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Gen. Muhammadu Buhari: How not to be a Nigerian President

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“Those who did not vote for me should not expect to be treated the same as those who voted me. I am for everybody; I am for nobody” PMB

The Nigerian state has come a long way beginning from 1914 when there was a forceful marriage of ethnic nationalities for selfish interest. We are a nation with multinational diversities and cultural differences but have been forced to live together as one nation by our erstwhile colonial masters; the British who made sure the North and South were brought together. Beginning from pre-independence, we have had national leaders whose contributions to national development are invaluable. The likes of the late Owelle Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alhadji Tafewa Balewa, Chief Anthony Enahoro and Chief Obafemi Awolowo were some of our key nationalist heroes who founded the Nigerian state. They sacrificed their lives and resources to make sure Nigeria is what it is. It is decades since Nigeria came to be, it seems we are moving back and forth in terms of leadership and development.

We have had a handful of both military and civilian leaders with each contributing his quota to the development of our nation. At independence we had the late Nnamdi Azikiwe as President General with Alhadji Tafewa Balewa as Prime Minister. The Military struck and the General Aguiyi Ironsi took over as Military Head of State. This marked the beginning of military rule in Nigeria. It was not long when General Yakubu Gowon overthrew Ironsi and took over. He was succeeded by General Murtala Muhammed and later General Olusegun Obasanjo. In 1979, the second Republic was born with Alhadji Shehu Shagari sworn in as democratically elected President. After a term of four years, he was re-elected but was later overthrown by General Muhammadu Buhari in 1983. In 1985, General Ibrahim Babangida took over as Military Head of State in a bloodless coup. He held sway until 1993 when he handed over to an interim government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan having failed woefully to declare and accept the late MKO Abiola as a democratically elected President in an election that has been adjudged the fairest and freest in the history of Nigeria. Of course, Chief Shonekan was toppled by the late Dictator Sani Abacha who ruled until 1998 when he died in office and was succeeded by General Abdusalami Abubakar. It was Abdusalami Abubakar who conducted elections and handed over to another civilian regime headed by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who led Nigeria for 8 years. He handed over to the late Umaru Musa Yardua who also died shortly afterwards. The then Vice President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, a minority and a leader of circumstance took over first as acting President and later President. Having completed the Yardua’s tenure, he stood for elections and won. He ruled for four years before being defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress in the 2015 general elections.

I had to take my time to list our past leaders we have had as a foundation for this discourse. Having done that, let me say that all the aforementioned leaders contributed their quota whether Military or civilian to the development of Nigeria. Time and space will fail me to mention some of their achievements. For example, Chief Obasanjo it was who brought revolution in the telecoms sector; established the EFCC and ICPC. Dr. Jonathan revived the agricultural sector, the rail system, introduced Treasury Single Account and allowed sweeping reforms in the nation’s electoral umpire, the INEC which allowed for free elections without interference such that he lost to the APC. None of these leaders ruled in such a way that the entire nation was in turmoil the way it is now. These leaders never brazenly identified with or favoured a particular tribe especially theirs against another. Incidentally, Nigeria today is on a keg of gun powder waiting to explode because of actions and inactions of our present crop of leaders who promised change. We have never had it so bad and rough even in the harshest of military rule. Nigeria has never been this polarized along ethnic line and impoverished and starving to death. Where did we get it wrong as a nation? Is it that the blade is not sharp or that the barber is unskilled? What we are experiencing today is not change in the real sense of it. That is why I make bold to say that there are ways of not becoming a President in Nigeria especially through actions and inactions. We have a President who on a daily basis preaches unity and peace but go ahead to deploy divide and rule policy through government programmes. Since President Buhari took over the helms of affairs of this nation in 2015, it seems everything is going wrong. From the economy, to security, to politics and even to peaceful co-existence, there seem to be problems from all angles.

