One: Is Buhari truly and sincerely fighting corruption? Senator Shehu Sani, APC (Kaduna) said Buhari applies deodorants when corruption cases involve members of his government and other loyalists but reaches out for insecticides when opposition figures and perceived political opponents are concerned. There is a litany of cases to prove Sani right – Ministers who not only have corruption allegations hanging around their neck like the sword of Damocles but have been indicted by judicial commissions of enquiry; top Presidency officials (e.g. the Chief of Staff) fingered for corruption; top government officials indicted even by other government agencies (e.g. Minister of the Interior, Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice; acting Chairman of the EFCC; Director-General of the DSS); cases where the president himself was indicted and or he indicted himself (e.g. ex-SGF’s grass-cutting scandal where Buhari initially gave the man a clean bill of health, the Maina case where the president pretended not to be in the picture but was later proved to have given the nod, the award of billions of contracts without due process allegation levelled against the NNPC GMD, Maikanti Baru by a serving Minister, and the latest being that of the National Health Insurance Scheme’s Prof. Usman Yusuf). In these cases, top government officials were indicted by government machinery but Buhari constituted himself into the Supreme Court to give them a clean bill of health and return them to their post. Only public outcry and the need for a scapegoat tied his hands so far on Maina as well as compelled him to fire the ex-SGF and his NIA counterpart, Ayo Oke, to divert attend from the need to punish his more valuable cronies like Malami, Dambazzau, Magu, and the DSS boss. The latest Transparency International corruption index says Nigerian under Buhari is sinking deeper into the corruption morass. In the face of all of this, can Nigerians honestly say that Buhari is fighting corruption? He jumps at the fight when those concerned are not of his tribe, religion or political creed (e.g. JAMB) but turns a blind spot when his own people are involved. Can a man so tainted as Buhari has been on this score still be called a man of integrity?
Two: Like the fight against corruption, APC/Buhari promised to fight the Boko Haram insurgency. They even said they would make mincemeat of Boko Haram in six months. Three years down the road, Boko Haram still roams free, throwing bombs and carting away school girls like it did in Chibok under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. This government has claimed severally to have “degraded” or “defeated” Boko Haram; yet, the insurgents’ imprint is writ large all over the place. Where is the famed military prowess of Buhari? What has become of the election campaign boasts of this retired two-star general? They said he is “no-nonsense” but it would appear Boko Haram does not respect that. The Borno state governor revealed the truth recently when he said the fight against insurgency has fared better under Southern generals than their Northern counterparts. The fight against Boko Haram has become the pot of soup of Northern generals and the Northern political class. It is their own “amnesty free-fall” and they are not in a hurry to bring it to an end. They are deliberately dragging it and are using it to bleed this country. No wonder, they recently asked for another one billion US dollars that should have gone to other profitable ventures. I am sure you know much, if not all, of that money will end up in some people’s already bloated tummy. The money, if released, will end up in Dubai buying choice properties for some fat cats. Now, is Boko Haram really degraded or defeated? Has Buhari succeeded or failed on this front? If a carpenter promised to deliver a new set of furniture to your home in six months but is still lost in the maze in three years, how will you rate him?
Three: We did not hear of Fulani herdsmen before Buhari became president but since his ascendancy, the herdsmen have become law unto themselves. These days, the fear of the Fulani herdsmen is the beginning of wisdom. They kill at will; main and rape all over the country. The life and well-being of cows have taken pre-eminence over that of humans. Buhari is said to be one of the life patrons of the herdsmen; the Fulani herdsmen has been designated the fourth most deadliest terrorists in the world but in Nigeria, their leaders wine and dine with those in the corridors of power and get appointed into choice offices. Not only are they not brought to book for their heinous, bestial, and horrendous criminal acts, which include slaughtering school children and pregnant women like goats, they are heavily armed and resolutely defended by powerful men of power. Those who defend or plead their cause include the president himself; Ministers, Inspector-General of Police, traditional rulers, and political heavyweights from the Muslim North. According to some statistics, in one year alone the herdsmen have wasted more innocent souls than Boko Haram did in over a decade. Rather than bring them to book, they are to be compensated with colonies and ranches all over the country. This new colonialism rankles and is widely rejected but we have perfidious and arrogant leaders bent on taking us back to the Stone Age. Can any decent Nigerian, in clear conscience, approve of Buhari’s handling of the Fulani herdsmen’s menace? Can a president who swore on oath to be fair to all Nigerians but who has demonstrated so patent a partisanship for his own tribe and religion be called a man of integrity?
Four: Since Independence in 1960, which Nigerian government has put the whole security apparatus of the country in the hands of the Muslin North, indeed, the Fulani, to the total exclusion of other religions and tribes making? These days when they meet at their so-called “security” council meetings, they speak Hausa freely and take decisions that suit only their bigoted and blighted worldview which, unfortunately, is archaic and reactionary. My grandma taught me it is not right for all the leaders of a people to sleep with their head facing the same direction – but that is what Buhari’s Security Council does! Can Buhari be said to have acted patriotically and sensibly in this wise? Only in a shithole (apologies, President Donald Trump) will a “leader with integrity” act the way Buhari has. And with leaders of “integrity” like Buhari, no one needs a Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada, Mobutu Sese Seko or Sergeant Kanyon Samuel Doe!
Five: Add Boko Haram’s atrocities with the Fulani herdsmen’s and tell me, have we had any such blood-letting in this country before in peace time? Yet, Buhari sat pretty – unperturbed! He gave Benue leaders marching orders when those ones requested a meeting; he told them to go and cooperate with the murderers of their people! Like King Nero, Buhari fiddled while parts of the country burned. A man quick to declare and decree IPOB a terrorist organisation has repeatedly pleaded the cause of murderous Fulani herdsmen! A man eager to drive Nnamdi Kanu out of town has not brought a single Fulani herdsman to justice! How, for God’s sake, can this be the hallmark of a man of integrity?
Six: Has Nigeria been this divisive before? Even during the Civil War, Nigeria was more compact, cohesive, and focused on shared goals and dreams than now. Buhari is, without doubt, a divisive leader. He has come purposely to drive a wedge between Nigerians; he has emphasised what sets us at each other’s throat while ignoring and snubbing those things that unite us. His mouthing of unity rings hollow indeed! Setting your country on fire can never be the hallmark of integrity.
Seven: Buhari said he would be Oil Minister for six months to superintend the unbundling of the behemoth; three years hence, has he done that? And what value had his being the Oil Minister added? Petrol price jumped from N87 to N145; products are not readily available with the attendant pains inflicted on Nigerians; and subsidy is now paid under the counter. While this will eventually turn out to be worse than the Jonathan era when we knew how much went for subsidy, it cannot be honesty or integrity at work. We can go on and on!
Has Buhari grown the economy? Under Jonathan the economy grew steadily at close to 5% annually but we suffered recession under Buhari. Things got so bad under Buhari (Naira fell from N187/US$ to close to N500/US$) that we celebrated when we recorded zero point something per cent growth rate and exited recession! More companies have closed shop; more Nigerians have lost their jobs; the unemployment statistics is hitting the roof; and inflationary trends give no room for comfort. Even at political party level, Buhari has whimsically torn his party in shreds. The Buhari government’s score card is disappointing; it is dismal to say the least. Going by the above, should anyone in Buhari’s shoes still contemplate prolonging our pains and suffering by going for second term? Like they did in Yobe last week to the state governor, should we not now begin to stone the political jobbers and sycophants propping up Buhari for second term? Those putting pressure on Buhari to run for second term – if the president’s statement last week is to be believed – should desist henceforth!
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