Can This President Find Greatness? -By Ozioma Nwadike

Sam Omatseye a respected writer in a brilliant piece a couple of days, titled Dis-Atikulated, speaking of the silence on the Monday morning, when the presidential election results of Kano, Kastina, and Kaduna, began to fully filter in and were being confirmed by INEC,  wrote – ‘After the polls, a certain ennui wrapped the nation. Those who won are as though they mourn, and those who lost are in sack cloth“. http://thenationonlineng.net/dis-atikulated/

He couldn’t have been more poignant. Most people in the urban areas, especially in the south of the country, supported and/or voted for the flawed opposition Atiku Abubakar. Also, a sizable number of the northern intelligentsia, who supported Buhari in 2015, had lost faith in the ascetic from Daura. For the honest non-partisan, it was inevitable. For four years, Muhammadu Buhari showed in policy, conduct, and words that he was too detached, too archaic, too conservative, insensitive, and not sophisticated enough to lead a youthful country where the median age is 17.9 years, in the 21st Century. 1983 was a really long time ago, and the world and our country had long moved on, Nelson Mandela had gone to be with his ancestors and 21 year old Kylie Jenner made a billion dollars from selling lip-gloss. The President’s campaign slogan was: Next Level, but for some people the prospects of another 4 years of Buhari’s government 2.0, literally gave them nightmares. It was clear that though this President won a large majority of the entire vote, but he lost the intellectual debate for the progressive, urban, South vote and the small but still important elite liberal North vote.

The President lost that crucial vote because, from his early infamous Freudian slip of how he wouldn’t be a President for the so-called 5% who didn’t vote for him in 2015, it was clear that he was still caught in old feuds formed in Sandhurst army training camps and the painful aftermaths of coups and counter coups, when Whats-app and Facebook has all interconnected us and modernity is starting to blur the differences that make us wary of one another. Buhari made no attempt to be a statesman, that task was left to the cerebral vice-president Yemi Osinbajo. The President surrounded himself with a closed coterie of old, conservative Hausa-Fulani men. The president couldn’t create a team that inspired belief, it took 6 months to even appoint ministers. Square pegs were put in round holes, we went from Omobola Johnson as minister for communications to the laughable Adebayo Shittu. President Buhari gave us the comical Solomon Dalung as Minister for Sports. He over-burdened the brilliant Tunde Fashola, and isolated the industrious South East and the oil rich South South regions. Appointment after appointment, the President kept shouting merit, and we kept on looking at each other in wide eyed amazement. It was like the President was the only one who didn’t see the nepotism staring him in the face. There was the clear double standard in the President’s signature fight against corruption, one rule for members of his party and another for members of the opposition. Underneath the waters, the administration through the NBC was muzzling free speech by imposing heavy fines on media houses especially radio stations in the guise of discouraging hate speech. People were getting arrested and locked up for tweets. There was also the insensitive nature of the President’s response to the herdsmen crisis in the North Central. We heard stories of entire communities getting wiped out and on most occasions there was only a muted response.

Buhari blamed the previous president endlessly when most of his important infrastructural projects were initiated or partially completed by the previous Jonathan administration. His answer to YouWin, (which Chris Blattman, economist and political scientist working on international development and policy, widely praised and wondered if it was the most effective development program in history) was TraderMoni : it was almost dystopian seeing the vice president handing 10,000 naira in cash to poor petty traders in Lagos markets a few weeks to the election. However, what did it for most of us was the brutal killings of over 300 Muslim Shia members in Zaria, including women and children. Some of us in good conscience could not go on supporting the President.

So when the presidential election results started to filter in, some were honestly surprised that the president was winning and not just winning but winning with the same big margins in his strongholds. This election did not enjoy the almost unanimous adjudgment of free and fair that the Jega led 2015 elections did. In the south east registration for voters card and collection of the voters card was almost like a horse passing through the eye of the needle. On election day, election materials arrived late and card readers did not work properly in large parts. Igbo voters in Lagos state were violently assaulted and in some places outrightly refused to be given their voters card or allowed to vote by INEC officials.  There was violent rhetoric from both parties. The so-called 3rd force tore themselves up and should by now already lost all credibility. INEC a couple of hours before election day extended the election for a week and dampened the enthusiasm of Nigerians, if not directly reducing voter turnout and suppressing the vote. There were videos trending on social media of continued underage voting in the President’s strongholds. The collation of the election result from the polling booths at the collation centers was fraught with irregularities. Last year, the President had refused to sign the amendments to the Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly, giving the convenient excuse that it was far too close to the election year in 2019.

But all is not lost for Mr Buhari. This president has a chance to find greatness. He has a huge almost fanatical following in the North. I have always felt that his administration should be about developing the North and reducing the astronimical levels of poverty and illiteracy in certain areas. He should focus on education in the north, especially the girl child. The Daily trust reported in 2017 that the Almajiri schools built by the Jonathan administration are now in ruins and left to deteriorate by President Buhari’s government : “The first Tsangaya School commissioned five years ago in Sokoto state by the former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan are not put to proper use as seven of the ten classes in the school are unoccupied. When contacted the Principal of the school, Malam Hussaini declined comment on the condition of the school, saying they were barred from talking to the media without a written permission from the Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board. Students of other schools revealed to our reporter that they had not been undertaking vocational courses despite having a well-equipped vocational centre in the school. “They teach us English, mathematics, computer studies, Quranic lessons among others but we are not given vocational courses,” two of the students told Daily Trust. The school had 260 pupils in 2015, mostly from Sokoto and the neighboring states of Kebbi and Zamfara. But during our last visit only few students were sighted around the school”https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/n15-billion-almajiri-schools-in-ruins.html

The president is a fine tall charismatic man. He exudes confidence and steadfastness. He should seek out the best Nigerian brains in economics and policy and give them the political cover to take tough decisions and ensure we continue on the path of economic recovery. In a complex multi-tribal society like Nigeria, the President must be fair and equitable in his appointments in the military, and important government agencies and not just fulfilling his constitutional duty of appointing a minister from each state. The president must abhor nepotism which is just as deadly and even more than outright corruption. The President must continue his brave fight against corruption, and equally apply the law to his allies and opponents alike. As evidenced by the last 4 years, until the President begins to see the world beyond the myopic lens of his closest allies, he can only continue to resemble a rabbit caught in the headlights of the demands of 21st century. The world had long moved on the archaic aesthetic of his Daura polling booth, it would be foolhardy to continue in the old ways, which has brought us nothing but sorrow, tears and blood.

Ozioma Nwadike, Legal Practitioner writes from Owerri, Imo State 08183754657