Should Nigerians angelise or demonise President Buhari?
- President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has not started putting smiles on the faces of the suffering masses
- The populace is in awe either to angelise or demonise the president
- Time will tell if Buhari will bring the needed change Nigerians have been yearning for
“Which way Nigeria? Which way to go? I love my fatherland. ...” – Late Nigerian Musician, Sunny Okosun.
The above 3 statements were from one of the hit songs by Sunny Okosun over 20 years ago. The late singer felt unhappy about how the government then was running the affairs of the country which made him release the song.
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Nigerians themselves do not know where the country is heading at present. The economic situation in the country is not palatable. The foreign exchange market is tilted towards the negative side for the Nigerian Naira. There is a daily upsurge in unemployment. The health sector is nothing to write home about while government infrastructures are dilapidated and almost moribund.
Which way is Nigeria really heading? Which way is the All Progressives Congress (APC) taking Nigerians to?
The APC-led federal government is facing a herculean task in unraveling the overt forces that have made good governance impossible since it assumed leadership last year May. It has been involved in different blame games regarding its inability to give Nigerians what they truly deserve in terms of social welfare, security and good infrastructures.
President Buhari has been receiving accolades in some quarters regarding his style of leadership especially his anti-corruption crusade. Some renowned figures in the country and organisations have applauded the president in his quest to cleanse the Augean stable. Notable among these Nigerians are the likes of Professor Wole Soyinka, Professor Itse Sagay and their likes.
According to the Paramount ruler and Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo in an interview he granted in the New Telegraph of Thursday 12, November 2015. The King described Buhari succinctly when he said:
“General Buhari is a deep person. When a person is deep, it means he’s not given to frivolities. You can talk from morning till night, he would not smile, he would not say one word but he’s listening to everything you are saying.
“When a person is deep, he does not quickly make mistakes and run back again because that would mean he didn’t think well about the thing before he stepped out. You must think before you leap, not leap first and start thinking.”
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Another notable elder statesman who angelised the country’s number one citizen is General Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd).
General Adebayo was the Western Regional Military Governor between 1966 and 1970. He is the father of the first civilian governor of Ekiti state, Adeniyi Adebayo. He is at present the Chairman of Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE).
In his words as reported by SATURDAYSUN of December 5, 2015, he said:
“Now, I’m happy that Buhari is the President. When he was the Head of State under the army, he did extremely well. He did his job loyally and honestly for the entire people of the country. And he did extremely well.
“I’m happy because he once worked under me when we were commanding the Nigerian army operations in the Congo. He was a junior then and he was a good officer and he did extremely well with honestly, faithfulness and loyalty. He was a good officer. He did his job seriously, honestly and loyally to the best of his knowledge and in the interest of the country. He did extremely well. And being the president now, he will do as he did before, possibly better than before.”
The mantra of change of government rented the air before the presidential election of Saturday, March 28, 2015. President Buhari then was addressed as General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB). He was believed to be the Messiah Nigerians had been waiting for. He was also seen as the new face of progressiveness and the epitome of good leadership that Nigeria lacked.
Elections came and went and Buhari was sworn in to lead the nation to a better future after his victory at the 2015 presidential polls.
The protagonists of the change government are presently not comfortable whenever they receive knocks from their antagonists like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on how they have fared so far in providing Nigerians with the basic needs of life. Although, the president said he is unfortunate to be leading the country at the present moment, but Nigerians still expect the Buhari-effect to turn things around for the good of the people.
The new opposition party at the National level may have destroyed the fabric of the nation in the 16 years it had the golden opportunity to make the economic fortunes of the average Nigerian better, but the current ruling party should not become more confused in the business of governance by coming up with daily excuses.
While the president may have been receiving kudos from some quarters, just of recent, a civil society published a report called Buharimetre report which diagnosed how the president performed between May and December 2015. The report was totally unfavourable to the president as it gave him some knocks.
Buharimetre indeed demonised the nation’s president. It stated that Buhari scored just 0.05% after checking all the indices used to measure if the president has performed or not based on his electoral campaign promises before he was sworn in on Friday, May 29, 2015.
Some parts of the report had it that: “PMB has only achieved 1 out of the 222 tracked promises, which constitutes 0.5 percent of the promises.
“In the last few months, several of the people accused of corruption have been detained against the law, which stipulates that all accused must be brought before the court 48 hours after arrest.
“Some people granted bail have since been re-arrested and detained. The fight against corruption must be pursued in line with due process and never in abuse of the law.
“Essentially, fighting corruption is and should remain one of the policy priorities of government but not the only overarching intervention necessary to strengthen governance, especially in a country like Nigeria where democracy is still transitioning.”
As President Buhari received series of bashings from Buharimetre, some other notable Nigerians are also of the view that the only thing going currently for Buhari is his anti-graft war. These sets of individuals are of the view that the president knows little or next to nothing about the economy. They believe that this is the reason the Naira has been sliding further and further against the US Dollar at the parallel exchange market.
The other person who tried demonising the nation's president is Pa Ayo Adebanjo, a staunch member of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural group.
In Adebanjo's view about Buhari according to the Vanguard of Sunday, February 7, he said:
“The impression we have about the way he (President Muhammadu Buhari) is doing it (anti-corruption war) now is that he is after his opponents; maybe some of the suspects are corrupt, but the way he is flouting court orders, am not happy about that.
“I said it appears it appears he (Buhari) is partisan, because all those that are being accused now are from the opposition and we also know that among his people, there are people there who are also corrupt.
“I am fully in support of the anti-graft war, but it should be fair. Anybody who is found guilty should be made to face the consequences and not because somebody opposed you and it should be done in a manner that is constitutionally right.”
Source: Legit.ng
