Other groups, including some South East leaders, have also made similar calls on the President. They want the President to throw his hat into the ring again in 2019. While it is the President’s prerogative to seek reelection and the agitators’ right to support whoever they like, the question to ask them is would they employ somebody like President Muhammadu Buhari to run a multi-billion naira company if they were the chairman? Would these people, some of who are businessmen, cede the management of their personal companies with maybe 1,000 employees and a portfolio of about N100billion to someone like President Buhari?
Let’s not forget that shortly after his inauguration, the President, in June 2015, lamented that he wished he had been president as a much younger person. That, without mincing words, is an admission that his old age is a hindrance to his ability to cope with the demands of his high office. Would Mallam el Rufai or any of the others have employed somebody who considered his age an albatross to his performance as the manager of their private enterprises?
Again, would these men employ a man who is not sure of his age to run their multi-billion naira companies? President Muhammadu Buhari, had, on his birthday in December last year, said he thought he was 74 years old but was told he was 75 years. Now, if any of these men were to sit on the panel to recruit a new CEO and, on asking for his age, he told them he thought he was 74 but was informed that his real age was 75 years, would they have considered him for employment?
Early in the year, President Buhari tried to explain away his slowness in taking decisions even in critical times. The President had said he always took his time to reflect on issues for a while before arriving at a decision. While sometimes leaders have to reflect deeply before taking decisions, that is not usually the practice. Leaders have to think on their feet and come to a decision fast. Leaders have to be so abreast of development in their field of operations to the extent that they easily recognize patterns and can take decisions instantly. When a leader makes it a practice to take a long time in reflecting over critical issues before finding the time to take a decision, thereby allowing golden opportunities to slip by, it is regarded in the corporate world as incompetence.
Would these men goading the President to seek reelection retain a chief executive who is so slow in decision making that it jeopardizes the organisation’s wellbeing?
In December 2017, while giving a clue to the secret of his recovery, President Buhari said, “As a General, I used to give orders, now I take orders. The doctors told me to feed my stomach and sleep for long hours. That is why I am looking better.”
Now, if the President were an applicant for the position of CEO in the companies owned by any of these men, would they have considered for employment someone whose preoccupation was to eat and sleep for long hours? Would they have committed the management of their enterprises to an individual like that? Would they have put the destiny of their organizations in the hands of someone like the President? My guess is that they would not do that because doing so would affect the effectiveness of the organization, its bottom line as well as the return on investment.
If they would not employ someone like President Buhari to manage the affairs of their private companies, why would they want to saddle the same man with the enormous responsibility of managing the affairs of about 200 million people with diverse interests and huge challenges? Why would they want to hold the country down for another four years after 2019? Why would they wish to sacrifice the greatness of the country on the altar of personal interests? Why would they want to foist a difficult choice on the people?
President Buhari has served Nigeria well, he does not need a second term to achieve greatness; it is already earned. He has occupied almost every position of relevance in the country. He has been a state governor, a minister, a military head of state and an elected President. He has nothing more to prove. Unfortunately, given his state of health and the situation in the country, a second term is likely to vitiate his goodwill, make mincemeat of his achievements over the years, and land him on the wrong side of history. President Buhari should not allow himself to be turned into a circus object meant to earn money for his equestrians.
The President’s family members as well as his lovers should rescue him from self-seeking men and women whose interest in his reelection is only to further their own personal interests. They should not be allowed to reduce the President to a circus animal through whom those goading him will have undue privilege and gain unearned relevance.
and then