Are Nigerians Fair To Buhari? -By Prof Abdussamad Umar Jibia

Many years ago when I was a young lecturer in Kaduna Polytechnic, I had a discussion with a senior colleague of mine. I have always disliked having disagreements with my seniors because I easily admit defeat as I don’t want to appear disrespectful.

My discussion with the Chief Lecturer was around Buhari’s achievement as PTF Chairman. The senior colleague who bitterly disliked Buhari was of the opinion that PTF under Buhari “did nothing except for some roads he constructed around Katsina”. When he was reminded that the road he daily followed to work was constructed by Buhari’s PTF, the man vehemently denied it even though it was well known to all the people around Tudun Wada area of Kaduna and he could easily find out in case he forgot. But his mind was beclouded by hatred. Hatred stinks and it blinds.

My discussion with my senior colleague came to my mind this week while I was traveling back to Kano from Kaduna. For two decades before Buhari assumed office as a civilian President, this road had become one of the most dilapidated in the country and Nigerians including myself wrote to call the attention of President Buhari to it while his administration was still taking off. These calls did not fall on deaf ears and even Buhari’s enemy cannot deny that the quality of work done in the renovation is high. Of course, more work is needed on the Kaduna-Abuja side and although it is ongoing, it is clear that the project will outlive Buhari administration which has less than three weeks to go. His is, however, much better than PDP Governments that were more interested in politics than service.

Two other projects attracted my attention while on the same journey. They are the Kaduna-Kano-Maradi rail line and the AKK gas pipeline project. The speed at which the two projects are being pursued is high but completion date can obviously be no earlier than May 29, 2023.

On December 25, 2018 while traveling along Kano-Katsina highway I stopped at Tsanyawa to take the picture of an accident caused by Kwankwaso’s five kilometer project. The five kilometer project was a failed project of Kano State Government under Engr. Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in which a five kilometer length of expressway was supposed to be built in each local Government headquarters. For local government headquarters on major federal highways like Tsanyawa, Bichi, Rimin Gado, etc. the state government only succeeded in spoiling Federal roads on which partitions were made without increasing the widths of the roads. I displayed the picture on my Facebook page with a call on Kano State Government to correct the mistake it made.

Two years later on 24th October 2020, I stopped on the same spot in Tsanyawa and took another picture of the road after Buhari’s dualization project. The dualization solved the problem in both Bichi and Tsanyawa, the two local government headquarters on that road. I am personally happy that dualization of Katsina-Kano road was embarked upon by Buhari administration because it is the road I ply more than any other in my life.

So why are we only looking at the mistakes? Were our expectations from Buhari too high? Did his mistakes overshadow his achievements? Or are we simply difficult to satisfy?

A fair answer is to say, “All of the above”. You may not be happy to hear that, but it is my opinion.

I have never seen a people more expectant than Nigerians. When they love a person, he is fault-free and infallible. Anyone who disagrees with him must be insulted and disgraced. He will solve all their problems. I think that is why when they eventually hate the same person they go to another extreme of not seeing anything good with them. Buhari is a victim of this, unfortunately. Examples of other objects of extreme blind love by their supporters are Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso.

What about the mistakes? Are they too many or too grave or both? Are all of them mistakes or blunders? Or are they simply contempt for Nigerians or some groups thereof by President Buhari?

I sometimes wish Buhari did not accept to become the President. Many people are at a loss about how he simply allowed innocent people to continuously be killed in his home state while speaking about defeating Boko Haram in the far away North East. By the time he leaves at the end of this month, President Buhari will leave Katsina more insecure than he met it. Last week, a major national daily reported the migration of dreaded bandits in large numbers from Zamfara to Katsina state.

On several occasions when Buhari was asked about banditry in the North West he dismissed it as a fight between people of the same culture and tradition. This can mean farmers/herders or Hausa/Fulani communal clash. Many victims like me are not happy with this kind of response and see it as the reason why well known bandits’ kingpins are operating freely in our state, kidnapping, enslaving, killing, raping, etc.

The least corrupt Nigerian politician I know will leave Nigerians in a more difficult economic hardship than he met them. I have seen Nigerians taking a long time comparing their income and prices of foodstuffs (yes, food not any luxury item) in 2015 when Buhari came and 2023 when he is leaving. Nigerians are suffering.

What about Education? That PMB kept poor people children at home for eight months last year and many months in 2020 while his children were schooling in Europe is an indication of the contempt Buhari has for the poor people of Nigeria who formed his support base. The number of out of school children is rising. The Almajiri Education Commission should have come earlier but it is still a welcome development which we hope the incoming President should implement with the seriousness it deserves.

Finally, Nigerians are also difficult and unfair. When they love a politician, they don’t consider him to be a human being who has strengths and weaknesses. If they do that at the beginning, they will certainly be fair to him at the end. But like some binary machines, they have only two states; absolute love and absolute hate.

Prof Abdussamad Umar Jibia