Clearly, Buhari Belongs To Somebody

By Gbemiga Olakunle

“I belong to everybody. I belong to nobody.” 
That was the golden statement or word on marble credited to President Muhammed Buhari, GCFR as part of his Inauguration Speech on the day of his Inauguration on Friday May 29th, 2015 at Eagle’s Square, Abuja. Buhari with that particular statement, among other highlights of his Inaugural speech, the nation that has been put in a reverse-gear and in a state of despondency suddenly seemed to be revived and had her hope rekindled that her tomorrow would be better and alright. But some of us with the eyes of the Spirit by God’s grace, refused to be cajoled by that statement.

President Buhari and Emir Sanusi of Kano

The contents of our rejoinder titled “President Buhari Belongs to Somebody”, widely published online and by national newspapers like The Punch and The Sun, say it all. In that article, we debunked that particular statement and remarked that the President actually belongs to the North (especially the Hausa/Fulani) where he hails from and his party- All Progressives for Change -APC (the party that produced him as its presidential flag-bearer).

But some distrust Nigerians, including a well-respected Man of God who is an ardent supporter of Mr. President found it difficult to be on the same page with us on the views expressed in that article. Although this writer is also a supporter of President Buhari but definitely not a blind supporter or follower. I belong to a section of supporters who still have their eyes wide-open and regularly points out the pit-falls that the new administration may not be conscious of. And true to the prophetic insight clearly expressed in our rejoinder then by God’s grace, the President has begun to come up with his sets of appointments which clearly show where he belongs -  the North.

President Buhari rattled everybody including his Party-Chieftains whom God used to work for his good success at the presidential polls against all odds. The clear-cut lopsidedness in the recent appointments into boards of parastatals and key sectors of the Economy and the security apparatus have left no-one in doubt about where President Buhari’s spirit, soul and body belong - the North, with a particular reference to the Hausa/ Fulani. This unfolding scenario seems to have left the Ruling Party (APC) to be dumb-founded and rattled.

No one is sure of the President’s next move. Not even his presumed Chief Advisers or handlers from the South- West could predict him. He has clearly shown to them that the statement in his inaugural speech credited to him was just a political statement to cool down the nerves of Nigerians and the tension in the land then. And if anybody still chose to believe that statement, that person may still be living in a fool’s paradise and may have refuse to awake and see the realities on the ground.

Consequently, the President’s high popularity rating at his Inauguration period has began to drop. And anybody that thinks otherwise must be an UFO (Unidentified Foreign Object) living in another planet other than the earth. But for these shortcomings - lopsidedness in key political and military/security appointments, pockets of extreme cases of religious intolerance, inability to find lasting solutions to the Niger-Delta militancy/criminality that has spread beyond its region to other geo-political regions like the South- East and the South-West, the nation would have heaved a sigh of relief of moving in the right direction towards our Canaan land - our Promised land where Nigeria will be truly great and occupy her eminent position in the Comity of Nations.

Despite all these shortcomings, a living dog is still better than a dead lion when this new administration is compared to the one that proceeded it - the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s led administration when the economy was in comatose and corruption in high places seemed to be the order of the day. “For him that is joined to all the living, there is hope; for a living dog is better that a dead lion”. (Ecclesiastes 9:4, KJV).

Politics  apart, the nation was almost dying before this new administration came on board and God has used it to inject some life into it which enabled the nation to escape from our house of bondage in Egypt, metamorphorically speaking. But having crossed our Red sea and heading towards our Canaan land, the nation is currently stranded in the wilderness and hoping for a new sense of direction except our current set of Moses and Aaron find solutions to the aforementioned shortcomings and desist from their current policy of sectionalism and aloofness.

Nevertheless, the good news is that God will never leave this nation stranded. He will still come to our rescue as we continue to look up to him. We can therefore cry for national deliverance using the words of Psalms 60:1-12, (KJV): “Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of men”. 

*Gbemiga Olakunle,JP General Secretary, National Prayer Movement