Devoid of pump and pageantry, the Muhammadu Buhari administration in Nigeria celebrated its 5th anniversary on May 29, 2020, with a divided jury, unsure whether he has done well or performed below expectations.
The low-key celebration, though, in part caused by the mood of the nation as the novel coronavirus that has afflicted more than 12,233 Nigerians, killing no fewer than 342 of our compatriots, continues to disrupt our everyday life, the decision of this government, last year, to recognize June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day, was largely responsible for the somber atmosphere that pervaded the country on that day.
And the atmosphere presented a good opportunity to Nigerians to take a somber reflection on the five years of the Buhari administration so far, and how they have impacted our lives.
Against the decay inflicted on the country by the departing Goodluck Jonathan administration after a lack-luster six years in the saddle, discerning Nigerians were in 2015, cautiously optimistic about the abilities and chances of the incoming Buhari government to hit the ground running a not just steady the listing ship of State, but actually change course and take the country on a journey towards security and prosperity.
But to the majority Talakawas that actually overwhelmingly voted for him in that historic 2015 presidential election, Muhammadu Buhari was the Messiah they had been waiting for, the Biblical Daniel that they wanted to come to judgment. So their optimisms and expectations were high, even when they were mostly unrealistic.
Both sides seemed to have been vindicated by the performance of the government in the last five years. The cautiously optimistic, mostly the elites, who were probably not expecting anything from Buhari as a person and his administration, were proved right by the initial lethargy and indecisiveness that pervaded the early months of the new administration. Apart from the service chiefs, and the Inspector General of Police that were promptly appointed, the only other notable appointments made by the President were of his personal staff, and this stayed for months, leaving the people to wonder what direction the government was going to follow. It took him months to form his cabinet, further confounding his supporters and emboldening critics, who labeled his government as clueless.
This political indecision has characterized the life of this administration so far, such that if President Buhari were to be rated today in terms of political performance, his rating would be closer to the bottom than top. And this handicap that he has been carrying from Day one has been further compounded by some erratic appointments that bordered on nepotism.
Some of his key appointments went to Nigerians from certain parts of the country, especially where he comes from, almost to the total exclusion of Nigerians from the other parts. While this may appear trivial and inconsequential in a homogeneous society, the fact of our diverse ethnicity makes it dangerous to appear to favour certain parts of the country with more political and even career appointments over the other parts.
There are so many examples of this that even people from his ethnic stocks are beginning to notice and getting uncomfortable. Only recently, a prominent member of the northern elites, Colonel Abubakar Kangiwa Umar (Rtd) sent a powerful open letter to the President, drawing his attention to the danger of bypassing a southern judge who is next in line to become the next President of the Court of Appeal, and appointing a northerner instead. Colonel Umar reminded Buhari of some of the lopsided appointments he had made since his presidency started and cautioned against a repeat.
That he prevaricated on the appointment of now disgraced Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen as substantive CJN after acting in that capacity for a long time, was not lost on the minorities in the South-south region where the man comes from. It reminded them of a similar treatment meted out to another of their sons, then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, who was acting President, while then President Shehu Yar’Adua, another northerner in the saddle, was indisposed.
It took public pressure on both occasions for their appointments to be confirmed. And in the case of Onnoghen, by acting President Yemi Osinbajo, while Buhari was on medical vacation.
Are we traveling the same route with the appointment of the President of the Court of Appeal? Nigerians are asking Buhari and the man has done little or nothing to reassure the nation that he will be President for all as he promised on assumption of office five years ago.
Even where records have shown that Ogun State in South-west Nigeria has benefitted the highest in terms of appointments made by Buhari’s administration since inception, most Nigerians, especially from the southern part of the country, armed with the provisions of the law on the federal character principle, are still not happy with the President, not only repeatedly accusing him of nepotism, but giving the supposedly juicy appointments to northerners.
