What is truly going through the mind of President Buhari at the
present moment has become a task for fortunetellers and tea leaves
readers. In these early days of his Presidency, he reminds me very much
of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the second term of his
Presidency. The former President, who had a very clear idea what to do
with Nigeria, made a clear point of refusing to interact with Nigerians
through the mass media and allowed the opposition to use the media as a
playground to throw mud at him uncontrolled. Much of that mud does stick
to the former President today in his public perception.
On the contrary, former President Goodluck Jonathan had no idea
whatsoever, what to do with the Presidency and the country at large. To
him, being a President was divine blessing enough, than the overwhelming
task of moving Nigeria forward. The latter was a burden that he simply
did not bargain for. Yet, he used the media. He communicated regularly
with the people no matter how much trash and childish messages he
communicated. His aides hired foot soldiers to write irksome comments on
articles and even sponsored media outlets with public funds while the
President stayed far away from stepping on toes. Today, remnants of
these foot soldiers have gone haywire and purely insane propagating
anti-Buhari messages simply for the sake of malignity.
But Buhari is not helping matters either. Having missed the golden
opportunity of his inaugural speech to brace Nigerians for things to
come in the clearest language possible, President Muhammadu Buhari is
yet missing out on another opportunity to woo the hearts and mind of
ordinary Nigerians. He seems stubbornly and deliberately refusing to
address the nation almost one full month into his Presidency while his
inactions are leaving far more questions than answers.
Like Obasanjo, there is no doubt that Buhari has a very clear idea
what to do with Nigeria. His numerous international consultation travels
primarily to woo allies for the overall security of the country, show
his serious commitment to solving the overriding security problem of the
country as quickly as possible. And that is precisely where it ends.
Every other issue has become a guessing game.
While this approach of talking less and letting results speak for
themselves is a very legitimate approach often adopted by action men and
honorable people of authority, it is yet a dangerous public relations
strategy that may make any achievement whatsoever amount to naught in
the face of unnecessary public anger. Former President Obasanjo can tell
a thing or two about this. This leads to the next pertinent question,
if Buhari is resistant to advice from his aides or if his aides are
sheer incompetent.
A professional drafting of an inaugural speech will only end up in
futility if the speech fails to come down to earth and address every
citizen in the language they will understand. Coded and well-packaged
messages that are meant to be decoded by a select target audience on a
day of inauguration is the first own goal and a hallmark of professional
inefficiency. Then the gaffe of “Western Germany”, “President Mitchell”
and all that stuff!
So far, these have all been mitigated by very positive rumors that
are in sync with public expectations. Nigerian refineries are reportedly
working towards the commencement of full-scale refining operations in
the early days of July 2015. A move that will surely relieve the
pressure on public funds wasted on subsidizing the importation of
refined fuel by larcenous importers with the credentials of former
presidential alliance.
While insane old-time foot soldiers of former President Jonathan
relish the wishful thinking of crediting this feat to their defeated
presidential principal, I have always craved the provision of proof that
the former President commenced the turn-around maintenance of the
refineries. Indeed, I have no memory of any such public information that
the former administration was ever interested in the domestic refining
of fuel to say the least of awarding any contract to this end. The
priority of that administration was either the unconditional lifting of
subsidy (as was already proposed in the next fiscal planning) or the
continued importation of refined fuel by surrogate thieves. Not even in
the heat of the presidential campaign did the losing party make any
mention of (the non-existent) efforts to revitalize refineries. The
conclusion can therefore, be just one: The fear of something has simply
become the beginning of wisdom in such a way that turn-around
maintenance was done in such a very short time contrary to fears that
the work and costs were ways too enormous. Whatever the truth may be
though, we keep our fingers crossed. If refineries commence work in July
and subsidy disappears, the credit will go to Muhammadu Buhari since
goals are always credited to scorers and no to midfield assists.
There are rumors that the EFCC will be merged with the ICPC – a
laudable move in the fight against corruption that has suddenly seen the
EFCC now brazenly arresting big names after sleeping through Jonathan’s
5-year reign. Then we hear that power supply has now improved
dramatically. There is a vow to recover stolen funds and in fact rumors
are making the rounds that quiet deals are being struck to bring back
stolen money by different individuals. The days of a rampaging “First
Lady” is now over with Aisha Buhari openly telling the nation that she
is just not “First this or First That” simply because her husband is
President.
On the other hand, the wave of uncontrolled corruption and the
massive flow of donations in foreign currency as were seen during
electioneering a few months ago are enough to leave anyone with the
premonition of a “virtually empty” treasury. The President said this
without mincing words. Of course, Jonathan boys will not be true to
their name if they did not try to capitalize on this to launder the
inherently soiled image of their clueless principal. They have either
not understood the meaning of the “virtual” or missed out on the word
altogether, in the President’s comments. Today, remnant Jonathan foot
soldiers have launched a sort of brainless Tea Party campaign hurling
stones at Buhari simply for the sake of it.
