3 major 1985 events that are repeating itself in Buhari’s present administration

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is one that has been loaded with a litany of eventful moments since he assumed office in 2015.

Some of these events have been described as repeat times and moments of the president’s stay in office when he served the country as the military head of state between 1983 and 1985 by a former lawmaker, Shehu Sani.

Sani who represented Kaduna Central in the Eighth Senate in a recent post on Twitter, a microblogging site made a list of three major events in both the 1983-’85 regime of Buhari and his present administration.

See the list below:

1. Closing the border

In 1984, the General Muhammadu Buhari-led military regime closed Nigerian land borders against all the nation’s neighbours within the ECOWAS region and the ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States).

Again, in August 2019, the Federal Government led by President Buhari ordered the closure of Nigeria’s land borders.

The closure, the FG said is the clamp down on the illegal importation of drug, arms and agricultural products into Nigeria from neighbouring countries in West Africa.

This particular closure lasted for over a year when the FG ordered the re-opening of four land borders in December 2020.

2. Redesigning of the naira

To put a stop to the hoarding of Nigeria’s local currency by alleged corrupt politicians of the Second Republic, the General Buhari/Idiagbon-led government redesigned the naira in 1985.

As the head of state at the time, Buhari ordered new naira notes to tackle the challenges created by corruption at the time.

In the same vein, on October 26, the governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, announced the plan by the Federal Government to redesign the naira.

Emefiele in his declaration said that the redesign of the notes is aimed at controlling inflation and combating activities of criminal elements behind the financing of terror activities across the country.

According to the CBN governor, the new notes will be in circulation from December 15, and all existing old and new currencies are to remain legal tender until January 31.

In addition, Emefiele said the old notes will cease to be legal tender for the nation by January 31,

3. Umaru Dikko and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s repatriation

Shehu said in his list also said that the reparation of Umaru Dikko, a Nigerian politician, and an adviser to President Shehu Shagari and that of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra are similar.

Dikko who served as minister for transportation from 1979 to 1983, fled into exile in London following a military coup which ousted the government of Shehu Shagari.

He was accused by the military regime led by General Buhari (retired) of corruption and embezzlement of millions of dollars from Nigeria’s oil revenues while in office as transport minister.

Shortly after, he was discovered drugged in a crate at Stansted Airport that was being claimed[5] as diplomatic baggage on July 5, 1984.

The said crate was headed to Lagos, Nigeria in what many described as a government-sanctioned kidnapping that was then foiled by the British government.

Also, on June 30, 2021, news filtered in that the leader of the IPOB has been arrested by Nigerian authorities in Kenya.

Speaking on his arrested, a brother to the IPOB leader, Prince Kanu while demanding justice for Nnamdi said his brother has been subjected to extraordinary rendition by the government of Kenya and Nigeria.

His words:

“They have violated the most basic principles of the rule of law. Extraordinary rendition is one of the most serious crimes states can commit. Both Nigeria and Kenya must be held to account. I demand justice for my brother, Nnamdi Kanu.”