That President Buhari is more comfortable dealing with the international community and Nigerians living abroad than dealing with his subjects at home since coming into office is no longer news. He has spent more time outside of the Nigerian shore than he has actually spent meeting with concerned Nigerians at home – that is, outside of Aso Rock. At home, he is most often within the government functionaries. And that is a trend that has to stop and a culture that his handlers must not allow to persist.
For instance, the trip to Ogun State's 40th anniversary celebration and the visit to Strasbourg, France the following day to address the European Union Parliament, while the local and international news and print media beam unsightly pictures of burnt cadavers of about 86 innocent girls and women roasted alive in the hands of Boko Haram in the village of Dalori should not have happened. It was ill-advised.
That period, arguably, was the saddest moment in the history of this administration. For the President to have jetted out of Aso Rock, not to the scene of the attacks to commiserate with the bereaved families, but to travel to Abeokuta to celebrate over nothing, was without question very damaging. It complicates the seeming President Buhari's un-fatherly brand, the more.
The 110km road, as well as the cashew plantation, the palm plantation and the housing estate that the President commissioned, are within the categories of the basic accomplishments that Governors are elected and expected to provide. Besides, any high ranking Minister could have undertaken that trip on behalf of the President given the mood of the nation. Unless, of course, the argument was that the death of 86 Nigerians did not alter the mood of the nation. And with all due respect to the President, the Strasbourg trip was the most disappointing. The Vice President or the Minister of Foreign Affairs should have stepped into the picture here because the whole world was watching and reading about the carnage in Dalori.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the remaining Democrat running against Mrs. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic ticket is a few years older than our President. He is the oldest of all the candidates running in the primaries right now. And chances are that he will not be able to defeat Hillary and secure the Democratic ticket. Be that as it may, his candidacy has electrified women and the younger generations in the magnitude that none of the candidates in either of the political parties has been able to match. Indeed, he has suave and gravitas. Simply put, he represents the millennium generations and the interests that they share, his age notwithstanding.
What am I saying? President Buhari has a friend in Bernie. Like Bernie, he has wisdom. But unlike Bernie, he is a stranger in his own country and to the little things that matter in the lives of the younger generations, students, and those in search of the elusive ladder.
Indeed, militants must be crushed in their exploits. Indeed, corruption must be rooted out of Nigeria. Indeed, oil and gas explorations must be duly regulated, and transparency and accountability in place in the industry. Then what next? There must be that something that Mr. President wants to be remembered for that touches the heart and soul of the average Nigerian - the but for test. Simply put, there is no inspirational Sadauna of Sokoto in the picture, neither is the visionary Awo around the table.
A DISTURBING VOID
In few months, President Buhari would have been in office for about a year. And within that period he had few major official engagements in Nigeria - the recent trip to Abeokuta that shouldn't have been and the visit to Calabar, Cross River State, for the take-off of the 260km Calabar - Katsina super-highway. So, what else?
The egregious scale of the padding that took place recently within the 2016 national budget is a reflection of the perceived void in the system. In other words, the current dispensation is more detached than what we’ve seen in the past. From all indications, Nigerian civil servants do not consider President Buhari and his team talented or astute enough to unmask their stranglehold on our national budget. And they almost succeeded once again, but for the foresight of the press and the Nigerian people.
So, when you watch Mr. Lai Mohammed sweating profusely on live TV, laboring disingenuously to lie about a fact that is so obvious to the naked eyes, you start wondering, if it was reasonable of the President to have made an antediluvian-minded propagandist his Minister of Information. His role is to inform - to be the voice of wisdom and of a reason of the administration. Not to engage in cheap misinformation.
Today, the Nigerian Super Power Preachers are having a field day garnering new converts in scope and dimensions never before seen in the history of Pentecostal evangelism in Nigeria. Granted, the urge to have a feel of spiritualism and spiritual purification is high, but the absence of Government and political leaders in the lives of Nigerians is creating the surge and the unprecedented gravitation towards the pulpits.
There is a vast void for the men of God to fill and they are filling it in grand style. The people have no one to cry to, but God the Almighty and the Church. And there is always someone welcoming you at the game, with a smile, to comfort you, and inspires you.
ANALYSIS
If the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC) has to write a letter to Global Witness, soliciting for funds in support of its effort to recover Nigerian stolen wealth overseas as reported by the media few days ago, it is a clear indication that the President's globetrotting is not, after all, yielding fruitful result as expected.
One, PACAC ought to be receiving unconditional support and funding from all the global anti-fraud agencies given President Buhari's conviviality with Presidents and Heads of Governments from most of the countries where Nigerian politicians stashed their ill-gotten wealth. And two, if the trip is yielding result as reasonably expected, an agency like PACAC, would not have been in a position where it is cash-strapped and consequently incapacitated as it alleges.
A few days ago, Professor Wole Soyinka, called on the President to arrange an Economic Emergency Conference with a view to arresting the spiraling depreciation of our currency and related economic problems. I do not subscribe to an Economic Conference.
Nigeria is a multi-party democracy; not a one-party state. This is a Progressive dispensation and the President must act wisely and strategically, looking up to his economic team for a purposeful framework for a sustainable economic drive that syncs with his motivations in power. He should assemble a Presidential Economic Advisory Council, similar to what President Babangida did; not an Economic Emergency Conference whose decision will certainly not be consistent with progressive agenda.
Legacy is about real leadership. Sir Ahmadu Bello did it - stayed back in Kaduna to build a formidable nation within a nation. And Papa Awo did it to perfection - creating numerous African "firsts" for the old western region. Nigerian has a huge market - a huge market for investors. With the right people managing our resources and institutions at home, foreign investors will come in droves.
There is more to revitalizing a declining economy at home than you can possibly find abroad. The focus must be, first, on the people - our attitude and our relationship with government - to be followed by spending and investment on infrastructural facilities. Thirdly, we must stop pretending that there is no crisis in the Middle-Belt. The earlier we accept the obvious facts and react with lasting solutions the better for the region and our agro-industry.
At the ministerial level, the Minister of Foreign Affair has been missing in action. It is high time he steps out of his hibernation and confronts the challenges of his office - he should be the face of this administration. Also, the Minister of Internal Affairs must always be on hand to talk to the people any time we have the sort of dangerous Dalori attack, as well as the ongoing mayhem in Benue State.
With respect to the war against corruption, the recent letter to Global Witness by PACAC mentioned earlier on this piece was misguided and calculated to create a false aura around an agency that is completely bereft of focus and sound judgment. The major challenge before Professor Sagay and his team right now is to unravel the mystery surrounding the padding of the 2016 Federal Budget. How did it happen and how long has it been happening?
Also, it is not enough to put an end to the culture of "ghost workers"; it is highly imperative that PACAC and EFCC work with the Ministry of Finance to unravel how the culture was developed.
MOVING FORWARD
President Buhari should realize that he cannot change Nigeria with the same people who destroyed it. His recent humiliation over the handling or mishandling of our national budget is an eyes opener. Therefore, the need for recruitment or hiring outside of the usual pool cannot be overemphasized. Like the culture of "ghost workers", budget padding is not a new invention; it has been with us for years. Nigerians want to know who and who have benefited over the years.
Much as I would like to give kudos to the President and the EFCC for the arrest made so far on other fronts, I want to add that winning the war against corruption is not about detention or interrogation (querying), it is more about seizure, conviction, forfeiture, and recovery.
