Before I continue, the draft of this blog was written weeks ago. However, the inactivity of the present government, the honeymoon posture and stagnation of the ship of state dissuaded me from publishing until I this read early morning on Vanguard, Prof. Ben Nwabueze's position on the corruption fight of the incumbent president albeit tagged war which he disapproved. Read it here. I will come back to this words of wisdom before I conclude.
However, as I will continue a genealogy of the Buhari's administration as I have set out to do till 2019, God willing regardless of the situation.
The president met Obama at the White House the next day during his visit while the media was agog with the warm reception accorded the president, pessimistically, I noticed that President Obama who I have followed since that epoch speech in Illinois - Iowa Caucus (2007) that heralded his ascendency to the seat of power in the United States was not ebullient and full of smiles as I have known him to be. If you want to understand what I mean, a few days later after Nigeria's entourage left the shores of the US, Obama headed to Kenya and Ethiopia and his demeanour was rejuvenated. He was like during Buhari's meetings a man who is forced to host his recently reconciled forgotten friend that he has no serious interest in any longer. He was as serious as he can be when dealing with Iran, Putin, Venezuela, China and North Korea. When I noted these on social media, I was branded anti-change agent and it was not until President Buhari addressed a joint session of the US Congress that the reasons for such attitude to the Nigerian entourage was evident.
The United States will not sell arms to Nigeria as a result of human right violations. This is captured in the Leachy laws. We were all witnesses to how the Nigerian army were demonized and denigrated by the opposition party and some elements in the north who compiled damning reports and sent to international organisations like Amnesty International and countries like the US, in a bid to indirectly smear the image of the immediate former president. However, those actions have backfired and The ripples of those inappropriate acts have come back to hunt Nigeria like a ghost of the past.In this country, our COAS was threatened with accusations and while some organisations from and representatives of the north wanted to take the man to the Hague for prosecution. Since the army chief left, Boko Haram insurgency has worsened. When the President was voicing his anger, he forgot that his party may have had a hand in the issues that brought us to where we are. As it stands, the US, wasn't cajoled to sell arms to us and the war against Boko Haram could not be salvaged immediate.
It was after the US refused to sell arms to Nigeria that the major reason why president Buhari visited the US became very clear. That visit was strategic, however, as its stands, we do know that the achievements from that visit as characteristic of the Buhari presidency was abysmal. There were three obvious reasons why that diplomatic shuttle was a disaster. There was no arms deal, the president and his team failed to carry business community and women along and in a brazen manner shunned the Nigeria community in US.
If Buhari has not read the book Madeleine Albright gave to him, he must have learned how democracy works in real time. The U.S. was not to be cowed, intimated, rushed, pressured, hoodwinked, or in any way given to flouting an existing violation of a law championed by Senator Patrick Leahy who was seated in-situ listening to our president who admonished albeit almost lost his cool at the roadblock to getting the best weapons which we need to combat and flush out the insurgents. This was a big blow to the change agenda. Even the U.S. was not impressed. To make matters worse, a visit which the PDP has described as disaster was full of actions which contradicts the expectations of Nigerians. The president frowned at business people and even asked them not to attend some of his session where they tried to smuggle themselves in. Astute professional and well known personalities such as Jim Ovia was singled out by the president for admonishing for crashing his meetings. In meeting with Nigerians living in the U.S. who thronged to see their symbol of change, some were denied access to the meeting hall for reasons best known to the organisers.
The optimism and hope for change that greeted the arrival of President Buhari's presidency has become gloomy and hope dashed, Nigeria is akin to a sick person who was recovering and suddenly develops acute complication after a major surgery and change of doctor. While the doctor was applauded as one of the best specialist in around with the doctor claimed to have a cure for the many ailments the patient is suffering, he seemed not to have much ideas on how to ensure the patient recuperates. The presidents' visit to the United States was a major fulcrum of the machinery of change which is being touted by the president and his party APC. As a country, we are supposed to be counting little gains of this administration while we await major successes, there seem to be no way insight for the end of the troubles of Nigeria. It is either bomb blasting innocent citizens or the president confirming the fears of many of those who didn't vote him that he is an ethnic bigot. How would one explain this statement which he made at United States Institute for Peace during a Q&A with journalists.
