A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and former education minister in the late Sani Abacha era, Dauda Birma, has called on Northern political leaders to speak up in defence of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who is said to be having a frosty relationship with his boss, President Muhammadu Buhari, allegedly masterminded by the cabal in the Aso Rock Villa.
Birma, who spoke exclusively with BDSUNDAY from Yola, Adamawa State, said he was not happy at the deafening silence from the Northern political elite while things are going wrong at the Presidency, particularly the alleged cloud gathering against Osinbajo.
“I make bold to defend the Vice President. You know why? He provided the stabilising force for the government at the time President Buhari was having health challenge. It was the Vice President that was all over the place for the government, and did it with all humility. He did it so well that the whole world acknowledged it and appreciated it. Why is it now that he should be humiliated and rubbished?” Birma said.
Birma, who was a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), further said: “I appreciate the man. If this man was not part of that team, it would have collapsed. I urge the Northern political leaders to stoutly rise in defence of Vice President Osinbajo. It is not good to keep quiet when there is a national issue that they should intervene in by speaking out. They should speak out. They must speak out. Osinbajo has played a pivotal role in stabilising this administration. We must not pretend that we do not know it.”
In his assessment of Nigeria at 59 he said he expressed fears about the future of the country.
“On the 1st of October 1960, I was one of those who were at the Tafawa Balewa Square to witness the lowering of the Union Jack and hosting of Nigerian flag. I was 20 years old then. We had a lot of expectations of a prosperous country. A dream of a country that was going to offer hope, but all that was shattered by the coup of January 1966. Nigeria was full of promises; democratic process had taken off, all of a sudden these were taken away. It led us on to the civil war which ended sometime in 1970. A lot of people celebrated that Gowon declared the war a no-victor no-vanquished. Everybody took things for granted. But some people wanted a revenge. Many of them did not like the way the war ended. They felt it did not end the way they wanted,” he said.
According to Birma, “The agitations and uprising we are seeing today have their root in what happened in those days that have not been properly addressed. I cannot tell you that I am happy the way things are going in the country. I have more fears than hope, because every passing day, new agitations and challenges show up.
“There is an adversarial development between government and the governed, and it is growing on a daily basis. In consonant with my age and experience, I do not like what I am seeing. I just hope that God will intervene, because without God intervening, the adversarial relationship between the government and the governed may even grow worse and new problem could emerge. I cannot tell you that I am optimistic about the signs that I see. I hope God will set our affairs in order in spite of us.”
