Buhari’s military orientation a problem, Balarabe Musa says

Balarabe Musa, former governor of old Kaduna state has blamed President Muhammadu Buhari’s military style of addressing ethnic agitations in the country as a major factor affecting his performance.

He therefore called on the president to show seriousness in applying dialogue to resolve grievances from different geopolitical zones of the country, instead of a hard-line stance.

According to him: “Buhari has not demonstrated that he is serious about using dialogue to resolve the various ethnic tensions. This government does not care about dialogue. The President’s military background and approach are affecting his performance. Former President Musa Yar’Adua understood the importance of dialogue which enabled him to put a halt to militancy in the Niger Delta. But what do we have now? Tension and agitation in different parts of the country.

Speaking in an interview recently, he said, “Dialogue is the only way to resolve the Biafra agitation in the South-East, the Niger Delta Avengers and the Boko Haram violence.”

The former governor also decried the failure of the leading political parties in the country, and called for a better alternative.

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According to him, the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have failed the country making it necessary for a better alternative to be put in place.

“The APC does not deserve a second term. The PDP is not also a better option. We need another credible alternative”, he stated.

Rating APC’s performance in the first year as a wasted year, he queried if President Buhari would make the most of the remaining three years of his tenure.

Balarabe, the first governor to be impeached in Nigeria, said the President could still reverse the mistakes he made in his first year in power.

“Buhari created enemies for his government when he excluded the South-East from his kitchen cabinet. The kitchen cabinet is the closest to the President. The cabinet is even more superior to the main cabinet which comprises the ministers. The exclusion of the South-East from his cabinet gave rise to the agitation for Biafra.

“The solution is the return to a state-economy rather than a privatised economy which is not helping the country. There is unemployment, poor power supply, tension across the geopolitical zones and poverty.

“The country needs a better alternative that would restore peace, ensure the rule of law and revive the economy. The APC and the PDP lack the capacity to achieve this,” he said.

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