Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

Up until yesterday, Nigeria had a president known more for his trademark fedora and easygoing ways. Today, the mantle of leadership has changed hands and Muhammadu Buhari, a retired Army General and disciplinarian, is the man of the moment. He took the oath of office and oath of allegiance at a colourful ceremony at the Eagles Square, Abuja. Party over, Buhari needs to sit his bum down to tackle the accumulated multifarious challenges that continue to cripple the Nigerian nation. Clearly, he would be deluding himself and putting his reputation up for bashing if he thinks Nigerians would exercise endless patience for him to plot his way through the landmines planted by the outgone government of Goodluck Jonathan. The exit of that administration sets the alarm bell for Buhari to hit the ground running. The populace has gone far beyond listening to any tendentious excuse about how bad the situation was before the May 29 handover date. All they want to see
are visible nuggets that stand as roadmaps to recovery, especially by an administration that rode into power singing the change mantra. It may be tough, yet it is Buhari’s cross to deal with!

No matter how awry things have gone, excuses are simply not enough. Expectations are high that Nigeria’s real Mr. Fix It is in the saddle to bring much-needed relief and put a smile on the faces of the long-suffering masses. Regardless of the humongous $63bn debt profile contained in Jonathan’s handover notes, the public expect Buhari to find the magic wand to revitalising the critical sectors of the economy. Chief among these is the energy sector, which has inflicted the gravest pains on the psyche of Nigerians in spite of the multi-billion dollar investments. There are also the nagging issues of institutional corruption and infrastructural decay. I guess it bears being repeated that Jonathan was not voted out because the electorate grew tired of seeing his dull face giggling back at their penury. No sir. He was shown the door because he spent far longer time fiddling with his plethora of paper achievements while everything was collapsing all around
him and over the heads of citizens. Aside his sloppy handling of the security situation in the country, he simply failed to show leadership when it mattered most. And, as days ran into months, the electorate grew tired of the perplexing lethargy he wrought on governance.

Besides, Jonathan was too far removed from the people to share in their pains and anguish. Without much to show in terms of genuinely praiseworthy productivity, he appeared immersed in the captivating allure of power. His hordes of court jesters entranced him with shibboleths of deceit and fairy tales of unprecedented strides. They said he was the next best thing to have happened to Nigeria after God. He relished the moment. They thanked him on our behalf for an endless mirage of ‘achievements’ whose impact the ordinary citizens have not really felt – building roads, improving education, providing quality health care system, introducing a template for uninterrupted power supply, stabilising the energy sector and securing lives and property. They popped him up as a symbol of the country’s perennial battle against corruption. He lapped it all without stepping out of his comfort zone to feel the pulse of the people. It took reality of credible
election to nudge him to the vacuity of his action. He was held captive by power until the same power deserted him. The emperor was cut to size by the thumb and overnight, he came tumbling from his high horse!

Now that Buhari is President, he cannot afford to fall into the same potholes that eventually swallowed Jonathan’s second term bid. Thankfully, Buhari is not a neophyte, neither has he given anyone the impression that he is one to be swayed by the genuflections of palace wannabes. With his age and experience, he should know what he was walking into when he decided to, once again, have a shot at the presidency after three failed attempts. To demonstrate that capacity and understanding, he told a group of editors in a recent interview in the Sunday Trust that he was prepared to be his own man and find a way out of the exotic ‘cage’ that the Aso Rock Presidential Palace was to Jonathan. “I asked for it (to be President in Aso Villa)’, so whatever I meet there I cannot complain. I know, of course, that there is a lot of work to be done. The important thing is to make sure that the structures on ground are made to function; people are made to do their work
and develop the capacity to supervise,” he had said.

Some have suggested that Buhari may not nurse a second term ambition. That does not preclude the fact that on his lean shoulders lie the future and fortunes of the ruling All Progressives Congress in subsequent elections. His four-year tenure offers a make-or-mar opportunity for the APC. No one is saying that it is going to be an easy task battling entrenched interests in a queer political system. It is just that Buhari has no option other than to walk his talk. There is no better time for him to display that courage, competence and capacity than now.

Good enough, he has started on the right template by insisting on being his own man. For, if the truth must be told, Jonathan’s numb tactlessness and weakness in dealing with issues of urgent national importance contributed to his failure. Perhaps, Buhari has learnt a big lesson from that and he has opted to be solely responsible for his action. However, Mr. President ought to understand that being his own man would surely come with a price even right within his own inner circle. His success would largely depend on how he employs wisdom in dealing with both the centripetal and centrifugal forces within and without. That, by the way, was the cage reality former President Jonathan was talking about. This subsequently beclouded his ability to stop the systemic rot.

Now that Buhari is President, the buck stops right on his desk. When he points the finger at Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party for being an economic and political disaster in the last 16 years of our democratic journey, I just hope he understands that the remaining four fingers point right back at him to, in the next four years, display the strength of character that would bring drastic change in the state of the economy and infrastructural development. In that Sunday Trust interview, he said his focus would be on education, healthcare, security, infrastructure, fighting corruption and blocking the various leakages, which resulted in the multi-billion dollar losses that found their ways to personal pockets of our rapacious, fleecing elite. Good talk. But then, didn’t they say talk is cheap? Is there really anything new in this that Jonathan did not vow to confront when he was inaugurated on May 29, 2011?

Just this reminder though: In the year 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan inspired the nation to a frenzy of great expectations. He told them he was one of them; a man of simple means who rose to power from the backwaters of Otuoke in Bayelsa State. When he got into power, that poetic cadence metamorphosed into vain triumphalism. Drowned in the exhortations of the countless court jesters around him, Jonathan simply forgot to do a reality check at the footstool of the ordinary Nigerian who holds the ace to his fate as long as his continuous stay in that exotic ‘cage’ is concerned. If only he had taken the liberty to peep out of that cage occasionally to measure the pulse of his subjects, maybe he would not have suffered such a crushing blow. You do not throw your chin up for such a long time, ignoring informed clamour that you walk your talk and expect to reap a whirlwind of electoral victory. That’s why he is out there somewhere, wishing things
had been done differently.

Now, Buhari is waltzing lyrical and sending waves of romantic sound bites into our ear lobes. We know about his legendary Spartan living and we can vouch for his stance against corruption. What we really do not know is if that would still be applicable immediately he gets giddy with the allure of that exotic cage which he moved into yesterday. We really cannot say how he handles the pressures and sweet-coated offerings of the men in the corridors of power. Like I once admonished in an earlier piece, Buhari needs to hold himself to the mirror because he does not have the luxury of tendering excuses for any failure. Nigerians voted for good governance and not good luck. They heeded his call and it is now time for him to remember his promises. For the avoidance of doubt, I’ll list the some of the promises. He told us of his strategic plans to ensure that we now enjoy constant electricity; tame the cabal in the petroleum sector and reduce petrol price;
return the naira’s lost glory against foreign currencies; give one free meal a day in all public schools; open a vista of opportunities for Nigerians to access better living conditions; create employment for the millions slapping the streets in dejection; fight corruption head-on and ensure the safety of lives and property. Surely, Buhari could not have forgotten so soon that quotidian living has become such a hellish reality that the citizens’ patience could not stand another bumbling whining from any government that is long on canticles and short on delivery.

Now that Buhari is President, the time ticks for him. He should rest assured that no one wants to hear his lamentations about his experience in the gilded cage called Aso Rock. Let him fix his gaze on the voices from the market place – the ones whose hopes and votes earned him an indisputably popular passage to the highest position in the land. We just hope he remembers, hopefully!