Tori
News correspondent, Osayimwen Osahon George evaluates the barely 20
months administration of President Muhammadu Buhari under the banner of
the All Progressives Congress.
President Muhammadu Buhari
"My son, it’s time for us to take back our country from the locusts"
My aging father said as he ironed his native dress as early as 6am on
the 28th of March, 2015 in preparation to cast his vote at a polling
unit around Jericho, Ibadan.
"Enough is enough! The days of President Goodluck Jonathan and his team of treasury-rapists are over'' he reiterated.
He brandished his Permanent Voter’s Card, PVC with the valour of a
soldier raising his sword at the tension-soaked battlefield before
charging at his enemies. I am not sure I have ever seen my gentle father
in that enthusiastic mood in my almost three decades on earth.
On the streets of the debatable largest city in West Africa, "Sai Buhari! Sai Baba!!"
was the slogan of hope and succour. The unemployed clung to it like
their substantive appoint letters. It was like a cloth to the naked,
strength to the weary, life to the dead, drugs to the sick, the sign of
precipitation after a lengthy drought and to the farmers, a sign of
bountiful harvest after a protracted period of famine. The stone that
was rejected three good times was about to be the cornerstone.
The Nigerian electorate sacrificed all ethnic, religious,
geographical, political sentiments, flawed history and other factors
determining political behaviour to support the one who defeated a PhD
holder with a mere 'NEPA Bill'. I am talking about the seeming
poor man with a cherished mud house in his hometown, 150 cows, and the
one not rich enough to purchase the presidential nomination form of his
party.
The All Progress Congress hired a media 'make-up' artiste to paint
his face skilfully and make the Fulani man resemble the poor masses. But
it was all a script and a ruse; he was never really a member of our
economic class.
One thing Nigerians have learned from the almost 2-year
administration of Buhari is that one person's perceived integrity
doesn't translate to competence. An honest farmer will fail woefully as
an accountant no matter the degree of openness due to lack of
professional touches, managerial skills, experience and organised
training.
In May 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari on the assumption of power
tried to hit the ground running but with which strength literally? He
was 72 for crying out loud and he is no magician. Baba decided go 'go
slow' like our aged commercial bus drivers in Lagos State who believe in
applying utmost caution on the road unlike their younger counterparts
who are always in a hurry to manoeuvre time and make more money.
Buhari came with his 1983 ideology and tried to infuse it into the
2015 system of governance. After making three earlier attempts in 2003,
2007, 2011 respectively to win political power, Nigerians believed the
former military ruler had a special antidote to administer to the
debilitated country. But today, it appears his resilience seems to have
been motivated by mere obsession about the cosy life at the Aso Rock
Villa, Abuja.
Buhari through a misguided and miscalculated perception screen
viewed modern day governance from the perspective of hunting corrupt
government officials and emasculating them to the delight of the envious
and bitter masses. His dogma and philosophy was to fight corrupt public
office holders and not the 'cancer of corruption' itself.
Buhari planned to achieve a legendary height as a Nigerian leader
simply by ruling through the 'body language' of inactions but a seeming
wrecked economy necessitating well calculated and conscious
actions/policies awaited Buhari to end his political honeymoon.
It’s high time the ruling All Progressives Congress came out to
admit there was no developmental plan for Nigeria. The party manifesto
was randomly drawn without due reference to facts and figures
corresponding with the Nigerian political reality. The slogan of
'change' now regarded as 'chain' was highly populist in nature. It took
advantage of the fears, scathing agony, economic hardship, insecurity
and vulnerability of the Nigerian masses successfully swindled by
previous administrations.
Considering the present downtrodden state of the economy, one could
safely say the game-plan was simply to unseat the People's Democratic
Party, PDP and end the 60-year wild rulership fantasies.
In fact, APC planned to fail and make the PDP's eventual
presidential election victory pyrrhic after a 16-year reign. If Jonathan
hadn’t conceded defeat, it was crystal-clear that the APC would have
left him with no country to govern. Even at almost two years after the
party's victory at the polls, the garment of the opposition party hasn't
been fully handed over to the PDP as they still whine and struggle over
the 'spoils of war' because in Nigeria, politics is a viable investment
too.
