There is nothing wrong in getting another chance, especially if our first attempt was a failure. Even though we all need a second chance, obviously, only a few people are lucky to get that opportunity. President Buhari is one of the very few lucky persons in the universe who have their kernels broken for them by the gods.
After a third run for the presidency, Buhari finally got a second chance in 2015 to lead the country upon his fourth attempt. This time not in a military coup, but as an elected president. He came into office with a head of steam and approval ratings hovering over 65 per cent. He won the election with over two million five hundred thousand votes to beat the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
The then president wasted no time in conceding defeat before the results of all the 36 states were announced- that was significant given our polarised state, and also being the first time, an incumbent president will lose an election in Nigeria.
Jonathan gracefully left office leaving behind an important note on the desk of the incoming president- the 2014 Confab which the new president never bothered to look at. It was said that he trashed the document without even looking at the content, whether it was going to be useful to him or helpful to the nation. But alas, this was a document that addressed virtually all of the problems we are facing today.
In less than 12 months, President Buhari will be completing eight years of his second tenure of office. He sits as one of the lamest of lame duck presidents with a sizable number of members of his cabinet, including his vice president jostling for his job. Each of those aspiring to succeed him agree that the nation is in crisis, that the failure of good political leadership is the reason for our economic crisis and social chaos.
But there are still a handful of loyalists tagging along with the fading president. One of such loyalists is Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of information. If you are expecting some course correction before the expiration of the regime’s term, just hold your breath. Recently, the minister told a bewildered nation that Buhari has done what no Nigerian president has ever done; that the President has accomplished in seven years what many before now thought were impossible surpassing himself as the most incompetent steward of Nigeria social, economic and political affairs.
If you lived in this country pre 2015 and now you will be wondering how much Nigeria has changed. You will marvel at how people survive. A European high school teacher in Netherland used the Nigerian leader to illustrate how not to be a good leader to his students and the video went viral.
No doubt, President Buhari assumed office during a difficult period, but his blunders led to further difficulties for Nigerians. In seven years, his fiscal policies created three periods of economic recessions just like he did between 1984 and 1985 when he was military Head of State. His repetition of same blunders just broke another record, leaving Nigerians saddled with 16 per cent inflation rate as at April 2022, amidst soaring inflation, energy crisis and public debt profile peaking at N45 trillion.
I admit we had an energy crisis before Buhari came into office. I assume he understood the importance of energy security as national security when he decided to designate himself as the de-facto Minister of Petroleum. Why he doesn’t understand that energy insecurity under his watch is the driving factor collapsing the economy is befuddling.
Our refineries before he came into office were not producing their optimal capacity and as such we were importing refined petrol to augment our domestic needs. We were also paying subsidies to cushion the effects of high cost of importation. These were avoidable if our previous leaders had the courage to do the right things in the sector.
Buhari was elected to change the things that were wrong with our politics, economy, security, education, health, energy supply amongst other things. It was on the premise of change that he was elected, but our crisis worsened. The production of our three refineries dropped to zero and subsidy payment rose from N563 billion to N4trn.
The primary purpose and duty of government is security of lives of citizens. A government that cannot protect the lives of her citizens is worthless. Russia invaded Ukraine because it was concerned that the latter’s flirtation with NATO is a threat to its national security. But here our government is cuddling foreign bandits.
Nigeria’s insecurity has risen to the point where it is no longer acceptable even to the president’s supporters. Paul Unongo, a Buharist from Benue lamented that the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria regrets voting for Buhari in 2015. The Northern Elders Forum demanded his resignation on account of insecurity. The dark forces terrorising the country are emboldened because they know the Commander-in-Chief is weak and confused.
Truth is that if President Buhari wants to end banditry and insurgency across the country, he can get the job done within weeks. According to Governor El Rufai of Kaduna State whose state is under siege and has suffered the most banditry despite being a military fortress “we know the bandits, we know their locations, we listen to their conversations, we know what they are planning and where they want to strike, we have the intelligence and yet our military cannot bomb them.”
Why can’t we bomb the bandits after investing over $500m in acquiring six -A29 Super Tucano Fighter Jets from the United States? Hold your breath for the president‘s alibi. First, the Military in 2021 claimed that the agreement signed with the United States for the supply of the Tucanos was that the fighter jets would only be deployed to fight insurgents and terrorists and not bandits.
What’s the difference between terrorists and bandits that bomb trains, attack military formations, kill our officers and civilians alike? Who designated armed marauders raiding villages, kidnapping and killing hundreds of citizens day in day out as bandits?
To satisfy the military, the court officially designated the so-called bandits as terrorists. The National Assembly also passed a resolution declaring the bandits as terrorists and asked the military to deploy the Tucanos. Yet again the president abdicated his responsibilities. He claimed through his spokesperson that he cannot deploy the Tucanos because he doesn’t want to be arraigned before the International Criminal Court for war crimes after he lives office.
This may be a lame duck president but every single day he remains in office is important and he needs to utilise every single moment successfully. The president needs to do two things now: Return the Tucanos back to the US and ask for the refund of our $500m if he cannot deploy the Tucanos to secure our citizens or get out of the way.
Where do we go from here? We have less than 12 months to the next general elections. It is almost inevitable that APC will not win in a credible election. It doesn’t take a genius to know this. The benefit of doubt given to the party has been mismanaged by the President, and as far as Nigerians are concerned, that benefit of doubt is expired. The ‘competent adult’ persona sold to us is a ‘fraud’.
It is even insulting that he cannot acknowledge his fault. When forced to acknowledge it, he blames someone else. We know this blame tactic too well. Corruption? Blame Diezani. Sky rocketing inflation? Blame Jonathan. Tumbling naira and bad economy? Blame PDP. Insecurity? Blame previous governments. There is always someone to blame. To borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan, ‘when you have got nothing, you have got nothing left to lose.’ In 2023, we must get it right or forever be doomed.