Buhari: May your road be rough!

Contrary to whatever misgivings that may be aroused by the apparent severity of the title of this article, it is not a curse on General MuhammedBuhari (GMB), Nigeria’s president elect. Neither is it an ill-wish that is borne by any grudge driven by bad-belle, of a member of any of the parties that lost out in the recently concluded presidential elections.

Rather it is a charge intended for lion-hearted persons about to engage in extraordinary ventures. It is for those who are going to dare the devil, squeeze water out of rockand walk on hot coals among other acts of heroism, in the normal course of duty. After all, landmark achievements in life are not distributed along well paved alleys. They are for those who imagine the ordinarily unthinkable, dare the apparently impossible and tread on the uncharted, acclaimed impassable routes in life.

The inspiration for this title comes from an iconic October 1 1964 article titled May your road be roughby late Dr. Tai Solarin, one of Nigeria’s alltime, most renowned social critics and mobilisers. Among his numerous interventions in the nation’s public life was the establishment in 1956 of the Mayfair School Ikenne, which had ever served as a reference point in the production of quality students, who are well grounded in learning as well as character, and are making the nation proud in whatever calling they find themselves in after school life.

In that article Solarinleads the reader to contemplate the link between the indulgence of leaders for easy life and the failure to break seeming barriers to better, more fulfilling lives for themselves as well asthefollowers. It was in the hey days of the country’s post-independence political effervescence and some of the leaders were more engrossed with exploiting the newly won political freedom to promote ‘stomach infrastructure’, in preference to the national interest. Needless to recall the string of catastrophes the country suffered due to the failure to heed the message of the landmark thinking of that article.

While Solarin now belongs to the ages, it may not be overtly presumptuous to contemplate that if he were alive, he would not have begrudged Buhari the benefit of such a charge - may your road be rough. In the absence of Tai Solarin, let this author pass on to the Presidentelect what the late sage could have offered an incoming leader like him.

Listening to GMB as he presented his acceptance speech, not a few Nigerians were fired up into great expectations by his down to earth approach to the burning issues of the day. One of the factors that gave credence to his message (even his election itself) was his antecedent, at least during his first missionary journey to the seat of power in Nigeria between December 1983 and August 1985.

In that speech Buhari drew public attention to his aversion for among other issues corruption in the conduct of public business with public funds and the diminished quality of life for Nigerians. And given his antecedents many Nigerians believe that he will not be a lame duck leader that will strut and dither on stage, when national interest is at stake. It is in the light of the task ahead, and in respect of which he and the APC are preparing to take-on, that Solarin’s charge becomes timely.

The charge itself is informed by at least two factors. Firstly is the lesson from the complement of factors that led to the failure of the Jonathan administration to clinch the much desired continuity in office. Secondly is the suspect structure of the platform - specifically the All Progressives Congress party (APC), on which he won the Presidential election, and is coming to power for the second time.

By now the causative factors for the failed second term bid by President Goodluck Jonathan have been well documented. Yet for the purpose of clarification some of these can be recalled as failure of governance strategy, public discomfort at a growing syndrome of impunity by holders of public office, (the most

To be fair to Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians will ever remember him as the President who promoted free, fair and credible elections, even if the process claimed

his aspiration for continuity in office