It took President Buhari about 6 months to inaugurate his cabinet.
He regarded the federal ministers as 'noisemakers' whose works are
carried out by the civil servants.
The President abused the public faith by giving the impression that
he was searching for angels amongst the over 180 million Nigerians.
There were newspaper reports that the Department of State Security, DSS
was screening the ministerial nominees. But the beauty of falsehood is
that it only serves a short-term purpose with a precarious end awaiting
the purveyors. Nigeria was governed under the charade of the body
language of the new Sheriff who abhors corruption and other forms of
abuse of public office.
When the ministerial nominees list was finally released, Nigerians
were mortified to see the regular political actors, some of who designed
a personal website for N78 million, 2 boreholes for N139 million; we
got an appointee who was accused of dipping his hands into state coffers
to organize a lavish dinner of N82 million for a renown professor,
cornering an abandoned monorail project of over $400 million, another
who heartlessly cornered the State Universal Basic Education Board funds
in excess of N850 million as a good bye gesture to his State coupled
with about N40 billion public funds mismanaged, the one who bought two
beds costing N50 million that could ward off nightmares and also another
'high-performing minister who 'spended' above the budgetary allocation
to his ministry and so on.
President Buhari tried hitting the ground running like the British
Prime Minister, Theresa May who appointed her cabinet on her first day
in office or even the contentious U.S President, Donald John Trump who
made key appointments before his inauguration day, January 20, 2017 for
ease of governance and planning.
Buhari wasn't sleeping too; he made an appointment in about 48
hours after his inauguration on the 29th of May, 2015. He appointed his
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, and also his
Assistant, Garba Shehu to prepare for the huge task of laundering his
image alongside the 'prolific' Minister of Information and Culture,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed deemed the 'legend of propaganda' in Nigeria.
Public image seemed more important to Buhari than the abysmal state
of the economy, so Tolu Ogunlesi was added to the media department on
the 18th of February, 2016 out of compensation for the favourable
Twitter trends during the presidential election campaign of 2015. 7 days
earlier, Buhari appointed one Bashir Ahmad, 25 as his Personal
Assistant on New Media.
As Nigerians clamoured for an economic team that will encompass
seasoned personalities from the private and public sectors, Buhari
appointed another media aide - a woman on the 3rd of October, 2016 to
help boost the spate of the blame-game with the PDP and also feed the
hungry masses with locally-refined excuses.
Lauretta Enochie who has been accused of trafficking young girls
abroad for prostitution by one human rights lawyer - Emeka Ugwuonye
joined the army of image launderers. In as much as information
dissemination and communications with the people are necessary, Buhari
apparently chose politics ahead of good governance. Empty praises will
never feed the malnourished and low-spirited people or construct
infrastructural facilities for the betterment of their lives.
What about Buhari's economic adviser? Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu has
remained hidden like the faces of the core northern women of the Islamic
faith wearing the Hijab.
The leadership of the APC nursed utopian feelings about turning
around the Nigerian economy without a roadmap. Buhari must have
fantasized about the possibility of providing jobs, stable and
affordable electricity, developing the local economy and equating the
naira with the U.S dollar through decrees associated with the military
regime.
Concerned Nigerians raised an alarm about Buhari's failure to set
up a cabinet to coordinate the affairs of this country. This delay
affected the preparation of the 2016 appropriation bill which was later
hurriedly presented 6 weeks after the ministers were appointed.
The delay and 11th hour approach to the national budget preparation
facilitated the nefarious activities of some civil servants,
legislative and executive 'rats' to pad the budget. Till date, the
erring individuals are still in the system constituting a clog in the
movement of the acclaimed 'wheel of change'.
We owe Buhari the truth regardless of our level of affiliation to
him because there is no other place like home. Defending the Nigerian
fort is our social responsibility as true citizens and in respect of the
oath of allegiance. More Donald Trumps with obnoxious immigration
policies will still emerge in the world and one day blacklist Nigeria
and there will be no escape route for the rich and the poor.
