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Muhammadu Buhari at 77: Between President Buhari and Muhammadu Buhari

The president would be best served by weighing what obtains today against the promises he made in 2015 to be a different kind of president, to make sacrifices and remake Nigeria into a nation its citizens can be proud of.

Nigeria’s current ruler, Muhammadu Buhari would sit back today and enjoy the countless messages of goodwill that would come to him from family members, friends and admirers- and even rivals as he marks yet another birthday- his 77th on earth and the 5th since he returned as democratically elected president. The president would enjoy the luxury of being told the sort of things he loves to hear; messages of adoration, flattery and plenty that would definitely massage his ego.

The president would be told that he is the best thing that has happened to mankind, the saviour of Nigeria, “our own Mandela,” George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill all lumped into one.  Buhari would be told that he has achieved more in these few years than all the country’s past presidents put together, the anti-corruption champion and fighter of the oppressed.  

Time for a deep reflection

Beyond the countless adulation that would be directed at the president today from family and friends, political hangers-on, jobbers and conmen, the most important voice that would be speaking to Buhari today would be Muhammadu Buhari’s.

While it would be unwise to totally ignore those who tell him fanciful things, he would be wiser if he can listen to his true self, reflect on the immense blessings it has pleased God the father Almighty to shower on him and weigh them against his own contributions to God’s creations, the human beings of Nigeria.

As a starting point, the president would do well to compare the national outlook of optimism that greeted his election in 2015 with the atmosphere of despondency that has taken over an entire country less than five years into his reign. The president would be best served by weighing what obtains today against the promises he made in 2015 to be a different kind of president, to make sacrifices and remake Nigeria into a nation its citizens can be proud of.

Mr President what happened?

How did you go from being a revered cross-country icon to becoming a metaphor of national frustration?  How did a man even his enemies respected in 2015 turn to a fellow his friends now speak ill of in the open? Mr President, how did the austere army general of pre-2015 become the jet loving leader of 2019? How did the man we thought would be the father of the nation become a national symbol of division and strife? How did the man who promised to “belong to all” quickly achieve the ignoble status of being an ethnic jingoist? My dear general, how did the leader many thought would unite us suddenly become the one who exacerbated all our national fault lines?

In 2015 sir, your friends told us that you were an old man who cares about nothing but building a legacy, repairing a broken nation and handing over to our children, your grandchildren, a country each and all would be proud of.

Do you still remember?

Sir, if you meet your end today, what in your estimation would you most likely be remembered for? The leader who damaged Nigeria’s economy irredeemably? The man who plunged his unborn children into the ocean of questionable national debt? Mr President, do you still remember what you told Nigerians and members of the international community at the Chatham House in the UK in early 2015? If you have forgotten I  would gladly remind you: you promise to fix the nation’s health institutions, subject yourself and family to the same medical services and professionals the average Nigerian receives, use the same mode of transport a mid-level civil servant uses in his travels, lead to the country to a national resurgence and then, retire in peace. Mr President Sir, can you be sincere to yourself and tell us which of these you have successfully accomplished? Sir, when last were you attended to in a local hospital? What happened to your promises to sell off the jets on the presidential fleet? Why did you abandon your promise to treat Nigerians as equals no matter their religion or ethnic origin?  

Muhammadu Buhari Vs President Buhari

As you reflect sir, it would be fitting that you ask yourself why President Muhammadu Buhari abandoned the person of Muhammadu Buhari. What happened to you Mr President? Pressures from your political allies? The whispers of your flatterers? The noise of yes-men?  What happened sir? What we are seeing today is not the man who went round the country asking for our votes for 12 years. Were you playing a script when you made those intelligent, soul lifting speeches or did you hide your real persona to hoodwink the voting public?

In 2015 at Chatham House sir, you promised to abide by the tenets of democracy, respect the rights of individuals to say what they like, express their opinions and assemble lawfully. If you made those speeches out of your personal conviction, what happened to Omoyele Sowore, Sheik Ibraheem El Zakzaky, Sambo Dasuki and others? Are you not aware that several courts in the land have since asked that they be released from the gulag? Why are they still in detention sir? Do you not know that like you, they deserve the right to live freely, celebrate their birthdays and be with their families?  

How about the high incidence of extra-judicial killings by members of the security agencies? Sir, why did you allow your supporters to be murdered like cheap rodents in Zaria in December 2015? Did they make an error of judgment in giving you their votes when you so demanded in 2015? How about the thousands that have been killed in the North West, North Central, South East, South West and South-South in the last few years by murderous Fulani herdsmen who it appears your government is unwilling to call to order? Are you aware sir that some of those people had dreams like you did?  Why have you not been able to use the instruments of the law to bring their killers to book?  

Sir, is it fair that under you, Nigerians are being slaughtered without consequences by a murderous gang of criminals? How about the sad events in the northeast region where Boko Haram terrorists continue to hound, kidnap, torture and kill thousands of Nigerians? Thought you told us that you would lead a military effort to crush them in months? Did you forget?

Help Mr President, hunger is killing us

Mr President your people are dying of hunger, close to a hundred million of us cannot afford a decent plate of food in a whole day. How did you let us become destitute in our own land sir? Is this your plan for us?  

Mr President everything is on a downward spiral. The infrastructure is a lot worse than it has ever been, security is nothing to write home about and if you want to know the truth, your former friends in Britain, America and several other parts of Europe now see you as “another African politician.” Read their op-ed on Nigeria in the last few weeks if you want to know more. In order not to waste your time, I would point you to some news articles on CNN website, Bloomberg, New York Times and Wall Street Journal. In 2015 sir, the editors of these papers idolised you. Why do they now write unflattering reviews of your administration?

Never forget Mr President

Coming home sir, consider the popular editorial position Punch newspaper took a few days ago to refer to your government as a military dictatorship.  If that editorial had been written in 2015, the premises of Punch would have been burnt down by your supporters. That can no longer happen. Matter of fact, many of your fans believe that supporting you was one of the most tragic mistakes they ever made.  

There are a whole lot I would have loved to continue telling you Mr President but I understand the enormous demands on your time. I would end by pointing you to an immortal quote made by an American leadership expert John C Maxwell who said, “everything rises and falls on leadership.”

Sir, history has no place for excuse givers and those who abandon the demands of leadership to apportion blames. Eventually sir, very little would be written and said about the cabal who your wife Aisha told us now runs Nigeria as a franchise in your name. If the verdict of history is published today, the only truth generations unborn would read is this: Muhammadu Buhari betrayed the confidence of Nigerians and failed the very people who trusted him to lead them out of a wildfire. Rather than lead them to safety, he sank them further into the mire, taking them to the very centre of abyss.

Luckily for you sir, everything can still be altered; starting with a conscious decision by you to rise to the enormous demands of your office. Going forward, each second would be very important.  

Happy birthday Mr President.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect ROOT TV's editorial stance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Okafor Chiedozie
Okafor Chiedozie is an economist, political writer and amateur Igbo historian. He pursues these and other interests out of Abuja.
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