The month was February 2018, and the venue was somewhere in an upscale neighborhood of New York.
Sitting in his apartment, Archbishop Willy Bunting decided to embark on an emergency trip to Nigeria. He had seen a vision that a politician namely Hon. Duoye Diri was going to take over the governorship of Bayelsa State from the then incumbent, Hon. Seriake Dickson. The archbishop didn’t even know who Diri was. But he had a duty to fly to Nigeria and inform the man to get ready for the task ahead. And so he arrived in Nigeria, Yenagoa, in particular. There, he met with Diri, and without any hesitation revealed to the man that he was going to take over as the next governor of Bayelsa State.
But when the governorship election took place late 2019, another person was announced as the winner. A few people who heard about Archbishop Bunting’s vision thought the man was lying. Some were quietly making a jest of him. Exactly 14 days to the expiration of the tenure of office of Dickson, I was introduced to Archbishop Bunting by an illustrious son of Bayelsa, my friend and big brother, Surveyor Ebisentei Awudu, the then Surveyor-General of the Nigerian federation.
When I raised the issue of this vision with the archbishop, he was adamant that Diri was the one that would take over as governor, though the other person declared by INEC had gone far in rehearsal for the takeover ceremony. And then on February 13, 2020, the hammer came. The Supreme Court declared Diri, by then a senator, as the next governor of Bayelsa State. The next day, he took over from Dickson, exactly as predicted by Archbishop Bunting.
Just yesterday, the white wedding of Shekinah Princess Excelle Bunting took place in Abuja. It followed the traditional marriage that had taken place earlier in the week in Port Harcourt. Shekinah is the daughter of Archbishop Bunting, and her brand-new husband is Pastor (Dr.) Phil Ransom Bello, also a scion of a deeply enterprising and religious family.
Though I am a Muslim, I see Archbishop Bunting as my spiritual father, in whom I am always pleased. I was privileged to have attended the wedding ceremonies, and hereby wish the couple the biggest marital bliss. They can always count on their illustrious parents for guidance in the journey of life, as they begin a life into holy matrimony.
The second issue, an event holding tomorrow, also concerns someone who is very dear to the hearts of millions of Nigerians, and who, in spite of misgivings from some Nigerians, remains a very passionate Nigerian patriot. I am talking about the best-ever Chief of Army Staff that Nigeria has ever had, that is, General Tukur Yusufu Buratai, now Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Benin. For those who may doubt my claim about Buratai being the very best army officer that this country has ever produced, let them go back two weeks ago to the piece produced in this column, entitled, Tukur Buratai: a general’s providential obsession with snakes. In that piece, a summary of key achievements of the well-decorated general and diplomat was presented, with solid evidence.
Buratai is incurably pro-Nigeria. You do not even need to come close to him to perceive his passion for Nigeria, the only country we can truly call our own and which he always wants to give his best to. Many in his position could be discouraged, given the kind of negative attacks he was subjected to this time last year. It was as if he and his colleagues the then service chiefs were the only problem of Nigeria, and that once they were removed from office, Nigeria would turn automatically to an Eldorado.
Now, sadly so, though they have been out of the scene for 11 months, insecurity is still very much with us. Those who saw them as the problem have now been proven completely wrong. And as I have repeatedly mentioned in this column, the pervading insecurity is a global phenomenon. What we experience in this country is definitely not a creation of the military and can never be solved by them alone.
Our politicians created all the mess that can now only be cleared by all of us, through massive intelligence sharing and general cooperation with the security services that opposition politicians have made us to hate and ridicule. Until our politicians, legislators, ministers, etc, allow the sons and daughters of paupers to enjoy job opportunities and be engaged productively, until our state governors allow the local government system with all its opportunities for the downtrodden to taste power, to thrive, we are deceiving ourselves thinking our security situation will disappear overnight, even if we bring the CIA and the entire military of America to do the work. The solution lies here, in all of us.
General Buratai is a man with a large heart, and, tomorrow, in partnership with the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, the retired general is going to launch an appeal fund and groundbreaking ceremony for Tukur Buratai Research Centre (TBRC). In the piece published two weeks ago, I mentioned the fact that the former army chief set up a snake farm when he was a young officer in the army, and, upon his voluntary retirement about a year ago, chose that same farm as his home, rather than the posh and safer areas of Abuja.
Now, it is within the premises of this snake farm near Keffi that the TBRC is going to be located. From Nigerians that could contribute one naira to those that could raise billions, all are invited to make this worthy dream a reality. Though TBRC is in Buratai’s name, it is a legacy project for all Nigerians. The centre is going to partner with Nasarawa State University in the areas of strategic studies, peace and conflict resolution studies, leadership for development and generally promote research that will impact positively on the Nigerian political-economy.
