Charles Oputa (Charle Boy) and Sahara Reporters publisher Sowore Omoyel during One Voice Nigeria rally at the Premises of National Theater, Iganmu in Lagos. February 6, 2017.
By Jideofor Adibe pcjadibe@yahoo.com (07058078841 SMS only)
The
past few days will probably be a turning point in the relationship
between President Buhari and some of the most ardent supporters of his
candidacy in the 2015 elections in the country. At least five key
supporters from this group - Eniola Bello of ThisDay, syndicated
columnist Sonala Olumhense, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and Sahara
Reporters publisher Sowore Omoyele - indicated that their romance with
the retired General was over.
In
a very critical article published in ThisDay of February 5 2017, Eniola
Bello threw well targeted and
bareknuckle punches at the man he had
promoted vigorously with every capillary in his vein. He wrote:
“At
the inception of the Buhari administration, expectations were indeed
really high just as there were celebrations when Buhari sacked the Shehu
Shagari administration on December 31, 1983. Twenty months on, however,
have there been any significant changes in the national economy? Of
course, but for the worse!.... With the unendurable exchange rate
regime, it would be little surprise if Nigerians were soon forced to
deal with scarcity of commodities, or queue for essential ones, as
happened during Buhari’s first coming in 1984.
“On
the strength of his performance in office in the last 20 months, there
is no question that Buhari is very weak on the economy, and does not
have the capacity to fix Nigeria. His failure is our collective failure
to critically evaluate the abilities of candidates for elective offices
based on their background, achievements, knowledge, and emotional
intelligence. We all, politicians and electorate alike, were blinded by
the failings of the Jonathan administration to have accepted just
anybody to occupy that office.
“That
was the only reason why a Buhari could have been elected president,
despite his provincialism; his failure to broaden his social and
political network; his refusal, since he was sacked as military leader,
to acquire fresh knowledge and develop himself intellectually; and his
politics of intolerance and exclusion for the 12-year period he
contested and failed to win the presidential election.”
Sonala
Olumhense who made no bones about his support for Buhari during the
2015 elections and after, packed even heavier punches and delivered
lethal uppercuts on the same day as Eniola drew out knives for the Daura
General. In a piece entitled ‘The Fall Of Buhari, And The APC’, and
published (coincidentally?) on the same February 5 2017, Olumhense
wrote:
“As
it has turned out, every one of us who stepped out of our comfort zone
to support his leadership is not merely disappointed, but betrayed.
Buhari’s words have proved to be emptier than a basket of water. Every
hope that he would bring enough with him for Nigeria to build on has
drowned in a sea of poor policies, no-policies, and cynical
manipulation.
“To
think about Buhari since May 2015 is to observe how power affects
individual holders. Sometimes, a man takes office and becomes a prime
instrument for building that nation or that community or that era. And
then sometimes, a king assumes the throne clothed in layers of gold and
the finest linen but only to expose his nakedness. Buhari appears to be
the latter…..
“
Yes, Buhari is ailing now, but in nearly two years in office, it is not
an absence of health that has held him back but an absence of will,
temperament and capacity. The president is not leading with strength;
he is being led by his weakness.”
Meanwhile,
popular musician Tuface (Innocent Dibia) had on January 24 2017
announced plans to organize a protest to register Nigerians’
dissatisfaction with the performance of the Buhari government and the
increasing impoverishment of people under his government. He planned the
protest for February 6, which was to coincide with the date the
President was initially expected to arrive the country from his
medical/holiday trip in the UK. Though Tuface eventually cancelled the
planned protest, it did hold despite the cancellation. And among those
who participated in the Lagos protest was Sowore Omoyele, whose online
newspaper Sahara Reporters feverishly promoted the Buhari candidacy and
until recently vigorously defended his policies. Again Nobel laureate
Wole Soyinka, who was courted by the Buhari government and had supported
both his candidacy and defended his policies until recently suddenly
regained his voice as a professional social critic. Soyinka used harsh
words in condemning attempts by the law enforcement agents to stop the
Tuface’s planned protest against the government.
There are important observations and lessons for the government from the events of the last few days:
One,
taking together, the events of the last few days raised the question of
whether all these were spontaneous outpouring of citizens’
dissatisfaction with the Buhari government or whether there was some
orchestration behind it.
But
whether orchestrated or not, the point is that when the President
returns - yes he shall return home hale and hearty in Jesus’ name - he
will simply learn that the music has changed and so he must also change
his dance step. While some of the current challenges are structural,
systemic or bequeathed by the Jonathan’s government, the fact is that
the Buhari government created additional problems of its own and
exacerbated several of the extant problems through its actions and
inactions.
Unlike
the erstwhile promoters of the Buhari candidacy who are now turning
against him, I believe the regime is not irredeemable. I believe the
emerging re-alignment of political forces will be critical in answering
the question of whether the regime is capable of fixing the country or
not: who will be the dominant actors in the new re-alignment? How
cosmopolitan are they? What world views do they espouse? I believe that
by now the hard liners who hijacked the Buhari government and believe
that a show of force or some form of revenge will bring desired outcomes
will have known that they are wrong.
Two,
apart from high expectations that ushered in the government, the
current disappointment with the performance of the Buhari government, is
often a common problem faced by charismatic leaders who are voted into
office. Charismatic leaders have a special grace and magnetism that
attract followers to them. The truth however is that much of the myth
woven around such leaders cannot stand empirical scrutin. Very few
charismatic leaders are good administrators or distinguished leaders.
Take the late Nelson Mandela for example. His genius was in uniting a
fractious South Africa, not because of his administrative skills or the
effectiveness of his economic policies. The same is also true of the
late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. There are of course a few exceptions but
such leaders became truly charismatic or mythologized only after their
death,
Three,
when the President returns, and given the events of the last few days,
he must do something dramatic to regain the confidence of some of his
erstwhile supporters, who, with the passion of new converts are likely
to become venomous in their criticisms of his regime. And because they
promoted his candidacy and are not among the ‘usual suspects’, their
criticisms will be quite credible and more impactful than those from the
‘usual suspects’. I will suggest that the idea of political prisoners
in a democracy is an oxymoron. The government must move quickly to obey
court orders and release the likes of Dasuki, El Zakzaky and Nnamdi
Kanu. What does the government gain by detaining them except to
galvanize public sympathy for them or turn them into heroes? The
President should also immediately move to broaden his network, get more
competent people into his government and show a sense of urgency in
governance. The impression that the government thinks on its feet, with
several policy somersaults, should be discouraged.
Four,
the management of the President’s medical trip leaves much to be
desired. There is nothing to be ashamed of that a President needs
medical attention. But the way the information has been managed leaves
much to be desired with several gaps that fuelled the rumour mills.
Though the job of being the spokes- person of any president is by
definition a tough one since one has to defend unpopular government
policies, policies the person knows nothing about or even disagrees
with, some spokesmen are able to navigate this better than others. I
believe that when this is all over, people are going to ask questions
about people like Femi Adeshina who either talks down on Nigerians or
sees every issue from the simplistic binary of those who lost in the
2015 election and are still ruing their loss and those who won.
Five,
unless the government is able to come up with a more inspiring set of
government functionaries and programmes, criticisms against the
government could become sharper and more generalized, which could also
make the regime more repressive. This is a scenario neither the
government nor its critics will want. And it is the more reason why the
government must see the events of the last few days as defining ones.
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