Modest Thoughts with Ayuba, Yilgak'ha, May 29, 2923; 08116181263)
In present day Nigeria, only a few are happy with the way things went in the last decade plus. You must have seen the sarcastic "Survivor Certificate" that is trending on social media these few days. The content reads: "The Bearer ... of this Certificate is Hereby Proclaimed as a Survivor of the Muhammadu Buhari led Administration from May, 2015 - May, 2023, in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We made it alive." The insinuation and implication is that the eight years of president Muhammadu Buhari have been hell as far as survival in Nigeria was concerned.
Under the regime, Boko Harm insurgency which was prevalent in the North East was minimised but other forms of insecurity such as armed banditary and kidnapping escalated in other parts of Nigeria, namely, the North West, North Central, South West as the violent activities of separatists agitators, Indegeneous People of Biafara (IPOB) intensified in the South East with needless fatalities. This is not even to mention the brazen bunkering and crude oil theft in the South South.
Under the administration still, Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world after overtaking India with over 133 million Nigerians living in abject poverty in 2019. The country's problems were existential, complex and practically hydra-headed in nature.
Nigerians literarily went through the valley of the shadow of death. It was as though the citizens were under the sceptre of death. The country's situation could better be described in terms of the words expressed by Nora Roberts in his novel, 'Ceremony in Death' which was published in 1997. The first paragraph of the novel's chapter one reads: "Death surrounded her. She faced it daily, dreamed of it nightly. Lived with it always. She knew its sounds, its scents, even its texture. She could look it in its dark and clever eye without a flinch. Dead was a tricky for, she knew. One flinch, one blink, and it could shift, it could change. It could win." When Nigerians stepped out of their home, they were not sure if they could return safely. The citizens had to die to live. It was that bad!
Buhari's regime as democratically elected president of Nigeria began on May 29, 2015 after his historic defeat of the then incumbent president Goodluck Ibele Jonathan in a keenly contested poll. It was the first time an incumbent president was soundly defeated in any president polls in the country. Prior to the contest that brought Buhari on power, he had made three consecutive but fruitless attempts at becoming president in Nigeria. The first was in 2003 when he stood election against former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003; the second was when he contested against Late Umaru Yar'Adua in 2007 and the third was when he attempted the contest against former President Jonathan in 2011 and serially lost the bids. It is pertinent to note that in all the three (3) Buhari has never lost the north where he had cult followership.
After the third unsuccessful attempt in 2011, president Buhari vowed never to try it again. He lamented and even cried publicly as to why Nigerians were suffering under failed or underperforming governments and how his planned mesianic effort at becoming president was being frustrated. He literally wept over the level of excalating issues of insecurity, corruption and economic failures in Nigeria and said Nigeria and Nigerians shall miss the great president he could have been at the time. It is important to note that Nigerians, especially, northern electorates believed Buhari and when he lost the poll in 2011, there was violent protest where many lives and properties were destroyed under the guise that the poll was rigged in favour of former president Goodluck Jonathan.
After vowing never to contest for presidency again following the third unsuccessful attempt in 2011, President Buhari backtracked on his words and tried again in 2015 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which was a coalition of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a faction of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). A splinter group from the then ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) called the new, nPDP which later joined the coalition with seven (7) governors. The coalition deployed its strategic propaganda machine, worked and Buhari became president with the firmed promise to fix Nigeria's security woes, ailing economy and corruption. It was the first time a coalition party could win any election in Nigeria's chequered history and, therefore, it made Buhari a jinx breaker and a historic legend also.
Even though some Nigerians, especially, the older generation were sceptical about Buhari's ability to deliver as president; vast majority of the citizens were lured and convinced to believe that Nigeria will automatically work under a Buhari presidency. Part of the hope-trigger was when Buhari insinuated that, 'if corruption was not killed, it would kill Nigeria'. This insinuation was not only true but politically correct and it was the kind of thing Nigerians were eager to hear.
Buhari's campaign in 2015 was successful because of it populist appeal. It was masses-centred campaign which promised to reorganise Nigeria in favour of the toiling masses, frontal fight against corruption that was believed to be more prevalent amongst the country's elites. At Buhari's inauguration on may 29, 2015, the populist president thrilled anyone who cared to listen that 'he was for everybody but for no one.' In other words, he was saying he was going to be neutral, a president for all irrespective of social status, tribe, region or religion. After serving eight years (2015 - 2023), Nigerians now know better.
