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President Muhammadu Buhari is a man of tremendous goodwill, among a good number of Nigerians. His unquestionable badge of integrity and passion for the emancipation of Nigeria from misrule is commendable.
Then there is this other side of his that is also good. Many were skeptical at the beginning of his journey as a democratically elected President; that they thought the ‘high headiness’ that greeted his first outing is going on a replay.
And then of course, there is very significant improvement in the Security situation in the North-East, although the North-Central is sadly becoming another.
Okay, let me now go back to the main issue at hand. First, I must confess that although I have had the desire to write this; before the ugly drama at the Senate between two key appointees of the President, in the persons of Hammed Ali, the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service; and Ibrahim Magu, his Nominee for the Chairmanship of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Long before the Ali/Magu drama, I have had cause to believe that the President is short of maximizing the influence and authority of his Office. Let’s take a look.
- Baba started as Baba Go Slow
Nigerians didn’t vote Buhari into Office because he was a darling candidate, but wanted something radically different from what was on ground. And so many had thought Buhari came into Office with Case Study result to implement. Alas, to put in a Cabinet alone took him over four months. And when he eventually did, the difference from what we had before wasn’t really there.
Two years down the line, not only is he unable to reshuffle his cabinet against calls even from major stake holders; he is yet to have Ambassadors to promote his Change Agenda outside of the country. Same goes for many other key appointments such as the Resident Electoral Commissioners for the Independent National Electoral Commission; and Boards of many and most major agencies of government.
- No Groove with the NASS
When Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was leading the pack of APC members that were insisting the Party’s earlier agreement/arrangement for the emergence of the National Assembly leadership; President Buhari showed no interest in how the leadership emerged. After Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Hon Yakubu Dogara were elected Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives; the President, as if affirming the independence of the Legislature, assured of his readiness to work with them.
As good as President Buhari’s disposition of wanting to allow for the independence of the National Assembly is; his lobby game is at best unimpressive. The classic example being the Hamid Ali/Ibrahim Magu drama earlier mentioned.
How on earth can a President be so uninterested about the National Assembly that can open or shut the door to him? And this is happening despite the uncountable number of times he and the NASS had met. What have they been discussing?
I had expected that by now, President Buhari would have amass a loyalty based of not less than 50% of the membership of both the Upper and Lower Chambers. This is absolutely essential in helping his agendas through, especially in democracies like ours. The Magu case is a huge minus on the tact of the President, even though many want to see the fallout only from the Senate side of the divide.
And then you have his SSAs to the Senate and House of Representatives whose duty appears to be providing escort to appointees having an appearance before the Chambers.
- Losing the grip on an unruly Kitchen Cabinet?
Permit to reuse the Magu saga here. It is no longer news that the Senate insisted that its decision to reject Ibrahim Magu’s nomination was based on a Letter sent in by the Department of State Services. One wonders, how on earth that two Agencies of a Government under a single Presidency can walk apart in achieving the policies of the same government. Let’s look a little deeper.
DSS had opined that Mr Magu had failed the Integrity Test to fight the corruption battle as envisioned by the Buhari administration. Mr Magu had in a reply to a query by the Attorney General, denied a substantial portion of the content of the DSS Report. Now, how the hell did the DSS come about finding faults in Magu and couldn’t inform the President? Or is that President Buhari hasn’t enough confidence in the DSS to believe their findings? Assuming the President is in the play of things, he would have withdrawn Magu’s nomination if were truly unfit. Or if the Report was ill called for, Buhari should have asked the DSS to withdraw same. Now we are left with an imaginary unhealthy fight between Ibrahim Magu and Lawal Daura, the Head of the DSS.
Then you the man Nigerians fondly refer to as the Alternate President. Alhaji Abba Kyari’s pick as the Chief of Staff to the President took many by surprise. From ordinary supporters to emerging power brokers like Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State. How Kyari is able to remain not only Buhari’s CoS but powerful is a wonder. This is because aside the allegations of corruption, he is said to be a thorn in the flesh to many.
Can Babachir David Lawal’s escape the President’s soft handling of serious issues concerning his kitchen cabinet? We all had thought by now the EFCC would have tidied up its investigation into the grass cutting contract scandal that had the Secretary to the Federal Government at its centre.
- Leaving Nigerians behind…
My admiration for President dates back to the 2003 Presidential campaigns. I had the privilege of meeting him one on one in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It was at the Hotel Presidential. Buhari, in company of the late Chuba Okadigbo and Mallam Dauda Birma; gave us a warm reception even though we had literary ‘ambushed’ his company as he emerged from his Suite on the same floor we had lodged. From that point, I had followed keenly his style of campaign. It had been a MEET THE PEOPLE kind of engagement.
This he brought to Borno State in the 2003 campaigns. Buhari didn’t just preach his candidacy in Maiduguri, the State capital. He was in some local governments to the admiration of most supporters who saw in him a leader with a heart for the masses. Buhari repeated the same feat in 2015.
But soon after his swearing in the story changed. As we approach his second year in office, my four year old can count the number of states the President has visited.
We had expected a President Buhari that would take out time to personally visit the people of the North East at least once. We had hope for him to pay a special visit to the Troops fighting the Insurgency on the war front. We had imagined a leader that would personally reach out to the South East and South South zones of the country; to assure them with the elections over, it is time to join hands and build the Nation together.
This isn’t going down well with his support base. Most had assumed Buhari will be that President that we not forget his natural constituency; the ordinary Nigerians that gave him the victory at the Polls.
- What the Hell happened to our Economy?
Many within and outside the government still blame President Goodluck Jonathan for the Jaga Jaga that’s wrecking our country. Well, his Team indeed had a hand in the mess, but what is the Buhari Team doing about it? I am glad they are finally making efforts to address the situation with the release of the Economic Recovery Plan. And hey, I hope they are not talking about price of petrol and dollar rates.
