As the fifth anniversary of the passing of former Minister of Information and one-time President of the Guild of Editors, Prince Tony Momoh, is marked, a Security Reporter, who is also a security analyst in Nigeria, Mr Folorusho Atta, has revealed that the highly principled and erudite journalist was a mentor to Nigeria’s immediate past president, General Muhammadu Buhari.
Although Buhari had been in leadership since 1975, when he was appointed governor of the North-Eastern State by General Murtala Mohammed, Atta explained that Buhari’s eventual successes in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections could be traced to Momoh’s persistent encouragement and pressure over the years.
“Momoh stood by Buhari when he contested against Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003. He did not abandon him when he ran against President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. After losing to Yar’Adua in 2007, Buhari had resolved to quit politics. However, in 2009, during the public presentation of Tony Momoh’s biography at the National Arts Theatre in Lagos, Momoh and other elder statesmen, including a respected former Nigerian leader, persuaded Buhari to try again under a different political platform.
This gave birth to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which later adopted Buhari as its presidential candidate. Buhari, however, lost once more to President Goodluck Jonathan.”
The journalist disclosed that after three unsuccessful attempts, Buhari vowed never to contest for the presidency again. “But with Momoh’s conviction that Buhari could provide purposeful leadership, based on his performance as military head of state in 1984–1985, Momoh and others proposed the merger of ANPP, ANC, and CPC to form a formidable party to challenge Jonathan in 2015.”
“It took Momoh several weeks to convince a reluctant Buhari to contest the primaries of the newly formed APC. Buhari eventually defeated all other aspirants, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. As the APC flagbearer, Buhari enjoyed both moral and financial support from political heavyweights such as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rochas Okorocha, who had come third in the primaries. With this backing, Buhari had little difficulty defeating Jonathan in the 2015 election.”
Atta noted that until his death on February 1, 2021, Momoh remained one of the few Nigerians who lived resiliently by their convictions. He compared Momoh’s Spartan lifestyle and unwavering principles to those of Alhaji Aminu Kano, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Dr Tai Solarin, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, and Dr Bekolori Ransome-Kuti.
“Momoh was elevated by General Ibrahim Babangida, who appointed him Minister of Information in 1986. By 1990, Babangida dropped him from the cabinet, but weeks later, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Nigeria Airways.
Despite being brought into prominence by Babangida, Momoh never wavered in his commitment to Buhari’s political aspirations, even though Babangida had toppled Buhari’s government on August 25, 1985.”
