President Buhari, What Is Really Going On?
A DESPERATE MEMO TO PRESIDENT BUHARI by Dele Momodu
Your Excellency, I write to you today with a heavy heart. The reason
should be obvious. I was one of those latter day converts to Buharism, a
political philosophy that believes in the reincarnation of former
leaders in the days of tribulation.
You were never the first man to resurrect from retirement and near
political oblivion. General Olusegun Obasanjo bounced back from prison
to Aso Rock Villa. In nearby Benin Republic, former military dictator
and strongman, Mathieu Kerekou who had served as maximum ruler for about
17 incredible years, came back to defeat incumbent President, Nicephore
Soglo in a 1990 election. He led his country for another ten years and
almost got another five-year term but for the age barrier that
disqualified him.
It is normal for Africans to run towards the wise elders of the village when trouble comes knocking.
That is one of the major reasons Nigerians in their
millions voted with their feet and thumbs to elect you President. Many
of those who supported you did so for several other reasons and you must
understand that they were mainly not members of your political party,
APC. So, apart from your age, they backed you because they believed in
your impeccable pedigree as an incorruptible and honourable man, a
strict disciplinarian, a Scrooge who would not fritter away our meagre
resources, a scourge of rogues and prodigal sons, a metamorphosed tyrant
now a born-again democrat, and so on and so forth. Nigerians ardently
placed their hopes in you and fervently prayed you won’t disappoint
them.
This is the principal reason I have decided to send you this desperate
memo today before some despicable politicians tarnish your hard-earned
reputation and truncate this beautiful chance again.
Sir, let me say right away that the goodwill garnered during your
campaigns and the jubilation that heralded your recent victory are fast
fading and you need to, as a matter of urgency, convince the people of
Nigeria that you’re now ready to hit the ground running. They are not
going to listen to excuses since you had 30 years after quitting the
high office to onerously prepare for the job again. For them it is
immaterial that you met an empty treasury or that you are mostly
surrounded by selfish, corruptive influences and impostors. As I
mentioned in my earlier epistles to you, Nigerians have become totally
impatient and what they expect of you is tantamount to performing the
miracle of turning water into wine or raising Lazarus from the dead. You
cannot afford to waste any second before displaying the sterner stuff
you’re reputed to be made of.
I had encouraged you not to be afraid of taking charge of the Party that
brought you to power or tackling the politicians that claimed to have
helped you in the process. I had imagined that you know the ways of our
politicians by now and thought you knew how to handle them. I had told
you matter-of-factly that you may have to step on some powerful toes in
order to achieve anything tangible. The worst that may likely happen is
for people to say and accuse you of dictatorial proclivity which won’t
be new in your lexicon or to be threatened with impeachment and
all-what-not. But trust me, no evil shall befall you for as long as you
carry the people along in your crusade and do not pander to the whims
and caprices of members of the privilegentsia.
There is no doubt that the present imbroglio in your Party is as a
result of your lukewarm attitude to Party issues thinking you could
merely concentrate on nation-building while others deal with political
intrigues. However, it is not always as simple as that. As you can now
see, you don’t seem to be on the same page with your Party. While you
were busy agonising over the myriad of problems besetting Nigeria, many
of your presumed disciples were busy fighting over positions and control
of power the way babies squabble over lollipops. They have studiously
forgotten the change mantra and the huge expectations that made the
electorate to troop out in droves and cast their votes for you and the
Party.
The moment you became the President-elect, you should have readied your manacles for all would-be trouble makers.
You should have sent out a powerful message to those politicians who may
wish to act above the law. But the moment you appeared ready to
abdicate some of your leadership responsibilities to them, the obvious
lacuna gave them the needed impetus to take charge and cut you adrift.
Your political advisers, if any, should have prepared you for the
offensive. There is no way you are going to fight and survive the battle
ahead if the political class see you as a man they can easily bully.
You cannot sit on the fence. Whilst your decision not to interfere in
the affairs of another arm of Government, the legislature, is
commendable and indeed your constitutional duty, you must make it clear
to your Party that the same non-interference must apply to them.
Our people may have voted for your Party but they also voted for the
individuals that the Party entrusted its mandate to including you. Just
as there is a limit to how the Party can control you in the exercise of
your executive functions and those you choose to assist you in the
fulfilment of those functions, so also must you tell the Party
chieftains that there is a limit as to how much the leadership structure
and duties of the legislative arm can be controlled. If you are
ambiguous about this, then you are inviting your Party leadership to
write a letter to you categorically stating not only those you must
appoint as your Ministers and Special Advisers but also those that you
must not work with under any guise. I am sure you would not tolerate
that. In the same vein you must not tolerate Party interference in the
legislature. Change has come, please imbibe it!
