OPINION: "The Real Buhari" Documentary Is Full Of Lies

Dr. Ope Banwo watches the infamous AIT-aired documentary
The Real Buhari and points out to a number of facts that the 55-
minute-long feature may have gotten wrong in depicting the
former military ruler of Nigeria who is today contesting for a
presidential seat.
Much like the highlypublicized scandal regarding Buhari’s school
certificates , the aforementioned broadcast has become a
subject of scrutiny and harsh criticism for portraying Gen.
Buhari (rtd.) in a mostly negative light.
Dr. Ope Banwo is a Nigerian attorney and a PhD holder in Law, a
pastor, author of several books, and a business consultant. In
his opinion article, entitled The BIG FAT LIES Of AIT In “The Real
Buhari” Documentary EXPOSED! and published on the
hardtalknaija.com website, Dr. Banwo admits that AIT is
a privately-owned TV station and is, therefore, entitled “to
advertise or air anything it wants”. However, he is quick to point
out that “it should be a criminal act for a nationally-licensed TV
station” to broadcast “falsehood against a contestant in the
Nigerian elections” and “pull the wool over the eyes of unsuspecting
Nigerians who trust his station to report the news to them daily.”
Dr. Banwo decided to watch the 55-minute documentary himself
to do his own fact-checking. Below is the list of nine points that
AIT got wrong on Muhammadu Buhari, as stated by Dr. Banwo.
The documentary claimed the Maitatsine riots started during
Buhari regime: A simple online fact-check will reveal that the
Maitatsine riots started in 1980, and the riots in which over
3,000 people died actually occurred from 1975 -1982, many
years before Buhari came to power. In fact, Maitatsine was
killed in one of the riots in 1980, though some of his adherents
continued to inflict damage up to 1984.
Truth be told, unlike the lackluster campaign we have witnessed
under Jonathan against the Boko Haram sect, the Maitatsine
sect was actually crushed during the Buhari regime, and its
leaders scattered to Cameroon, when Buhari sent an
overwhelming military force to confront them in 1984. Again,
this happened in my school activism days so I know what I am
talking about. Also, the objective history books and websites still
online support this history. Yet, AIT shamelessly tried to claim
that religious riots started under Buhari.
The documentary claimed Buhari expelled Ghanians from
Nigeria: Simply Google or ask any Ghanaian who was old
enough at the time. It was President Shehu Shagari of NPN who
first expelled over 1,000,000 Ghanaians in 1983 in the infamous
‘Ghana-Must-Go’ inicdent, as some sort of retaliation for what
the Ghanaians did to Nigeria in 1969. This was before Buhari
came to power. You can check the facts yourself from this 1983
story by New York Times .
The documentary claimed Gloria Okoh, the drug
carrier, disappeared from justice under Buhari: We all know the
Gloria Okon fake “death” and disappearance saga happened
under Ibrahim Babanginda after he overthrew Buhari. In fact, the
late Dele Giwa was rumored to have been bombed to eternity
after Buhari had been overthrown, for being too nosy about
what really happened. I remember very well how Gani
Fawehinmi fought a gallant battle to bring the perpetrators to
justice. Again, the person most people accused at the time was
Ibrahim Babangida, who overthrew Buhari, and not Buhari
himself.
The documentary claimed Fela identified Buhari in the
$2.8billion oil money scandal in his song: Fela’s song about the
missing money is still available everywhere. I have a copy of it
and have listened to it again just in case I didn’t listen well
before. Truth is, Fela never mentioned Buhari’s name. He only
mentioned OBJ and Abola. Of course, the AIT people
disingenuously edited that part of the tape out when they played
Fela’s music in their documentary. This is definite proof they
deliberately lied, otherwise why not let the song play to the point
where names were mentioned?
