Buhari’s residence turns mini ‘Aso Rock’ ■ Big wigs, godfathers rush to hold talks with him

Plot 16b, Jabi road in Malali GRA of Kadu­na metropolis, serves as a private office to the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). Al­though, the area has not com­pletely lost its serenity, there is usually heavy presence of secu­rity around the place, anytime he is around.But if he is out of town, like it was the case, last Thursday morn­ing, when one of these reporters visited, the place remains its old self, where one accesses easily, without any security operative ask­ing any question, just like it was, before Buhari’s election.

However, since he won the elec­tion about a month ago, the office, has become a Mecca of some sort, with prominent Nigerians, taking their turn to pay homage to the first opposition party presidential candi­date, to defeat an incumbent presi­dent in Nigeria.

Just like in Kaduna, Buhari’s country home in Daura, Katsi­na State and that of Abuja are no hiding places for him anymore as big wigs, political godfathers, tra­ditional and religious leaders have continued to besiege these places to congratulate the president-elect and most importantly to lobby for favour and appointments for their proteges.

The roll call of visitors to the Ka­duna office of the President-elect, Buhari, no doubt, bore semblance of the daily activities at Aso Rock Villa, the nation’s seat of pow­er, with prominent Nigerians and foreigners trooping in, almost on a daily basis to congratulate him on his victory and to discuss other state matters.

Saturday Sun gathered that the President-elect had returned to Ka­duna on Wednesday, April 15, from Daura, in Katsina State, where he had gone to participate in the April 11 governorship election.

Upon his return to Kaduna that Wednesday, he was said to have resumed office, the next day, be­ing Thursday, April 16, where he received famous and controversial Lagos-based pastor, Tunde Bakare, who incidentally was Buhari’s run­ning mate in the 2011 presidential contest, which they both failed to win. It was a memorable re-union of sort, as Bakare hugged Buhari like a baby, while congratulating him.

From that Thursday, up till Tues­day last week, before jetting out to Abuja, Buhari received diplo­mats, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, governors-elect, serving governors, Senators-elect, serving Senators and their counterparts in the House of Representatives.

Prominent among the serving governors who visited during the period under review, was Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, who led a “strong” delegation to Kaduna, last Sunday, to congrat­ulate Buhari and table before him formally, challenges confronting Borno State, in the face of the Boko Haram insurgency.

After listening carefully, to the submission made by Shettima, and few members of his entourage, like the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abu­bakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi, Buhari, while responding, said his administration would accord prior­ity to ending the Boko Haram insur­gency, with a view to bringing sta­bility to the state in particular, and the North-East geo-political zone, in general.

This is even as he revealed that he would also focus on re-acti­vating the Lake Chad in addition to deploying enormous resources to resume vigorous search for oil along the Chad Basin in parts of Borno State.

He said he was very much aware of the problems confronting the North-East and as such, would waste no time in taking them up one after the other, adding that the administration would enhance collaboration with neighbouring governments of Chad, Niger and Cameroon to curtail the trans border movement ofBoko Haram insurgents, cut supply of arms, cut re­cruitment and training of fresh recruits.

He further said that stability of the North- East zone, was “a must project” for his ad­ministration, insisting that nothing mean­ingful could be achieved unless peace was restored to the troubled zone.

On the Lake Chad Basin, the President-elect also assured the delegation that the receding of Lake Chad would be addressed through the transfer of water from the Central African Re­public to the Lake to boost its commercial ac­tivities for fishing and irrigation farming. He recalled that he once read a document raising fears about receding of the Lake Chad which he handed over to then President Olusegun Obasanjo but now that he would be coming in as President, he would handle the matter, adding that the Lake has the potentials to cre­ate millions of jobs through irrigation and for many other commercial uses it was associat­ed with, many years ago.

Speaking on oil prospects in the state, Bu­hari said he was very much aware of the ex­ploration activities in the area since 1978 as Minister of Petroleum. He said he had visit­ed a site in Borno State as a Head of State to assess exploration activities, stressing that he was very conversant with the issue and would take it up as President, once he settles in of­fice.

He further said: “I had many years ago, suggested the need to take the search for oil in the North seriously not only to increase the export potentials of Nigeria but also to bal­ance cross regional perceptions and manage agitations so as to enhance the stability of the country. The in-coming administration would pay special attention to the economic poten­tials of the North-East, so as to make it at­tractive for investments,” the President-elect, added.

Earlier, Governor Kashim Shettima, who led the delegation to congratulate the Presi­dent-elect on his historic victory at the poll, had reminded him of problems affecting Bor­no State which he already knew.

Shettima said the people of Borno feel so much attached to Buhari, given his back­ground as someone that served as military governor in the state, adding that the citizens looked up to him with so much hope because he was very much familiar with the problems of the state and how it has suffered in the last six years owing to massive killings of its peo­ple and extreme destructions of communities and public institutions.

