Alhaji Bashir Tofa is a businessman and politician. He came to limelight when he contested the 1993 presidential election with the late business mogul, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, in an election adjudged free and fair, but annulled by the military. Abiola was believed to have won the poll. In an interview with Vanguard, Tofa takes a swipe at the pro-Biafra agitators, dismissing the accusations of marginalization against Igbo as “the ranting of some fanatics”.
When asked the question: “do you think the marginalization song by the South-east, particularly in this Buhari government, is valid?”, he responded as follows:
“I have not heard any sensible and responsible Igbo man making such accusations. It was just the ranting of some fanatics, who always want us to see ourselves in tribal and religious garbs. After all these years together, it is a shame that we are still unable to shed these identities and become Nigerians. The more we continue this way, the more harm we inflict on our national unity and progress. I am sure President Buhari’s main consideration is not WHO a person is, but WHAT that person can deliver to the Nigerian people. I have long advocated that we must stop being a country of “you know WHO, but a country of you know WHAT’. (Full interview in Vanguard)