If the cavalier in-fighting within the PDP has hindered the party
from serving as a watchdog to the ruling party, the onus then lays on us
citizens to raise a loud alarm about the Buhari vehicle skidding off
the road under the President's nose. If care is not taken, Buhari might
only earn sympathy votes in the north-east during the 2019 presidential
election over the decimation of the Boko Haram terrorists under him.
In fact, with the Presidential Initiative for the North-East, PINE
riddled with corruption coupled with other agencies managing the
Internally Displaced People's camps, Buhari's supporters might be swayed
by an opponent who could capitalize on the despondency of the people.
This is very similar to the fate of Jonathan in the north-east during
the 2015 presidential election campaign.
The height of the failure of President Buhari was when Nigerians
chanted the slogan "Bring Back Our Corruption". It would be recalled
that it was the same 'corruption' controversy that dented the popularity
of former President Goodluck Jonathan who carelessly gave legitimacy
and endorsement to the abuse of public office by claiming "stealing is
not corruption" in public space on the 21st of October, 2013.
The poor masses were jaded; they wondered how food disappeared from
their tables as Buhari fought corruption selectively. The news of the
prosecution of politicians with questionable sources of opulence was no
longer entertaining to the readers as there was no food in their tummies
to empower their vision to read and brains to think and assimilate
press reports.
The monster of inflation currently at 18.5% has hit Nigeria. Trial
and error economics has become the order of the day as the people become
lab rats in the hands of the so-called economic team, there is no
synergy between the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Ministry of Finance,
the economic team led by the eloquent and lawyering Vice-President,
Professor Yemi Osinbajo is as ineffectual as an expensive but expired
drug, and the naira endures great falls like Humpty Dumpty at regular
intervals.
As I write this piece, the naira has hit N500 in exchange for a
dollar at the parallel market. Considering the import-based structure of
our economy, that's doom!
The United States-based lender JP Morgan delisted Nigeria from the
Emerging Market Government Bond Index (GBI-EM) in September, 2015 as the
worst fears of a capital flight of $2.5 billion stared at our pale
faces. Unpromising government policies unsettled investors as they opted
for exit plans. This is not unconnected with the recalcitrance of the
Federal Government on its detrimental economic policies.
According to a Bloomberg report in March 2016, portfolio investors
including Aberdeen Asset Management Plc and Ashmore Group Plc, which
together oversee about $450 billion of assets have retreated from
Nigerian markets.
Due to the fall in oil prices in the international market coupled
with the spate of Niger Delta militancy which affected the daily
production of crude oil, foreign exchange started becoming scarce. Crude
oil accounts for over 90% of our source of forex. Pressure was mounted
on the apex bank as manufacturing companies and other private
individuals couldn’t source for foreign currencies to import raw
materials and secure other services abroad.
Overwhelming demands wee mounted on the scarce dollars that were
being rationed and the naira took a nosedive due to the forces of demand
and supply. The import-based structure of the economy aggravated the
inflationary trend without a functional local economy to cushion the
economic shock.
Companies that couldn’t access forex started closing like it was
5pm while Buhari kept offering us empty words of hope. He swiftly became
a cleric preaching patience and faith to his congregants while
government officials basked in wealth and changed car models with very
limited state resources.
The most popular staple food in Nigeria - rice was put beyond the
reach of the poor with exorbitant prices. Every policy introduced
starting from the Treasury Single Account - TSA, banning of 41 items
from import list by the CBN, ban on importation of fairly used cars
through the land border, rice etc. were disasters despite the positive
intentions thereby giving us the impression that they were not only
rushed but only deliberated on after implementation.
Even Buhari mocked his advocacy for the patronage of locally-made
goods and services to boost the economy when he took his ear abroad for
treatment. He couldn't even entrust the status of his common ear in the
hands of Nigerian doctors despite having an ultra-modern State House
Medical Centre that is well-funded with billions of naira every year.
Buhari's third medical trip to the United Kingdom officially under the
guise of vacations has worsened the spate of medical tourism amongst
Nigerians.
