It is no secret that I voted Buhari in the last election. This was because I believed a team of Buhari/Bakare will fight corruption (Nigeria’s biggest problem)-to a standstill. I will not try that again. Well not because Goodluck is a better person but for the following reasons:
1. Sectionalism: Buhari has failed to carry a major tribe along in his campaign-The Igbos. He goes about his political pursuit with an attitude that says “I will never need them”. No trying to win them over even if it has to be a failed attempt. No visits, no campaign in the South East, No possibility of a running mate. For a group of people most widely traveled and scattered in almost every part of Nigeria, they would need assurance that they would be voting a leader that will make policies to accommodate their versatility. For Nigeria to forge ahead as a nation, I believe we would need a president that will be accepted by all tribes and religion, even if it is just a minority from that tribe. I loved someone that suggested Obi Ezekewesili as a running mate to him. She’s Igbo, She’s Christian, She’s a woman, She’s no-nonsense- Her attachment would have balanced the equation.
2. Borrowing lifestyle: While the general masses who are not into building enterprises will actually think that being poor is a form of piety- I beg to differ. A true leader must succeed in other areas like business, social works etc. If after many years of “affecting lives”, Buhari has not built enough social capital to support his ambition or even have someone that will build him a house just in appreciation then I doubt his credibility and reliability. The media has it that he borrowed money to build 3 houses and to pick form etc. Its either he was not affecting lives or he does not know how to manage and multiply resources, or worst still he lives above his means. If you must borrow, let it be to invest in business, not to build houses. A house is not an asset, apologies to Robert Kiyosaki-the world renowned financial adviser and author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It is dangerous to hand over the wealth and aspirations of over 170 million people to such a man as he will assume that every rich man is a thief. He may kill corruption but will also kill the economy with it
3. Aged and Old fashioned: Buhari is not in tune with the changing times due to his age. Imagine someone in this modern times declaring cows as his asset. In his recent vociferous declaration of asset he said he cannot stay without cows, so he has 150 of them (Never seen a man with 150pets). I want a leader that understands and uses computer, internet, social media etc. You can’t fight modern corruption without such knowledge. 21st Century fraud has gone online, only a young man in tune with technology can fight it. Passion without knowledge will result to foolishness. Many will steal you dry without touching physical cash or visiting the bank or signing any paper but with one click of the mouse
4. Void of true leadership ideals: At that age and with the positions he has handled in government, he is supposed to have raised so many Buhari’s from the North-men empowered and baptized with the same rugged principles and values he believes. The reason killing Jesus did not stop Jesus is that he has raised 12 other men as ‘dangerous’ as he was. At 30 Jesus could boldly say that his mission is finished something Buhari cannot say at 71. He still weeps that he is not given opportunity to rule. We don’t just need a ruler, we need a mentor that is what leadership is all about-INFLUENCE.
5. High handedness: In as much as we want someone that will fight corruption, we still don’t need a brutal fellow that acts out of emotion and a stereotyped definition of uprightness but one that does it out of wisdom. The innocent can suffer along with the guilty just because a man wants to prove a point. It is better for 5 guilty people to go free than for one innocent person to suffer. I have seen prophets beheaded because one king wants to show that he is a man of his words. Buhari may have his way as a military dictator who can take laws into his hands but not as democratically elected leader where the opinions of others matter.
Unlike others I would not want to recall his past in government where he incarcerated innocent men that do not agree with him or try to associate him with Boko Haram. GEJ has not impressed me a bit as a president but if between two evils I am required to choose the least, I would opt for him.