Buhari, Idiagbon ruled Nigeria with iron fist between 1984 and 1985 – Adesina admits

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, has admitted that President Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, Tunde Idiagbon ruled Nigeria with iron fist between 1984 and 1985.

Buhari toppled a democratically elected government of Shehu Shagari in 1983 by a military coup de’tat, which ushered in Buhari as head of state.

However, many believed that Buhari ruled the nation with scorpion and reptiles.

Adesina admitted but insisted that the ex-soldier has repented.

He stated this in an article released Thursday night.

He wrote, “The President is by no means a soft man. We remember the man of iron and steel that ruled with iron fist between January 1984 and August1985, with his kindred spirit, Babatunde Idiagbon. They attempted to knock sense into our heads as Nigerians, but were eventually toppled by people who had less patience for discipline.

“Is President Buhari as hard as he was in 1984? Yes and no. In personal traits and attributes, he remains the unbending iron. But in term sof administration and response to people and situations, he is tempered by democracy, and by time. What he could do by military fiat then, he must pass through democratic due process now. He wore khaki then, now he wears Agbada. No wonder he now talks longingly about the time “when I was young and ruthless…”Well, he is no longer young, and he must be more avuncular, even fatherly, for that is what he is. And ruthlessness has not much place in democracy , if any at all.

 

“That was why when the EndSARS protest started, and began to fester, and was eventually hijacked and misdirected, President Buhari did not change the instructions, the rules of engagement to security agencies, particularly the police.

“Things began to degenerate. Policemen were being killed, prisoners being set free, roads and airports being blocked, the economy was being locked down once again after the about five months lockdown imposed by COVID-19, yet the President did not change the order to the police, particularly.”