Buhari @ 73

History was playing out a role of reordering and resetting human society, yet even in the traditional role of setting the agenda for human actors to act out its cause , only certain personalities fit the role of lead characters around which the reordering activities revolve -he must stand out in commanding degree of off tangency against identified malaises of the age that have set the society on the tail spin of irrevocable retrogression and decay, collapse of public morality and a general sense of disorderliness and despondency. He is chiefly defined around a rare dose of huge reservoir of tenacity, patience , selflessness , commitment , discipline , all these summarized under a characteristic trait of poignant distaste for primitive filthy life and corrupt enrichment at the expense of public welfare , a passion for justice and equitable distribution of national resources . Even the most naive person could readily grasp the logic and reason in all that led to the formation of the mega opposition party, the All Progressive Congress, APC.

Much of that has been achieved and the task of national building process confronts Buhari amidst inherited humongous decrepit infrastructure, looted national treasury, dwindling oil price in a mono economy, over bloated and unwilling bureaucracy bedeviled with ineptitude , corruption and inefficiency, dislocated and disillusioned populace, crippling insecurity, lately as addition to this atrocious challenges , the misguided protest of self-reactualisation agenda of the Biafran Youths led by Kanu Nnamadi . Little doubt is there to be entertained that before Buhari is a huge mountainous challenge he must surmount, if only to fulfill his pre-election promises and justify the significance of his historic reappearance on the political leadership position of the nation -a rare feat, considering the size and scope of the challenges before him. It’s no philosophic exaggeration that in troubling times and challenging moments in a nation’s history, certain people are drafted by the reorganizing forces of evolution in human society to give a new sense of direction and hope as substituted alternative for the despondent, uncertain and fluid clime. In the abundance of evidence, like Buhari’s first coming in the nation in the eighties, a nation besotted with excesses of the political leadership in grotesque proportion and rare brand of profligacy, corruption and embezzlement, needs a new lease of life. That the nation, after a convulsive spin of repeated failures in political leadership, spanning over thirty years after his first coming , again have Buhari on a redemptive mission, is sure more than just the banal narrative of historic coincidence .

I have no doubt that the fulfilling condition of an uncompleted assignment heralds and perfects Buhari’s reappearance on the political leadership space , albeit , this time, under a democratic system of governance -nothing captures the truism of my earlier supposition of the philosophic exactitude of his redemptory mission further !

My predictions on the likely performance of Buhari would not be complete if the foregoing is not fitted in the matrix, only then it offers a complete academic grasp of the condition precedent , which inspires specific choice of historic personality to fill the void of responsible leadership- matching the recital with symmetric hypothetical proposition of his envisaged satisfactory performance is then only a befitting conclusion and a matter of time , the challenges of the moment, daunting as they are , but notwithstanding . What informs this optimistic enthusiasm is not unconnected with his well known immutable moral disposition to the twin hydra headed monsters bedeviling the nation -pervasive corruption and insecurity. Buhari, surely, is no stranger to the effect of the molesting ambience of these distressing malaises, neither does he lack the response capacity to nip them in the bud, though constrained by the drudgery of cleverly structured processes of delay christened due process.

History affords the opportunity to Buhari to redefine the unpalatable narratives of dearth of quality governance in post colonial Africa - an existential reality even in global political discourse. A more vivid picture of the appalling state of quality leadership in Africa is captured by the Mo Ibrahim prize for Outstanding Achievement in African Leadership. The death of Mandela invariably provoked a thought of a likely replacement in the considered spheres of global and domestic influence - an iconic super personality whose words resonate and radiate wisdom, vision and purpose in the African continent and beyond. The key character traits of selflessness and deep mind and spirit for the downtrodden which Mandela personifies are not in short supply with Buhari besides, the inflamed passionate frenzy - Buharimania which his sheer presence generate among the people is total in reflective symbolism of a cult personality. After the late Nelson Mandela, Buhari has no equal in popularity in the entire African continent, hence, fitting into the shoes of Mandela is an exact infusion ranked in the messianic status by which he is perceivedMandela as the tireless antiapartheid czar and Buhari as the fearless anti-corruption czar. It throws up an interesting specter because Buhari is now the barometer and standard for credibility and integrity by which the worth of every politician is measured in the Northern region- a befitting inspiring mentorship for the younger ones.

How close can Buhari get to clinching the coveted Nobel Peace Price? Obama got his Nobel Peace award after his famous victory as the first black president of America, nothing suggests otherwise that Buhari cannot replicate this feat if the semblance of the Obama factor plays out. He is equally the first person to defeat a sitting president in an election in the entire political history of the largest democracy in Africa, under pinned by the fact that his immense popularity played significant role in coalescing scattered regional opposition parties into a formidable single opposition party that terminated the sixteen years reign of the then ruling party, the PDP.

Nigerians are rightly rich in huge expectation from the Buhari presidency. Our prayers for his success in office is rooted in our belief that his second coming is not only beyond accident of history but a well timed epiphany.

Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu m. o. alhaji. y@ gamil. com 08037002665