Has Buhari given up?

HAS President Muhammadu Buhari given up? This is the all-important question Nigerians are asking.  As they scavenge for fuel during the day and scramble for safety from hoodlums at night, the silence from the presidency has been deafening. Early last week, the president’s Special Adviser on Media, Femi Adesina, announced that the president would head to London for medical examination after participating in events marking the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya. Did the president shelve that plan and return to Abuja instead in response to outcry from a cross section of Nigerians?

We hope so, for the situation in the country has become indefensible, and Nigerians are desperate for an answer from a presidency that promised so much and has delivered so little. Things have never been this bad in this country. They are definitely worse than they were in December 1983 when the then General Buhari led a military overthrow of the Shehu Shagari regime, promising to right the ship of state and put the country back on the path to economic recovery. Now, Nigerians are asking themselves why President Buhari ran for the nation’s highest office a record four times before finally securing the electorate’s green light in 2015.

On President Buhari’s watch and contrary to the soaring rhetoric and extravagant promises that characterised his campaigns, the economy has taken a tumble, insecurity has become endemic, and law and order has broken down almost completely. Worse still, the president appears incapable of explaining to Nigerians what is going on, much less do something about it. This is why Nigerians are asking whether their president has given up. Where they expect to find firmness, grit and determination, they see instead finger pointing, dissembling, hand-wringing impotence and utter fecklessness.

The ongoing fuel crisis is a case in point. Nigerians have received all sorts of explanations, none of which seems to make any sense. They want their president to talk directly to them; they want to see evidence that he understands their pain; all they can see is a president who lives in a cocoon, surrounded by aides and all manner of yes men whose basic aim is to shield him from reality. Nigerians wonder: does the president read the papers? Is he aware of the rampant inflation stalking the land? Is he aware that Nigerians are poorer today than at any other time in the history of the country? Does he know that people live in fear day and night because of heightened insecurity in the country? Is he aware that seven out of 10 young Nigerians desperately want out of the country because they see nothing but hopelessness? Does the president know that the administration of the country has virtually been turned over to outlaws?

To be sure, Nigerians do not hold the president solely responsible for this mess. They know that although he wields enormous powers, he has to work within a system that has all sorts of political and technical intricacies. They know that there is a broader political culture within which the president must function and negotiate. Nigerians get that. They do not want the president to perform miracles. They would be content if only he cared, and right now, they see scant evidence that he does.

Nigerians are not asking for too much. All they want is to be able to live decently, the way people do in other countries.  Nigerians are aware that there is enough wealth in the country to make this aspiration possible. They read and hear about gargantuan sums of money appropriated for projects that, on paper, will change their lives. But they also see evidence of official corruption all around them. They can do the math. They are not fools. They know they are being had, not governed.

Has president Buhari given up? Nigerians hope not. For all their exasperation, they still want this president to succeed. They are a resilient bunch, and they do not give up easily. It is not in their character. Mr. President, please meet them in the middle. Shake off your lethargy and mobilise resources around you to begin to make a change. Nigerians have suffered enough. They need a break.