Buhari: Setting The Farm House Ablaze To Kill A Mosquito

Governance and the management of the affairs of men has caused enormous

concern across time and space. In Nigeria, for the past twenty-five years,

at least from the Second Republic, I have studied the anatomy of

governance and why some succeed and others fail. No leader is born,

although there are some characteristics that enhance leadership

effectiveness. Such characteristics may involve communication, ability to

understand the psychology of followers, inter-personal relationship, and

being humane. Other environmental factors that contribute to leadership

include: clear policy direction, well-articulated mission statement,

clearly defined goals, targets and more importantly transparent men to

manage resources to achieve goals. All these can only operate within the

context of the rule of law.
Democratic government, although necessary, is not sufficient to facilitate

democratization of power in the society; the latter requires political

struggles and deliberate crafting of new institutions within the frame of

a democratic government. Democracy also has no direct and necessary

bearing on a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and status in

society. Thus, democracy as a form of government, democratization of power

as a political process, and socio-economic democracy as a possible goal,

are analytically and empirically distinguishable. A democratic government,

however, may be seen as an improvement over the authoritarian governments

because people in most countries prefer a predictable to an arbitrary

government, value the freedom of expression and association as ends in

themselves, and increasingly hold that they have a right to have some say

in the selection of their political leaders.
In every political economy, the solar plexus is the Economic Team, which

provides a policy direction for the economy, manages it and points out

possible challenges in advance with a view to proffering solutions to

them. While the Minister of Finance and the Economic team handles the

Macroeconomic policies of the State, the CBN takes care of the monetary

policy of the Government. President Buhari is too busy with his lopsided

anti-corruption was that he has not spared a thought to this very critical

nexus between the technocracy and the health of the economy. President

Buhari may not have been told this sordid truth. That more than one years

after assuming office, Nigeria has no economic team bespeaks his

insensitivity on matters concerning the economy.
It does appear that Buhari is incapable of providing leadership, he has

made several promises which cannot be fulfilled. At some point, one would

say President Buhari's thought processes have been beclouded by lunar

amnesia, much the same way he is being consumed by the feeling of

self….Aribisala. Prototypical of a failing leader, President Buhari has

denied all the promises made during his campaigns…….NANS. The promises

verging on the FOREX regime, the Chibok saga, job creation and power

supply among others. He said he would hold the rule of law sacrosanct but

the body language of the President shows that he tramples on the rule of

law with impunity, violates court orders, and denigrates the judiciary and

other apparatus of State. The recent imbroglio in Abia State is a good

example. It is trite and in line with the constitution that if a court of

law disqualifies a sitting Governor, he has 21 days within which to

appeal. In all the years I have sojourned on earth this is the first time

I see a judgment with the “immediate effect” clause” which smacks of a

totalitarian regime dragging the judiciary into the murky waters of

politics.
Economic analysts are agreed that APC operates the worst economy in 43

years; they have wrecked the Economy. Another innate tendency, which for

me is a hubris is the unedifying the practice of blaming Jonthan for all

the woes of his ineptitude. The Nobel Laureate lamented “Nigeria's economy

is Bad, We need an Economic Summit—Wole Soyinka Another seasoned

bureaucrat Prof. Pat Utomi averred that Buhari does not understand the

workings of the Economy. This perhaps explains why Buhari has spent $5.8

billion on meaningless Foreign Trips while not punishing the APC members

who passed a nudget that was padded to the point of overkill. For

President Buhari, his Fulani killer herdsmen are always right even if they

commit crimes of genocidal proportion. A clergy man Cardinal John Onayekan

described President Buhari is a liability to the Nigerian State.

Under Buhari's watch, Nigeria is now a tale of unmitigated disaster such

that a colonizing power – Britain could describe Nigeria as “fantastically

corrupt”. But why not? Buhari's anti-corruption was is a political

vendetta, as only PDP people are being prosecuted. Buhari can unashamedly

investigate the campaign funds of PDP but has said nothing about the APC.

Crooks in APC are now being beatified while everybody of worth in PDP is

persecuted. Under X-President Jonathan, PMS sold for N86.50 per litre and

now the President has officially announced that PMS is N145.00 per litre.

During the foreign exchange palaver, the CBN Governor Emefiele admitted

that President Buhari and wife bought dollars directly from the CBN at the

rate of N197.00 Naira and re-sold the dollar for N374.00. Initially so

many people regarded it as wretched piece of propaganda. We were wrong

when the President himself was quoted as saying that his children could

school abroad because he could afford the foreign exchange, and that those

who could not afford it should keep their children in Nigeria. Then it

occurred to me that the broom revolution had collapsed. If the President

of Nigeria could make a statement like that then Nigeria is finished. That

was when the broom revolution was about nine months old.