Let us take the issue of appointments into political offices. I want to say that never in the history of Nigeria have we experienced such bias, nepotism, clientelism and prebendalism and promotion of ethnicity than we are experiencing now. No Nigerian leader has disregarded federal character principle the way President Buhari has done. We saw it coming going by the comments he made in the past. During his inauguration, he said he belonged to everybody and to nobody. Shortly afterwards in a foreign land he said those who did not vote for him should not expect the same treatment with those who voted for him. Of course he was referring to the South East geo-political zone and part of South South Nigeria. He made good his promise during his appointments.

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Incidentally we have a President who seems not to care or understand the enormity of the problems he is creating by his actions. As a result he has come under sundry condemnation for his style of appointments to key positions. Most troubling are those in charge of security, military and
law enforcement, who are predominantly from one section of Nigeria. Buhari’s relatives are the ones dictating policy in Aso Rock for 170 million Nigerians, adding nepotism to the festering allegation of narrow mindedness, who critics say surrounds himself with Northerners in running national affairs. There are at least seven relatives of the president who are the power behind the throne in the Villa – apart from the heads of all vital security agencies who are from the from the North. Key positions have been given to his cousins, nephews, and in-laws, and are therefore guilty of the corruption he is trying to fight. Nepotism compromises Buhari’s ability to rule the country well, fight corruption. Dr. Junaid Muhammed, a prominent Second Republic Politician had voiced out his displeasure over the taking over the reins of governance in Aso Rock. Checks reveal that PMB’s Principal Adviser, his nephew, is Mamman Daura; then we have Chief of Staff Abba Kyari who in fact was brought up by Mamman Daura; and the Secretary to the Government of Federation Babachir David. A nephew of his, the son of his elder sister is the Minister of Water Resources Hadi Sirika. Another niece of his, the elder sister of Sirika, now a national commissioner in the INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission), Amina Zakari. We also have Kabir Daura the personal assistant to Buhari himself, is the son of Mamman Daura, Aisha Abubakar whose mother is Buhari’s sister. Nepotism and favoritism has taken centre stage with a section of the country unduly favoured to hold over 70% of political and other federal appointments at the expense of other geo-political zones. If this is the change that Nigerians voted for, then we have entered one-chance bus. This is not how to be a Nigerian president.

I have always voiced it out that the worst form of corruption is that of ethnicity, favouratism, nepotism or playing the tribal card. This has divided Nigerian along ethnic lines. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigerian is the President to the over 170 million persons and not that of a section. Prior to the election, President Buhari was accused of being a tribal jingoist and regional champion. He refuted that and promised never to promote ethnicity. Any politician will promise heaven on earth when canvassing for votes but once he gets what he wants, he destroys the bridge so others will not cross to the other side with him. President Buhari during swearing in said, “I am for everybody, I am for nobody”. Whatever that meant can only be explained by him. Weeks later in a foreign land, he poignantly said that, “those who did not vote for me should not expect to be treated the same like those who voted him”. Haba, Mr. President! In this 21st Century, you make that kind of comment. True to his words, he acted the tribal script during appointment of his kitchen cabinet. Of the scores of appointment he made, none came from the South East, a major zone in Nigeria. He managed to appoint one from the West and one from the South. The rest came from the North. This is not change. PDP may not be a good a party as the APC will say, but the party ensured equal representation in appointment. As a party whose president was from the South, the INEC chairman was from the North; not so with APC. Apart from the Navy, the entire defense formation, para-military agencies and other security agencies are manned by Northerners. Which corruption is worse than this? But not for the fact it is constitutional for each state to have a Minister, I am sure Buhari would have left the South East without a Minister. What did the South East do wrong to Buhari and the APC that cannot be forgiven? These were the same signs that contributed to the Civil war in 1967. Make no mistake about, no section of this country will fold its arm while it is being treated like a slave in a nation jointly owned. Nigerian does not belong to the Hausas or Yorubas alone. As President of Nigeria, PMB no longer belong to the APC or the North alone. He must be reminded that he is the father to the more than 160 million Nigerians whether or not they voted for him.

