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

Dr. Ope Banwo watches the infamous AIT-aired documentary
The Real Buhari and points out 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