BUHARI’S SECOND TERM GAMBIT

President Buhari does not have what it takes for a second term, argues Sonnie Ekwowusi

Apart from greed, political ideological bankruptcy, sheer incompetence, crass materialism, narcissism, profligacy, another vice imperilling Nigerian democracy is lack of sense of shame. The Nigerian political actors have lost the sense of public shame. This lack of public shame finds its dramatic expression in the instinct in most politicians to grab political power by all means not to serve but to dominate their fellow men.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term bid, despite his consistent poor performance in office, exemplifies the lack of sense of public shame in contemporary Nigerian politics. Notwithstanding that the people are complaining that their lives in the last three years are full of miseries, anguish, despondency and hopelessness President Buhari is jostling to staging a comeback in 2019. Where has public shame gone? Why do our politicians have no sense of public shame? We must restore the power of public shame in Nigeria. We must restore the power of public indignation. What is repugnant is repugnant. President Buhari’s bid for a second term is repugnant to good conscience. The truth of the matter is that President Buhari is not a saleable presidential material in 2019. We don’t even need a Fr Camillus Mbaka or any of these self-imposed prophets to remind us of this truth. It is a self-evident truth. Even Aisha Buhari, the president’s wife, known for her boldness in speaking the truth, did not mince words in telling her husband that the confusion reigning in Aso Rock Villa was a big obstacle to progress in his government. She specifically told her husband to get rid of the cabals in his government if he wanted to make some progress. But as usual, Aisha Buhari’s kind advice went unheeded. Now the Nigerian citizens are probably experiencing their worst economic hardship in recent years. Three years down the line, nothing has changed. The same failed leadership; the same electricity failure; the same failure to fight corruption; the same injustice everywhere; the same collapsed educational system; the same collapsed primary health system; the same stealing of government by the people in government.

I need not reiterate here the hardship the Nigerian people suffered at last Christmas owing to fuel scarcity. Even as we speak there is no end in sight to the fuel scarcity. The fuel queues keep on shortening and elongating everywhere. Meanwhile the government keeps blaming the marketers for the scarcity. We are like a people groping in darkness. We are a people groping from one darkness to the other; from one government’s faux pas to the other; from one scatter-brain idea to the other. Now instead of pausing a moment and figuring out the best way to ameliorate the worsening living conditions in Nigeria, President Buhari is now campaigning for a second term. His vaulting ambition to grab power again in 2019 has taken priority now. The president has reportedly re-appointed Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi as the Director-General of his 2019 Presidential Election Campaign. Asked whether President Buhari would seek re-election in 2019, Minister of Communications Alhaji Adebayo Shittu said: “It goes without saying, I mean if you have a child who goes to primary school and he does well, he proceeds to secondary school and he does well and you keep asking if he will be going to university. It goes without saying… By the grace of God, we his (Buhari’s) ardent supporters who appreciate his worth on behalf of millions of Nigerians would urge him to re-contest.”

With the greatest respect, I disagree with Alhaji Shittu. President Buhari has not done well. On the contrary he has failed the test. Therefore it is advisable that he refrains from seeking a second term. Pursuant to section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution, it is the primary responsibility of the Federal Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens. But painfully, human life has become so cheap in Nigeria in the last three years. An innocent citizen can be hacked to death in the full glare of the public. This is not a good testimonial for the Buhari government. Imagine, under the watch of the Buhari government the Fulani herdsmen have been having a free killing field: they have been killing men, women and children in different parts of Nigeria with their AK-47 and other sophisticated weaponry. Recently, the Fulani herdsmen attacked the Agatu Community in Benue State and killed 33 indigenes of the community. It is on record that the Fulani herdsmen have killed about 5, 500 people in Agatu in the last four years. In 2016 alone about 400 people were murdered in the same Agatu community by the same herdsmen. Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom now laments that his life is being threatened by those who do not want the implementation of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law aimed at checkmating the murderous activities of the Fulani herdsmen in the state. In Kaduna State, a monarch and his wife were recently attacked and killed by the same Fulani herdsmen. In Ilorin, Kwara State, many Christian worshippers who were returning from the New Year Cross-Over Night Service were attacked and hacked to death by the same Fulani herdsmen. In Omoku, Rivers State, about 17 Christian church worshippers were killed during the last New Year Eve by the same Fulani herdsmen. Some husbands were dragged out of their houses and murdered in front of their wailing wives by the same Fulani herdsmen. Whereas we were to believe that Boko Harm had been defeated in Nigeria by the Buhari government but, Boko Haram continues to freely ravage Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. Recently Boko Haram struck at Kanama, Gamboru Ngala and Mafa in Yobe State, and killed many soldiers and civilians there. Apart from Boko Haram deadly attacks, what is now beyond comprehension is that the murderous Fulani herdsmen have remained untouchable in Nigeria. Whereas the government could arrest and prosecute IPOB members, the same government is unable to arrest and prosecute the murderous Fulani herdsmen. Therefore President Buhari is advised not to seek a re-election in 2019.

More importantly, the Buhari government is rocked by lots of corruption scandals. The evidence of corruption in the Buhari government include: the N233 million grass-cutting fraud involving former Secretary to the Government of the Federation; the $25 billion NNPC contract scam; the Osborne $43 million loot; N3.2 billion Aso Rock Clinic drug-purchasing fraud; the MTN bribery scandal; the controversies surrounding the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss; the recall of Abdulrasheed Maina to the civil service.

Certainly, a democracy that creates loopholes for flourishing corruption, fraud, kleptomania and graft cannot lead to human flourishing. Therefore President Buhari is advised not to seek a re-election in 2019.