“I hope you have a copy of the election results. The constituents, for example, gave me 97% [of the vote] cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%.” President Buhari
I watched that video on Friday 24th July, 2015 and I declined to comment. I was not in a haste to comment. I decided that I didn't hear what Buhari said properly. I tried searching for the manuscript of that video, it slipped off my mind that day. The next day, I read exactly what Mr President said as published on Sahara Reporters. And I asked, if this a slip of tongue or unconscious bias or explicit bias? This is ominous and definitely not good for Nigeria, this he has reflected already in his appointments. I know the president's men will and have always conjured. W If indeed this is a true reflection of the mind of the president who was elected in a democratic dispensation who has sworn under oath to protect Nigerians regardless of party affiliation or ethnicity, we are in for a difficult ride.
When APC, Buhari and the north were encouraging Amnesty International to investigate Nigeria's top military officers, they forgot that a change of government doesn't change the defence forces. You can only change their leaders who come from amongst members of the army. Now I know why Buhari went to America, he went to secure some arms deal, trust Americans, they won't bulge easily. Instead of Buhari going there with the business community and also with intention to secure an arms deal, he went with pot bellied politicians. He thought Americans cannot decipher witch-hunt, propaganda and lies from fairness and the truth. It was APC who were rubbishing the army, now the whole thing has backfired. Nothing achieved from the American visit other than tell us that ministers will be appointed in September!
The issue of probing past government is not a constitutional provision, it is a moral burden on whoever is interested in doing it, however to ensure probity and a probe devoid of witch-hunt and bitterness, the probe should cover a reasonable time in the history of the country. No need probing the past military government because they operated under decrees. However, it very appropriate to start from when democracy was instituted in 1999. That is when we started having political appointees who perfected the system to loot the economy. Any probe devoid of that will be so shallow that instead of finding the root causes, it will just scratch the surface of the problem and we will be worse for it.
The words above have been the argument of many who have continued to find loopholes in Buhari's war. Prof. Ben Nwabueze reiterated these positions in his comments on Vanguard Newpaper referenced earlier. He stated three reasons why it is inescapable for Buhari to probe the 16 years of Nigeria's democracy and also extend his 'angelic' mission to the past successive military regimes starting from IBB if his probe will not amount to a vendetta and witch-hunting of the opposition and a section of the country. The sage echoed that for Nigeria to make progress, we need a clean slate, a tabula rasa, which seeks to go back in time to find the root causes of the corrupt culture which we seek to eradicate. he stated that the demons holding Nigeria back are still alive in the persons of IBB, Abubakar and Obasanjo and these men who have constituted themselves into the “the invisible government of Nigeria”. For Buhari to overcome corruption, he has to overcome these men and their influence. If he can musters enough momentum to probe these people and Jonathan, I believe he would entrench fear in the minds of the high and mighty, simple and lowly, that his stance against corruption is incontrovertible and we are ready for the "New beginning". The able prof did not approve of the Ghanaian method, neither do I but for Nigeria to swerve back on the road of progress in the proportion that befits out collective enterprise and huge mineral resources, a monumental course of action is imperative on President Buhari. How, he handles the situation is within his own perogative, however, the conseuqneces of any of his actions he has to bear.
While a probe is welcomed, for it to be devoid of witch-hunt, devoid of unconscious bias and exhume fairness and equity, probing the heist that started in 1999 is appropriate if Buhari means well for Nigeria. Just today, NEITI told us of the un-remitted subsidy funds which dates back to 2005. So why start from 2011 when we have information that the heists dates back to 2005 which is not a far time in the past. He who wants to come to equity must come with clean hands. One man who spent $16b to generate darkness once doubled as president and petroleum minister, we should start from there to know how they perfected the system as conduit pipe to drain the resources of this nation. With $150 b stolen in the past decade, someone wants to probe only 5 years leaving out the preceding 5 years which means he is only interested in $75 b.
As for Buhari, he thinks we are still in a military regime where you just grab power and there will be no policy agenda for governance. Only God knows how much he can last with his vision-less governance without any clear cut social and economic development agenda. Even small companies require well written and articulated business strategies, models and corporate strategy to survive talk more of a behemoth like Nigeria which as we speak has no articulated agenda for development and progress under Buhari. May God help him, but he needs to help himself too.
This week the president who we can aptly describe as the travelling president was speaking from Equatorial Guinea, it seems that our president has become a travelling one who chooses to abscond from his duties in the name of international diplomacy. Since he has visited Europe, toured Africa and visited North America, I hope they have advised him that no one ignores China in the global scheme of things. I hope he is going to China soon because it is strategic for Nigeria's development.