I am certain it will achieve lots more for our dear nation, including jobs and other opportunities, especially for the neighbouring communities and our teeming youths and intellectuals all over Nigeria and, indeed, Africa. Being the centre of excellence that it is set to be, the TBRC will pretty soon be saving this country some tidy foreign exchange, as our intellectuals could exploit it to deepen or initiate research on matters affecting our national development, without having to travel all the time.
Then thirdly, within this same week, I saw, with bitter disappointment, how some Nigerians have continued to allow themselves to be used by some unscrupulous politicians in efforts aimed at creating confusion within the armed forces of the federation. Some groups styling themselves as civil society organisations that are clearly sponsored are now at the vanguard of calls for removal of the current Army Chief Lt-General Faruk Yahaya as well as the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major-General Samuel Adebayo, telling Mr. President, who is their Commander-in-Chief, that there is no synergy between them, and that they have failed in their task to protect the nation.
One marvels at the level of illiteracy some Nigerians that are otherwise educated have continued to exhibit. Even if one wants to collect money to do a hatchet job, I thought that those doing so should consider the fact that the biggest asset they have is their family name. Spoiling one’s name for a pot of porridge is demeaning of any human being. Truly, there is serious security problem in Nigeria, but the fact remains it will have been far worse, but for the intervention of the two officers and their other colleagues now being maligned in some sections of the media.
A security analyst once described Nigeria’s intelligence services as the best in the whole world, because in our shores, they operate practically all alone, being despised by the same Nigerians they work day and night to protect. Given the spate of negative propaganda against the military in general, only a few patriotic Nigerians are helping volunteer information to our intelligence networks.
I totally agree that there is no intelligence network in the whole world that squeezes water out of stone like ours, here in Nigeria. All over the world, the locals drive intelligence. But here, especially in areas ravaged by terrorism and banditry, many of the locals have been proven to be working in cahoots with the terrorists and criminal elements, all for monies paid to them to betray their country and their very people. And because anyone that plays by the tiger ends up in its stomach, these terrorists are known to kill family members of these informants, at times as part of collateral damage, or kill the informants themselves when they fall short of the stringent requirements of their criminal sponsors.
In other climes, you report automatically any strange movement in your neighborhood or even on the way. But here, anyone can move to the areas ravaged by insecurity and purchase houses and other properties, without being reported by neighbours. And if the criminal is generous, the very people he will ultimately harm will be the ones giving him all sorts of protection, including at times chieftaincy titles.
Owing to troubles caused by some of our politicians, the Nigerian Army presently operates in 34 states. They are spread thin and wide, thereby automatically unable to man every bit of our geographical space. The money that should have been deployed in acquisition of sophisticated technology has been stolen in 2014 when the rulers of that time were desperate about continuing in power. Those billions of dollars stolen and shared to politicians will have gone a long way in helping the military resolve, or even avoid some of the security problems bedeviling the nation today.
It is gratifying to note that some patriotic Nigerians, seeing through the dangerous antics of these sponsored elements trying to cause division and disillusionment in the armed forces, have taken it upon themselves to counter the subversive activities of these sponsored goons. We salute these patriots putting things in their proper perspectives, and urge Generals Faruk Yahaya and Samuel Adebayo and indeed all other senior military officers to ignore those agents of division and concentrate on the work ahead.
Let the duo know that no human being has ever been loved or supported by all, and that while the few sponsored ones despise them, millions of other Nigerians fully support them and pray for them and the nation.
President Buhari knows the excellent work the current crop of service and intelligence chiefs, led by the hardworking General Irabor, are doing, and we encourage him to continue to give them all the needed support. If we continue to change service chiefs or Intelligence heads at the slightest prompting, the current war against bandits and terrorism will get far worse, as the sudden retirement of the former holders of the offices has proven. Synergy is key. So also consistency and tons of patience.
With the support and prayers of Nigerians, the general inseciruty will sooner than later be a thing of the past. Military personnel and their heads are not magicians. They can only achieve magically when we give them the needed support and cooperation, even when they are recording unprecedented achievements with the little support they are getting.
Lastly, I commend Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika for calling the bluff of some countries that have chosen to blacklist Nigeria and Nigerians for no just reason, using the Covid-19 as a pretext. The minister’s action made me feel very proud being a Nigerian. We commend and urge him to continue to defend the interest of this country and never be intimidated by any country, however big or small.