmen as rogue elements, then it should do the natural thing and crush them. We have had cattle rearers criss-crossing the length and breadth of this nation literally from time immemorial without any issue or hassle. Those who want to give the innocent cattle breeders a bad name should be promptly identified and dealt with in summary fashion. No amount of pandering to the wishes and demands of devilish and deadly evildoers will ever assuage their bloodthirstiness. Rather it will merely make them more demanding and fearsome.
The interest and unity of our nation is not negotiable and is certainly not subject to the whims and caprices of a small group of hoodlums masquerading in whatever guise. The Government needs to act decisively now, instead of pussy-footing around them. They are a cankerworm, a cancer, that must be excised with military precision and alacrity. President Buhari has no choice in this matter. History will be very unkind to him if he chooses clan over nation. It is not a hard choice to make, but the choice is his and his alone.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of “weaponising hunger” and using food prices as a political tool, alleging that the Federal Government’s claims of improved local food production are false and intended to mislead Nigerians.
According to the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC described the government’s economic narrative as “deceptive,” saying it was designed to create an illusion of progress while millions of Nigerians continue to face worsening hardship.
“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is deeply concerned by the Federal Government’s misleading narrative around the so-called drop in food prices. Contrary to what is being celebrated in official circles, the reality on the ground, as confirmed by the voices of struggling farmers and families across the country, is that the Tinubu government is manipulating food prices and weaponising hunger for political gains,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC claimed that the reported fall in food prices was not a result of improved local production, but rather an artificial outcome of government import waivers that have flooded the market with cheap foreign goods.
“The reported drop in the prices of some food items is artificial, and a result of import waivers that have flooded the market with cheap foreign food. It is neither evidence of sound policy nor proof of increased local production.
“And while that may offer momentary relief in food prices, it has, and will, come at the heavy cost of sabotaging local farmers who can no longer compete due to soaring input costs, especially fertilisers, and worsening insecurity,” Abdullahi stated.
The party further criticised the government’s claim that its agricultural policies were encouraging domestic production, calling the assertion “dishonest” and “out of touch with reality.”
“Additionally, we find it particularly strange and dishonest for the government to claim that its policies are encouraging domestic production at a time when many farmers have been displaced by bandits, and those who remain are barely able to afford the cost of planting. How can production be increasing when the rural economy is under siege by bandits, and the costs of planting are now beyond the reach of the average farmer?” the party queried.
Rejecting government denials that imported food had been released into the market, the ADC described such claims as “false and cynical,” questioning the logic behind hoarding food in the face of national hunger.
“We also take note of the government’s claim that it has not released imported food into the market. If we are to even momentarily entertain this falsehood, it begs an even more damning question: why is the government hoarding food while the people go hungry? What sort of administration stores food in warehouses during a hunger crisis?” the ADC said.
The opposition party warned that any current decline in food prices was “temporary and unsustainable,” insisting that the government was engaging in propaganda rather than genuine economic reform.
“This is propaganda. What we are witnessing is a deliberate manipulation of food prices for short-term political gain, designed to create the illusion of economic progress while citizens continue to suffer. Any current drop in price is temporary, unsustainable, and driven by panic, not strategy and deliberate planning,” Abdullahi maintained.
Calling for urgent reforms, the ADC urged the Federal Government to “end the politicisation of hunger” and prioritise policies that safeguard local farmers, ensure fair pricing, and guarantee long-term food security.
“The ADC condemns in the strongest terms the weaponisation of hunger and calls for a complete overhaul of the current agricultural approach. We must protect local producers, address rural insecurity, and invest in long-term food sovereignty, not temporary political optics,” Abdullahi stated.
The party concluded by urging the government to put citizens’ welfare above politics, saying: “The Nigerian people deserve truth and food, not manipulation and a false narrative of renewed hope.”
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has announced plans to commence an indefinite nationwide strike starting November 1, 2025.
NARD President, Mohammad Suleiman, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the strike directive was issued after the expiration of a 30-day ultimatum earlier given to the Federal government over unresolved demands.
