By Mubarak Shu’aib
Portrayed as a fraud. Painted as a failed leader by others, there’s more to President Muhammad Buhari’s tenure than meets the eye. Charged with the titanic assignment of bringing Nigeria back and on track, his ascension to the Number One seat in 2015 highlighted the arrival of a new era.
No living politician enjoyed the overwhelming support, love, care, concern etc., like Buhari. However, the time he spent in power has proven to be anticlimactic. Rightly so?
President Buhari’s biggest flaw, his Achilles heel, can be summarised in one word. Narrow-mindedness.
His failure to recognise, acknowledge or accept ideas other than his own, even when reasons suggested, proved to be his greatest weakness. In addition, he’s a staunch critic who sees no good in his political rivals, except for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ), who later handed him power on a silver platter. From labelling fuel subsidy as “Fraud” and blabbing Jonathan’s efforts in his fight against the Boko Haram insurgency to touting the ASUU strike as something that could be resolved in a blink of an eye.
When he was declared the winner of the 2015 Presidential election, nothing but the second return of Jesus could elicit such a nationwide reaction.
The Good:
From his inaugural speech, Nigerians, both at home and in the diaspora, were swept in joy. More interesting was his (in) famous line, which rekindled our hope, “I belong to everybody, and I belong to nobody.” He further added, “My appeal for unity is predicated on the seriousness of the legacy we are getting into. With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts, the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and will require careful management to bring it around and to tackle the immediate challenges confronting us, namely; Boko Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment especially among young people. In the longer term, we have to improve the standards of our education. We have to look at the whole field of medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical infrastructure.”
“The most immediate is Boko Haram’s insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces, but victory cannot be achieved by basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja. The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.”
Throughout the inaugural speech, President Buhari was full of himself, firing shots across his bow, which almost suffocated the guilty minds.
The Bad:
The first signs of bad were Buhari’s procrastination, complacency, blame game and failure to take responsibility. His greatest strength, which is the use of rhetoric to scare and naturally bully the guilty minds, slowly grew to become one of the biggest reasons for his fall. Initially, he has established himself as someone strategic, prowess and predatory. However, it later became clear that he was devoid of such qualities, even more obvious after it took him over six months to appoint his ministers. When he eventually did, some dead people made the list of the appointees. Concerns began to leak out around his leadership’s identity as an undefined style. Doubts began to set in. His lackadaisical approach continued to grow, but to doubt Buhari at that material time, was a heinous sin. Nigerians continue to play the sport of attacking ringworms while leprosy festers. Blaming the Sarakis, Dogaras etc., on the NASS floor as saboteurs of his government. This threw the re-election bid of Saraki, Dino, and Isah Hamma under the bus in the 2019 election to pave a clear pathway for Buhari.
The ugly:
Nigeria’s Jekyll and Hyde performances under Buhari grew out of control. While Buhari struggled to explain the abnormal nature behind his government’s inconsistent performances, his puzzled supporters appeared equally as confused.
His record in infrastructural development is good without being impressive. And, better not to visit the issue of insecurity, which assumed many dimensions (banditry, kidnapping, etc.), corruption/looting in billions, high unemployment rate, the exorbitant cost of living, fuel scarcity, the marathon ASUU strike, 8 months old. Cutting a long story short, the most anticipated “Jarmiya” and the aspirations to see Nigeria back and on track during “Mai Gaskiya” went up in flames.
There were a series of decisions that had repercussions. Such as the border closure, adopting the economy of ‘borrow-and-spend’, unaccounted CBN loans, etc. A disturbing reflection of his tenure was the gruesome murder of innocent souls by the bandits, rampant ransom demand by kidnappers, attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train, Abuja Central Prison, and the Presidential convoy.
Is Buhari Unfortunate?
The economic recession, the coronavirus pandemic, oil doom, etc., could all be attributed to his below-par performance. However, even at that, with good economic policies, and shrewd investment in the critical areas, he can do more. Even better, had he accepted responsibilities and moved on?
Final Days:
To borrow a word from the intimidating Mike Tyson in Dark Trade, “The leader’s always by himself in a time of doom.” As is Muhammadu Buhari.
As Nigerians started counting down to just some days to the General Election, the frustration of the “talakawas“, like a rolling ball, is just getting bigger and bigger. First, it was in his home State, Katsina and later, Kano, where he was jeered and stoned. An incident which summarised how everything had turned ugly for him. Uglier still was his inability to understand the frustration of Nigerians. The love and support he enjoyed in those days have ebbed away.
Conclusion
Nigeria had deteriorated in and around Goodluck Jonathan’s final years as a President, which Buhari recognised.
He did fairly well in the security sector during his first tenure, but his second tenure spiralled into chaos once more, as he was eventually unable to liberate the country from turmoil.
Although it didn’t sit well with my spirit that he was jeered and or stoned, Buhari of the masses failed to love them. He dropped the most critical ball that saw him claim victory against a sitting president. And it hurts to love and not be loved in return.
Mubarak Shu’aib write from Hardawa. Misau LGA Bauchi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via naisabur83@gmail.com.
