Retired Military General Muhammadu Buhari deserves no blame for the kind of leadership he gives Nigerians because he never begged anyone to be dragged into partisan politics. He was living in the comfort of his retirement when he was dragged into politics based on a very wrong rating of his performance as a former ruthless military head of state. One of those that threw an honest invitation for the interest of Nigerian Nation to the retired general was Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu, then governor of Bauchi State in 2021 during an official visit to the state for commissioning exercise of some completed projects. Unfortunately for Mu’azu whose invitation was misinterpreted by Buhari and associates.
When the invited Buhari made up his mind to join partisan politics, he pitched his camp with opposition party, All Peoples Party (APP) against Mu’azu’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Not successful at several trials beginning from 2003 until 2015 when Nigerians unanimously through the ballot box gave him their mandate as their president.
Now, on a sober reflection, philosophers always remind us that today is informed by yesterday just as tomorrow will be informed by today. In other words, today’s events are the repercussions of yesterday’s happenings and we ought to learn today’s bitter lessons to prepare ourselves for a bright and better tomorrow or mar it for pecuniary interest. We ignored our yesterday at our own peril and brought Buhari out of retirement on a wrong perception to lead us. If we had reflected on our yesterday, Buhari could have been allowed to be a regular visitor to Officers Mess to while away time in company of other retired generals.
Prior to the 2015 elections, Muhammadu Buhari while battling boredom in retirement was a living phenomenon in Nigeria and beyond. Nigeria then was said to be in deep crises that seemed irredeemable without Buhari’s political intervention. Thus, Nigerians enmasse buried their imaginary differences to fashion out a new course for the country’s survival by an unprecedented exhibition of goodwill that was never accorded any person vying for the most exalted political office in the country.
Buhari’s political hurricane was simply tagged CHANGE. It was not definitive if the change was meant to improve the lots of Nigerians or just to change the existing leadership piloted by the PDP for the newly born APC parented by a ganged-up mega-merger. What prevailed then was the soaring optimism by Nigerians that with Buhari as the captain of the ‘wrecked’ ship, the country would possibly be saved from a tragic drowning as a nation.
The PDP then was entirely condemned, cajoled, castigated and blackmailed for ‘ruining’ Nigeria and its symbol of umbrella was humiliated and torn by deploying the worst available sarcasm by hungry for power politicians and their attack dogs.
To effectively ‘rescue’ the ‘dying patient’, APC ‘holistic’ merger pregnancy was conceived and successfully delivered as the new child of necessity to offer multiple prosperities under Buhari.
Nevertheless, it was the political machination of the political opportunists who capitalized on Buhari’s overwhelming popularity to capture power and reap stupendous privileges and aggrandize their self-esteem.
The chanting of Nigeria ‘Sai Buhari’ was chorusly and continuously renting the air within the political space, rekindling our fast diminishing hopes, and was akin to a revolutionary atmosphere in which the leader, Buhari, was thoroughly packaged and repackaged through the media to save his political career from imminent collapse, disgracing those who perpetually saw him as a ‘religious bigot or ethnic chauvinist’ so that he was eventually branded as the Messiah we had been waiting to arrive.
More than seven years into the leadership of ‘Sai Baba’ Buhari despite his wealth of experience garnered over the years as a Military Governor in the defunct North-eastern state, Petroleum Resources Minister, General Officer Commanding 3rd Armored Brigade, Nigerian Army, Military Head of State and Chairman Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), the best elaborate term to describe his performance is ‘Buhari demystified’. Indeed, these gloomy years have unraveled Buhari shrouded in mystery when he was voted into office. For instance, Nigerians reposed unconstricted trust on him owing to his sterling quality of a man of unflinching integrity and honesty but were disappointed afterwards for retaining some certified kleptomaniacs manning some critical ministries, departments and agencies in his government such as those in the Ministry for Niger Delta Affairs that yearns for thorough investigation on how the amnesty programme initiated by the late president Umaru Musa Yar Adu’a and sustained by successive governments was handled.
While Boyloaf, Mujahedeen Asari Dokubo, Tompolo and other repented Niger Delta militants keyed into the amnesty programme for the good of Nigeria, highly placed officials in the Ministry for Niger Delta Affairs replaced the militants as thieves in the amnesty programme.
A wife to one of those highly placed officials domesticated in her matrimonial home in one of the state capitals within the North-east, was in-charge of recruiting and submitting names of prospective political thugs, supporters, family and friends for insertion on the list of beneficiaries of the amnesty programme while the official kept himself busy siphoning funds meant for the development of the impoverished region that lays the golden egg from all corners of the ministry in preparation for retirement and subsequent gubernatorial contest in his state. With such kleptomaniacs, fraud and tricksters strategically positioned in his government, how could Buhari have succeeded?