As a result, he pleaded with the Presi­dent-elect, to pay special attention to the af­fairs of Borno.

On his part, Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abu­bakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al Amim El-Kanemi, appealed to the President- elect to consider making the Federal Government take over the welfare of youths volunteers, otherwise known as Civilian JTF, fighting insurgency in the state, saying that Borno State government has been spending so much on that, in addi­tion to huge expenditures in managing the Boko Haram insurgency, besides spending on capital projects and payment of salaries of workers.

The Shehu also appealed for Buhari’s inter­vention on resumption of commercial airlines to Maiduguri international airport, which was suspended over two years ago.

Chairman of Borno Elders Forum (BEF) and member of the delegation, Ambassador Usman Gaji Galtimari, expressed optimism that with Buhari’s track record of service, el­ders in the state have so much faith in him to address the needs of Borno citizens and also to move the nation forward.

Also, during the period under review, the UN’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, also sent a delegation to Kaduna, to congratulate the President- elect, and to tell him that ongo­ing efforts to defeat Boko Haramshould be sustained in order to give room for humanitar­ian development of the North-East zone and Nigeria in general.

The Special Representatives of the UN Secretary General in West and Central Afri­ca, Mr. Fuhamad Ibn Chambas and Abdou­laye Bathily who conveyed the best wishes of the UN’s scribe to the President-elect at his Kaduna office, also appealed to him to keep to his promises of fighting insecurity, corrup­tion, and improving the economy of Nigeria.

Speaking on behalf of the joint mission del­egation, the Special representative to the UN Secretary General to West Africa, Mr. Cham­bas said they were in Buhari’s office to con­gratulate him and to also appeal to him on the need to sustain the fight against Boko Haram.

“Boko Haram is a threat that was perceived to be in only two states in Nigeria, but it has gone viral and we all know the destruction it has caused to human lives, communities and the whole territories here in Nigeria and the neighbouring countries.

“We want to appeal to the President-elect to ensure that this movement of Boko Haram is defeated, so that we can move to the next face of dealing with the humanitarian and development dimension of the Boko Ha­ram attacks in Nigeria and neighbouring countries,” he said.

The UN delegation also commended President Goodluck Jonathan and the Pres­ident-elect for the mature way in which they handled the outcome of the presiden­tial election, adding that the relationship be­tween the two leaders has set a good record for Africa.

Responding, the President-elect, thanked the UN, the American government and Eu­rope for the support towards ensuring cred­ible elections in Nigeria.

He said the war against insecurity is part of his party’s manifesto and would do ev­erything possible to meet the expectations of Nigerians.

“We are grateful to the United Nations, the American government and Europe for their concern for Nigeria,” Buhari had said.

Equally on the list of prominent callers to Buhari’s Kaduna office was the Emir of Kano, and former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Alhaji Muhamma­du Sanusi II.

The emir came calling last Monday when he met with Buhari behind closed door without the press being informed of the visit.

However, sources said Emir Sanusi was in a happy mood while congratulating the President-elect, adding that photographs of the visit were only sent to some media or­ganisations from Buhari’s media team.

Again, one of the visits that was actual­ly kept secret was that of former President, Olusegun Obasanjo who was said to have met with Buhari last Monday, in Kaduna, at an undisclosed venue.

When the news of Obasanjo’s visit to Buhari filtered out, journalists had rushed out to keep vigil, both at the host’s resi­dence and office, but to no avail.

Upon enquiry from security men at the gate, one of them simply said: “Our oga has gone out to receive Obasanjo, but we don’t know the actual place. So, go and find out.”

Without giving up on the search for the venue of the meeting, journalists monitored most of the prominent and popular hotels in town, yet to no avail. But it was strongly believed that the Ota farmer actually visited Buhari and congratulated him on the out­come of the presidential election. However, what was not clear, was why Obasanjo’s visit to Buhari in Kaduna was hidden from the public.

Also, shortly after Buhari won the elec­tion, some natives of Niger State, led by the outgoing Deputy Governor of the state, Sani Ibeto, paid him a congratulatory visit at his Kaduna office. The group prayed for the President-elect, and wished him a ful­filling tenure as they took their leave.

Also in attendance at the meeting was the Kaduna State Governor-elect, Mallam Na­sir El-Rufai among other close allies of the President-elect. Buhari also assured that, tackling youth unemployment remains an issue his government would accord top priority when sworn into office on May 29, 2015.

By Thursday, when Saturday Sun visit­ed, the office looks deserted, as only some of the domestic staff, were seen around the place. One of them, who though refused to disclose his identity, noted that they were happy over their principal’s victory.

Asked if he would like to go to Abuja with his Principal, he said: “I would be hap­py to go and work in the villa. But we are not sure of what will happen yet. We leave everything in the hands of God. But we are happy over his victory. I have been work­ing here for the past 10 years. The man has never frowned at us before. He will greet us, once he resumes office here, and all that has not changed, even after his election.”

source:Sun