The Insight by Lateef Adewole
Firstly, let me use this auspicious occasion to congratulate our dear President Buhari on his 77th birthday, which took place on Tuesday 17th of December, 2019. It was a great delight to see him in his gait, well refreshed, hale and healthy. May the Almighty continue to strengthen him, give him long life and good health. He also needs all the wisdom to continue to pilot, “by himself”, the affairs of our beloved country. Congratulations, Mr. President!
It might surprise many readers to see me write once again about our President Muhammadu Buhari. Without delving into any background details of his, as I did a bit of that in my article about him last year, on his 76th birthday, “Muhammadu Buhari: The Man You Hate to Love!”. It is just that he has become like a recurring decimal. He is simply enigmatic.
I was moved to write this again as I recalled the memories of many of the political rallies he attended, particularly in the northern parts of Nigeria, during his 2019 presidential campaigns. I saw how tumultuous crowds were dying to be there for his sake. How people climbed trees, rooftops, towers, and anything, just to have a glimpse of him. I even heard that some people struggled, just to touch the chair he sat on, even after he had left. It was incredible.
Although, this is not the first time that such will be witnessed. Similar scenarios played out during his 2015 presidential campaigns. Then, it even tended towards fanaticism. Similarly, all the years, even outside politics or political office, he has always enjoyed such followership in the north.
Truth be told, in the recent history, there is hardly any individual who “personally” commands such followership, with no financial inducements or other incentives. This can only be related to what some of the first republic leaders enjoyed. People like Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the Western region, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe in the East and Sir Ahmadu Bello and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in the North.
Even at that, some of them enjoyed that only because of politics and the positions they occupied. President Buhari’s case is unique because, even outside power as private citizen, he still pulls such crowd. This is driven by the way many people, especially the poor masses (talakawas) “perceived” him as being one of them. They revere him, trust him, love him and can give their lives for him. He is called “Mai Gaskia”, based on his integrity.
After joining politics, such influence became stronger, nearing hypnotism. In 2003 and 2007, with few political juggernauts, he contested against incumbents, and did well. 2011 was the most dramatic. He ran on a new platform, CPC, which was registered barely six months before the elections, and he pulled a whooping 12 million votes. That was a bomb!
By the time he came back in 2015, the tides were in his favour. With the collaboration of political heavyweights and strategists, coupled with the prevailing sentiments in the north then, that the presidency must return to them (which was what broke PDP in the first place), and former President Jonathan being a Christian too, Buhari was unstoppable. He won!
Just like what was witnessed again this year, in many campaigns he attended then, the crowd was overwhelming that he could not even step out of his car. He had to come out in the open roof, waved at the ecstatic crowds, entered back into his car and left. That was the case in some places in 2019.
Although, many things have since changed since 2015. He has been the president of Nigeria in the previous 44 months before the campaign, with all the powers, resources and influence at his disposal. Nearly all political office holders (elected or appointed) deferred to him. They were answerable, directly or indirectly, one way or another to him. He has official authority to back his personal influence.
There was little difference because, the main opposition party, PDP had a formidable candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a northerner like President Buhari, who is also politically influential. That explained why they were still able to pull crowds in their campaigns too, especially in the north. In 2015, at a stage in the north, it almost became an aberration or taboo to publicly campaign for PDP. It became life-threatening. Such fanaticism saw a sitting president then, GEJ’s convoy petted and his rallies disrupted in Bauchi and Katsina. These are seriously condemnable acts.
The inroads by PDP were due to many factors; many have since realised that President Buhari may not be the “saviour” they fantasised about in the past. The poor performances, economic hardship, worsening hunger, loss of jobs, increased cost of living, heightened insecurities across the country, and so on, did not help matter.
All these are in the past now. The elections have come and gone. The president won and has been on his second term since he was sworn-in on the 29th of May, 2019, almost seven months already. So many events have been unfolding since then. Many of which have generated more controversies than necessary to the extent that one will ask if there is more to them than meet the eyes. I have written many articles on many issues as they happened in the past.
In many of these cases, the impact of them is often not clear or understood by majority in the public space. That has led to the unending confusion that usually follow them. Was it RUGA or the lopsided appointments? Was it the hounding of the judiciary or the cowing of the legislative arm amongst many others. All these continue to give the president different impressions.
Different people have different perceptions of the president. He is viewed and categorised based on his utterances, actions and inactions. While many of his die-hard supporters can hardly see him do wrong, many others continue to criticise his ways. Funny enough, many people in government or who are supporters of the president kept telling others that those actions were taken in their interests. How can things be done in their interest without them having understanding of them? Can a person’s head be shaved in his absence?
Up until 2015, there are many myths that were built around him, based on perception. This was formed while he served in the military and came to a height when he became the head of state in 1983, after overthrowing the civilian government. The short-lived military rule made indelible impression on many adult citizens then. It was the same story that was passed down to the younger generation of today, many of whom were not born at the time, or were too young to comprehend what happened then.