The ban on the importation of fairly used cars was dead on arrival
when we only have a single car production company in Nigeria called
Innoson Motors while others assemble imported vehicle parts.
Till date, every Nigerian lives with the threat of the further
increment in fuel price as well as the already inflated power tariffs
without any significant improvement in supply.
Breathing in Nigeria has become a luxury. The value of salaries has
been depleted by inflation while the salaries remain the same with
unprecedented delays over an average of 5 months by state governments.
One of the major causes of corruption is poverty. A hungry man will
seize any opportunity to break the law and eat to firstly stay alive
and face the consequences later. How can Buhari enforce his
anti-corruption campaign in a system where a Police Constable with a
family of at least 4 earns a salary of N43, 000 per month and lives in a
high standard city like Abuja or Lagos?
With the current inflationary trend, he could even lobby for
collaboration with armed robbers, kidnappers or terrorists just to fend
for himself and his family.
Apart from this, the anti-corruption war although very necessary
and applaudable has only ended up as a viable tool in muzzling
dissenting voices. The Buhari's idea of a corrupt Nigerian is the one
who opposes his administration and confronts him with the gospel truth.
The war has been a mere distraction from reality as the recovered funds
have not in any visible way improved the lives of the poor masses.
The major achievement of the anti-corruption charade is the change
of players as well as formation. The opposing PDP members have been
frozen out to a large extent except for the political harlots decamping
and re-aligning to have access to the national cake.
The new kids on the bloc are desperate about matching the legendary looting records of the PDP in just 4 years.
Isn't it questionable that the Secretary General of the Federation,
Babachir Lawal after been accused of fleecing the vulnerable Internally
Displaced People in the north-east of over N200 million is still in
office in the face of concrete evidences against him as tendered by the
senate? The Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari has been embroiled in a phony
deal with MTN, South African telecommunication company to facilitate the
reduction of fine slammed by the Nigeria Communications Commission, the
top army official with inexplicable sources of income to acquire landed
properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and other massive local
businesses are still in office.
Till date, the alleged 'padders' of 2016 national budget of
'change' in the House of Representatives are also still in office to
surgically operate on the 2016 Appropriation Bill simply because the
purported arrowhead of the squad is from the ruling APC. It’s pathetic
that the whistle-blower Abdulmunin Jibrin who should have been protected
to set a good legacy has become the ‘whipping boy’ of the Green
Chamber.
Two federal ministers namely; the Minister of Transport Rotimi
Amaechi and the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu have
been fingered in the bribery of judges but the issue has been handled
with a pinch of salt due to the APC emblem on their heads.
One wonders why the DSS shouldn't storm their houses at the wee
hours of the night to whisk them away in Hollywood style maybe there
could be corruption leads in their houses.
The 4 years of Buhari which Nigerians would have loved to extend to
8 years for the purpose of the total sanitization of the country is now
being termed as the locust years we need to put behind us.
Was there ever a sanitization process or a means of silencing
dissenting voices? If the war were to be transparent and fair, maybe the
SGF, Babachir Lawal's alleged theft from the IDPs would have been
investigated by our anti-grant agencies with the needed professionalism
and expertise and not a hush-hush approach by the President with a
faltering letter forwarded to the senate from his 'sick bed' in London,
United Kingdom.
Nothing has changed; Buhari has visited over 30 countries in over a
year with limited positive results. It’s only good news in the media
while in reality the poor masses feed on thin air. Yes, its futuristic
they say but the future is now they forget. This administration has
witnessed the height of human right abuses which was feared about the
Buhari presidency from inception.
The leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El
Zakzaky remains incarcerated unduly over a year despite court orders,
incessant public protests and international condemnations aimed at
releasing him. His followers are still being brutalized, maimed and some
killed for peacefully protesting publicly.
It is still on record that the Shiites-Nigerian army showdown in
Zaria, Kaduna in 2015 claimed over 347 lives with the government
sweeping the holocaust under the carpet.
Nnamdi Kanu, Biafra separatist leader has also been cooling his
heels behind bars where we read he has fast become a kingpin according
to the former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani Kayode after his regular
'brief holidays' with inmates.