The charge of nepotism they alleged is even made worse by crass cronyism and blind support/allegiance to long time buddies and loyal boys, even in the face of their glaring deficiencies and failures. The critics have been quick to point at the Service Chiefs, most of who, with the exception of the Inspector General of Police, have been there with Buhari almost from the beginning. His refusal to change them even when their dwindling performances in office demand such still beggars belief. The standard measurement of their performance, critics contend, should be the war on terror in the North-east and banditry in the North-west and North Central, and their scorecards in these wars have been average, oscillating between very good and poor.
Yet Buhari has refused to change them and bring more vigour into the battle, with fresh blood, fresh faces and fresh ideas/tactics.
Buhari’s handling of the recurring farmers/herders clash especially in the North Central has also opened him up to the charge of being an Hausa/Fulani irredentist. Hundreds have lost their lives especially in Benue/Plateau axis to these incessant clashes between the mainly Hausa/Fulani herdsmen and the local farmers over grazing rights. The farmers having lost the bulk of their farms to the animals, often retaliated, attacking and killing the animals, an action which always and certainly attracted reprisals from the herdsmen, leading to loss of human lives in the process. Shockingly, Buhari’s Government response to the unnecessary bloodletting till date, has left much to be desired, seemingly treating the herdsmen with kid gloves, when stronger actions were needed.
This has not gone down well with the locals in the region as well as the southern part of the country where the farmers/herders confrontation is also a major issue. The ranching option through his much vaunted RUGA programme has met with little success, while the protagonists on both sides are busy girding their loins preparing for the next battle.
Buhari’s penchant for disappearance or silence when he’s much needed, has also lent credence to the accusation of him running a hands-off or absentee administration. This has created in the minds of the public, the existence of a few powerful aides in the presidency who have turned into a cabal, running the country the way they deem fit, while our elected President is either snoring away, or somewhere in “the other room”, to use the local slang created by the President himself.
This attitude has turned his Chief of Staff into “the power behind the throne” in the eyes of most Nigerians, and one who must be courted to get anything done in the country. That was the picture painted of the late Mallam Abba Kyari, the immediate past CoS to the President, who passed on recently. This must have informed the statement credited to the revered Professor Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate, to the effect that Buhari is not in charge of Nigeria. Soyinka urged him to take full charge and not leave the country in the hands of his newly appointed CoS, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari.
In terms of political performance, Buhari’s five years in the saddle have been poor, largely due to his own making, even where and when progress has been made.
This many say was not unexpected, owing to the fact that the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party on whose back he rode into power, was and still is, a political party merely in name. At best, a large gathering of convenience of politicians whose sole interest is power, without any ideological leaning. The party only came together to snatch power from the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Buhari was the best candidate to achieve that for them in 2015.
Having won, even against their expectations, both Buhari and the APC appear not to know what to do with power, hence the political missteps of the last five years.
Surprisingly, Buhari, against expectation, has not been firm and decisive with his political decisions, even in the APC.
But for all his failings, politically, the administration has been making slow and steady progress in the areas of the economy, infrastructure, anti-corruption and to a large extent, even security. If the administration stands on a tripod of ensuring security, fighting corruption and growing the economy, as it claims, its scorecard somehow has been so far, not bad, but not so good, even in spite of the progress being made with the economy and infrastructural developments.
Expectedly, the administration has been reeling out tons of achievements in these areas and one cannot begrudge it in this regard. KaftanPost congratulates President Buhari and his team, including Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo for this but there’s still so much to be done because Nigerians invested a whole lot in this government both in 2015 and 2019 and expect nothing less in return.
The next three years presents Buhari with the opportunity to write his name in gold in the history of this country. With the exception of one of his predecessors, President Olusegun Obasanjo, no other Nigerian leader has been lucky to have a second chance at the presidency of this nation. After his short-lived stint as Head of State and Commander-In-Chief between 1983 and 1985, providence has brought Buhari back to that office as President and Commander-In-Chief for eight years to correct his mistakes of the past and leave a lasting legacy at the end of his tenure, for the incoming generations of Nigerians to be grateful for. He has only three more years to achieve that now; we wish him best of luck.
