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These
are bullet points of what former President Obasanjo told President Buhari in
his widely read statement
President Buhari’s poor performance
in office is marked by widespread poverty, insecurity, poor economic
management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, encouragement of misdeeds,
inability to bring about national cohesion and poor management of internal
political dynamics.
Nigeria’s situation in the last
decade has provided proof that the country has consistently failed to get her
act together, a reason she has lost respect on the international stage.
This was what made me go against my
own political Party (PDP), in the 2015 general elections and support the
opposition.
It was not personal, but in the best
interest of Nigeria, Africa and humanity at large.
Former President Jonathan, with whom
I have maintained a very cordial relationship at all levels has come to realize
his mistakes in office and has publicly, commendably, expressed regrets about
them.
He still has a role to play on the
sidelines for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity, but not as President
again.
The situation that made Nigerians
vote Jonathan out of office is, again, staring Nigerians in the face.
President Buhari’s weaknesses were
well known to me and I spoke and wrote about then before I and other Nigerians
voted for him because was a matter of “any option but Jonathan” (AOBJ).
My letter to former President
Jonathan titled: “Before It Is Too Late” was a call to him to act before it was
too late.
The former President ignored my
letter to his detriment and that of those who advised him to ignore my warning.
Sycophants and media lynch mobs may
be hired against me for verbal or even physical attacks.
But if I survived undeserved
imprisonment and was ready to pay the ultimate price for Nigeria, no sacrifice
is too great to make.
No human leader is personally strong
or self-sufficient in all aspects of governance.
President Buhari has a poor grasp of
the economy, but I expected him to use experts in that area.
Economy does not obey military
orders and you have to give it what it takes in the short-, medium- and
long-term.
He also has a poor grasp of foreign
affairs, but I expected him to use Nigerians with expertise in that area.
There have been serious allegations
of round-tripping made against some of the closest people to the Buhari
Presidency and these seem to have been condoned.
These not amount to corruption and
financial crimes.
President Buhari has continued to
turn a blind eye to these instead of arresting the trend.
I believed that President Buhari
would fight corruption and insurgency and he has earned some credit in those
areas, but there is still work to be done.
The Fulani herdsmen/farmers issue
has been allowed to become debilitating.
President Buhari’s government gets
no marks for its failure to find an effective solution to the menace of the
herdsmen.
The endorsement of President Buhari
for another term of office by some governors, a day after 73 victims of
herdsmen were buried in a mass grave in Benue State, was symptomatic of
insensitivity and callousness.
The administration of President
Buhari needs to design a response to the herdsmen/farmers conflict in a way
that protects life and properties of both sides and makes them to live amicably
in the same space.
President Buhari, however, has
shocked Nigerians most with his nepotistic deployment, bordering on
clannishness, and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members of
his nepotistic kitchen cabinet.
This has gravely affected his
performance in office to the detriment of Nigeria.
National interest has been
sacrificed for nepotistic interest.
The reinstatement of Abdulrasheed
Maina, the pension thief, into the Civil Service is proof of collusion, condonation,
incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship/friendship on the part
of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action.
Many cases like this have probably
been kept away from the public and the media or ignored by the government.
President Buhari’s almost
non-existent understanding of the dynamics of internal politics has further
divided the country and made inequality more pronounced in a way that has badly
affected national security.
Another major flaw of President Buhari
is buck passing.
He has been blaming the Governor of
the Central Bank for devaluation of the naira by 70% or so and blaming past
governments for it, an indication of lack of willingness to accept his own
responsibility.
The economy is driven by politics
and because Nigerian politics is depressing, the Nigerian economy has slipped
into greater depression.
If the country was in good shape,
President Buhari would not have been required in office.
He was voted to knock the country
into shape, not to engage in perennial blame game.
The Nigerian constitution lists, as
one of the cardinal responsibilities of the President, the management of the
economy of which the value of the naira is an integral part.
While President Buhari’s brittle
health merited the sympathy and prayers, he should avoid overstretching his
luck or over-taxing the tolerance of Nigerians for him, irrespective of what
bootlickers around him say.
President Buhari should not stand
for re-election; he should go home and rest so that the country can use his
wealth of experience on the sidelines when he is fully recovered.
Even without the issue of his
brittle health, his advanced age makes him unsuitable to run the affairs of
Nigeria.
As a brother, I advise President
Buhari not to seek re-election on account of his age.
President Buhari may not heed my
advice.
Irrespective of that, Nigeria needs
to move on and move forward.
The two major political parties, APC
and PDP, I maintain are wobbly platforms.
That the chief kingmaker of the PDP
has insisted he must give direction to the party because he procured the
Supreme Court judgement for his faction of the party portends danger.
Choosing between the two is akin to
a distinction without a difference.
From its antecedents, the PDP has
shown no better promise.
As its leader for eight years as
President of Nigeria, I can confidently say that the party’s new their new team
is hopeless.
Nigeria has only one choice:
Coalition of the concerned and the willing - ready for positive and drastic
change, progress and involvement.
The type of change that will give
hope and future to innovate and work energetically at ideas and concepts in
which they can make their own original inputs.
The youth must be part of the action
today and not relegated to leadership oftomorrow, which may never come.
The type of change Nigeria needs is
one that will result in enhancement of living standards and progress for all
and under which the elected will accountably govern, offer equal opportunity
not based on kinship and friendship but on free citizenship.
Nigerians must not sit by lamenting
hopelessly.
The current situation is similar to
the one in the country was at the return of democracy in 1999, when the country
was on the precipice and dark clouds gathered politically, economically and
socially.
The price of oil at that time was
nine dollars per barrel and Nigeria had a debt overhang of about $35 billion.
Most people were confused with lack
of direction in the country.
A factor that saved the country was
a near- government of national unity put in place to navigate see the country
through the dark cloud.
My government used people at home
and from the Diaspora and we navigated through the dark cloud.
Where the country is a matter of
choice.
Nigeria can still choose differently
to make the necessary and desirable change, once again.
Everywhere I go, Nigerians are angry
and in anguish
.But Nigerians can deploy to the
anger to rescue the country from the position in which it currently is.
Self-pity, fruitless complaints or
protests are impotent.
Constructive, positive engagement
and collective action and moral re-armament are what the country needs.
Nigerians must accept that the
present administration has performed to the extent of its ability, aptitude and
understanding.
The administration and its political
party need to agree that they have done the best they could and are incapable
of doing better.
Nigeria deserves and urgently needs
better than what they have given or what the country knows they are capable of
giving.
Asking them to give more is
unrealistic and will only sentence Nigeria to a prison term of four years, if
not destroy it irredeemably.
Albert Einstein told the world that
doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result is the
height of folly.
Nigerians are already committing
suicide on account of the unbearable socio-economic situation they find
themselves in.
While Nigerians love life,
continually hoping that will be well is self-deceit.
Democracy is sustained and measured
not by leaders doing extraordinary things, (invariably, leaders fail to do
ordinary things very well), but by citizens rising up to do ordinary things
extraordinarily well.
Nigeria’s democracy, development and
progress, at this time, require ordinary Nigerians to do the extraordinary
things of changing the course and direction of lustreless performance and
development
If leadership fails, citizens must
not fail.