In
the world view of the Yoruba people of the South-West and part of the
North-Central zones of Nigeria, the life of any person or thing is
classified into three distinct seasons. These three seasons are
signified by the three parts of the day, namely, morning, afternoon and
night.
Although they pray for the best for each of these
seasons, the Yoruba are united in the conclusion that while the first
two seasons of life may be full of thorns and thistles, the last part –
the night, should harbour the best for every life. As a matter of fact,
that the latter part of life (night) should show more fruitfulness than
the earlier parts is one prayer that you are most likely to find on the
mouth of everyone of Yoruba descent. If the newly sworn in President
Muhammadu Buhari were a Yoruba man, this would no doubt be one major
thought on his mind.
Even as Buhari was an
accomplished man before this latest journey into Nigeria’s leadership,
his first sojourn on the saddle in the 1980s cannot exactly be described
as successful.
True, the military regime which he led with the
late Brig Tunde Idiagbon showed some character and left some footprint
which a lot of people still remember, but it was shortlived and none of
the policies which it espoused survived much longer than the termination
of the administration in 1984. So, you cannot point to any legacy of
that era. But now, Buhari has another opportunity. That seems to me to
answer the desire for a fruitful old age described earlier.
At
72, Buhari even without his legendary ascetic reputation, should aspire
for nothing more than leaving a legacy of performance for which his
generation would be proud of. What’s more, we have a man who is believed
to totally understand the ephemeral nature of all worldly acquisitions,
the vanity of it all.
We all appear to have come to realise
that the crave for lucre has become a major disincentive to creative
leadership in our country. That most Nigerian leaders are so entranced
in their lustful appetites that they appropriate our commonwealth
without care for over 70 per cent of Nigerians who have no idea where
their next meal would come from. And we have mostly given up hope that
Nigeria would ever attain its potential.
Enter the
septuagenarian former soldier who is not likely to contemplate such
inanities as he would love to do well for Nigeria, laying solid
foundations for its future and retiring to Daura to enjoy a quiet life
afterwards. The ultimate ambition of the new President at his age should
be etching his name in history as the harbinger of a new Nigeria.
In
effect, the President must remind himself every waking day that he has a
point to prove and that God gave him this second chance to make an
impact. He must also remember that there are a lot of Nigerians who
doubted his ability to deliver on the promises that he made and that the
onus to prove them wrong and move Nigeria forward entirely rests on
him.
I also think that Buhari has come too far to fail in the
very urgent need for national revival. Apart from Olusegun Obasanjo,
Buhari would be the only person who has the unique privilege of being
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria twice in his life.
But
the current President yearned for this office more than Obasanjo. From
2003, until he eventually made it in 2015, Buhari ran for office against
an assortment of pretenders and serious aspirants to the nation’s
Presidency. On most of the occasions, he ran an almost solitary race
which left him with bruises. But he was deterred following his failed
third attempt in 2011 when he said he was not going to contest again.
Buhari
however allowed himself to be persuaded to join the race in 2015 and
here we are! It is actually possible to stretch this point further. In
Nigeria’s 55-year history, this newly sworn in leader is indeed the only
one who had a personal desire to run for office, the other six
civilians who had occupied that office were either persuaded, cajoled or
lured into the position by circumstances or people who hoped to have
them by the strings.
In the First Republic, leader of the
Northern Peoples’ Congress and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello,
should have become the Prime Minister since his party won majority seats
in the December 1959 parliamentary election. But he ceded the office to
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
In the Second Republic, Shehu
Shagari did not aspire higher than the Senate but he ended up as
president, apparently unprepared. Chief Ernest Shonekan was lured out of
the board- room by a military politician who still wanted a foot in the
door. Before 1999, Obasanjo, in spite of his experience and connections
thought all, including life, was over for him until a conspiracy
plucked him out of jail and foisted him on us. OBJ as he is known spent
the first four years of his administration flying in the dark. In his
second term, he sabotaged legitimate and enthusiastic aspirants to
succession while he pursued a third term agenda by proxy. When that
failed, he persuaded a largely unwilling (and unwell) Umaru Yar’Adua to
take over from him.
The immediate past President, Goodluck
Jonathan, did not imagine that the heavens could bless him with anything
grander than his nomination as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State but
providence soon elevated him into the substantive governorship seat. And
before he exhausted his tenure, he found himself in the belly of Aso
Rock first as Vice-President to Yar’Adua and then President after the
untimely transition of his principal. Jonathan’s ascendancy to national
recognition from his provincial endowment was courtesy of a benefactor
who gifts you cattle but holds on to the rope to tie it.
Thus,
Buhari is the first and only President till date who by himself came to
seek the throne. He fought for it a record four times before it happened
and I do not think anyone does that unless he has a mission and knows
how to accomplish it.
Finally and most importantly, there is a
cloud of expectations from Nigerians and the entire world about how much
Buhari can accomplish and for this he cannot fail on that score.
Sure,
Buhari has more than enough to deal with in his four-year tenure. As he
said in his inaugural speech, he inherited a comatose economy where
revenue has dwindled but work is much. Power supply is at a miserable
low, unemployment is alarming, insecurity is pervasive and corruption
has become a way of life.
Tackling all of these problems and
more that will surface in the days to come takes more than Buhari’s
towering frugality, it would take guts, the assemblage of a good team as
well as the continued support of the party on which platform he became
President. And this is exactly where trouble might be lurking for the
President.
As time goes on, Buhari may discover that his
greatest challenge is not necessarily the myriad of problems of past
governments, especially that of his immediate predecessor but the change
of heart by some of the people with whom he has travelled before now.
Given
the pecuniary nature of our politics, the kitchen may soon get too hot
for some of those who walked with the President until now. Some would
soon stop believing in the dream or the route through which the
President wants to achieve the dream that they dreamt together. At such
moments of disappointment, which will happen, the President’s
self-discipline and incorruptible nature would not answer. He must be
ready to withstand and overcome every storm on behalf of Nigerians.
Having
pursued this office without relent for 12 years, and having made so
many promises hinged on the conviction for change, millions of Nigerians
at home and abroad are determined in their conviction that the retired
general is one Nigerian able to end the rot and move Nigeria forward. It
would be unforgivable to disappoint them.
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