BREAKING: Full Details Why Buhari Had NO OPTION, Than To Address World Most Populous Black Nation In Hausa Language – Presidency Blasts Igbo Critics.
A highly placed source in the Presidency has revealed the reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari addressed Nigerians in Hausa language.
Speaking exclusively, on Sunday night, the source disclosed that Mr. President is more disposed to Hausa language, than English language.
While giving the reasons, the source bluntly said: “Remember Hausa language is the most spoken language in Nigeria. The President needs to promote the language. Hausa will soon be the official language in Nigeria, because statistics show that 76 percent of Nigerians speaks the language.”
The source added: “Since the North are predominantly Muslims, and virtually all understand the language, hence it behooves on the President to address them in the language that they will best understand.”
Recall, that Buhari who left the country for the United Kingdom, UK, 50 days ago, on Sunday, released his voice message to Nigerians, felicitating with them on the Sallah celebration, marking the end of Ramadan.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, had reported that the voice message was released to debunk reports that the President was suffering from speech impairment.
The message took the President about one minute and three seconds to deliver.
Some Nigerians however, expressed mixed feelings about Buhari’s message, with some civil rights organisations and prominent individuals, berating the President for speaking to Nigerians in Hausa.
The pan-Yoruba Socio-Political group, Afenifere, said Buhari’s statement failed to address the issues of concern in the country, describing the audio message as flat.
“It’s like the Acting President (Yemi) Osinbajo, addressing the nation in Yoruba, because he is a Yoruba man.
“Addressing the nation at this time in Hausa, does not bring inclusiveness. 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”, he said.
Also, reacting to the President’s message, a former Special Assistant on Social Media to former President, Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Reno Omokri, on his Facebook page, condemned Buhari for addressing Muslims in Hausa.
Omokri stated: “In a country, whose official language is English, President Muhammadu Buhari broadcasts his Sallah message in Hausa! Would Trump (whose origin is German), address America in German? So what about all those Nigerians who can’t speak Hausa?
“Ideally, the President should have spoken in English first; then, if he feels like it, he may also speak in Hausa. The way he spoke only in Hausa, makes it seem as if he is only concerned with those who gave him 97 percent of the votes, while those who gave him five percent can take a hike!
“How would the rest of the country have felt, if President Olusegun Obasanjo had released a Christmas broadcast to Nigerians in Yoruba, or if President Goodluck Jonathan had done so in Ogbia?
“How can a National Leader address Nigerians in a sectional language? Nigeria has never had a leader as divisive as Buhari! There is no difference between President Buhari and Nnamdi Kanu.
“President Buhari is the President of all Nigeria; he is not the President of only those who can speak Hausa! This is an outrage! (The late) President Umaru Yar’Adua, also spoke to the BBC News by telephone. He is Fulani, like President Buhari; yet, he spoke in English, because he was President of all of us!”
In its reaction, another 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.
The CDHR President, Malachy Ugwumadu, stated: “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. 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. It is not proper.’’
Also, the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, expressed surprise that Buhari, whom it noted Nigerians had been eager to hear from, spoke in Hausa in his sallah message.
The IYC Spokesman, Henry Iyalla, said on Sunday, that it would be difficult for Nigerians to agree that the President was actually the person that spoke to Nigerians on the BBC.
He explained that the President should have spoken in English, the official language of the country, adding that, it was only English that the entire Nigeria would be able to hear and understand, if he was the person who spoke.
Iyalla stated: “He is not only the President of the Hausas, he is also the President of Yorubas, Igbos, Niger Deltans and other ethic nationalities.
“We are not really sure that he is the one who really spoke, and this has not doused any tension about his health.”
