All Eyes on Buhari
Though President Muhammadu Buhari has proved bookmakers wrong by resuming at work, the pertinent issue on his fitness to discharge the responsibility of his office remains in doubt, writes Shola Oyeyipo
There has been a frenzied atmosphere in the Nigerian political space lately. Premonitions, insinuations and unfounded rumour abounded over the president’s state of health. In fact, at a point rumour went out like wild fire that President Muhammadu Buhari died in London. It took the president’s media department extra efforts to dispel it.
That the situation went that bad; no thanks to the way the issue of the president’s health was handled. The president’s handlers were not forthcoming with concrete facts about the situation while the people suspected that by staying longer than initially scheduled outside the country, the president might be going through greater challenges than people were being informed. That provided fertile ground for rumours to thrive.
So, from January 16 to March 13, Buhari was off duty. He applied for and proceeded on a medical vacation. While away, his deputy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stepped in as acting president and governance continued.
But rendering all negative presumptions futile, Buhari returned to Nigeria at about 4am on Friday, March 10 after the extended medical leave in London . Amidst speculations that he might not be strong enough to resume governance, the president on Monday, returned to his desk and announced to the people that he has started working.
He told Nigerians that he had resumed his duties as the President of Nigeria. He has also written to formally notify the National Assembly as required by the 1999 Constitution (as amended), that he is back to work.
Testifying to his boss’ capacity to resume duty, Vice President Osinbajo said: “The president has resumed, and he is doing very well.”
On whether or not the president is strong enough for the task of governance, Osinbajo said: “He (Buhari) has held a meeting with me for well over an hour where we discussed a wide range of issues, so his readiness wasn’t even in doubt at all. I think he is over ready.”
No doubt, the news of Buhari’s return would have generated mixed feelings. For those who see his absence as an opportunity to escape the anti-corruption dragnet and those considering extending their political tentacles, it’s no good news. But for those able to see through some policies of the administration, it is in the best interest of the country that he resumes to continue and conclude what he commenced.
But in the midst of the euphoria of the president’s return, cognisance must be given the thought lines of doubting Thomas who are still waiting to see their president doing the things he used to do as he used to do them before to be sure that he is actually fit.
The THISDAY report which quoted some presidential sources as saying that the resident might address Nigerians after his long absence, in order to quell any concerns over his capacity to govern would have been a good idea but that is yet to happen.
It would not be a bad idea either if Buhari opts to meet the people via Skype and reassure them that all his well with him.This will greatly help in enlightening Nigerians about the true condition of their leader. But up till the time of compiling this report, the president was still incommunicado. He was yet to speak with Nigerians, though several still pictures of him arriving, meeting people and resuming work are online.
However, either Buhari opts to interact with Nigerians through whatever means or not, that will be an issue for another day. But while he was away, Osinbajo won accolades for acting well, but there are so many unresolved issues the government must begin to give due and urgent attentions as the man on the saddle returns.
While the government deserves kudos for its efforts at curbing the activities of the dreaded Bolo Haram sect and also for being able to reunite some of the abducted Chibok secondary school girls with their families, the issue of rescuing the remaining girls is of paramount importance to Nigerians as well as the government. As such, government will be expected to intensify efforts to bring back more of the girls through its negotiation with the terrorists.
Just about the time Buhari left for his medical vacation, some Nigerians were about to commence anti-Buhari protests. Their grouse was mainly the economic hardship confronting Nigerians. As at today, many Nigerians are faced with poverty and hunger. The reason is that the country was plunged into recessiom. So, how to reverse the trend and improve the economy will remain on the front burner because Nigerians are yearning for observable changes in this regard. Luckily enough for the president, while he was away, his deputy appeared to have set in motion efforts that are likely to quicken the country’s slugish movement out of recession.
Not a few Nigerians are looking forward to the sustenance of the tempo of the ongoing anti-corruption war. The people are also looking forward to the continuity of the judicial reform - weeding out corrupt judges and more high profile convictions.
There is currently 33 vacant offices of Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) in the states and since it is the president that is constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of appointing them, Buhari will be expected to look into the matter.
There are also many board appointments to be made. Many who worked for the All Progressives Congress to clinch power expected the president to appoint them into boards of agencies and parastatals but this is not happening. Agencies that can not function without a board are having difficulty performing thier duties.
Similarly, Nigeria’s career ambassadorsdesignates are yet to be posted to their respective duty posts. Though the president on December 19, 2016 opened an induction course organised for them by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about three months after, they are yet to be posted anywhere.
While there have been unconfirmed concerns over purported cabinet shake up in the present Federal Executive Council (FEC) since December last year, feelers from government sources are indicating that some ministers are likely to give way for new ones any time from now. Not only that, currently there are two vacancies in FEC; the late Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Mr. James Ocholi (SAN) who died in a ghastly motor accident and former Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed who picked up a United Nation job.
Other policy directions of government must be followed to logical conclusion so as to ensure that the the people feel that the government is not just about inflicting hardship on the citizenry.
On the political turf, Buhari can hardly claim that he is unaware of the latent fragmentation of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) along the Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar and the ‘Buhari boys’ fault lines. How the president handles the conflicting interests and positions the party for victory in the February 18, 2019 presidential election would be of interest to watchers of national politics too.
Over all, how Buhari is able to cope with governance will be of interest to all Nigerians who are inquisitively probing to ascertain that he is now fit to actualise his campaign promises.