This latest action comes after a five-hour meeting of the association’s National Executive Council (NEC) on Saturday.
“The NEC has marshalled out minimum demands, strike monitoring directives, and ‘no work, no pay/no pay, no work’ resolutions needed for a successful execution of this action,” the statement reads in part.
According to Suleiman, the decision followed the expiration of a 30-day ultimatum earlier issued to the Federal government to address its demands.
“Today, after a 5-Hour Extra-Ordinary National Executive Council Meeting, the Members of NEC have issued out new marching orders to us once again.
“The NEC has unanimously directed us to declare a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike action to commence on Friday 31st October 2025 at 11:59pm.”
Suleiman said the National Officers Committee (NOC) has been mandated to ensure full compliance with the directive and to implement strike monitoring and enforcement measures across all centres.
He added that the association’s centre presidents and general secretaries have been directed to convene emergency congress meetings to brief members on the resolutions.
“We have reported to NEC and NEC has decided. The NOC will carry out this directive to its latter and in full compliance.
“NEC has also decided that centre Presidents and General Secretaries shall go back and call Emergency Congress Meetings to brief Members on the details there-in.
The NARD President accused some government and non-government actors of “evil and exploitative plans” against resident doctors, adding that the union will “collectively resist” such moves.
He also called on members of NARD to use the next few days to hand over patients, engage community and religious leaders, and sensitise the public ahead of the strike.
The industrial action is expected to cripple medical services in hospitals nationwide, as resident doctors constitute the backbone of clinical care in the nation’s healthcare system.
On September 26, NARD issued one-month ultimatum to the Federal Government to address the lingering issues affecting the welfare and training of resident doctors and medical officers across the country.
Part of the grievances listed by the association are excessive and unregulated work hours, nonpayment of outstanding arrears from the 25 and 35 percent upward review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), and the unjust dismissal of five resident doctors from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja.
The resident doctors also expressed frustration over the non-payment of promotion arrears to medical officers in various federal tertiary hospitals, as well as the failure of the government to pay the 2024 accoutrement allowance despite repeated assurances from the Ministry of Health.
They further cited bureaucratic delays in upgrading resident doctors’ ranks following the completion of postgraduate medical examinations, leading to non-payment of new salary scales and accumulated arrears.
NARD also condemned their exclusion from the specialist allowance, despite their critical role in providing specialist-level care to patients across the country.
The association faulted the exclusion of medical and dental house officers from the civil service scheme — a policy it said denies them rightful salaries, professional recognition, and career progression.
NARD also decried the downgrading of newly employed resident doctors from CONMESS three Step three to CONMESS two Step two, resulting in reduced earnings and unpaid salary arrears in several federal hospitals.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Secrets are exclusive preserves of certain individuals or institutions. They are one’s advantage over others, in the sense of ‘there’s something I know, which no one else knows. No one can ever claim that they don’t have a secret, either in the good or bad light.
Secrets therefore, exist in the family circle, business terrain, academic environment, career/professional pursuit, health management, spiritual connectivity and even in everyday personal living. It is an undeniable fact that everyone has a secret that works for them.
Let’s take a minute to discuss some of the aforementioned secrets.
Family
Every family has a secret. It will be foolhardy for anyone to disclose family secrets. Most families die with their secrets. To understand how family secrets work, imagine the Coca-Cola company. The family is said to be the only one in the world that has the formula for the beverage; a trade secret that originated with its creator, John Pemberton.
It is said that not even all family members enter the room where Coca-Cola is mixed or manufactured for fear of the secret being divulged. Imagine where spouses have access to the room and the marriage goes south, there’s a tendency that a spiteful divorced partner might leak the secret and the rest as they say is history.
There are many secrets that bind many families which only the immediate family members know. In some cases, only the parents or grandparents know. They can decide to share the secret to either the first male child, first female child or even a member of the family that one considers rational. For instance, imagine where a family is faced with a peculiar life threatening illness which ordinarily might scare anyone who wants to get married into that family, it will be stupid for anyone to spit it out, that act alone can make the intending spouse to reconsider his/her plan to marry from the family.