After serving two (2) tenures of eight years, Buhari's hyped integrity is under critical scrutiny. How are Nigerians viewing the president today? Is Buhari now a better person, in terms of his public image, than if he were never elected president? Has the president kept his promises to the citizenry? These are germane questions that begs for answers and, trust Nigerians, every one of them has a view to express on those questions. Perhaps, Buhari's regime will go down in history as one which suffered the worse of summersault, it had relatively good laws and policies which include border closure, economic diversification policy, cashless policy, the 2022 Electoral Act which provided for electronic transmission of election results, etc but there was no strategic mechanisms and the political will to ensure practical implementation to put Nigeria on the path of progress and sustainable. That was the missing link. The regime promised so much but practically delivered so little!
President Buhari promised to conduct most freest and fairest election in Nigeria before leaving office; now the citizens know better. Burahi promised to end Boko Haram (BH) insurgency and, also, rescue Chibok and Dapchi girls including Leah Sheribu, the Dapchi lady who refused to denounce her Christian faith in captivity; now Nigerians know better. Buhari promised to end insecurity in the country but BH which was narrow in scale has only metamophosed into wide scaled kidnapping and banditary; Nigerians now know better. Buhari promised to end corruption but snakes were swallowing billions of naira under his watch; Nigerians now know better. Buhari promised to fixed the economy but the country's macroecomic indicators have shown worrisome signals; Nigerians know better.
Nigerian have stories to tell in respect of inflation, unemployment, poverty rate, exchange rate, subsidy, industrial actions, insecurity, corruption, issues of marginalisation, religious division, selective justice, just to mention a few. Senator Shehu on his varified Twitter handle, @shehusani, chronicles the regime as follow: "He led the country without economic direction. He presided over a government that failed to secure the lives of Nigerians, 63 thousand dead, 3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and 366 thousand refugees in neighbouring countries. He failed to restructure as he promised. He granted waivers to the rich and empoverished the poor. He closed the borders for those who import bags of rice on motorcycles and permitted those who use ships. He built magical pyramids that disappeared after 3 days. He left uncompleted projects with huge debt to service for decades. He enabled, enriched and reinforced a cabal for eight years. He announced and and retained failure and rewards them with extensions. He was weak in taking decisions and run away when it is tough. He has no house in London but made London his home. He left behind record inflation, record devaluation, record, unemployment, record fall in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), record figures in poverty and record plunder of state resources. He left behind a nation with 60 million people suffering from mental illness. He is leaving behind the health workers on strike. He setup traps for the next government in order to make his own look better."
To say the least, Nigerians are victims of extended-broken promises under Buhari's government. Many who could not survive had died through controversial and needless existential struggles. Nigerian citizens who survived saw their survival as a miracle. The regime was practically very tough in all ramifications. It is leaving Nigerian youth with bruised ego and the entirety of the citizenry in survival limbo.
In an oxymoron fashion, Nigerians are smiling in tears and there are, possibly, three theoretical explanations for this classic and pratical expression of this oxymoron in the country: Survival Strategy Hypothesis (SSH), overwhelming hypothesis (OH) and Religion as Opium Hypothesis (ROH). The SSH argued that 'If you worry about a trouble it becomes double but when you smile at it, it disappears like a bubble
so always smile at your problem.' The OH has to do with smiling in tears because one is overwhelmed with a challenge which left him smiling like a mad person. The idea is that even when the victim cries; it would not change anything and, therefore, the best he can do is to smile in utter shock and bewilderment. The RHO derives from Karl Marx's hypothesis that religion is like a soothing balm that massages the pain of a suffering people and make them see all misfortunes as acts of God. It is a fated disposition constructed by a conceding belief system.
In Marx's days, religious leaders who were in active collaboration with the state were always in the habit of encouraging suffering people to see their frustrations as acts of God and, so, were not doing anything to change the harsh conditions of their congregation. This way, the people were constrained and conditioned to smile in tears. There nothing wrong in propagating hope but religious leaders must learned to speak in defence of the defenseless and not the other way round. They must shy away from being cowards and be frontal in condemning evil when the see one to make the society an all inclusive and just one.
After representing all that he truly is for eight on Nigeria's most coveted seat, the office of the president, Buhari gave himself and regime a solo pass mark saying, he is fulfilled and will be remembered as that president who laid a solid foundation for enduring national development in Nigeria. He also noted that his successor and president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) was "the best candidate among all the contestants and Nigerians have chosen well". These assertions were made in his Sunday broadcast and valedictory speech to Nigerians on May 28, 2023. How Nigerians receive this self assessment by the president is left to be seen and a matter for another day!
Leadership is transient and whether president Buhari performed creditably or not shall be at the mercy of history. God rules in the affairs of men. Today Nigeria is heralding the end of an era and the beginning of another. Buhari is stepping out; Tinubu is stepping in. There is no vacuum in governance and time as a natural order and changer of seasons has spoken. May Nigeria triumph over its most daring travails and grow into greatness!
