Busting The Big Lie About Why Buhari Did Not Attend Attahiru’s Funeral

THE ALTERNATIVE With Reno Omokri

It is no longer news that President Muhammadu Buhari failed to attend the funeral of the late General Ibrahim Attahiru, who was buried in Abuja on Saturday, May 22, 2021, after he was killed in a plane crash the previous day.

It was unfortunate that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who was fifteen miles away from the funeral venue, chose not to attend.
And this is not new. It is part of a pattern of irresponsible behaviour by Buhari, under whom morale in the military has plummeted to an all-time low.

When ISWAP/Boko Haram elements wiped out the 157 Task Force Battalion, at Metele, in 2018, killing over 100 of our troops, neither Buhari nor his deputy attended their funerals.
The same thing occurred on April 26, 2021, after Boko Haram killed dozens of Nigerian military troops at Mainok, in Borno state. Then, it was as if nothing happened.
And on, and on, it goes.

When on 19 December, 2016, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was murdered by a terrorist, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin attended his funeral.

When on March 24, 2018, French Policeman, Arnaud Beltrame, was killed by terrorists, French President, Emmanuel Macron, attended his funeral. But in Nigeria, we lost our Chief of Army Staff, and some of the most senior cadres of our army, and neither our President nor his deputy attended his funeral. Even worse, the ruling party Governors had a party in Kano! Now, if you are a soldier on the battlefront, how will you feel?

And the thing is that when I pointed out this sad state of affairs in a now-viral post, the Buhari propaganda machinery pushed back, saying that former President Jonathan also did not attend the funeral of the late great Umar Musa Yar’adua.
I mean, that is like comparing apples to oranges. So, yes, I know it is propaganda, but, they ought to apply some intelligence to their propaganda.

Government is a continuum of authority and responsibility, and there cannot be a gap in leadership, otherwise, the nation is vulnerable to a crisis in leadership, which could spiral into a civil war.
That is why by convention, when a President or Head of State dies and has to be buried the same day, due to religious reasons and is not given a state funeral, the incoming leader does not attend the late leader’s funeral. It is an established protocol.
The only reason General Abdulsalami Abubakar attended Sani Abacha’s funeral is that there was an interregnum.

What do I mean? When a democratically elected President, or Prime Minister, or a military Head of State dies, his deputy automatically takes over. It is an automatic process, without argument, or meetings, or lobbying.

However, there was a peculiar situation with Abacha. At the time of his death on June 8, 1998, his political deputy, and the Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya, was in prison, having been convicted for treason, as a result of the failed 1997 coup.
So, there was no military or political deputy. As such, there was an interregnum, and the Provisional Ruling Council had to meet to decide who would succeed Abacha. And before they could do that, they all had to escort Abacha’s body to Kano and bury it.

They returned to Abuja at 1.00 AM on June 9, and proceeded to the council chambers of Aso Rock, where by process of consultation, Abdulsalami Abubakar was chosen as the new Head of State just before dawn, and immediately promoted to full general and sworn in.
If Lt. General Diya had not been arrested and convicted, he would have automatically succeeded Abacha and would not have attended the funeral. He would have remained behind in Abuja to be sworn in and then formalise his takeover.

And that is exactly what happened after General Murtala Mohammed was assassinated during a failed coup on Friday, February 13, 1976. Lt. General Olusegun Obasanjo was immediately and automatically nominated to replace the late Murtala.

And because of the processes of the transition of power, he did not attend Murtala Mohammed’s funeral, though other members of the Supreme Military Council attended the funeral in Kano.
In the case of former President Goodluck Jonathan, his ascension to the Presidency was not as immediate as that of General Obasanjo’s had been, because while Murtala Mohammed was killed early in the day as he was driving to his office, President Umar Musa Yar’adua died a natural death at night on May 5, 2010, and the information was kept secret, which is why the then acting President Jonathan was sworn not sworn in as the substantive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until the next day, which was May 6, 2010.

While he was being sworn in, his predecessor was already being buried in Katsina. So, from the above, it becomes clear that the excuse given by the Buhari administration is nothing more than that, just an excuse, and a silly one at that.

General Ibrahim Attahiru was not a military Head of State, he was also not a democratically elected President. So, to compare his case to that of the late President Yar’adua smacks of desperation.
There is no reason on Earth for the President, Muhammadu Buhari, not to have attended. None at all.
I repeat that it is very sad that Muhammadu Buhari did not attend the burial of the late Chief of Army Staff, General Ibrahim Attahiru.

Surely, Buhari, who travelled 4000 miles to Paris for four days, could have spared the time to drive 15 miles to go to General Attahiru’s funeral for 30 minutes.
It would have done a lot to boost the morale of our armed forces.
Also, his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo did not attend the said funeral. Yet, Osinbajo last week travelled 2500 miles to Kampala.

With the disrespectful nonchalance the Number One and Number Two men displayed towards Attahiru and those who died with him, why would anyone then want to die for Nigeria?
And that satanic excuse that the President’s spin doctors pulled out from the hat does not hold water.

I was a Presidential spokesman for four years. I know that it is bunkum to say that the Presidency needs 48 hours’ notice before the President can visit anywhere. And I will cite two incidents to prove that this is false.

Nigerians may recall that when Yusuf Buhari was involved in a power bike accident on Wednesday, December 27, 2017, his father, Buhari stormed the hospital he was admitted in a matter of hours. And I do not say this to criticise him. It is what I would do. It is what any parent would do.

Also, after watching a Channels TV investigative report on the appalling conditions of the Police College, Ikeja, on Thursday, January 17, 2013, then President Jonathan flew to Lagos from Abuja the very next day (Friday, January 18, 2013), and paid an unscheduled visit to the said Police College for an on-the-spot assessment.

Not only was that leadership in action, that action by Dr. Jonathan, together with Buhari’s visit to his son, puts to lie the claims by the President’s propagandists.
And then on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, Buhari’s main propagandist, Garba Shehu, went on AriseTV and gave a more altruistic, but nevertheless, still false reason why the President did not attend the funerals.

Said Garba, ”The president is somebody who is so concerned about the safety and wellbeing of ordinary Nigerians on the streets.
“Do you know why he now prays his Jumaat in the state house and doesn’t go to the national mosque? Because he doesn’t like this idea of closing roads, security men molesting people on the road for the president to have the right of way.

“These are small things for many people but they are important for President Muhammadu Buhari. So, it is a mourning situation and the president didn’t want to take away attention from that.”
I mean, this lie is so infantile and unnecessary and it can be dismissed by just one factual instance.

Nigerians will recall that this administration killed 347 Shiite men, women, children and infants, all because they blocked the way of the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Turkur Buratai, during their annual procession.

Also, on multiple occasions, Nigerians have complained of missing their local and international flights because the Umaru Musa Yar’adua Abuja Airport road was blocked due to the fact that Buhari was going on one of his many foreign trips.
And this began right from 2015 and has continued unabated until the present time.
Buhari should understand that when you are in a hole, you should stop digging. You mess up and you fess up. Sending out dim witted aides to run the media circuit with infantile lies only turns a weakness into a wickedness.

Reno’s Nuggets
In 1960, the world’s population was 3 billion. In 2021, it is 7 billion. By 2060 it is projected to be 10 billion. Accommodation is not growing as fast as the population. The world has a housing deficit of over 500 million housing units. This means the greatest asset of the future will be real estate. Start preparing! Build or buy a house. You can do it. It looks like a Herculean task, but if you cut out wasteful expenses (smoking, drinking, designers, clubbing, new phone every year), you can afford your own house. It may not be in a posh area, but a house will be a lifetime asset