In essence it is incumbent on you to deal with the issues arising from
tensions created by party supremacy, parliamentary democracy and above
all constitutionality. There is a delicate balance to be struck between
these competing interests though constitutionality must eventually
prevail. However, even constitutionality is subordinated to national
interest, because that is the most important interest of all.
Your Party has a lot to learn from the tragedy which was invited upon
itself by advertence of the former ruling Party, PDP. As a mark of
respect to your status and office, your Party should have adopted your
instinct and temperament immediately you conceded that the elections of
principal officers at the National Assembly were “somewhat
constitutional.” Even if internally aggrieved, like mortals may
invariably be, your Party hierarchy should not have washed their dirty
linen in public knowing the full implications of the backlash that might
splash and smear your collective image.
APC should have done what PDP failed to do when Governor Rotimi Amaechi
won the Chairmanship of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum by instantly
recognising the leadership of the National Assembly while seeking ways
to ameliorate the unfortunate saga. No reasonable parent would
voluntarily kill a recalcitrant child. There is always another
opportunity for penitence and atonement.
I expected the crisis to escalate once the warring factions stuck
arrogantly to their positions and neither was ready to bulge. Had APC
accepted its fate with equanimity, I’m certain this peculiar mess would
have been exterminated. Had Saraki and Dogara shown magnanimity in
victory some of the truculent malice expressed by certain leaders may
have also been mellowed.
Say what you will, the PDP had its fair dose of political migraine and
rambunctiousness but it accepted certain realities and moved on. The
ones they failed to accept led to their cataclysmic fall. The mutually
destructive suspicion in APC should have been nipped in the bud for your
sake. The burden you currently carry is heavier than an elephant and I
don’t think you need or deserve this kind of nuisance distraction. The
leadership of the National Assembly should also calm down by reaching
out to their angry Party chieftains. There is nothing to gain in
fighting a perennial war. Once upon a time, they were all friends and
members of the same family. It is never too late to embrace peace and
reunite. Now that we know what the bone of contention is, no one should
be victimised for belonging to whatever factions that exist.
I have read endless arguments for and against the pugilists in APC and
my candid advice is that you need to appoint your cabinet and aides now.
The sooner you assemble and send forth your foot-soldiers the better
for our polity to begin the healing process. Right now our nation
appears to be rudderless and floundering and this should not be the
case. What is left for you to do is to quickly bring all the gladiators
together and see how you can apply some balm on frayed nerves. The
Federal Government has humongous largesse to disburse so it should not
be too difficult to appease the juggernauts. When that is sorted, you
should draw your own plans and let your people know your roadmap. Your
job would be much easier if you surround yourself with people who can
look at you straight in the eye and say the truth no matter how bitter.
Most of our leaders failed because they fell victims of sweet-talking
scammers.
It is very essential that your Party sees and embrace you as their
father and not the other way round. Whether you like it or not, and
whether others in your Party want to accept it or not, you are the de
facto national leader of your Party. You are the President and Commander
in Chief of our country. Yes, you ARE the capo di tutti capi. You
therefore cannot be subservient to any other person. You must
immediately take upon this role and assume that mantle. Please feel free
to lay down the law and if occasion demands, enforce our law. That is
what leaders do. Ambivalence or hesitancy will simply not do!
You have the next four years minus one month and time is ticking away dutifully.
Equally important is the fact that you are more of a social crusader
than a politician and your Party ought to note this fact and understand
that it can’t be business as usual. Your Party leveraged on your
uncommon reputation to gain POWER. Sir, you can’t afford to evaporate
such stupendous equity just like that. You have demonstrated enough
tolerance but the time has come to repudiate our propensity for
rascality.
The task ahead is so gargantuan and it would require all hands to be on
deck. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I reiterate that the
first priority, apart from national security, should be how to reduce
the atrocious costs of running government in Nigeria. Until you achieve
that sir, the Muhammed Alis of Nigeria will never stop their boxing
tournaments in parliaments and elsewhere.
The fight is for cash and not for any selfless services. Many won’t
bother to contest if they think it is not lucrative. I don’t know how
you plan to do this but it has to be done somehow and thankfully there
are many methods that you can deploy. I’m glad you hope to retrieve some
of the stolen billions. You need some serious cash, Sir. The challenges
ahead would dissipate if you can raise the finances needed to tackle
them.
I trust that God has deliberately raised you up at this time as a
veritable example to mankind that being honest is not a crime and we
have a lot to learn and cheer from your miraculous victory. May God help
you to carry this cross successfully.
