May 29, day of reckoning, say Buhari, Ojukwu

By Sukuji Bakoji,
Daily Independent, Kaduna

Major General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) and Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, defeated presidential candidates of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), yesterday carried their threats of mass action against the inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo's second term to Kaduna, insisting that May 29 will be a turning-point in the political history of the nation.

Ojukwu vowed that May 29 would be the day of reckoning in the history of Nigeria, asserting that only an Interim Government of National Unity will avert the ugly situation of making the country ungovernable.

The assertion was corroborated by Buhari who stressed that the week preceding the D-Day will be very critical, hence he enjoined Nigerians to offer necessary sacrifices on behalf of future generation of Nigerians.

Both presidential candidates spoke yesterday in Kaduna during a one-day symposium with the theme, "Nigeria at Crossroads  The Way Forward."

Addressing Buhari as "Mr. President," Ojukwu added that they were not making empty threats, since "nobody, no matter the forces at his disposal, can overcome the force of the masses of Nigeria& We are going through a critical week in our history and I wish all of us the best."

Ojukwu, who held his audience spell-bound with his oratorical skills, attracted thunderous ovations intermittently as he also advocated for a national conference as a way of redressing the problems in the polity. The former Biafran leader pledged to spearhead the fight against injustice to enthrone true democracy in the country.

"We will ensure that the evil in our society has been rooted out. But I want to assure you, I stand here before you, assuring you, as long as there is a will, I will stand."

In the same vein, Maj. Gen. Buhari said: "I would like to recall what happened in India when I was in Staff College there about democracy. If you recall, the Ghandi dynasty was on its way to dominating, for generations, the political scene in India, and then I think the Indians decided to do what Americans did to the Kennedy dynasty.

"If we really need democracy and we insist on it, we can be like India and live above poverty level, which our people are experiencing. This is to emphasise that if we really need democracy, then we have to make the necessary sacrifice."

Several papers were delivered at the one-day symposium organised by a non-governmental organisation, Network for Justice. The conference attracted hundreds of supporters of Buhari and Ojukwu.

Other dignitaries included the presidential candidate of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC), Mrs. Sarah Jubril, former presidential aspirant on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC); and National President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, Dr. Datti Ahmed; former Minister of Health, Dr. Tim Menekaya; and the defeated governorship candidate of ANPP in Kaduna State, Alhaji Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi.