“If the agenda in a country is constantly changing, sometimes even hourly, you must know that you are governed by ignorant and incompetent! And perhaps worse, you are run by traitors who only serve foreign country interests!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
When Bola Ahmed Tinubu repeatedly echoed that he would improve on the good works of President Muhammadu Buhari, nobody took him seriously because it was the most politically unwise thing to do. But because the people were not expecting him to win they found the statement the more reason why Tinubu must not win. But somehow through the INEC and judiciary abracadabra, he is the President and has dutifully continued to improve on the so-called legacies.
There is immense power in words. God spoke the world into its present form by mere words, so says the scripture. The wise often educate their young not to be carefree with their use of words because once words are voiced, they are like the released trigger; they can only be forgiven, not forgotten.
For God the omnipotent, his words do not return to him void, but not so with human beings, particularly politicians. Words issued by political actors almost always return to them void because of the clear dearth of integrity and character among the political class. Words have no price tag, their cost is determined by their usage.
Toward the 2023 presidential election, only one of the top candidates, Bola Ahmad Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress identified with the then-President Buhari.
PDP’s Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party distanced themselves from any governance practices associated with Buhari. The duo felt that based on happenings in Nigeria for eight years of Buhari, there was nothing to take to their supporters from Buhari’s table to help them win votes. Issues of security, corruption, economy, national unity, and observance of the rule of law, among others remained threatening. Buhari’s low rating was obvious. That notwithstanding, Tinubu, the APC flag bearer stuck to him, saying repeatedly and provocatively that he would not only continue the “good” work of Buhari but also strive to improve on it.
Eight months down the line Tinubu as President has lived his words, significantly improving(?) on not legacies, but the Buhari presidency left in its trail. Tinubu has deliberately and not by any chance enhanced Buhari’s governance style, no matter how ugly it is.
Regarding security, the Tinubu era has gotten worse; ditto the economy and corruption. Also, in governance by nepotism which became too glaring under Buhari, Tinubu has ensured in the last eight months that it worsened significantly.
If Buhari unabashedly practiced nepotism in all his appointments, Tinubu would have elevated tribalism in his positioning of the Yoruba in strategic offices, especially at the revenue points such as Finance, Ports, FIRS, Customs, Immigration, Blue Economy, Mining, and Central Bank. What does that tell you about a president’s interest in incoming revenue?
Regarding corruption in high places, the picture today is worse than in the Buhari era. Buhari might have enriched cronies and all but he was a notch or two more decent than is the case today. The embarrassing involvement of women in the current corruption sagas which started with Buhari has multiplied with concubines turning Nigeria into a looting field.
Most Nigerians didn’t think it was possible to have a government as bad as Buhari’s but Tinubu’s eight months has managed to get worse, breaking all records. It’s very clear today that Nigeria is going through a systematic collapse of state institutions one after the other. This has been a consequence of successive bad governance, manured by corruption, and indiscipline.
What Nigerian democracy has shown in its too-slow process as experienced under Buhari is to stumble before arriving at the right decisions instead of confronting wrongs squarely.
This week, we will focus on the double standards of Tinubu and his team who eulogized Buhari to high heavens during the electioneering. but now they are allowing his spin doctors to be deviously putting out a narrative that it’s the same Buhari that created the current hardship in the land. And many hirelings are being consumed into it ostensibly to justify their pay. What is even worrisome is that many Nigerians are being recruited into this distraction gimmick.
When Tinubu grabbed power and ran with it, recognizing from inception that power is not served à la carte, and declaring that it was his turn and that he was coming to improve on the good work of Buhari, why should he now be looking back at the man who has finished his mishmash, hodgepodge, and is resting with his cows in Daura?
Those who are pushing for us to buy into the fallacy that Buhari is the cause of the current hardship should be disregarded by any reasonable government watchers. Somebody grabbed power, promising to come to the center to repeat his so-called magic in Lagos State as governor,r and eight months down the line, they are blaming Buhari.
Is it Buhari who told Tinubu not to think before talking that the fuel subsidy is gone? The confusion that accompanied that careless outburst only exposed the President as talking without thinking out the implications. Ditto before agreeing to float the naira for market forces to determine its strength, he didn’t envisage the corresponding effects on the economy and the populace.
Is it Buhari who made the President’s first budget carry needless items merely designed to put more money in the pockets of the political elite for looting? If Buhari mismatched the economy under his watch for eight years, after eight months in the saddle, what has Tinubu and his team done with the funds in their care?
In other words, Tinubu and his team and indeed Nigerians should leave Buhari and face their challenges. Ab initio, Tinubu was not awarded the winner of the poll by INEC, and Nigeria’s judiciary just kept looking back at his predecessor instead of moving forward.
The most accurate exhibition by incompetent and incapable leaders is to be looking for the cause of the problem instead of solving the problems you promised that you have the magic wand to deal with. While his eight-year presidency lasted, Buhari and his team kept blaming Goodluck Jonathan. Government watchers then knew he lacked knowledge of what to do. As a result, trillions of naira that came into Buhari’s hands for eight years were either misappropriated or looted.
Here we go again following the same road with Tinubu unable to account for huge sums that already passed his hand in the last seven months. Despite repeated calls for accountability, Tinubu’s men have been unable to state how much they realized from the subsidy removal. Instead, legislators and governors are busy denying it. You may be wondering why we postulate that Tinubu and his team should leave Buhari alone because there’s no route to a solution to our problems in this country where we see recovered funds being re-looted.
If this government continues the way it has carried on in the last seven months, Buhari is going to turn into a hero in the end the same way Jonathan turned into a hero after the Buhari hotchpotch.
American author and leadership expert, John Maxwell, argues that Real and enviable “leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.” Leadership is about vision and responsibility, not power. Once you find yourself in a position of leadership, know that you have surrendered the right to make excuses. This is one reality Tinubu and his team should know and stop looking for excuses elsewhere when indeed they are responsible for their predicament. When you fetch ant-infested firewood, stop blaming the firewood for the ant but blame yourself for denying the ant the luxury of its natural habitat, the wood. God help us.
