President Muhammadu Buhari - A Military General In Name Only.

By Oyewole Michael

"The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership." ~ Chinua Achebe

Honestly, I am angry. Are you?
Gradually, we are becoming a people who have lost her humanity and the ideal patriotic spirit to hold government accountable, so it seem though. The spate of insurgency, wanton killings and abduction in the Country is rising at an alarming rate. It is getting scarier as each day unfolds, no one may truly be safe from either being kidnapped, killed or maimed if these monstrous tragedies is not nipped permanently in the bud.

Interestingly, some persons are quite committed to keep playing politics with human lives. For them, they think it is about political affiliations, or maybe, for a pinch of morsel on their table. Our founding fathers placed the country above personal or regional interest. Why can't we? Many years ago, the loss of human live(s) received collective public outcry and unequivocal call for justice. Simply put, it was a pain everyone bore. What do we have today? - "I don't care attitude", "It doesn't concern me behaviors", "We are secure and safe over here", and all sought of unpatriotic reasoning, plus lack of compassion for fellow humans.

Consistently, the bar for good governance keeps going low, still, President Muhammadu Buhari couldn't beat it! To even think the county is being led by a retired military General and our security architecture is in this poorly managed state is distasteful. For Mr. President and his handlers all they care about is their imaginary integrity laced with supposed good outlook.

At a time when our territorial integrity is nearly compromised, when Nigerians on a daily basis mourn and bury their loved ones, a true leader would be in the trenches looking for short and long term solutions to the ills bewildering his citizens. Not my President! He will rather prefer to junket the world while those he governs are experiencing untowed hardship and unending insecurity issues. We must rise as a people to speak the truth to power, hold the president accountable, and make him fullfil his constitutionally enshrined mandate; "The SECURITY and WELFARE of the people shall be the primary purpose of any government".

Nigeria is bleeding. Citizens are living in fear. It is common knowledge that in trying times like this, a leader responsible to her citizens will show empathy, visit scenes of unrest and frequents killings/kidnappings, commiserate personally with those who have lost lives or property. In doing this, it reposes confidence and discourages any call to arms in pursuit of retaliation. Consequently, when the people perceive that the government doesn't care about their plight, they are naturally inclined to look for means of protecting and defending themselves. Shamefully, President Muhammadu Buhari's posture and body language suggests he doesn't care about the pain, tears, and plight of Nigerians.

Annoyingly, that Nigeria is currently experiencing this demeaning level of insecurity in nearly all parts of the country under the leadership of a man who rose through the Military ranks to become an Army General and became an Head of state is really suspect. Ordinarily, General Muhammadu Buhari is supposed to bring to bear his long years of Military life experience in ensuring adequate security of lives and property of all Nigerians. Here is man whose primary professional constituency deals in peace keeping and providing adequate security and ensuring the territorial integrity of a Country is intact. Well, the situation speaks for itself, isn't it? Sad.

Oops, Mr. President is usually quick to issue condolence messages when lives are lost in other parts of the world. Arghhhhhh! Surprisingly, President Buhari does not even talk to Nigerians. Prior to the 2019 Presidential election period, he was consistently holding press conferences and having interviews. Today, he has gone back to "flight" mode, an attitude he is known for since 2015. This is not only insensitive, but, preposterous. Ideally, a leader is to be in constant engagement with those he leads employing varying mechanisms of communications. Methinks, the president and his handlers lack emotional intelligence. On a second thought, maybe they truly don't give a darn about us and what we are currently going through as citizens.

Worse still, there are consciously dangerous attempt by some persons to normalize the travails of Nigerians in a bid to further their sycophantic acts for pecuniary gains. These set of repugnant mendicant are the true enemies of the people, by their actions, they do not want the peace and tranquility of the country and her occupants. Need I remind them, power is truly transient. More so, recent happenings proves that, even the "high and mighty" are also not immune from kidnappers and bandits.

Again, I ask, how are you not angry? Does the lives of Nigerians not matter?

Bottom line, President Muhammadu Buhari has failed Nigerians.

Oyewole Michael is a Political Analyst And Commentator. He tweets via @Rolex7Michael. He can be reached via [email protected]

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