Business
Every business has a trade secret. Trade secrets are what makes a business unique. Every business has a unique selling point. (USP), which is a distinct benefit that sets the business or product apart from its competitors. A shrewd businessman will never leak his secret to his employees or competitors. The best his employees will know are the values, the operational systems or structures of the business and how his mindset works. But what makes the business stand out is the mystery that one will need to unravel.
Academic
Every student has a distinct trait that makes him/her succeed academically. This unique trait makes the student exceptional. For any student to succeed in their academics, he must know himself and what works for him. While some might study at night, some might study during the day, others might just listen during the lecture and understand the key points.
It’s sad to see students, who haven’t discovered who they are and what works for them following students who have discovered who they are. For example, while some students have good listening and understanding ability, and can listen to lectures and read a little and pass their examinations, some other students will have to read the course material before the lecture, listen during the lecture, read after the lecture and read thoroughly for examination before they can get a decent grade.
In some cases, they might not get the desired grade. Some students will even party hard during the day and at night they study, while some will party at night and study during the day. So, you can see that while some students have discovered themselves and what works for them, some others follow them sheepishly. Moral: Know what works for you and do what works for you because according to Oscar Wilde, “be yourself because others are taken”.
Career/Profession
Every career professional has a secret that works for them. In the same way, every industry knows what makes it stands out. The secret of what makes someone in the entertainment industry successful is quite different from what makes someone in politics or law enforcement, energy, education, legal, or health sector different. They all have different strokes, and the ability of one to do the needful in addition to playing the associated game can be the game changer.
Health
Health is a personal thing. Nobody knows you more than you know yourself. To show you how secretive and important one’s health is, it’s been said that there are three kinds of life: Public life, private life and secret life.
Your public life is the life that is generally known by everyone. It is the character we exhibit in the public space. It can also be regarded as the image perception lifestyle; we don’t generally go around revealing our health status in the public domain except where necessary. The private lifestyle; this is the kind of life only our family and close friends know.
Again, we don’t disclose such pertinent information to them only where and when necessary, then we have the secret lifestyle which only us and our creator knows. In some cases, we go to the graveyard with this. Do you see why health is a personal issue which needs to be kept in a secret place?
Personal
As mentioned earlier, everyone is unique. One of the best things that can happen to anyone is knowing themselves, and knowing what makes them different. I strongly believe we all have seeds of greatness in us. What works for Mr. A might not work for Mr. B. Like I always say, you can copy my style, but you can’t be me because imitation is a limitation.
For instance, I have unique energy and inspiration when it comes to writing. I have developed a keen interest and passion for writing. If tomorrow I become very successful or attract a unique opportunity, and someone decides to try writing to attract similar opportunities, the person might fail because God is the one that decides what opportunities come to anyone nor matter how hard someone may work.
Spiritual
This is another interesting aspect of life. Life is indeed spiritual. There’s nothing that happens physically without taking place spiritually. Everyone has a covenant point that was assigned to them at birth. Once that covenant point is touched that fellow might lose their blessings, anointing or what makes them strong.
There have been many testimonies about this. For instance, in the Bible, Samson’s touching point was his hair. He knows his power lies in his hair, that’s why Delilah tried so many times to know the secret of his strength, but Samson refused to tell her. She tried to make him drunk, but Samson still has the power. Samson repeatedly lied to Delilah about the secret of his strength, first saying it was new bowstrings, then new ropes, and finally by weaving his hair into a loom. Each time, he easily broke free, but Delilah continued to pressure him.
Weary from her constant questioning, Samson finally confessed that his strength was tied to his hair, which had never been cut because he was a Nazirite from birth. Delilah then called for a man to shave Samson’s seven locks of hair while he slept in her lap. His secret was revealed. His hair was cut. He strength was gone.
Do you see that Samson’s secret place was his hair?
In conclusion, depending on what we are working on, we all have our secret strength and place. The onus is on us to cultivate and dwell on this secret place to avoid losing power and focus.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
