It is a dawn of
new reality in Nigeria. Nigerians, as a people, andNigeria, as a country,
are now better informed about “the state of things as they actually exist,” as
distinct from “idealistic or notional idea of them.” At present, nobody can be
hoodwinked. As they say, he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches.
Nigerians of all classes know the bad state of things in the country. They wear
the shoe. They know where it pinches. And they are expressing themselves in
various ways.
Within the week,
former President Olusegun Obasanjo left nobody in doubt about his realisation
that Muhammadu Buhari’s government is a disaster. The Owu man who, directly and
indirectly, supported the election of Buhari in 2015, could no longer pretend.
Looking at the state of things, he made a conclusion to the effect that things
are going from bad to worse. He did not mince words in saying that Buhari
should “consider a deserved rest at this point in time and at this age.”
Yes, Obasanjo,
disappointed and bemused, listed Buhari’s sins. He underlined the President’s
nepotism. He outlined his inability or failure to instill discipline in his
government. He declared: “There are three other areas where President Buhari
has come out more glaringly than most of us thought we knew about him. One is
nepotic deployment bordering on clannishness and inability to bring discipline
to bear on errant members of his nepotic court.” He highlighted Buhari’s
incompetence in the management of economy. He said: “I knew President Buhari
before he became President and said that he is weak in the knowledge and
understanding of the economy.” He listed the president’s ineptitude in foreign
affairs, saying: “I know his weakness in understanding and playing in the
foreign affairs sector.” He pointed out Mr. President’s poor
knowledge of politics. He said: “The second is his poor understanding of the
dynamics of internal politics.” And he gave a damning verdict: “I
know that you cannot give what you don’t have and that economy does not obey
military order.”
From whichever angle
Obasanjo’s letter to President Buhari is looked at, it was a vote of no
confidence. He highlighted Mr. President’s shortcomings. He listed his
inability to successfully manage the affairs of the country. He wrote off the
Buhari government. The pertinent question, however, is: If Obasanjo knew that
Buhari knows nothing about the economy, foreign affairs, politics and others,
why did he contribute in making him President? If Obasanjo were
ignorant of these inadequacies, it would be a different ball game. But he
confessed knowing that Buhari’s ability and capability were suspect, only
hoping that he would assemble a good cabinet to help him run the government.
Now that the government is not achieving the desired result, it means that the
team Buhari assembled, in Obasanjo’s reckoning, is not also competent to help
him overcome his inadequacies.
From the foregoing,
it is obvious that Obasanjo wittingly setNigeria up, with the support of a
man he had not much confidence in. He was so obsessed with his determination to
get ex-President Goodluck Jonathan out of office, at all costs, that he
preferred a candidate who is deficient in governance. Well, while we are hoping
that Obasanjo, having admitted his error in judgment, would be humble enough to
apologise to Nigerians for supporting and working for a man whose abilities
were questionable, I guess we have to forget about the messenger and take the
message. Obasanjo may not be the right person to advice someone not to seek
re-election, having desired and worked for the elongation of his tenure in
office beyond two terms, but nobody would fault the issues he raised.
To be sure, in close
to three years that the Buhari government has been in the saddle, things could
not be said to be looking up, in the welfare of Nigerians. Nigerians have been
more impoverished under the Buhari government than before. At the time Buhari
took over government, the exchange rate, for instance, was not up to N180 to
$1. Today, it is N360 to $1. At a time, $1 exchanged for as high as N450 plus.
Again, when Buhari took over government, the cost of petrol was N87 a litre.
Today, one litre of petrol officially sells for N145, but is going for between
N180 and N250, owing to scarcity. This is despite the fact that when the price
of crude oil falls in the international market, the price of petrol is supposed
to head south: Decrease. In the Buhari economics the reverse is the case.
Before Obasanjo’s
comments about the lopsided nature of Buhari’s appointment in favour of the
North, many Nigerians had complained about it. Despite the defence of the
government that this was not true, the reality stares everybody in the face.
How would anybody explain that in Buhari’s appointment in the security sector,
for example, only one person is from the southern part of the country? In a
country with legions of tribes, fully represented in the armed forces, the Buhari
government appointed the Chiefs of Army Staff, Defence Staff, Air Staff,
Military Intelligence; Director-General of the Department of State Service
(DSS); National Security Adviser (NSA); head of the Nigerian Security and Civil
Defence Corps (NCSDC); the Inspector-General of Police (IGP); and nominee for
Director-General of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) from one section of
the country, the North. And they say President Buhari is not practicing
nepotism!
Under Buhari, Nigeria is
now more divided than ever before. Buhari ignored the need for reconcillation.
Nigerians now see themselves more from the prism of their ethnic origins than
nationalism. A government that has consciously promoted the Hausa-Fulani
hegemony could not, no matter what they say, engender national cohesion. The
tribalistic and parochial disposition of the Buhari government has fanned the
embers of hatred among Nigerians such that peace and unity are difficult to
achieve. It was owing to this that agitations by ethnic groups increased. It
was as a result of this that the call for the restructuring of the country
reached a crescendo. At present, Igbo youths believe they are better off in
their own republic (Biafra). The Niger Delta feels alienated and
underdeveloped. The Middle Belt is under threat of subjugation. The South West
is pressing for restructuring. That is the state of Buhari’s Nigeria.
The country is on the
edge, with the fear of anarchy looming, as communities are gearing up and
arming themselves for self-defence, in the face of brutal attacks by herdsmen.
Herdsmen/farmers’ clashes have escalated because of the Federal Government’s
lackluster attitude. This puts Nigeria’s security at great risk. We have a
former soldier as president, who should ordinarily know the implication of
violent clashes and widespread intolerance, but who is carrying on as if
nothing is amiss. And he is proud to tell the world that he is not in a hurry
to do anything. Certainly, we should sympathise with ourselves.
President Buhari’s
wife, Aisha, has consistently raised the alarm that her husband is more or less
a hostage of some people in government. She spoke about a cabal, which has
hijacked the affairs of government. She once said, if the activities of the
cabal continued, she would not support her husband for a second term. When a
Mrs. Buhari has misgivings about her husband’s government, what are
ordinary Nigerians supposed to do? Nigerians can’t be deceived. Buhari, the
former military officer, whose first outing as Head of State gave him the
posture of a tough and no-nonsense man, is now a toy in the hands of some
people, who are running the affairs of government for their selfish interest.
President Buhari’s
occupation of the presidency has laid him bare for Nigerians to see that behind
the facade of the messianic pretension, we have a man who is not in charge of
his government, a man whose policies and actions have further impoverished the people
and the nation, a man who has displayed ineptitude and carelessness in
government. Buhari could heed Obasanjo’s advice not to seek re-election. He can
contest in 2019 if he chooses, as it is his democratic right. But he should
give Nigerians the privilege of deciding his fate by ensuring credible
elections in 2019.
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