A renowned and respected Northern Leader, and
first civilian Governor of Kaduna State in the
Second Republic, Alhaji Balarebe Musa, has
blasted President Muhammadu Buhari, for his
approach in addressing the ethnic agitations in
the country.
The former Governor, in an interview with
PUNCH, , blamed Buhari’s military
background for the escalation of crisis in the
different geopolitical zones of the country.
on Thursday


Musa, a vocal critic of the Buhari administration,
said the current administration had not shown any
seriousness in using dialogue to resolve
agitations in the country.
He said Buhari should show that he is now a
converted democrat, as he earlier claimed in the
course of the 2015 general elections, by using
dialogue to settle the crisis rocking the country.
The former Governor, who described Buhari’s first
year in office as a waste, said he doubted whether
the President would make the most of the
remaining three years of his tenure.
“Buhari has not demonstrated that he is
serious about using dialogue to resolve the
various ethnic tension. This government does
not care about dialogue. The President’s
military background and a
affecting his pe
This is coming, following heightened criticisms of
the Buhari administration by Senior Northern
elders, over the current harsh economic hardship.
Earlier, two Northern groups, the youth wing of the
Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, and a political
pressure group of women in Sokoto State, under
the aegis of the Association of Sokoto S
Women in Politics, SSAWP, had expressed
concern over the continued incarceration of the
former National Security Adviser, NSA, Colonel
Sambo Dasuki (retd), by the operatives of the
Department of State Services, DSS, in violation of
numerous court orders.
While comparing Buhari’s administration with that
of his predecessors, in areas of dialogue, the
former Governor said the present administration
has failed.
“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.
“Diaogue is the only way to resolve the Biafra
agitation in the South-East, the Niger Delta
Avengers and the Boko Haram violence. The
APC does not deserve a second term. The
PDP is not also a better option. We need
another credible alternative”.
He added, “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”.