By Abiodun Komolafe
FOR those who care to know, I am a passionate supporter of the Muhammadu Buhari
cause and that position is not about to change! As a matter of fact, my
preference in the March 28, 2015 Presidential Election through which Buhari
eventually became Nigeria’s first opposition candidate ever to defeat an
incumbent president, was a product of my convictions and until I have
sufficient reasons to change course, my preference remains on course. Be that
as it may, surprise will be the appropriate word should I fail to make the list
of the ‘Cult
of Wailing Wailers’ as
a result of this piece which I believe is in the overall interest of my
country.
*Buhari |
Whichever way the pendulum swings, the good news is that, within
a very short time in office, Buhari has, to a great extent, succeeded in
rescuing Nigeria from the jaws of a predatory elite and a band of
merit-devalued interlopers who have for close to two decades deprived Nigeria
of her gold and silver. However, this is not to say that I envy the president,
not even with the scourge of impunity that has turned Nigeria into a
morass of incensed screeches where priorities are misplaced with unimaginable
perfidy and, responsibilities, shifted with unrivaled pomposity.
Like the Biblical ten plagues, Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, passed through our land and all we could
feel were pinches of hypocrisy and pains of stagnation. Its bunch of yo-yos
insulted our collective intelligence with unimaginable artificiality and its
crop of educated-but-politically-incompetent hands, “celestially” endowed to
take care of the downtrodden, only used their “celestial weapons” to mortgage
our commonwealth. And, as if the gods were angry, meanness replaced
magnificence; and, in place conviction, we had deception.
Buhari’s victory at the poll is no doubt a great opportunity to
reposition the ruling All
Progressives Party, APC, as a party of principle. It is also an
opportunity for the progressive class to truly rediscover itself before the
next General Elections, especially, if the ruling party must retain its
relevance in the consciousness of Nigerians. As things stand, there are folks
out there in whose eyes the only difference between the badly-degraded PDP and
the victorious APC is Buhari. Well, maybe one or two other genuine hearts here
and there. But they are as scarce as hen’s teeth! Added to this is the
opposition’s reported huge investment in a mass of experts in the spread of
hate messages against the president but, from the look of things, it is as if
the president’s strategists and publicists have forgotten that lies, when told
too often, have the capacity to carouse the exigencies of truth. In my candid
opinion, this is unhealthy for the party that wants to move beyond where it
currently holds sway to the upper realm!
Needless to repeat that the president’s efforts at recovering
part of Nigeria ’s
stolen loots is already yielding fruits. Nonetheless, concerted efforts should
be made towards preventing the anti-corruption war from being a temporary
reprieve. This is why, apart from building it around structures, not men,
Buhari must also endeavour to reform a zigging-zagging judiciary that is at the
moment misconstruing the people’s tall level of tolerance for short memory. He
must strive to put in place workable structures that will prevent our monies
from being indescribably stolen and indiscriminately stashed abroad. At least
for once in the affairs of this great country, our destiny as a people created
by God should stop being in the hands of Pharisees who value passion of power
above logic of reason and Princes of Sodom who cry even when they don’t have
tears.
Some governors’ sojourn in denial with threatening jaunts of
antiquated illogicality notwithstanding, except Nigeria ’s socio-economic landscape
which is currently playing host to the fury of a global meltdown receives
anointing for improvement, it stands to be seen how most of the states can
survive, post-Buhari’s First Term in office. For instance, no fewer than four
out of the six states in the Southwest are as we speak in arrears of several
months of workers’ salaries and allowances. Other zones, including the
Federation, are not faring any better. No thanks to an economic malaise that
has taken hold over the national economy.
Without mincing words, it is my hope that Buhari would do well
for progressive politics by departing from the old, cruel culture of taking the
needs and expectations of its followers as a four yearly-ritual in which,
immediately their votes are captured, counted and credited, they become
aberrant artifacts whose ‘phones will no longer ring’ until it is another
election year. Yes! In their attitude of pettiness and little traditions, some
among them may wish to gloriously access the Promised Land without
painstakingly encountering the Red Sea while, like the children of Israel,
others may prefer serving the Egyptians to dying in the wilderness! But, like
it or not, since politics is a numbers game, the president will be in a better
stead with the wisdom of Solomon, not the tact of Jeroboam!
Again, that Buhari has done well for himself and for the country
is no longer news! If he maximizes the momentum, the president may become to Nigeria what Abraham Lincoln is to the United States of America .
Like Buhari, Lincoln had governed America at her
most difficult time. Apart from leading his country through its bloodiest civil
war, Abe Lincoln also saw it through its greatest
moral, constitutional and political crisis. Not only did he abolish slavery, he
also strengthened the government and completely rescued the economy from the
bottomless mess into which it had previously been plunged.
Like the Lincoln-era America ,
Nigeria ’s
current challenges are not only monstrous, they’re also hydra-headed. The
country is currently contending with its bloodiest non-conventional war ever even
as Barrabas and disaster capitalists who masquerade as leaders have reduced
dear fatherland to a rustic cave of impiety, stymied development and inverted
values. Coincidentally, the ‘bureaucracy’ which quickened former President
Goodluck Jonathan’s administration journey to the Golgotha
is still in Buhari’s government, almost a year after, doing new things the old
way and it’s as if the president is comfortable with their services. On the
other hand, those ‘Change Agents’ who committed so much in terms of human and
material resources into making the Buhari dream a reality have for close to a
year been waiting in the wings to contribute their quota to the development of
the polity or, as the case may be, replenish their barns. Indeed, this is where
the president has to proactively rise to the occasion in order to avoid any
possible backlash which may be unpleasant to the ruling party and
counterproductive to the country.
Ernest Benn describes politics as “the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether
it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.” But what is so special in
progressive politics that politicians always find a place of refuge in it? Even
in its “comfortable and ill-defined” state, how does a progressive party manage
its successes as well as prevent abuse of power in politics and government?
And, with our kind of politics and the attitude of politicians in this clime,
is any politician worth dying for? As a matter of fact, is politics worth dying
for, let alone politicians?
Like Teddy Roosevelt, Buhari will be writing his name in gold if
he is able to champion noble aims that are in agreement with Nigeria ’s
socio-economic and geo-political realities. And who knows? With zealous
vigilance, our president may end up as another “ultimate pragmatist” and an “epitome of a president who endured personal loss,
political attacks, and the prospect of presiding over the dissolution of the
country, yet persevered and triumphed.”
May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant
us peace in Nigeria !
Abiodun Komolafe
ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk
ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk
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