Look at what is happening at the NNPC and other Agencies of government? The South East and South South produces the oil, but no Southerner is qualified to manage the NNPC. Mr. President is insensitive to the geographical spread of Nigeria thus promoting and enthroning a Northern oligarchy on the nation’s political and leadership equation to the detriment of national cohesion and inclusiveness.

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Statistics posted by Richard Akinwumi of Premium Times shows that the North has 75% of Buhari’s appointments while the entire South got only 25% with the President’s North East coasting home with 41% and South East having none. Ohhh! I weep for Nigeria for we have entered the wrong bus. We were still lamenting these appointments when that of NNPC came and over 70% went to the North. The annoying thing is that Mr. President keep talking about one Nigeria, how Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable and how he intends pacifying everybody. Mr. President, is it by taking all appointments to the North that Nigeria will be one?

Never in the history of our modern democracy has the nation been so bitterly divided along ethnic and religious lines than as it is under Buhari. Although he has claimed on some occasions that his appointments have not breached any section of the constitution, he has not admitted that these appointments offend humanity and morality. The continued appointment of Muslims from northern part of the country to the exclusion of Nigerians of other religions and ethnic extraction is the reason for the continued multiple restiveness bedeviling the country today. To assuage those who feel rightly aggrieved about the disrespectful situation on ground, Buhari, rather than beg for understanding and ceasefire should begin to act right; he should begin to lead aright. He is not showing understanding of the delicate complexities that bind us together as a nation; he has continued to carry on as if Nigeria is a fiefdom perpetually enslaved to the dictates of his immediate ethnic and religious demands. This is exactly what is fuelling the agitations and restiveness all over the country and this is not how to be a president.

When you preach one Nigeria and keep appealing to agitators and aggrieved people to sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign, but your actions go the opposite direction, you intentionally fan the embers of agitation and stoke the fires of aggression. When you claim that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable but the next moment your appointments reflect otherwise, it is you and not the agitators, who are promoting disunity and increase in the calls for a negotiation of our unity.

Beyond this, Federal Character is still part of the Nigerian Constitution. The provisions of Section 14 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) are unambiguous. It states emphatically thus: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

This is where the National Assembly is expected to save not only our democracy from collapse but also our nation from total ruin. They must raise their bar of performance and use every instrumentality within the law to tame the president to serve as deterrence to others and make him understand that no man, no matter his status, can be bigger than the nation. So many of our laws have been breached by the executive; the morality of our national fabric has been brazenly eroded. The time to stop this drift is now or we all perish together! Family members, relations and friends have been rewarded enough, let us begin to see a reversal of those statements, appointments and policies of government that have sharply put a knife in those things that hold us together as a people; let us begin to see the real “change” promised. It is either this or we all walk straight into the looming doom.

Selfless leaders with higher spiritual consciousness like Mahatma Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Lee Kuan Yew, Mandela, Obama et al could never condone such divisive pettiness of ethnicity, religious bigotry or racism and would never be reduced to the level of their tormentors by retaliation. Rather, their response to the ignorance of their oppressors was and has been an exemplary self-control, forgiveness, love and inclusiveness which clearly demonstrate their understanding of humanity and our common heritage and Fatherhood.

Take a look at the security situation in the country presently. It worsens by the day. If Boko haram did not kidnap and kill a reverend minister, it will bomb an army barrack or police station. If Armed herdsmen did not destroy farmlands in the middle belt and kill farmers, bandits will unleash mayhem on innocent Nigerians in parts of the country. We have a president who careless about these killings; all you will hear him say is that the victims should not fight back but should learn to live with their neighbours. Following the killings of some killings in parts of the country, instead of sympathizing with the bereaved families, all Mr. President could say was that the Muslim are the worst hit. What a careless statement from a president. Not able to contain the level of insecurity in the land, Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe spoke truth to power by calling for the resignation of Mr. President having failed to guarantee security of lives of properties of citizens. Instead of being proactive, the President’s handlers called for his head but few days after, the President summoned an emergency security meeting to find solutions. Why would Mr. President order the killings of innocents and unarmed IPOB protesters and Shiite adherents but will order for the release of supposed repentant Boko Haram members back to the society; the same society that they are destroying? This is not how to be a Nigerian President.