They are just not being silenced in shame yet partly because the
President does not seem to have fully understood his responsibility and
is stubbornly – and with all due respect – “foolishly” refusing to
address the nation to outline the state of affairs.
As if this was yet insufficient, renegade Senate President Bukola
Saraki continues relishing the image of a determined spoiler
relentlessly fanning the embers of disunity and party insubordination. Precisely this issue is the crucial stroke that has sealed the confines
of President Buhari’s cage and trap. It has defined the scope of his
virtual incarceration and personal confusion.
While Buhari was quick to switch gears from electoral campaign to the
practicality of the Presidency, he has taken to heart, the looming
danger of an overbearing Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the running of the
Presidency. Having tried and failed in efforts to impose himself as Vice
Presidential candidate against the wise counsel of many well-wishing
stakeholders, the former Governor of Lagos State does not seem to have
any intention whatsoever, to take a prominent backseat at the present
moment. On the contrary, he seems to clad himself in overbearing cloaks
relishing insatiable hunger for power and wealth. With the huge ballast
of negative image that he brings along with him into government by his
party, any prudent and strategy-inclined activist would have toed a line
that is less burdensome to government and his party. After all, the
fight against corruption and nepotism, which Tinubu prominently stands
accused of, is one major pillar of his party’s credentials.
Does he then wonder that alliances are subsequently forged against
him with the President gleefully taking a backseat in the “indirectly
complicit” hope that the result may bring Bola Tinubu to his badly
needed senses? Moreover, President Buhari seems to be resisting vested
interests – be they Governors or divisive regional leaders – in the
selection of his lieutenants. Unlike former President Obasanjo, he is
just not YET being openly defiant in the “To-hell-with-you-all” pose.
The need to pacify and keep the friendship of electoral facilitators –
no matter the degree – seems to be yet taking the better of the
President.
In the process, the President seems to be taking his time to
understand the true position of things even though this sounds outright
irritating given that he was once a leader of the country and has a long
history of failed application for the coveted office.
Bukola Saraki and people around him now seem to be taking undue
advantage of this temporary impasse in stamping presidential authority
to advance their own agenda beyond reasonable limits. After all, for a
cross-carpet frontliner, it should not take a sage to impress it upon
Bukola Saraki that he is being overtly too bellicose and crossing the
crucial red line. Having landed that huge coup of emerging President of
the Senate with the help of members of his former party, Bukola Saraki
should understand the limits of stretching the demarcating line. With
perhaps, the “unspoken” support of the President in trimming Tinubu’s
wings, there is no gainsaying that no elected officer would get anywhere
without the party and its programs. As with many things Nigerian,
Saraki is losing it and doesn’t seem to have a clue, when and where to
slam the brakes before they consume him. Openly acting to and
encouraging others to defy and ignore his party will not only expose him
to the suspicion of crossing carpet to advance a clandestine agenda for
his former party but also to the anger of the electorates, who elected a
specific party of their choice. Proceeding to fill principal positions
with members of his former party in total disregard for party directives
can only be counter-productive to his political ambitions and interest.
In fact, Buhari may now be getting far more than he bargained for in
Saraki’s rebellion to establish a balanced equation with Bola Ahmed
Tinubu. After all, the same party sponsored primaries to produce the
presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari. No losing candidate rebelled to
fight the other openly. Then candidate Buhari relentlessly emphasized
the relevance of the party in defining his campaign and programmatic
agenda. Coming out openly to defy the majority choice of his party
caucus in preliminary mock election of the Senate President was negative
news enough for the overall image of the ruling party and team. Going
further however, to encourage party indiscipline and open defiance in
the selection of a majority leader, chief whip etc., is a declaration of
an all-out-war on his own party.
Muhammadu Buhari now seems to be faced with the constraint of seeking
a total realignment of forces to push his personal agenda forward as
President. He will no doubt, seek to pacify Bola Ahmed Tinubu while at
the same time keeping his reach to presidential policies as moderate as
possible. Will he be however forced, to take up a fight in trimming the
wings of an overtly over-ambitious Bukola Saraki? So far, the President
seems to be shying away from being drawn into any distraction.
On the whole however, while I regard Buhari’s slowness in announcing
his team of aides to the country as unhelpful to his general perception,
I do not see extreme damage being done to his presidency on the short
to medium term since he still has ample time to correct all flaws and
unfold mitigating achievements that may send town-criers singing another
tune. With all the information at my disposal however, I have no doubt,
he will strike the right nerve.
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