So, his second coming to power in 2015 provided an opportunity that this category of Nigerians actually needed to verify all those claims. There were so much expectations from him. However, many things happened not to be as they seemed. The realities have been unfolding and he, himself, has been unraveled. He has been demystified. The past four years have been eventful, and the president has been rewriting his history. I say this because, no matter what had happened in his past or whatever people were fed about him, whatever he does now will remain who he truly is to many, especially the youths.
And sincerely, such legacy has been shrouded with controversies. Like before 2015, many saw the then General Buhari (Retd.) as someone who would never have touched some people with 100 meter pole, based on their corruption tendencies or records. However, this same people became his allies due to political expediency. They became his political financiers and sponsors, with the loots for which he previously loathed them. Many of them are still with him till date, either as appointees or associates. What changed?
This has watered-down the perception of his, hitherto, zero tolerance for corruption stance. Just few days ago, Professor Ango Abdullahi was reported to have said that President Buhari is not fighting corruption. That otherwise, our courts and jails would have been filled with corrupt people, who are all over the place, either from the previous governments or in his own.
The main selling point of President Buhari is, and has always been his integrity. He is considered a man who matches his words with actions. In 2015, many promises he made were partially kept, not kept at all or entirely denied. Many Nigerians thought by now, after 54 months in the saddle, our hospitals would have become near world class. The rich and poor can then have access to quality medical attention and the wastages from medical tourism would have ended, especially by government officials, something he seriously condemned the past political leaders for.
Alas! The first person to break such promise was Mr. President himself. And that has become a normal routine since then. No one is even asking about such promise to stop our leaders from going abroad for medical attention again. The citizens are on their own.
Most of the presidential aircrafts are still in the fleet. They were never sold to save money and reduce wastages that come with maintaining such a large fleet. A situation the president promised to change when he criticised past administrations during his campaigns in 2015. We learnt that some of them were given to the Nigerian Air Force.
When President Buhari was military head of state, many incidents that are replaying in these past four years could have been understood. Issues like; not following rule of law, disobedience to court orders, infringement on citizens’ rights, human rights abuses, intimidation and harassment of dissenting voices, clamping down on the judiciary, pocketing legislative arm, and so on. All these are what make a democracy different from a military regime.
So, for such actions to rear their ugly heads under him, in a democratic dispensation, despite what Nigerians were told before 2015 elections, that he has become a “born-again democrat”, is totally unacceptable. The two other arms of government provide the other two legs of the tripod, on which a democracy stands. Cutting them off or inhibiting them from properly functioning is tantamount to “killing” democracy. That must and will never happen.
Therefore, if the president hoped to leave a legacy in our democracy, as against his first coming in 1983, when he was part of the coup that destroyed democracy in the second republic, then, all these issues highlighted should be addressed.
For a long time, many people see the president as tribalistic and nepotistic. He was accused of always favouring people of his ethnic extraction in appointments. This gave birth to the controversial “Islamization and Fulanisation agenda” rumour. Unfortunately, the president has rather continued to reinforced such “belief” than steming it, by his continuous lopsided appointments in favour of his region. This has become a recurring issue in the past four years, even up till recent appointments in the last two weeks.
Is it a mere coincidence that the only two recessions in the history of Nigeria happened under his watch as a military head of state and a civilian president? Or is there something he did that triggered the two incidents? I have had numerous debates with my friends who are APC members and many supporters of the president, they keep excusing the president from the recessions, though, they find it hard to explain why it had to be under his watch.
Whichever way it is, there is need for sound economic blueprints or the implementation of those already put in place, for the betterment of the country and the citizens at large. Claiming actions taken by government are in the peoples’ interests while the same people languish in penury cannot be justified. People won’t need too much explanations when their wards are attending good schools, getting quality healthcare, travel on motorable roads, have power in their homes and workplaces, and enjoying many other public infrastructures, provided by the government. They will definitely know that the government exists for them and in their interests.
Mr. President Sir, though your acolytes, associates, supporters and the rest, many of whom have undue benefits as you are in power, might be praising you every step of the way, they are only protecting their “work-chop”. Telling you the truth might scare them as they would not want to lose their places in your government or good books. However, these issues raised, and many more, need urgent and focused attention.
All your efforts and strides in the past few years are well appreciated, documented and commendable. There are massive infrastructural development going on, agric revolution, more sanity in the system, and many more. A continuous push for better Nigeria for all will be enhanced if all these challenges facing Nigerians are addressed alongside. The major beneficiaries, the downtrodden, are the ones who will write your true history in their hearts, based on whatever impact you and your government have in their lives.
As you celebrate your 77th birthday now and with less than four more years to finally seal your legacy as the president of Nigeria, what will that legacy be?
May God give you the wisdom to always do the right things, at appropriate time.
Long Live President Muhammadu Buhari.
Long Live Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Happy birthday to you!
God Bless Nigeria.
