President democratic, not dictatorial —Sani

A former National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum and spokesperson for the Northern Delegates’ Forum at the last National Conference, Mr. Anthony Sani, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s actions since May 29 as democratic.

According to Sani, democracy prefers strong institutions to strong men.

“It is difficult to say at this time that President Buhari is exhibiting dictatorial tendencies in a democratic setting that is under the checks and balances of the legislature. I believe President Buhari knows that the problem of one-man show is not that it does not succeed, but because such strong men driven by force of personality are rare,” the former ACF spokesman said.

He added that Buhari had contributed to the improvement of democracy in the country which is making Nigerians to have more confidence in its democratic and electoral processes.

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Sani stated that the President was using his character of honesty and integrity to stamp out kleptocracy and that he did not see President Buhari “trying to upend what he has planted. He appears a true avatar of change.”

Speaking further, Sani called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ban girls from wearing hijab. He noted that young girls were now more frequently used by Boko Haram to carry out suicide bomb attacks in the North-East.

While acknowledging President Buhari’s strong determination to put an end to Boko Haram’s insurgency, he stated that more needed to be done than fighting the insurgents through the military.

“But given the fact that hard power of military cannot eradicate terrorism, and given that small girls use veils to cloak the explosives with which they blow themselves and some others up, as well as the fact that God has put religion for the benefit of man and not for Himself (God), I would suggest Mr. President should ban small girls from using hijab until Boko Haram has been defeated completely,” Sani said.

The former ACF spokesman also spoke against efforts by some Nigerians to politicise Buhari’s fight against corruption. He noted that corruption had “stolen our empowerment, our opportunity and our future leaving behind only distorted values.”