It is on record that he was the only personality who stole the hearts of millions of Nigerians without any material exchange, because they saw no corruption in his living despite occupying several lucrative offices which he would have grossly abused to enrich himself as is the harmful practice associated with many of our leaders most especially those who managed the Ministry for Niger Delta Affairs where stealing and corrupt practices were institutionalized and encouraged to flourish as the most accepted working tools.
Of course, Nigerians were right when they supported Buhari for they were highly optimistic he would ensure justice, fairness and build a virile nation. But given the current adversities afflicting the country in general terms, what will be Buhari’s scoring points?
The story that began on a good note is now coming to an end with spontaneous tragedies! When Nigerians were carried away by Buhari’s unrivaled honesty, little did they know that his cluelessness indicator in governance, would be alarmingly exposed and the country fixed on multifaceted crises.
It all started with how he assembled and constituted his cabinet after several months of unessential delay. The unanimous perception was that Buhari would have announced a formidable cabinet a week into his swearing-in just as competently demonstrated by Liberia’s president, Mr. Weah.
Putting the square peg in the round hole was the onset of Buhari’s presidency. Many people of questionable characters were picked by Buhari consciously or unconsciously to man our national affairs. This singular action was a perpetuated betrayal of Nigerians who had expected a desired transparency to be a good trait of his government and strengthen the people’s confidence. As we have been witnessing ever since, most of the key players of Buhari’s change agenda are living lavishly as parasites on the national treasury, engaging in self-indulgence in complete disregard to the general feeling of disenchantment cutting across the country.
They represent their egocentrism while the people they are supposed to serve are wallowing in continuous and lamentable anguish and the president remains aloof and comfortable with the horrible situation.
It was a very bad development that within just a year, there was no comprehensive and practical blueprint for the visionary direction of the country to take it out of the woes ‘perpetrated’ by the PDP.
To our collective dismay, he was and is still unable to differentiate in practical terms between his new Nigeria under the APC and the ‘rotten’ Nigeria he inherited from the PDP. As a national focus for reconstruction eluded him, he concentrated in employing his blood relations, appendages and accomplices in the Villa as means of entrenching nepotism.
The infamous case of Sabi’u (Tunde), Buhari’s nephew, a roadside recharge card vendor in Daura before Buhari’s ascension to power, suddenly catapulted into the league of Nigeria’s billionaires is a disappointing theme for our discussion. At the same time, the overall economic policies of Buhari’s rule have made living unbearable for the very people that massively voted him to office who are now daily groaning under hunger and starvation with a staring bleak future if not addressed.
Buhari’s power is actually the people’s power, their powerful votes, their hard earned sweat, their sustained perseverance in actualizing the power, they believed would transform their yearnings and aspirations. But it has been usurped by ‘the reactionary cabals’ under his watch and the same power the people brought into existence for their development is now a spoiler of their rosy, comfort and big dreams. However, from Buhari’s understanding of this power, it is the power of his integrity that is not accountable to anyone. That is why he is pretending that his power is not weak in the wake of the harsh living conditions subjected to the masses.
If President Buhari wants to exit power with honor and accolades, let him cause a general probe of his administration to expose those criminals who wrecked havoc on the economy and disconnect them from the larger society for the good of Nigeria.
Each and every federal ministry, department and agency should be thoroughly probed to expose the likes of AbdulRashid Maina, John Yusuf Yakubu, Ahmed Idris (former Accountant-General of the Federation) and a host of other bandits who stole the country dry and now in politics.
But fortunately, Hajiya A’ishatu Buhari, the better half of Sai Baba, recently debunked this power perception when she mustered courage to apologize to Nigerians on behalf of her husband and for that acceptance of error she has positively been recorded by history at least.
By the time Buhari will hand over power to the next president, it will be undisputable that he will step down leaving Nigeria more devastated than he met it when he assumed power. History will record his magnificient and perpetual inadequacies that culminated in the worsening level of poverty, hyper-inflation, failing standard of education, high level of corruption, lingering insecurities, unemployment, profiling debts and the rest.
In a summary therefore, the greatest lesson Nigerians should learn in electing the next leaders is assessing beyond honesty and integrity. They should also vouch for competent and visionary leaders to save Nigeria from further deterioration if they so desire.
Muhammad is a commentator on national issues
