If there is anything that many observers agree upon, it is the fact
that Muhammadu Buhari could have had a better start into his civilian
presidency. Most disheartening and uninspiring was his inaugural speech,
which left many people wondering what message he intended to send and
why he made the choice to send such a message.
The calculation seems obvious. The President simply sacrificed the
all-important notion of toughness and popular reassurance at the altar
of pacifying the team of the outgoing President, who has been locked in
the fear of high-handed persecution.
If reports are anything to go by, Bukola Saraki has simply called the
bluff and disgraced the President with impunity before ranking APC
members of the legislative houses, who gathered with the President for a
crucial meeting while Saraki was busy ordaining himself as a renegade
priest in the midst of gleeful death-wishers.
Before the gaze of foreign dignitaries and backdoor facilitators of the
smooth transition from the feeble and militant-backed former government,
President Buhari seemed to have staked his cards also in reassuring the
different interest groups observing the transition that he was out to
calm the political temperature and not heighten tension any further.
This was however, not the expectation of the teeming masses of Nigerian
voters who yearned for change and had enough of the passive patronage of
overbearing insiders by a weak government that was erroneously labeled
as “Pacifist”. President Buhari’s inaugural speech simply failed in
balancing the need to reassure those who fear persecution and the need
to reassure his constituency that he was out to address their needs.
In the end, the meaningless message of belonging to all and belonging to
none was the only substance that was left to be extracted from a
long-drawn speech that many expected to be fiery and momentum-laden.
Yet, it was easily skipped and quickly forgotten with the brave face of
disappointment underscoring the need to keep heads high and simply move
on. Many have been quietly nursing the uneasy trepidation deep within
them ever since, hoping that Buhari may not end up a complete flop and a
major disappointment.
After all, the President had all the opportunities in the world to
reiterate his commitment to fighting corruption by revamping the
anti-corruption agencies. He had all the chances in the world to
reassure Nigerians on how he intends to work to strengthen regional
military cooperation with neighboring countries to eradicate insurgency
until the Nigerian Army is put back on its feet again to stand alone. He
had all the chances in the world to reassure Nigerians, how he intends
to clean the oil sector, enforce fiscal discipline in government
institutions and carry party soldiers along in enforcing a new era of
discipline in the national psyche, etc.. The President simply allowed
this noble and golden opportunity of popular appeal to escape and slip
through his fingers. It is an opportunity that was lost for good. It was
his first own goal and an unforced error that barely stopped short of
being an outright gaffe. It is a major blunder that he shares
collectively with his handlers and perhaps, speechwriter(s).
Yet, as is typical of the honeymoon period, the need to stay calm and
allow the President some time to understand the situation has so far
dominated the reasoning of many critical observers, who are still
waiting and watching out for just one decisive step from the President
to reassure them that he is very much on course with his own agenda. So
far, it has been to no avail! It does not matter though that the
President was supposed to have understood the situation perfectly well
even as a candidate with a blueprint to hit the ground running. On the
contrary, signals keep filtering out, painting the picture of a
President’s camp in utter disarray. From all indications, the President
now seems trapped in the fangs of party interests, regional interests
and the interests of scattered loyalists, who fought tooth and nail and
against all odds, to ensure his electoral victory even if also in
protection of inordinate selfish interests.
Now, there are reports of regional powers wanting key ministries to be
headed only by persons from a particular geographical region. There are
loyalists, who now seem to have been suddenly understood as too
ambitious and power-hungry to be given government appointments in spite
of their excessive commitment and personal contributions to electoral
success. There are now stories of the Vice President being locked out of
Security meetings with service chiefs. There are stories of the
President’s wife wearing a $50,000 wristwatch to the Presidential
inauguration. There is the outright gaffe of the President referring to
his wife as ‘Her Excellency’ after promising to abolish the office of
‘First Lady’.
In the midst of all these, the President is nowhere to be seen before
his own folks. Barely two weeks into his administration, the signs
perceived by the public are that he has no clue just yet, who should
make up his cabinet. It is yet the picture of a very weak and unprepared
Muhammadu Buhari that is presently meeting the eyes.
Reaction to this image has not waited for too long. Even though Senator
Bukola Saraki belongs to the class of featherweight activists, who
fought to install Buhari as President and does not need to be sidelined
in disgrace, he is now one character, who has clearly shown to Muhammadu
Buhari, how people will ride on him if he does not make amends very
quickly and take charge of the country in a very decisive manner without
fear of stepping on toes. Rather than ostentatiously declaring
non-interference in the selection of National Assembly leaders, it would
have taken the President one decisive word or two into Bukola Saraki’s
private ears before heading for the G7 summit in Germany to help Saraki
beat a very quick retreat from his overblown ambitious rebellion. But
when a President tries to be everybody’s darling seeking to appease
minds and win friends, he soon learns, how others will strive to stretch
the limit before his very eyes.
While opponents are now relishing the spoils in schadenfreude, a word
should now be enough for the President if he wishes to toe the path of
wisdom. Bukola Saraki and his friends know too well that the last word
has not been spoken on the hijacked Senate Presidency. If anything,
Olusegun Obasanjo can help Buhari out very quickly in teaching him
methods of stamping his authority in constitutional arrangements of this
nature. This is where Buhari still seems to be struggling to come to
terms.
By declaring Saraki’s hijacked election as “constitutional” while
sticking to his new-won image of a loyal team player subjected to the
dictates of his political party, President Buhari now seems to have
managed to throw his doubters in a slight state of disarray. He has
managed to stand out still as a mysterious winner. The aura of fear that
Buhari emitted by declaring the hijacked senate election as
“constitutional”, is cladded in indiscernibility much like his
declaration of being for all and being for none. For now, no one seems
to have a clue, what to make of the President’s comments.
Buhari’s pattern of whipping people in line, if he chooses to travel
down that path, will no doubt be strongly rested on the principle of
constitutionality as time progresses. After all, what Saraki can do, one
would guess, Buhari should be able to do better. It is however, yet a
mystery, which path Buhari wishes to toe in this nascent Presidency. The
cards have been thrown on the table and Nigerians are waiting to see
his sense of cohesion and execution.
He had appealed to Nigerians, particularly on the social media, to
exercise a sense of responsibility in practicing citizens’ journalism.
Precisely for this reason, many responsible and professional operatives
in the conventional world of mass media and social media have been
waiting patiently to catch a glimpse of the President’s choices and
policy direction particularly in the corruption-ridden petroleum sector.
With the understanding that the role of importers will be abolished in
favor of hiring the services of foreign companies to refine our crude
oil until our refineries are fixed, there is hardly any Nigerian that is
not impatient to see the removal of fuel subsidy. This alone, will be a
giant stride in freeing up resources for other developmental projects
in the near and medium-term.
First however, President Buhari will have to sit up tight and very
quickly too if he is to upset the yet suppressed general suspicion that
his elevated image of a no-nonsense General may be a serious
misunderstanding after all since the late Tunde Idiagbon was the major
architect with the disciplinarian credentials.
by Frisky Larr
