The anti-corruption credentials of president Mohammedu Buhari sold like wildfire in the run-up to the presidential election that saw the defeat of then president; Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Many Nigerians, across party divide -even among the 5 per cent- saw in our president: a hope, a functional and egalitarian state, and the annihilation of corruption, -which has collectively been blamed for the vast majority of our national tragedy.
60 days into the “promised land,” the wells of optimism are drying up: ethnic and regional fault lines are exacerbating, terror in the North East has escalated unabatedly.
Ethnic supremacy is being engendered; the Ghost of militancy is resurrecting from the Niger Delta; the lost republic of Biafra is being rediscovered -courtesy of the works of Director, of Radio Biafra.
60 days in, all President Buhari has been able to achieve, is to re-establish the assertion of Obafemi Awolowo, that Nigeria is anything but a nation: “…a mere geographical expression.”
I am tempted to draw a parallel between our dear president and the biblical Moses, commissioned by God to lead the Jews out of Egypt, into the promised land, Isreal. But it would be an exercise in futility.
60 days in, all we see is the authoritarian rule of a repentant coupist cum dictator, masquerading in the hired garb of a democrat, circumventing the sanctity of the constitution with veiled decrees and edicts.
The Majority of Nigerians voted change, and many more supported that change; exquisitely package by the refined expertise of David Axelrod and his band. But that change, personified in president Buhari, 60 days in, has proven to be: visionless, directionless, archaic, vindictive, sectional, subjective, divisive, selective, destructive and impractical.
It is disheartening and disconcerting to see all this attributes characterize the embryonic administration of a man who ran for president three times, before he “won” the fourth. One begins to imagine if it was president Buhari that Ran for president or “they” ran for president, through an able proxy in Buhari.
Juxtapose this with the consistent reference by president Buhari to his effete mental capacity occasioned by age; you will begin to see that “they” used the popularity of our dear president among the Northern proletarians to seize power by the ballot.
60 days in, Nigerians have come to realize that the “honesty and anti-corruption” credentials are not sufficient leadership qualities required to propel a nation forward.
A leader should be purposeful, a visionary, a fence mender, de-tribalize, open-minded, equitable, and so many other attributes that has been highlighted by great leaders God has gifted humanity with.
60 days in, we have seen what will go into history as the largest diplomatic delegation ever of court clowns and jesters. We have seen endless gaffes by our dear president that has earned him numerous monikers, chief of which is: Baba Go Slow.
We have seen the free fall of the Naira rivalling the force of gravity. We have received a bespoke ridicle from the international community, owing to the shameful and abysmal showing of our president while he was in the US.
Four years after, with the status quo subsisting, i strongly believe that those political idealists, who will hold unto the mantra of change, will be stoned by the majority of Nigerians.
Our dear president has been credited with being honest and honourable. And he has shown flashes of these traits on several occasions; particularly, in reference to his greatly limited mental capacity to function optimally as president. He should be encouraged to take it one step further, and save the “nation” Nigeria from great trouble.
Mr President Sir, we already know you are honest, honourable, modest, and not corrupt. But, Policy direction, the economy, social justice and inclusive government, are not your strong points. There is nothing remaining for you to achieve in the way of legacy, i enjoin you, as would millions of well-meaning and objective Nigerians would. Do the needful: come home! Daura is calling.