– Sheikh Gumi faults the method President Buhari is employing in his famous fight against corruption

Sheikh Gumi highlights Buhari's
errors; profers solutions

– Sheikh Gumi faults the method President Buhari is
employing in his famous fight against corruption
– The popular cleric advises Buhari to work with every
region of the country in order to bring unity
– He says rich people are now afraid to spend money
due to intimidation and that leaves the poor people
poorer
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has criticised President
Muhammadu Buhari for the way he is ripping Nigeria
apart and the method he is employing in fighting
corruption.
In an interview with Sahara Reporters, Gumi accused
President Buhari of not making the unity of Nigeria a
priority and that this has given birth to agitation by
different regions.
He said: “The government should have formed a
Government of National Unity right from the beginning.
For example, tell the South-East to bring whoever they
trust to represent them in the government. The South-
West brought Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as running mate; he
was not the choice of Buhari.
READ ALSO: Gumi advises Buhari to reverse tough
economic policies
“The same way that you did with South-West do with
the South- South and South-East. This is what I mean
by Government of National Unity because if the
militants believe that they are represented well in the
government, they will allow the oil to flow.
“If the crude oil flows, our refineries will work. The
President needs to listen; he can’t afford to be adamant
anymore. He should listen to knowledgeable individuals
and not sycophants who supported him. Nigeria is for
everybody. It is not for any single political party or the
President.”
On President Buhari’s order that Niger Delta militant
bombing pipelines be crushed, Gumi said it was not the
best way to deal with the situation.
“How can they deal with the militants in the first place,
when they are holding the nation’s umbilical cord? You
are fighting Boko Haram in the North, and you want to
fight the militants in the creeks. You don’t fight on two
fronts at the same time. That was one of the reasons
why Adolf Hitler failed in the Second World War. The
government should sit down with them and ask them
the reasons for their agitation.
“Don’t forget; they were embittered that their man
Goodluck Jonathan was defeated. Their argument now
is, ‘if you hate our man, then leave our oil.’ No section
of the country has the solution of Nigeria’s problem.
“So, everybody should be brought on board. Even if the
South-South brings Government Tompolo as their man,
we should accept him, so long as they trust him; so that
we will have stability.
“A military solution is not the best option in this
circumstance. Former President Umaru Yar’adua could
swallow his pride as president and negotiate with the
militants. Jonathan also did it. But a military man
cannot do it because it will hurt his ego. But if he
doesn’t do it, he will kill the nation.”
Sheikh Gumi said Buhari was treading a precarious
path as president because there is a tussle between the
rich and the poor and his fight against corruption
needed a new dimension. He insisted diplomacy is the
right way to handle corruption so rich people would
pump money into the country.
“Buhari’s coming into politics has accentuated the
class struggle in Nigeria. The antagonism between the
rich and poor can sometimes be more dangerous that
religious differences. I saw this class struggle coming
because the masses will always rush to Buhari because
they believe that he will bring justice and food on the
table for them. They want him to emasculate the rich for
them; he either does it, or they will categorise him as a
failure.
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than Buhari
“So, once you put a leader in that kind of situation, then
you are already introducing a class struggle into the
already compounded problem. In addition to our tribal
problems, our religious differences, and the North/South
divide, there is now a class problem because the
talakawa just want to see the rich imprisoned. And if
they are tasking the president to do that, and if he does
not do it he is a failure, then he will definitely fail
because he cannot do it.
“So, the kind of leader that we needed at that time was
one who will pacify the rich and still have the
confidence of the poor. By so doing, the rich will help in
building the economy by setting up companies that will
generate employment.
“That is why the Prophet (SAW) said that you can get
with leniency what you can never get by force. He said
that when leniency enters anything, it decorates it. And
strictness, violence blemishes and destroys the beauty
of whatever they enter.
“So, what you get with diplomacy, you cannot get with
violence. If you want to deal with corruption in Nigeria,
you have to deal with it in a diplomatic way. No one
should be afraid of returning the money that they have
looted. But when the poor is always rating your
administration by the number of people you have
caught, then you are in trouble because you cannot
catch the big ones.
“Because if you do so, you will destroy your government
and if you don’t catch them, the poor will say that you
have changed. The president is even fighting the war on
corruption the wrong way. When you fight corruption, it
will naturally fight back. Corruption has become an
international institution. You will hear foreign leaders
condemning corruption, but they are engaging in it
because their countries benefit from it.
READ ALSO: Prominent cleric reveals reasons of
Nigeria’s problems
“So, the President needs to tread carefully in fighting
corruption with the way things are now because it will
frighten the upper class of the society. It will put them
on pause, and this is not healthy for a developing
economy like our own.
“You need the rich to infuse money into the system and
fund projects. For example, I went to a fundraiser for an
Islamic school. Big men came, but not a single one
donated a Kobo, not even a pledge because they may be
asked where they got the money from.
“So, there is fright, and this is hurtful to the economy.
The war on corruption should purely be a law and order
issue. Right now, if EFCC invites someone, the next day
it is in the newspapers. “The damage this kind of thing
causes to people’s reputation is very severe, especially
if they are found to be innocent.”