President Buhari, Before You Seek Reelection

By Matthew Ozah

I write not to dissuade you from running in 2019 elections just like two notable statesmen in the country and others did the other day.

Nevertheless, you have done well to ask the messengers of the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ intention to give you some time to think about a second term.

*President Buhari 

As you may know, many Nigerians were charmed to ride that gravy train with you because of your pedigree, captivating campaign promise to fight corruption and other miracles that you pledged to perform during your election campaign in 2014/2015.

The recent corruption rating of the country by Transparency International (TI) triggered this letter. From the foregoing, it seems obvious that corruption has taken an armchair in your administration.

As a young Nigerian, I find the report highly disturbing because the image dent on the nation is like the leopard’s spot and it is particularly endemic on the youth who will be viewed with an eye of corruption by persons across the world, when they travel abroad.

It baffles one’s imagination to see the country in this mess despite the enormous trust and public perception that your presidency will rekindle hope and put the image of the country in good stead globally.

Understandably, the TI report is not an attempt at a joke. But it seems your administration calls its bluff instead of using it as a wake-up call and take radical steps to tackle and mitigate corrupt practices.

Indeed, it has become very obvious that your wife knows that something was terribly wrong with your cabinet. Hence, she did say sometime ago that the hyenas and jackals would be kicked out.

But, till this moment, that has not happened and this seems to suggest that you probably don’t seek, nor heed to her opinion having confined her to the kitchen and the other room.

It is important that you reassess those who try to teach you how to be left-handed at old age. To get Nigeria working, crooked and inept people must be removed from powerful seats.

The risk of timidity or fear of what kinsmen would say far outweighs those of boldness for the good and progress of the country. The truth is that, it takes guts to challenge and prosecute corrupt people, therefore, you must be ready to step on toes.

More so, you cannot achieve success without honest and capable people in your government.

Indeed, your recent confession that the Inspector General of Police disobeyed your order confirms madam’s position about those around you.

The other day, the army chief who is supposed to defend the nation against any attack, whether internal or external, claimed that herdsmen killings in Benue is as a result of the grazing law.

Even, the response from the presidency over the TI report has been woefully weak and out of point.

The Vice President downplayed the TI report when he said the corruption perception index should not be misconstrued as a set-back but an opportunity to continue building on the many success as recorded in key sectors of the country.

It will be nice for the presidency to answer this simple question: Does success bring you down or take one up?

Sir, I must tell you the truth. I believe you should have known by now that your administration’s fight against corruption has been simplified and rendered your office as a “toothless bulldog”.

Your choice of Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has created a ripples that have not only coloured the commission but weakened it from fighting corruption with might.

It is surprising that, despite several requests and presentation to confirm him in a Senate that has a majority as members from your party, Magu still remains in acting position.

This is a shame. Globally, governments’ succeed by dissolving power and allowing decisions to be taken as closely as possible to the people they affect.

But, in Nigeria, every organ of government chooses to hide behind the Constitution and stand tall like an Iroko tree refusing to allow democratic flow of power to affect the people positively.

A case in point is the brouhaha over the electoral time table between the executive and the legislature.

Indeed, politicians don’t usually identify with failure even as many are not comfortable being in the opposition. Therefore, it was a fanfare for those who have misappropriated public fund to cross-carpet into your political party in order to evade probe.

I don’t know of anywhere in the world where government will fold its hands and watch its citizens suffer undue hardship due to corrupt practices without bringing the culprits to book.

Often times, Nigerians are cajoled by your henchmen to bear the hardship because it is not caused by your administration. More so, that you need more time to clear the sixteen years of the People Deomocratic Party (PDP)’s mess. What an irony!

Once again, in no distant time, Nigeria will be going to war? Yes! Since the restoration of democracy in 1999, the country has set off a do-or-die electioneering process.

Perhaps, the 2019 election campaign is the reason behind your government’s proposal of the hate speech law. Sir, you should note that without active opposition, even a saintly ruler will become complacent, venal and repressive.

Any form of legislation that tends to be rapacious, repressive and tailored to rig the system so that your administration will enjoy some privileges will definitely cause bad blood in the society.

I, therefore, implore you sir, to apply a sensible spirit of caution and wisdom in all that you do. I am optimistic that you will win the fight against corruption before corruption kills the country.

To end this letter, may I bring to your attention what somebody once said, namely, “Pleasantness and unpleasantness, you can choose whatever you want. With unpleasantness, you choose fear, anger and sadness. If you choose that, your mind is not working for you. With pleasantness you choose joy and happiness”.

Indeed, the choice is ours to make, therefore, Nigerian leaders must use politics to issue the right orders for public good without any excuses because they are exceptionally lucky to lead a people who don’t get out of their way to question government and demand justice through protests like it happened during the Arab spring.

Long live Nigeria!