By Okey Ndibe
During his recent visit to Qatar ,
President Muhammadu Buhari sat for an interview with Martine Dennis of Al Jazeera. Last weekend, close to two
weeks after the trip, I finally found time to watch the entirety of the
interview. I found it enlightening, for two broad reasons.
President Buhari during the interview (pix:Punch) |
The first and
minor one was to remark the interviewer’s composure and confidence. She had a
grasp of her subject (Nigeria ’s
economic woes, widespread disappointment with Mr. Buhari’s budget, and growing
apprehension about the outline of his economic and security policies). The
interviewer’s full-throttle style was in sharp contrast with the fawning and
deferential manner adopted by many a Nigerian reporter when given the
opportunity to interview an incumbent or former president—or even lesser
ranking public officials. In question after question, Ms. Dennis zeroed in on
specific details of Buharinomics and
politics Buhariana. And she was
rather quick-footed whenever the occasion called for a follow-up question.
My major interest
in the interview was the opportunity it offered to take a measure of the
president’s mindset. Buhari had a few fine moments in the interview, the
hallmark arriving when—reminded by Ms. Dennis that the IMF was not enamored of
his refusal to devalue the naira—he replied that his country’s interest trumped
the IMF’s prescription.
On the whole,
however, I came away with the impression that President Buhari’s interview was
simply “interesting.” And I have borrowed the word, interesting, with all its freight of ambiguities, from Mr. Buhari.
He seemed
uncomfortable when the interviewer touched on the subject of how the
government’s forex policy was affecting parents who are paying school fees for
their children studying abroad. Yet, when she reminded him that his own
children were also studying abroad—implying that he was now among the
super-privileged—he seemed unfazed.