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Buhari |
By
Abiodun Komolafe
For
those who care to know, I am a passionate supporter of the Muhammadu Buhari
cause and that position is not about to change! As a matter of fact, my
preference in the March 28, 2015 Presidential Election through which Buhari eventually
became Nigeria's first opposition candidate ever to defeat an incumbent
president, was a product of my convictions and until I have sufficient reasons
to change course, my preference remains on course. Be that as it may, surprise
will be the appropriate word should I fail to make the list of the 'Cult of Wailing Wailers' as a result of
this piece which I believe is in the overall interest of my country.
Whichever
way the pendulum swings, the good news is that, within a very short time in
office,Buhari has, to a great extent, succeeded in rescuing Nigeria from the jaws
of a predatory elite and a band of merit-devalued interlopers who have for close
to two decades deprived Nigeria of her gold and silver.However, this is not to
say thatI envy the president, not even with the scourge of impunity that has turned
Nigeria intoa morass of incensed screeches where priorities are misplaced with unimaginable
perfidy and, responsibilities, shifted with unrivaled pomposity.
Like the
Biblical ten plagues, Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, passed through our land and all we could feel were pinches of
hypocrisy and pains of stagnation. Its bunch of yo-yos insulted our collective
intelligence with unimaginable artificiality and its crop of
educated-but-politically-incompetent hands, "celestially" endowed to
take care of the downtrodden, onlyused their "celestial weapons" to mortgage
our commonwealth. And, as if the gods were angry, meanness replaced
magnificence; and, in placeconviction, we had deception.
Buhari's
victory at the poll is no doubt a great opportunity to reposition the ruling All Progressives Party, APC, as a party of
principle. It is also an opportunity for the progressive class to truly rediscover
itselfbefore the next General Elections, especially, if the ruling party must retain
its relevance in the consciousness of Nigerians. As things stand, there are
folks out there in whose eyes the only difference between the badly-degraded
PDP and the victorious APC is Buhari. Well, maybe one or two other genuine
hearts here and there. But they are as scarce as hen's teeth! Added to this is
the opposition's reported huge investment in a mass of experts in the spread of
hate messages against the president but, from the look of things, it is as if
the president's strategists and publicists have forgotten that lies, when told
too often, have the capacity to carouse the exigencies of truth. In my candid
opinion, this is unhealthy for the party that wants to move beyond where it
currently holds sway to the upper realm!
Needless
to repeat that the president's efforts at recovering part of Nigeria's stolen
loots is already yielding fruits. Nonetheless, concerted efforts should be made
towards preventing the anti-corruption war from being a temporary reprieve.
This is why, apart from building it around structures, not men, Buhari must also
endeavour to reform a zigging-zagging judiciary that is at the moment
misconstruing the people's tall level of tolerance for short memory. He must
strive to put in place workable structures that will prevent our monies from
being indescribably stolen and indiscriminately stashed abroad. At least for
once in the affairs of this great country, our destiny as a people created by
God should stop being in the hands of Pharisees who value passion of power above
logic of reason and Princes of Sodom who cry even when they don’t have tears.
Some
governors' sojourn in denial with threatening jaunts of antiquated illogicality
notwithstanding, except Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape which is currently
playing host to the fury of a global meltdown receives anointing for
improvement, it stands to be seen how most of the states can survive,
post-Buhari's First Term in office. For instance, no fewer than four out of the
six states in the Southwest are as we speak in arrears of several months of
workers’ salaries and allowances. Other zones, including the Federation, are
not faring any better. No thanks to an economic malaise that has taken hold
over the national economy.
Without
mincing words, it is my hope that Buhari would do well for progressive politics
by departing from the old, cruel culture of taking the needs and expectations
of its followers as a four yearly-ritual in which, immediately their votes are
captured, counted and credited, they become aberrant artefacts whose 'phones
will no longer ring' until it is another election year. Yes! In their attitude
of pettiness and little traditions, some among them may wish to gloriously
access the Promised Land without painstakingly encountering the Red Sea while,
like the children of Israel, others may prefer serving the Egyptians to dying
in the wilderness! But, like it or not, since politics is a numbers game, the
president will be in a better stead with the wisdom of Solomon, not the tact of
Jeroboam!
Again,
that Buhari has done well for himself and for the country is no longer news! If
he maximizes the momentum, the president may become to Nigeria what Abraham
Lincoln is to the United States of America. Like Buhari, Lincoln had governed
America at her most difficult time. Apart from leading his country through its
bloodiest civil war, Abe Lincolnalso
saw itthrough its greatest moral, constitutional and political crisis.Not only
did he abolish slavery, he also strengthened the government and completely rescued
the economy from the bottomless mess into which it had previously been plunged.
Like the
Lincoln-era America, Nigeria's current challenges are not only monstrous, they're
also hydra-headed. The country is currently contending with its bloodiest
non-conventional war ever even as Barrabas and disaster capitalists who
masquerade as leaders have reduced dear fatherland to a rustic cave of impiety,
stymied development and inverted values. Coincidentally, the 'bureaucracy' which quickened
former President Goodluck Jonathan's administration journey to the golgotha is still
in Buhari's government, almost a year after, doingnew things the old way and it's
as if the president is comfortable with their services. On the other hand,
those 'Change Agents' who committed so much in terms of human and material
resources into making the Buhari dream a realityhave for close to a year been waiting
in the wings to contribute their quota to the development of the polity or, as
the case may be, replenish their barns. Indeed, this is wherethe president has
to proactively rise to the occasion in order to avoid any possible backlash which
may be unpleasant to the ruling partyand unproductive to the country.
Ernest
Benn describes politics as "the art
of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it
incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy."But what is so special in
progressive politics that politicians always find a place of refuge in it? Even
in its "comfortable and ill-defined" state, how does a progressive
party manage its successes as well as prevent abuse of power in politics and
government? And, with the kind of our politics and the attitude of politicians
in this clime, is any politician worth dying for? As a matter of fact, is
politics worth dying for, let alone politicians?
Like
Teddy Roosevelt, Buhari will be writing his name in gold if he is able to
champion noble aims that are in agreement with Nigeria's socio-economic and
geo-political realities. And who knows? With zealous vigilance, our president may
end up as another "ultimate
pragmatist" and an "epitome
of a president who endured personal loss, political attacks, and the prospect
of presiding over the dissolution of the country, yet persevered and
triumphed."
May the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sins of the world,grant us peace in Nigeria!
(Komolafe writes in
from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria, he can be reached via: ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
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