Buhari comes under attack from civil society groups for delivering his annual Sallah address in Hausa

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has come under attack for delivering his annual Sallah message to Nigerians in the Hausa language from his sick bed in London in what has been described as a divisive move.

For nearly two months now, President Buhari has been away from Nigeria, getting treatment in the UK and vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo has been running the country. Yesterday, however, President Buhari delivered a customary annual Eid-el-Fitr Sallah address, congratulating Nigerians during the festive event which marked the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Apparently, the voice message was released to debunk reports that the president was suffering from a speech impairment but it appears to have backfired. On Sunday, the BBC aired a recorded audio version of President Buhari’s one minute and three seconds message after it was released by his spokesman Mallam Garba Shehu.

President Buhari said: “I am immensely grateful to God for his mercy in guiding us successfully to conclude another Ramadan. My greetings to all Nigerian Muslims and our brother Christians on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr.

“May the lessons of Ramadan, namely piety, self-denial, prayers and generosity to the poor and the needy, be with us for all time. I, again, appeal to all Nigerians to avoid reckless statements or actions against our fellow countrymen and we should all resolve to live in peace and unity in our great country, which is the envy of many less-endowed nations.”

Some Nigerians, however expressed mixed feelings about President Buhari’s message with some civil rights organisations and prominent individuals berating him for speaking to Nigerians in Hausa. A member of the House of Representatives during the Second Republic, Dr Junaid Mohammed, wondered what the President’s handlers intended to achieve with the audio message.

Also, pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, said President Buhari’s statement failed to address the issues of concern in the country, describing the audio message as flat. Its spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, said he expected the president to have cautioned Arewa youths against their ultimatum to the Igbo, noting that instead, President Buhari simply danced around the issue.

Mr Odumakin also berated the president for speaking in Hausa in the recording, saying that was not good enough. He contended that there were many non-Hausa Muslims in Nigerians and the approach is divisive.

“It’s like the acting president Osinbajo addressing the nation in Yoruba because he is a Yoruba man. Addressing the nation at this time in Hausa does not bring inclusiveness and I don’t think it’s good enough for the president of a multi-ethnic nation to have made a national address in the language spoken by a section of the country," Mr Odumakin added.

Reno Omokri, an aide to former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan, added: “In a country, whose official language is English, President Muhammadu Buhari broadcasts his Sallah message in Hausa. Would President Trump, whose origin is German address America in German? So what about all those Nigerians who can’t speak Hausa?"

Civil society organisation, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) , said the president’s use of Hausa in his Sallah message was discriminatory as more than half of the population would not understand him. CDHR President, Malachy Ugwumadu, said the move was not proper.

“The lingua franca of Nigeria is not Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba or Ibibio but English, therefore, while we appreciate that the president is not in the best of health condition, it is far-fetched that he would communicate on this occasion in a language that is not understood by more than half of the population. That was not well advised.

“This is a heterogeneous society, where we have over 200 indigenous languages and I think the president should focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. If he mustered the energy to talk at all, he should talk in a way everyone would understand," Mr Ugwumadu added.

Ijaw Youth Council spokesman Henry Iyalla, also expressed surprise that President Buhari, spoke in Hausa in his message. He added that it would be difficult for Nigerians to agree that the president was actually the person that spoke to Nigerians on the BCC.