Between Buhari and Obasanjo

By Moses Olorode

TODAY, many Nigerians blame President Muhammadu Buhari for many of the problems confronting Nigeria as a nation. But whether the allegations often levelled against him are true or not, the fact is that the Daura-born general still remains the most statesmanlike leader to ever rule this country. Two of the most important attributes that people regard as the hallmark of good leadership are maturity and tolerance and in this write-up, President Buhari and ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo will be placed side by side to know which of them has those qualities more than the other. In X-raying the two leaders, one would have to exempt the years they both ruled as military dictators and concentrate on their respective tenures as civilian presidents.

Since his assumption of office in 1999, Chief Obasanjo had, in and out of office exhibited traits that portray him as a not-too tolerant leader. The first act of intolerance on his part was how he allegedly orchestrated the removal of Dr. Chuba Okadigbo as Senate president because he found the fiery Igbo politician too difficult to relate with. The Senate under Okadigbo could not allow some of the excesses of the presidency under Obasanjo and frequently got on a collision course with it. OBJ had an irredeemable penchant for interfering with the affairs of the states. This helped the impeachment of some governors like Joshua Dariye of Plateau, Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo, Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti states and one or two others.

As for President Buhari, it will be recalled how he painstakingly tolerated the excesses of the Bukola Saraki-led National Assembly and allowed peaceful transition to Ahmad Lawan without causing any executive/legislative uproar. If he had wanted to remove Saraki, he could have got him ousted out of office much more easily than O.B.J did to Okadigbo. But he displayed exemplary maturity and tolerance. Similarly, unlike OBJ, President Buhari is not known to have engineered or even supported the removal of any governor from office whether from within his own party or that of the opposition. It is also on record that Buhari has not sacked or redeployed any of his ministerial appointees on flimsy excuses. Still on the twin qualities of maturity and tolerance, Obasanjo threw caution to the wind when he ordered troops to invade the rustic communities of Zaki Biam and Ogoniland in brutal retaliation for what the soldiers allegedly suffered in the hands of the people of those areas.

OBJ’s inability to tolerate dissent led to the sharp disagreement and subsequent acrimony between him and his former vice, Atiku Abubakar. His attempt to secure a third – term mandate was stiffly opposed by Atiku and his lack of maturity was responsible for the strained relationship between him and his vice. In contrast however, President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, have worked together as brothers since both were sworn in almost eight years ago. The duo operated so closely together that not a single word of reprimand or protest was heard in public by one against the other. Even when Professor Osinbajo stepped on some powerful toes by removing a former DSS director-general, President Buhari kept his cool and neither did he frown on the VP’s action in public nor reinstate the sacked DSS director. This is maturity and tolerance par excellence.

Also, one of the examples of Buhari’s admirable qualities of maturity and tolerance is the way he has always reacted to tantrums and vituperations from opposition elements and groups. No leader occupying Buhari’s seat of power today would have tolerated the kind of vicious attacks from former public office holders like Fayose, and Femi Fani-Kayode who are still facing trial in court for financial crimes. Even his most vitriolic critic, Obasanjo who sees nothing and says nothing good about Buhari is left free to move around without molestation from security agencies. Series of Obasanjo’s letters which are even made public contained lurid expressions that people believe should not have emanated from a former president to an incumbent, yet Buhari has kept his cool and maintained dignified maturity and tolerance.

A highpoint of Buhari’s tolerance in the statesmanlike maturity in the way he regarded General T.Y. Danjuma’s alleged statement on solders disobeying their Fulani commanders.