The documentary claimed that Buhari had a nabd in the death of
Fela’s mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti: Again, a simple fact
check by my 6-year-old daughter would reveal that Fela’s
mother died after Olusegun Obasanjo invaded the Kalakuta
Republic of Fela in 1978. It was OBJ that ordered the house of
his former Abeokuta Grammar schoolmate to be burnt down
over his criticism of OBJ government. I remember that one very
well because our house was a walking distance from Fela’s
shrine then and we all rushed to witness the “unknown soldier”
saga play out in living colors ,and I saw Fela’s mother actually
being thrown out of the window from upstairs by soldiers loyal
to OBJ. Fela even released a song about it well before Buhari
even came power more than 6 years later in 1984.
The documentary claimed Buhari imprisoned innocent
politicians: History shows that all politicians sentenced to prison
by the 1984 Military Tribunal were found to either having
enriched themselves with public funds, or diverted public funds.
None of them were convicted. Even President Jonathan whom
they were trying to help did not really say the politicians were
innocent. He only said there should have been a difference
between stealing and fraud! He said, someone someday stole
“only N5m” and was given 15 years jail, or someone stole
money that was not enough to buy a Volkswagen and was
sentenced to life. A government thief is a thief, whether N1 or
N100M. They were all tried, not by Buhari but by a properly
constituted tribunal. In any case, how any sane person who was
an adult in 1983, could argue that people like Umaru Dikko,
Akinloye, Ambrose Alli and even Ekwueme were innocent is
beyond me.
The documentary claimed that Buhari has been losing
since 1999: Buhari’s first shot was in 2003. In 1999, it was Chief
Olu Falae of ANPP/AD that contested against Obj. In any case,
why does it matter if he contested so many times and lost?
Many great leaders have lost countless elections before finally
getting a chance. Even the Great Obafemi Awolowo and the
Great Nnamdi Azikiwe also contested many times, too, without
winning, but I don’t see AIT criticizing that!
The documentary criticized Buhari for his stewardship of PTF:
Yet, the truth remains that he was vigorously investigated by the
vengeful OBJ and nothing was found on him. Even OBJ recently
confessed that the Fraud Investigation report did not find
anything against Buhari. Still, that did not stop the lying
journalists at AIT from claiming he was corrupt as the PTF
leader though they could not show any proof.
The documentary claimed that Buhari owned and benefited
from Afri-Projects Consortium scandals: While I definitely agree
that the Afri-Project Consortium did a poor job with the
enormous responsibilities it was given as consultants by the
PTF, there is no shred of evidence to suggest that Buhari is one
of its owners or that he personally benefited from their
operations. It is a testament to the deception behind this
hogwash documentary that the narrator kept saying “APC” in its
presentation of Afri-Projects Consortium to somehow connect
the company with APC on a mental level. What a shame.
The truth behind this big fat lie is that Afri-Projects Consortium
Ltd is a registered company in Nigeria, and the AIT should have
published their Form CO2 and CO7 to show us the real owners.
Buhari has constantly challenged everyone to show proof of any
ill-gotten wealth in his hands and nobody, including the AIT
crew, has been able to do that. The man still lives in a modest
house and remains the only former head of state without
mansions in Abuja or elsewhere, and yet these idiots would want
us to believe he stole billions of dollars.
“The fact that President Jonathan and his paid supporters are
desperate to win at all costs is all too obvious, even to the blind,”
Dr. Banwo writes. “It is really annoying that every time you ask
Jonathan’s supporters to give you a lucid reason why Jonathan
should be returned for another 4 years, all they keep saying is
‘ Buhari was a dictator and an Islamist’ . Essentially, their strategy
remains, ‘ Vote for Jonathan because Buhari is bad’ . What an
embarrassment!”
Dr. Banwo dares “the whole AIT crew, lawyers and owners,” to call
him out or sue him for libel if they manage to refute
his observations.
The facts presented in The Real Buhari
documentary are
accurate
inaccurate
some of them are inaccurate
Vote View Results
It would be recalled that the much-talked about documentary
telling the story of Buhari’s life and past military regime was
aired by the Africa Independent Television (AIT) . The
documentary has raised many eyebrows, while Buhari himself
has threatened to take legal action against both the Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA) and the AIT for airing “hate
broadcasts” .