The Federal Government has flagrantly refused to obey a court order
on his release. The blood of protesting members of the Independent
People of Biafra has been constantly tasted by the sands of the
South-east without any concrete investigation into the absurdity which
can be attributed to the leadership posture of Buhari. Former National
Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki remains in DSS cell in the face of an
order for his release by the Economic Community of West African States
Court.
One would wonder how Buhari disregarded the court order easily only
to invest rare state funds in the Gambian crisis under the auspices of
ECOWAS. A chronicle of Buhari's activities as a former opposition leader
might have convinced former President Yahya Jammeh not to relinquish
power for his safety and dignity.
What about the Fulani herdsmen? The quagmire of Fulani herdsmen has
been with us from time immemorial, history traces the incessant
conflicts to the 1980s as agriculture started to gather momentum in
Nigeria. Successive administrations have only managed to endure the
problem. This has escalated under Buhari presumably due to his seeming
body language of inaction and ethnic background. Significantly, over
1,333 people have been killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen, others have
been maimed and properties worth billions of naira destroyed in constant
conflicts under the Buhari administration with no record of offender
brought to book. Even official statements from the Presidency in
condemnation of the fatal attacks are purposely ignored or delayed for
inexplicable reasons.
The Federal Government's handling of the Agatu, Benue massacre
where over 300 people were slain by irate herdsmen in a reprisal attack
alone invigorated other budding attacks around the geopolitical zones.
One might be forced to think the scourge of the Fulani herders can't be
curtailed but the proactive steps taken by Governor Ayodele Fayose in
Ekiti State was highly correctional. Setting up a militia named the
‘Ekiti Grazing Enforcement Marshalls’ to monitor the excesses of the
herders and promulgating laws to jail erring herders seemed contentious
initially but it was very instrumental in instilling peace with the
herdsmen sticking to cattle rearing and not trouble fomenting.
The fears of the Islamization of Nigeria have been growing since
the release of the suspected killers of the Kano Christian woman,
Bridget Agbahime accused of blasphemy and also the Redeemed Christian
Church of God Abuja preacher – Mrs Eunice Elisha simply because they had
'no case to answer' but a man, Joachim Iroko Chinakwe who named his dog
after Buhari in Ogun is still facing trial at the Igbosere Magistrate
court in the South-western State.
Apparently, all the security operatives in Nigeria were literally
napping on duty when the crimes were committed and have returned to bed
after the crime to enjoy a longer and concentrated rest.
The same DSS that has failed to provide any lead concerning the
arrest of the perpetrators of the Southern Kaduna pogrom that reportedly
claimed over 800 lives of Christian folks according to the Christian
Association of Nigeria, CAN was quick to attempt the arrest of the Omega
Ministries and Fire founder, Apostle Johnson Suleiman for making an
'inciting statement' while addressing his congregants. Such double
standards have further polarized Nigerians. It should never be
encouraged. It spells upheaval especially for a country where the unity
of the various ethnic groups is by fiat.
Buhari has contributed immensely to the further polarization of
Nigeria through his skew political appointments lacking regional balance
thereby serving as a catalyst to secessionist agitations by the Biafra
and Niger Delta militant groups.
As at August, 2015, 25% of Buhari’s political appointees came from
the south while 75% went to the northern part of the country. Buhari
maintained his act of nepotism with the South-east recording no single
appointee.
Aside the 'technical victory' against Boko Haram and the recovery
of phantom funds from members of the previous administration, what will
Buhari use to sway voters in 2019 after reneging on virtually all the
campaign promises of the APC. With Buhari's recent vacation in London
which has been trailed by constant death rumours, one wonders if the
President will have the physical strength to campaign across the 36
states in Nigeria with regards to Buhari's abhorrence towards local
trips especially areas of crisis.
The prominence and massive acceptance of the nationwide protest
convened by legendary singer, Innocent Idibia popularly known as 2Face
against the current administration is a wake-up call to Buhari whose
waning popularity is about to be laid to eternal rest.
Osayimwen Osahon George writes from FESTAC Town, Lagos State.
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