With about 13 months left till the end of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the ruling party, APC, is saddled with the herculean task of finding a successor who will sustain the incumbent president’s legacy. It is a big burden, indeed, for the party. And to ensure that this objective is achieved, the party is not ready to relinquish power. Who, except an APC faithful, can build on the foundation President Buhari has laid?
One need only listen to the declaration speeches of the party’s presidential hopefuls to realize that the APC is carrying a heavy load – the need to deepen President Buhari’s economic reforms and find a successor that would sustain them when he leaves office in 2023. “I have the confidence, the vision, the capacity to rule, build on the foundation of Mr President, and turn Nigeria better,” Bola Tinubu said while declaring his intention to run for the presidency.
Yahaya Bello, on his part, believes that Nigeria needs a president that can unify the country and build “on the legacies that Mr President will leave behind.” Also, Vice President Osinbajo, in his declaration broadcast, projected himself as a continuity candidate, the man who has been part of President Buhari’s ‘change’ agenda and who can best sustain it. Furthermore, other APC presidential aspirants, David Umahi, Rotimi Amaechi among others also share in the belief that the President’s achievements should be consolidated upon by the next President.
At this juncture, given the APC’s desire for an elongation of the party’s tenure and the obsession to find a successor that would continue what President Buhari has started, it is essential we begin to think about the President’s achievements in office which the APC is so eager to maximize.
The President, speaking on the need for the party to retain power in 2023 and beyond, had once admonished the members of the ruling party thus, “We must not, by default, allow the PDP to get its dirty hands on the government again and return us to the Stone Age.”
Nigerians are, however, not unaware that the last seven years have been marked by violation of fundamental human rights, particularly the freedom of expression (exemplified by the banning of Twitter) and freedom to peaceful assembly (exemplified by the shooting of #EndSARS protesters), sectional leadership, inflation, corruption, infrastructure decay, mismanagement and embezzlement of public funds, economic hardship, insecurity, among others.
If President Buhari described the 16-year rule of the PDP as ‘Stone Age’, I can only wonder the perfect description for his APC-led government. Kakistocracy, I suppose. Given how unprecedented economic hardship and suffering has befallen the nation under President Buhari, kakistocracy, a government in which the worst people are in charge, best describes his leadership.
In this stead, it is quite exasperating that the legacy President Buhari will bequeath to Nigeria when he leaves office is one of suffering spree. It is even more disturbing that it is this legacy that has left democracy imperilled and the country on the brink of collapse that the APC intends to boost.
I do not think the ruling party is oblivious of the disintegration agenda that was launched by President Buhari which has made national cohesion to be under severe strain. I do not also think that the APC is totally incognizant of the fact that the mission to complete what President Buhari has started would mean embarking on a journey to bury a dying nation.
Why the party, therefore, is keen to sustain President Buhari’s legacy of ruin and mismanagement of our security baffles me. Perhaps, the APC’s mission is to complete the journey of burning the nation down. And if this is the case, we should fear for what would be left of us all at the end of the journey.
With less than two years left to the end of President Buhari’s tenure, I expect the ruling party to know that Nigeria is not in search of a President to consolidate on his so-called achievements, rather we are in need of a President to rescue Nigeria from his clutching policies.
Ezinwanne writes from Abuja via ezinwanne.dominion@gmail.com