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On the aspect of the economy, the President has not been presidential in any way. At the last count, Nigeria’s foreign loan stands at about 28 billion dollars yet no tangible development is taking place. We have become the poverty capital of the world with more Nigerians out of job than ever. The government is still requesting for additional 22 billion dollars’ loan. The future of Nigerians is being mortgaged here because we are borrowing to consume, loot and not for productive ventures; the result of having a clueless and rudderless government in place.

What we need is a detribalized, courageous, equitable, kind, fair, compassionate and conscionable leader who has love for all and passion to uplift the lives of all the citizens under his or her sphere of influence. A leader with a high spiritual consciousness such as Mandela fully comprehends the foolishness and stupidity of greed, primitive acquisitions, embezzling funds and impoverishing your people and could never indulge in such ignorance. Again, I reiterate that all we need are a new generation of nationalist leaders with higher spiritual consciousness. According to Janet Ekong of Concerned Citizens Abuja, we need leaders who are totally detribalized and love all no matter their religion, heritage or class. Nigeria is bigger than anyone, and must be run like a federation that it is. His attitudinal exertion to governance is yet to show competence and capacity but counterproductive and evidently inauspicious. A man who had aspired to be president for three unsuccessful time before making it the fourth time; a man who had been Head of State 30 years ago; a man with military background; chaired a major government agency and was said to have delivered impressively during service to fatherland in the military, has no reason to fail.

We should not be preaching change only when it suits our egregious interests. I am against what PMB is doing because in the final analysis, it will only cause disaffection in the country. He is being unapologetically discriminatory, parochial, self-serving and sentimental. I sincerely wish PMB good success, not only in fighting corruption, but very importantly in uniting the already deeply polarized nation. The gains of anti-corruption fight will meaningless without unity. If nepotism and clientelism are not species of corruption, then corruption is meaningless.

Let me end this piece with the quotes of Thomas More (1935), who said, “He is an unskillful physician that cannot cure one disease without casting his patient into another. He that can find no other way of correcting the errors of his people but by taking from them the conveniences of life; shows that he knows not what it is to govern a free nation”. If Mr. President feels that he is overwhelmed by the quantum of work in Nigeria, he should better quit than destroying or going down with everybody. He is not a superman or Mr. all-knowing to think he can solve the problems of Nigeria without the expertise of seasoned technocrats. He neither understands the nuances of politics nor its rudimentary literature. He cannot continue to feign to be all knowing when indeed he appears to be lost as to what to do.

Finally, Buhari and his team should be reminded that Nigerians voted for change in the wrongs of the nation not change in areas that had already witnessed positive transformation. There was no political prisoner during the Jonathan’s days as president under any guise, people were not placed under house arrest for no just cause, there was independence of the Judiciary, National Assembly and INEC; affirmative action for women was high among other things. Also no section of the country was highly and openly favoured against the other. Dr. Jonathan conceded defeat and in unprecedented manner; President Buhari should learn lessons from that act and be magnanimous in victory. He owes that his Presidency to the Nigerian people and then to Jonah who made all these possible. Mr. President should be reminded that the era of electioneering and politicking are over; it is time to show leadership, governance and proof to Nigerians that the change mantra is real. Mr. President should also be reminded that no good general succeeds with so many battles at the same time. PMB please do well to reduce the number of battles facing you else you will dissipate energy, resources winning none. Our politics is not for the immoral men and women who glory in their shame, promotes divisiveness, tribalism, religion, nepotism, favoritism, clientelism and prebendalism. Let us experience positive change in the real sense of it. Ka Chineke Mezie Okwu (Let God be the Judge)

Deacon Aluu Vincent, Ubokutonabasi 1 of Akwa Ibom State is an HR/Media Consultant and Social Commentator write from Uyo.

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