The confirmation of the interview appointment with General Mohammadu Buhari took a long time in coming. The editorial board had decided that he should be approached for interview several months ago and a close ally of the former Nigerian military ruler was approached to help facilitate the request. He did, and his intervention helped but not with the speed that we at Newswatch wanted. But the request was eventually granted and a high-level Newswatch editorial team of Soji Akinrinade, editor-in-chief, and Dan Agbese, immediate past editor-in-chief and now managing director of the company’s book publishing company, headed for Abuja ,where the interview took place. They were joined in Abuja there by Tobs Agbaegbu, senior associate editor and Abuja Bureau chief.

What they got was a short but very rich

interview as you will notice. It shows that Buhari is still an apostle of disciplined and orderly society. He tried to present his new perception of Nigeria which he called the Nigeria of his dream and to also explain the transformation that has taken place in him since he came out of a three-year detention which followed his sack as head of state in 1985.

Buhari admits that he is now a changed person, especially towards democratic tenets. He also took time to explain why and how the changes happened. He is in the race for the presidency of the country. It is going to be his third attempt. What gives him the impression that this third attempt will be different from the past two? He talked elaborately about all of that and more in this interview titled: Free and Fair Election or Anarchy.  It’s a kind of warming that cannot be ignored. It came out of Buhari’s passionate love for justice and orderliness in all their ramifications, elections inclusive.