Muhammad Bukhari's Last Words: A Nation Cursed?

At 2:37am on the morning of December 13th 2015, late Muhammad Bukhari posted on his FaceBook page :

Disappointment and confusion in the camp of Nigerian soldiers as they about to face the biggest shame of their lives… they have done all the killing and injuring score of brothers and sisters, yet, we remain peaceful. They expected confrontation, the only thing they are getting is the loud slogan of “Allahu Akbar” Allahu Akbar” Allahu Akbar” Ya Mahdi Ya Mahdi Ya Mahdi is what is echoing here from brothers and sisters and children… What a disappointing outing for the Zionists zombies…. as shame and defeat is eminent... with all the re-enforcement and weapons and shooting Power, the Will and resolve of brothers and sisters is just getting started… You cannot structure us according to your fancy... We are Muslims... Lovers of Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad…. We have a code of ethics and engagement… No provocation can force us to do your bidding… If you have bothered to read about Islam … it is a defensive religion not offensive... and they are a lot of steps and procedures of engagement in Jihad please... You cannot structure us according to your ignorance and deception. ‪ #‎siegeonhussainiyyabaiyyatullah‬

A shot hit Bukhari’s wife, Aisha and she fell with their baby, little Batoola on her back. They died together.

At 3:25am that fatefull morning, Bukhari said:
“Nigerian Soldiers have just won a medal of cowardice by bombing the front view of Hussainiyya Baqiyyatullah… Loud explosions have shattered the front view of beautiful Hussaniyya Baqiyyatullah information reaching us now ... What is the meaning of this? Is Hussainiyya the new found Sambisa Forest?”

At 4:24 am Bukhari posted his last words:
“Unfortunate battery is running out and maybe this is my last post …. and it is already morning as the call for prayers is already taking shape insha Allah … Whatever the situation please do forgive us we are not perfect but just trying to see what we can contribute so that we can have excuses before Allah when he asks us about the state of affair about Islam… We can say Ya Rabbi we did our best and in the process we were martyred in the process.”

It was his last post. The Nigerian military broke down the gate of the Hussainiyyah Islamic movement complex and killed everyone hiding inside including those receiving treatment in a make-shift infirmary. The military went further to kill all Shia and Islamic movement-related Muslims they could find at several other independent locations across Kaduna. A list of names of 1000 victims has been released. Thousands remain burned and injured to varying degrees. The Nigerian government made a three-month belated admission to have secretly buried 350 in a single mass grave.

It is a year and a half later. The killers of Muhammad Bukhari have not yet been brought to book. The Nigerian government has not even ever published a list of names of victims, nor reached out to them in any way whatsoever. In spite of being found guilty by a biased Kaduna government inquiry panel that could not bring chief witness and victim, Sheikh Zakzaky to its trials, not a single Nigerian soldier or Kaduna government official has been as little as suspended for the Zaria massacre and secret midnight burial that followed.

Are we a nation cursed? Has our wickedness destroyed us? How can we expect good health when we deny others of the same? How do we expect progress when we are so divided and spiteful and wish on and do to others what we would not want for ourselves? I don't have to be Shia to feel their pain and know I am under the curse of what my nation has done to them. I don't have to be a Biafran to know there are repercussions for the hundred killed and secretly buried in Onitsha while we as a people look on without fighting for justice for them.

Many of us wished that Muhammadu Buhari would be our messiah. Late Muhammad Bukhari was one such individual. He campaigned far and wide for president Buhari. He was active as an election monitor. But his reward came quick; he was sentenced to death for his beliefs. Perhaps it is the same reward for the rest of us, only his came quicker.

I don't believe at this point there is any Nigerian left who believes Buhari's anti-corruption war is holy. The war is skewed. Is Atiku not walking free? Did Buhari not promise that he will re-open the Halliburton case ahead of his trip to the USA in 2015? But those who looted us silly in that case, the Atikus and Obasanjos; are they not still walking freely because they are friends of the ruling party? What has happened to Babachir Lawal, to Abdurahman Dambazzau, indicted in the recent Military report for looting the army dry? How is 'susu-made millionaire,' Buratai faring? What is happening to Godwin Emefiele who opened CBN's vaults for millions of mint note dollars to be looted? Even the former government bad guys...apart from house arrest, is anything happening to Dasuki?

Do we not all witness the way the Senate President evades justice while the mekunu is killed at the altar for steeling a mudu of gari? Everyone in Kwara state knows what Saraki has done to them; should such a person be at the helm of the nation's affairs under our 'messiah?"

Are we not still being intimidated by police and the army while our "messiah" reigns? Is there not nepotism at the CBN, FIRS, SSS, everywhere we turn under the "righteous one?"

Even as we recover billions of dollars looted by Abacha, we still see our "messiah" praise him and refer to him in high esteem. It's the same way president Buhari praises and wishes a happy birthday to Bamanga Tukur, on record as saying , "Boko Haram is fighting for justice; Boko Haram is another name for justice." Does the release of deadly terror masterminds and alleged payment of massive amounts of FOREX to Boko Haram, and praise of the group by government spokesmen for "keeping the girls well" therefore come as a surprise? Did we not vote Buhari for his military skills...supposedly able to defeat Boko Haram, liberate Nigeria and rescue all our abducted citizens? Do we ask why it took 2-years to negotiate with Boko Haram if we were really so eager to pay them for our girls? It is all about politics and photo-ops with our new politician "messiah?"

Even if Buhari were the messiah, with the type of people he has surrounded himself with; he cannot take us to the promised land. With the blood on his hands, how can he give us life?

But we knew this perhaps when in our valid desperation to remove the corrupt and inept Jonathan and babe Diezani, we voted Buhari who despite being unable to win the 2011 elections by any calculation, asked his fans to defend their votes by killing or destroying anyone who obstructed them? "Halaka shi," he did say as heard in the video where he waves a pen that invokes the image of a spear. About 1000 died in the aftermath, presented to the ICC .

Yes, we even knew how bloody Buhari's first appearance was: killing on retroactive laws and his silencing any opposition, activists and journalists. Can we pretend shock on the media suppression and intimidation at record high levels? Who among us did not know Decree 4, and about Sage Fela Kuti's 10 year sentence by Buhari for simply singing the truth; slammed in jail on charges 'Amnesty International denounced as fabricated and politically motivated?'

We knew how differently Buhari treated the President he deposed of northern origins as against his vice from the south: one getting house arrest and the other, 'less culpable' slammed in jail. We knew how our "messiah" referred to the Abacha that looted us silly and killed us with poisonous imported petroleum as not being corrupt, and how he even worked for him under his corrupt and deadly administration. Nepotism, tribalism, religious fanaticism and 95-5% came as no surprise, we must admit.

So indeed, nothing changed. We got what we voted for.

The question is: what can we do about it now?
#OurMumuDoneDo
Dr. Perry Brimah; @EveryNigerian

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Articles by Perry Brimah, Dr.