Muhammadu Buhari and posterity

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On May 29, 2023, the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari as the President of Nigeria will come to an end. President Buhari became the president after years of toiling to rule Nigeria as a democratically elected president. He unsuccessfully ran for the position three consecutive times before fortune smiled on him in February 2015. Buhari enjoyed unprecedented support and goodwill of Nigerians who believed in his ability, personal attributes and his experience in public office to turn things around. As a matter of fact, his tenacity of purpose in pursuing his ambition and the fact that he wept profusely a day to the April 12, 2011 presidential election when he realized that age might not be on his side if he lost that year’s election, are noteworthy. As a matter of fact, Buhari came on board with a track record of anti-corruption leader, an upright man, a nationalist with zero tolerance for indiscipline. With such a personality as president of Nigeria, it’s believed the country would achieve her destiny. However, eight years down the line, has Muhammadu Buhari lived up to the expectations of Nigerians?

In his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015, the president made promises to the nation. How far he has he has justified his mission would determine his place in history for good or for bad.

The president’s inaugural speech consisted of 1,960 words. It was not paragraphed. Nonetheless, quoting the President on the challenges facing the nation “… at home we face enormous challenges, insecurity, pervasive corruption, the hitherto unending and seemingly impossible fuel and power shortages as the immediate concerns, we are going to tackle them head on.”

Eight years on, can we say that save the fuel shortage which the president has been able to tackle, are the other challenges not staring the nation in the face? Is insecurity not pervasive going by the unabated herdsmen/farmers clashes, inter-ethnic wars, kidnapping and killing of innocent Nigerians? As at the time of writing this piece, states in the north are witnessing an unprecedented ethnic cleansing by suspected herdsmen where hundreds are sent to their early graves? Are acts of banditry and kidnapping not the order of the day in the twilight of Buhari presidency? Is corruption not pervasive and protracted under the president’s watch as exemplified by Maina Gate, Babachir saga, Kemi Adeosun NYSC certificate scandal etc? Is it not during the presidency of Buhari that jailed politicians were freed like former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye among others? Didn’t a former chairman of the APC, now senator-elect, Adams Oshiomole grant amnesty to known corrupt leaders once they joined ruling APC? Is Senator Orji Uzor Kalu with baggage of corruption on his neck not a senator-elect?

Is power shortage improved on?

The president agreed in his speech that Nigeria under Jonathan produced 4000 megawatts, has the current megawatt being produced under his watch exceeded 4000, eight years on? Minister of Power, Housing and Works, Babatunde Fashola said that megawatt might have been increased to 5,000 as against 4,000 under Jonathan, this is on the pages of newspaper, save Abuja and some state capitals, darkness is ubiquitous in the nation.

Elsewhere in his speech, the president said, “constitutionally, there are limits to power of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal Government should fold its arm and close it eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments. Not least the operations of joint account.” The president averred that “for I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse them under my watch”. Can the president say in all honesty that this promise has been kept? This is in view of crippling of local governments by the governors under his watch, misappropriation of bail-out and Paris fund, non-payment of workers and pensioners’ salaries while the president looked the other way.

The president attested to the progress made by Jonathan administration towards the tail end of its tenure in the war against Boko Haram insurgents. However, he promised to relocate the military command and control centres from Abuja to Maiduguri which he did. He equally promised not only to defeat Boko Haram but rescue Chibok girls.

Eight years on, has all Chibok girls been rescued, were Dapchi girls not kidnapped in broad day light? We have to applaud the government for rescuing majority of both Chibok and Dapchi girls, but those remaining in captivity of Boko Haram like Leah Sharibu and Boko Haram attacks on targets are dent in government’s image. The killing of soldiers regularly by Boko Haram and bandits is a slap on the Federal Government which claims often time however it had degraded the dreaded insurgents.

The president promised to tackle youth unemployment but how far did he go about this? What is the scorecard of N-power project as the beneficiaries were eventually disengaged without benefits when they should have been absorbed? He equally promised to “… quickly examine the best way to revive major industries … our railways…” To be honest the president has fulfilled his promise on roads and railways construction and rehabilitation. However, non-completion of Lagos/ Ibadan express road and Ogbomoso/Oyoa after 21 years is a dent on his government.

Also, in his speech, he commended his supporters’ resolve “in waiting long hours in rain and hot sunshine to register and cast their votes and stayed all night if necessary to protect and ensure their votes count and were counted”. There is no doubt that the president made an attempt to overhaul our electoral procedure to make people’s votes count by signing the 2022 electoral law and introducing BVAS into our elections but at the end of the day, the February 25 and March 18 presidential and governorship elections conducted under his watch have been seen by many as the most compromised elections in Nigeria history going by the international observers’ reports and number of court cases at the tribunal contesting the validity of the results announced by INEC. With the shenanigans witnessed during 2023 elections can we compare the atmosphere under which his supporters accomplished the feat he “saluted” them for with the one under his watch?

Lastly, the president in his inauguration speech savoured the international goodwill that Nigeria enjoyed in Jonathan’s last days. The question that comes to mind is that is Nigeria enjoying the same level of international goodwill occasioned by the statesmanship exhibited by President Jonathan by conceding defeat to President Buhari before the last counting of the ballot today and have supranational and national expectations been met?

President Buhari, in all honesty, has done his bit in moving the nation forward. However, he was in power to promote northernization and Fulanization agendas. This he achieved with lopsidedness in his appointments which favoured the north. Projects executed by his government also favoured the north especially. He has also been able to develop his home town of Daura with many projects executed in the place. These included but not limited to University of Transportation, Federal Polytechnic, Air Force Reference Hospital, Nigeria Air Force Response Wing, Nigeria Army 171 Battalion, School for People with Special Needs.

Nigerians have never had is so bad as witnessed under Buhari. Education is in a bad state due to incessant strike by the staff of the Universities, petroleum products have no official price, foreign debt left by President Goodluck Jonathan at 7.3 billion dollars has gone up to 41 billion dollars under Buhari and insisted on borrowing more at the twilight of his administration. Poverty is bitting Nigerians hard, unity among various nationalities is endangered due to Buhari’s nonchalant attitude to issue of unity of the country.

President Buhari might meant well for the nation, however, instead of being father to all, he has pursued northernerzation and Fulanization agendas. Agendas that were meant to promote the north and Fulani over other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.

As Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has correctly said as regards Buhari tenure, the twins policies of official hoarding of petroleum products and naira redesign policies which killed many Nigerians and destroyed people’s means of livelihoods towards the twilight of his regime have destroyed any good achievement he might have achieved in his memorable qeight years. According to Soyinka “no, we don’t need to waste much intellectual energy in assessing Buhari’s tenure because he is leaving on a sad note of sadism. I am referring to the policy, which overnight impoverished millions upon millions of Nigerians. You know the currency change etc etc. If he was hoping to go on a high note, he has disappointed. That single action has really wiped out the major parts of his achievements because he had embarked on an action like that and to have attempted, in fact, not just attempted to have moved to disobey the judgement, the decision of the Supreme Court over the currency validity is for me a sad legacy to leave to those who believed in democracy and believed that the primary duty of any national leader is the welfare of the people. So if he is hoping history will be kind to him, this final act in office, I am afraid has soured the assessment, possible positive aspect of the overall assessment.” This is not far from the truth.

Adewuyi Adegbite [email protected]

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