Britain also alleged that under President Buhari's watch as President, $42

billion had been fleeced away from NNPC. The Presidency and the massive

media apparatus in Aso Rock could not honour Nigeria with a paragraph of

rebuttal, tacitly confirming that the allegation is true, especially with

Buhari as the Petroleum Minister. Here and there we could notice visible

cracks of division in APC already, and a faction of APC has vehemently

called for the resignation of President Buhari because according to them,

he lacks the capacity to govern. When ill-health is added to lack of

capacity, the result can only be disastrous.
Buhari is the accredited inventor of the NIGER DELTA AVENGERS because he

could not caution his Northern kinsmen to refrain from unguarded

utterances. The North claimed that the Niger Delta Oil belongs to them.

Surely, Nigeria's crude oil deposited in the Nigeria Delta belongs to all

Nigerians but the solid mineral resources we find in all parts of Nigeria

belong to where they are situated. It is injustice but we are watching.

Now the Nigerians know that if the production of crude oil stops, we shall

have no budget and invariable the concept of ONE NIGERIA will be called to

question. Our economy is certainly not based on revenues from carrots,

cows, onions and beans.
The South-South produces the budget of the Country but the North has

contributed so much by sponsoring Boko Haram, a human hyena that has

sucked the blood of innocent men, women and Children. I see reasons with

Buhari for over-compensating the North. What is more, he has declared

Amnesty for Boko Haram yet Boko Haram has not stopped killing. The reason

is simple: Boko Haram – is like the donation of Northern Nigeria to the

nation. What a horrible donation my Countrymen?
Buhari is still obsessed with the ills of the Jonathan administration and

by so doing, he is making Jonathan's image loom larger. Boko Haram is

riding roughshod and the bombs are dropping more frequently. More and more

innocent Nigerians are abbreviated. The APC Apostle of change appears not

to be bothered. Indeed we have entered the era of change in the negative

retrogressive direction. Sometimes, one begins to ask; what manner of

change is APC bringing to Nigeria? Is it the Zaria massacre that is the

change or the Shiite Sunni division leading to killings in parts of the

North? Is it the change in the price of Petrol kerosene from N50.00 to

N85.00 which Nigerians buy in pains? Under the nose of APC, almost all

MNCs are sacking their workers, the few investors the past administration

brought in are on the run; the banking industry is embarking on massive

downsizing, even private companies are sacking because they cannot afford

to pay workers, yet electricity tariffs are jacked-up and this is likely

to precipitate a nationwide protest. That is APC's model of creating jobs.

Laughable!
Nigerians are seeing a daylight dictatorial and tyrannical style of

leadership wearing the tattered garb of democracy. Most of his decisions

are unilateral, with little or no consultation and often titrated to

favour sectional interest. The interesting thing is that Buhari has not

bothered about laying the foundations of the administration that would

change Nigeria. Nigeria is basking in the euphoria of a brand new APC

President Muhammad Buhari has been sworn-in at the Centre and many

Governors who are newly elected was sworn in more than two months ago. For

now, the dominant Party is the APC. President Jonathan handed over power

to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, and Nigerians will certainly hold the new

administration to its campaign promises. In sharp contrast to the

President's inaugural speech, the appointments made so far show that

Buhari is implementing a policy of Northernization as change mantra. The

President said he he would appoint more notherners in government because

he understands them and can work better with them.
For now, the most knotty challenge to Nigerian's is the chaotic state of

our economy. Without recourse to the experience of professional

economists, Nigerians are aware that Nigeria's over-dependency on crude

oil is one of the age-long challenges we must overcome. The responsibility

of the APC government is to diversify the economy. Our over-reliance on

crude oil has led to wide spread peculation. It has also turned Nigeria

into a perpetual consumer nation, with a no-grow index in almost all other

sectors of the economy. True, the President Jonathan administration made

enormous progress in Agriculture and power, but the economic fifth

columnists daily wreak havoc to the economy.
Amidst this inequality, the North has produced about 98% of those who have

