Johnny Ucheaga, former National Administrative Secretary of the defunct National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN), has revealed how his meeting with the late Head of State, President Muhammadu Buhari, as an undergraduate in University of Jos, when he was General Officer Commanding the 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army, prevented a clash between soldiers and students in Jos.

He made the revelation in an interview with Daily Sun, where he also said that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi stand a better chance of clinching the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential ticket, saying that they are eminently qualified.

Excerpts:

What is your take on a recent protest by retired police officers over poor welfare and unpaid pension by the FG for 14 years?

The Holy Bible tells us that a labourer is entitled to his wages. So, from that standpoint, I will urge the Federal Government to look into the Issue, if it is already not being attended to, because I heard that it is already being addressed. But if not, let it be attended so that those retired police officers will benefit. When you work or serve your fatherland and retire, you should be rewarded. Also, many of their colleagues have fallen in the line of duty to their country. In other countries, those in the Defence and Police Force are highly regarded and respected and I think the same should be replicated in our country by the government.

The death of former President Muhammadu Buhari was received with mixed feelings, how would you describe Buhari who served the country as Military Head of state and as civilian President for eight years?

I knew President Buhari in 1982 and 1983, when I was in the University of Jos in Plateau State. And there was this problem during President Idriss Deby?s reign. There was the Chief of Staff of the Army of Chad under the Presidency of Guokouni Oueddei. So, what happened was that the Lake Chad was a very big place. That is the lake through which the Republic of Chad was named, but that lake extends to Niger Republic and even to Nigeria and Cameroon in the wetlands. There were many factions fighting in the ?70s to ?80s in Chad before August 1979 when the then Head of State in Nigeria, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo handed over to President Shehu Shagari. There was what was called the Abuja Accord, where the warring factions in Chad were brought to Nigeria and were settled. One was appointed Head of State, one was appointed the vice president and one was appointed Chief of Army Staff. After the sharing of positions, there were still rebels occupying islands in Borno State in Nigeria, then the Nigerian Army under the presidency of Alhaji Shehu Shagari decided to deploy forces to that region. The division that was given the assignment was the 3rd Division of the Nigerian Army and the commander of that division was Gen. Buhari. Even though the fight was far away in Borno State, the divisional headquarters was in Jos. And my school was in Jos and only a fence separated my campus from the headquarters of the 3rd Division. So, we used to see Buhari as a tall lanky man when he was coming back with siren blowing.

On one occasion, the soldiers had a problem with one of our students. The soldiers were stopping people at the gate. And many of the students had cars so they caught one of us and seized his vehicle and took it to their place. And our students were very unhappy about that even though until then we never had any problem with them. The students were really agitated and I suggested, why don?t we send a delegation to our Vice Chancellor so that he can contact the commander and release the boy?s car. They started calling me ?Delegation? and that became my nickname in the school. Anywhere I was going, they hail me ?Delegation.?

So, I went by myself to the Vice Chancellor and told him that students can go with anger to retrieve the car and there would be casualty. He asked me if I could go. I said yes, if he asked me to go, I would go. He granted it and so I went. When I got to the military gate, the soldiers asked me who I was looking for? I said I was looking for their GOC, they looked at me and asked, who are you? I said I?m one the students. They asked me why? I said because of the car there, because I was looking at the car, I pointed at it, they didn?t park it in a hidden place. They asked again, is it your car? I said no. They said what is your own problem with car? I said my Vice Chancellor said I should go and speak with your GOC so that he can release the vehicle to the student because they are boiling there, to avoid a clash. I told them that, if the students come for the car and trouble starts, you may shoot one of them and there will be problem, and the whole people in Jos will come here and there would be problem. They asked me if that was what I was planning? I said no. They spoke with each other and came back and asked me, you don?t think you can talk to any of us here? I said no. They said, since he is from the Vice Chancellor let him go and see the GOC. I went and I saw the man, a simple man, reading newspapers, and I greeted him. I stood up, he said I should sit down. I said ?Sir, I came for?,? he interrupted me and said unless I sat down. I sat down and I said I was sorry for the altercation between our student and your men and it led to the detention of his vehicle. He asked, you said detention of vehicle of your student? I said, yes. Why should I come to see him or didn?t I see his men at the gate to report to? I said I saw the car while I was coming in, he said I should go and carry it. I said sir, your people have guns, but I don?t have. He laughed and asked, why don?t you have gun? So, you can make trouble with soldier and when trouble starts you don?t know what to do? I said, not me, I?m only trying to help him release his car. He said it is you because you are the only one here. So, he followed me out and asked his men, why did you go and interfere with the students? Don?t you have children in your house? He ordered them to give me the car. That was my first experience and encounter with President Muhammadu Buhari. From then, each time he was passing we waved and he would wave back at us.

Some Nigerians have opposed the renaming of University of Maiduguri after Muhammadu Buhari, what is your take?

I heard that some students are not happy with the renaming of the University of Maiduguri after former President Muhammadu Buhari. It is because they ignore history because when Gen. Muhammadu Buhari became Head of state, he did quite a lot in Borno State.

But he didn?t replicate this during his eight years as President?

When he became Head of state, he built the Kaduna Refinery and the pipeline that went there. It was functioning when Buhari was Head of state. Check how that refinery was built within three years and started to function, but could not be repaired in the last 30 years? Buhari was the Chairman of NNPC and he was the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) and during that period many roads that were unpassable were reconstructed and fixed while many new ones were constructed. A lot of schools refurbished. And the Second Niger Bridge, who built it? Buhari. Take a look at the number of schools built by Buhari and you will be surprised. Like I said, late President Muhammadu Buhari is not publicity freak rather, he lived a quiet life. He could not replicate it because he had an ailment which as he got older was troubling him and there was an allegation that they wanted to assassinate him by poising him which he survived. And that made him not to be active as he used to be.

Let?s talk about 2027; as it stands, what are Peter Obi?s chances of clinching the presidential ticket of ADC?

I?m not a member of the Labour Party and I don?t know whether the problem I?m reading is orchestrated or it is real that the Labour Party is in crisis. It was Peter Obi that brought Datti. I think it?s a serious Issue, but what is important is whether Peter Obi will emerge from the Labour Party as the presidential candidate even though he is romancing with ADC. The constitution of ADC says only people who belong to the party can be their presidential candidate. And some people are assuring Peter Obi that he will pick the ticket from another political party, but assurance cannot amend the constitution. So, Peter Obi has to take a decision before the 2027 election. My organisation had a collaboration with the Nigerian Pilgrims Board and organised a programme at the Nigerian Christian Centre, Abuja in which we invited both Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi who are our close friends as an opportunity for them to take a decision, but they worked at cross purpose. And we don?t know whether they will still work at cross purpose in this coming election. Each of them is eminently qualified to run for the presidency.

Atiku has said he won?t step down for anybody, but would support anyone who emerges the presidential candidate through primary, isn?t that being over-ambitious, having contested for the presidency severally without abiding by the gentleman?s agreement of power rotation?

You just said it is a gentleman?s agreement. Politics is not a game for gentlemen, is a game for people who want to govern. If you want to be a gentleman, you go to your social club. If Atiku believes he will win the primary, he will contest and it is his right. And it is also the right of Peter Obi to contest, but they are up against a formidable candidate which is President Bola Tinubu. Now they don?t have a party, hence, they are neither there or here. So, I wouldn?t take any of them seriously for now because I have not seen a serious candidate other than President Tinubu and I may be totally wrong. If you cannot control your own party which you formed and it got bad that you had to leave PDP to a smaller party. (Daily Sun)

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