Muslims Who Criticize Buhari Risk Being Labelled 'Shiites'

Muhammadu Buhari

After 14 years of Southern/Christian rule that brought hardship, disunity and instability  to Nigeria; the Muslim north of Nigeria felt it was time to press hard for a change. 


To achieve this, northern Muslims threw their weight behind someone they had admired for long. Someone who record shows to be very different from the rest; someone who always showed his ‘burning desire’ to lead his people out of hardship. Someone who will restore the ‘Muslim’ image of Nigeria.

Northerners supported Muhammadu Buhari who had contested three previous elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011; the 2015 elections was the fourth he contested.

Nigerians- particularly Northerners, expected the regime of Buhari to be a direct opposite of the previous administrations which saw corruption, killings, instability and mismanagement become the norm but unfortunately, that was not the case.

All sections of Nigerian have shown their dissatisfaction with the Buhari regime and are beginning to speak out. For southerners/Christians, speaking against the regime of a Northern Muslim is pretty easy and expected, but for Northern Muslims, speaking against the Northern Muslim regime of Buhari is looking to become a taboo.

As a Northern Muslim, speak against the Buhari regime and the next thing will be somebody trying to draw a link between you and Shiites. As I once saw in a Face Book group, ‘Buhari’s opponents are Shiites’. This is all in a bid to silence the voice of Muslim advocates and commentators and make the world believe only Christians in Nigeria are discontent with the Buhari-led regime.

Northern Muslims who care to speak the truth must rise against this new ploy, Northern Muslims put this government in place and we have the right to hold the government accountable for its misgivings.

The Buhari regime has brought unprecedented hardship to Nigerians-especially northern Muslims who insist of only Islamic sources of income. The beggars on northern streets have not reduced on the contrary they might have increased and it doesn’t look like Buhari cares about that.

The ultra-Buharists have come up with all sorts of theories and reasons drumming why Buhari's administration is so 'awesome' even though he has failed on all his campaign promises. The most naïve and vacuous of these reasons is that: Buhari is defending Islam by keeping Zakzaky behind bars. From all standards of law (divine and man-made) this is inane.

Shiite or no Shiite, the Buhari government has not lived up to expectations and Nigerians; northerners or southerners, Muslims or Christians have the right to move for a change of government policies and priorities. 

The first few months of Buhari’s administration was very promising until an unfortunately series of events took place.

On 12th December 2015, a sit-in protest by Shiites on a road in Zaria resulted in what international law recognizes as ‘Genocide’.

The military convoy conveying the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, used brutal force to disperse the crowd which included women. This was followed by a military raid on the town and house of the Nigerian Shiite leader, Ibrahim Yakubu Az-Zazaky, in which one of his wives and two of his sons were killed.

Nigerian government sources put the total number of Shiites killed at 347. These massacres were followed by police-provoked skirmishes that led to the death of more Shiites. Sunnis also saw it as an opportunity to show their scorn for the Shiite minority. Sunnis-under the watch of the Federal and state governments and the police carried out the killings and lootings of Shiites and their properties respectively. Only ALLAH knows the total number of Shiites that were killed by federal outfits and Sunnis within the period under question.

The Nigerian Shiite community leader, Ibrahim Zazaky, has been in detention since the massacres even though national and international bodies have called for his unconditional release.

On 18th April 2018, Amnesty International issued a statement signed its Director General in Nigeria, Mr. Osai Ojigho, demanding Zazaky’s release. On 2^nd December 2016, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the unconditional release of Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Malama Zeenatudden, from detention, within 45 days. The court also ordered the Federal Government to provide a new accommodation for El-Zakzaky in Zaria or any northern town of his choice. The court, presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, also awarded El-Zakzaky and his wife N50 million as general damages. 

These calls have all fallen on deaf ears as the Buhari regime has continued to keep him under lock and key. 

Legal and Rights agencies home and abroad have called for the release of Zakzaky, and in civilized societies, security personnel don’t use live ammo on civilians holding sticks and stones neither do they attack civilian homes killing women and children. 

A Facebook group named 'Muslims Against Buhari' has been created. Please join the group and let's break this myth that Buhari is the messiah of Nigeria.