messed up the coffers of the nation. Some of them now wear the toga of

statesmen, but why not, with the huge monies they rack in to their

offshore accounts through their oil blocks. I must acknowledge that some

of these leaders are benevolent enough to use part of their loots to

sponsor politically-induced insurgency. Today, not even Buhari and the new

administration can stop the menace. The Boko Haram they invented may

eventually consume them. For the six years President Jonathan was in power

he ran a war economy- an economy that bought more arms than built more

hospitals, rehabilitated more orphans than built more schools for the

almajiris.
The frustration is such that youths in the North are reported to be

burning down the houses of Senators. In the colony of leaders, we have

those who are visionary but cannot work hard enough to actualize their

visions. There are those who fly on the wings of courage, vision and

inspiration and being audacious, they fulfill even higher goals. The Niger

Delta Youths “Avengers” have been tempted to go back to the trenches

because of Buhari's inability to fulfil his promises.

The Amnesty Programme is poorly funded. The Maritime University at

Okerenkoko is at the point of being scrapped. Most of the people-oriented

projects initiated by the Jonathan administration are being abandoned.

Ninety (90%) of oil blocks have been cornered by Northerners. I trust that

if these conditions are violated, Buhari's administration may be running a

war economy on two fronts: from the dry arid sahel region to the oil-rich

Niger Delta on another. We can avoid this war economy by keeping the

Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, NDDC and allow the Amnesty Programme to

run. All these palliatives are to douse the potentially explosive

situation in the Niger Delta, which of course will not stop a more

comprehensive vehement agitation for total resource control or fiscal

federalism. It's 25% derivation or nothing as recommended by the NATIONAL

CONFAB. Sadly, Buhari has not given even a casual attention to the

aforementioned issues. He dreams corruption, talks corruption, chases

corruption but there is a list of most Corrupt Nigerians given to him but

he has done nothing with the G-7 list. Most of them are in Buhari's

Cabinet. Sadly, Buhari's cabinet is inundated with corrupt people and he

is very happy working with them.
While Buhari is hounding the OBOTE MEN, the mistakes of ex-President

Jonathan are becoming more conspicuous. The South-South is mourning as

their sons take turns to visit Kuje prisons on allegations of corruption.

The most buffeting is the fact that Boko Haram killings have increased,

insecurity is becoming more and more intense, the famed #chibokgirls

mystery is yet to be unraveled, the Cabinet has not been constituted and

hope appears to be fading even among the stubbornly optimistic. Buhari's

only wisdom is to appoint Northerners and he does not think of Nigeria,

let alone moving the country forward. It appears the PDP was right when

they said the APC just needed power for its own sake; the members do not

know what it takes to entrench good governance. Senator Tinubu just

confirmed that when he said APC was just formed to take power from

President Jonathan. Nigerians are compelled to watch President Buhari as

he implements a pro-North and anti-Niger Delta agenda.

About a year into the Buhari administration, the judiciary has been turned

up-side-down. All election petitions must favour the APC even though

evidences are to the contrary.
Not even one of the 81 promises made by Buhari during his campaign has

been fulfilled. In politics, promises are like debts and when they are not

fulfilled then one can say that it is fraud. Most Nigerians may be praying

that the price of crude oil should diminish to $10 p/b for that is the

only way Nigeria can think of investment in Agriculture and embrace

industrialization. By any known standard, Buhari as a primitive

feudalistic hegemon, bereft of ideas and who is intent on taking Nigeria

back to the Stone Age.
I disagree because he addresses the United Nations and promises to fight

corruption but the fight against corruption is not only lopsided but

criminally conducted. If it were not so why will Buhari not declare how

much he has recovered from corrupt Nigerians? Why will he not probe the

Apc Campaign funds while he is probing that of PDP? Why is President

Buhari running away from the Halliburton scandal? Why has Buhari-the

anti-corruption hero not probed some known cases of corrupt enrichment in

his Cabinet even when the amount of monies stolen are mentioned?

President Buhari is killing the whole nation because a few corrupt

individuals, like a demented farmer who sets the farmhouse ablaze because

he has to kill a mosquito. Let no one be deceived that Nigeria is a

democracy. We are gradually taking a catastrophic dive into tyranny – like

Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Mussolini of Italy; Pol Pot of Indonesia and

other rulers who rode on democratic platforms to become full time

dictators. The President rules the nation with the rule of the thumb. To

hell with that wretched broom of infamy! How the hell has the broom

transformed Nigeria into a “fantastically corrupt nation in so short a

period? Many tongues are wagging! It is insane to burn the farmhouse

because of a mosquito.
John Idumange is a public intellectual
July 1, 2016
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