The Ranka Dede Republic by Sonala Olumhense.

“…It did not take long before the Buhari administration, so openly and so warmly received by Nigerians when it came to power, began to show its true and frightful face. Soon enough, it became clear that his administration had a conception of government in which the governed were regarded as a hostile, adversary force, and in which government was virtually an end in itself…

 

“…Blackmailed into silence, Nigerians watched as the traditional foundations of the state were eroded. Ethnicity became a principle of state policy. The economy sputtered along. Educational policy was in shambles. Our hospitals became graveyards. And all along we were invited to believe, as an article of patriotic faith, that we lived in the best of all possible worlds.

 

“Ultimately, it was the arrogance of the Buhari administration that led to its downfall. For arrogance always leads to moral and political blindness. Blindness leads to isolation, and when any government is isolated from the governed, its end is always predictable…” - “The Arrogance of Power” – The Guardian Editorial of August, 1985.

 

Buhari, a 76-year old man who has served in various federal posts in the past 40 years, had justified every appointment profile by claiming that he appoints people he can trust. To begin with, that cannot be the truth given that on several occasions he has declared that he made those appointments on “merit,” not previously knowing the individuals involved. On what basis do you trust people you do not know to such an extent that the ensuing demographic overwhelmingly tilts towards your village?

 

The obvious and immediate interpretation of that claim, to the embarrassment of many northerners, is that southerners and non-Muslims are untrustworthy.