Saddle a saint with the responsibility of sailing Nigeria’s ship of governance, he will surely get stained by the sorrowful shame that has ravaged the country beyond salvage. President Buhari is no saint. He is not even close to such sanctity and pureness. He is just the preferred – the manageable – among the terrible alternatives. So I wonder why any sane mortal would expect saintliness from someone who not only cannot do without sinning but has found himself in a sorry, scary pit where treasury is greedily milked and various anomalies thrive.
President Buhari must have learned that it’s improper to make mouths when reality is not seen. He almost promised Paradise for each Nigerian while seeking their mandate. He never knew that such was almost impossible in a country where Hell-like phenomena thrive at the corridor of power.
The opposition knew, and they still know that Mr President meant well for the country. The sincerity was visible even to the blind – the reason some of them secretly cast their votes for him. His sincerity wasn’t in his shedding of tears, but in his track record as a one-time incorruptible leader of the country.
Reality soon dawned on our beloved president when power was finally conferred on him. The nation’s treasury – our commonwealth, taxpayers sweats – had been callously depleted. Corruption had massively taken over the land, even beyond it’s shores – foreign reserve drained, monies hung in different foreign banks and properties such as lands and mansions discreetly acquired by government officials including high-ranking civil servants. Unprecedentedly, raw cash were locked up in rooms like prisoners on life jail. Currencies – naira, dollar, pound etc. – were found in millions in judges’ houses like visitors. Monkeys stole huge cash on farmland. Snakes swallowed money in JAMB office. The Senate House led by someone who has series of corruption cases to answer.
The kitchen heat high and the cook – Mr President – nearly ran out for his dear life. The game had to change and promises remodified. “No one should expect miracle, ” he said. The ugly reality in the kitchen could not assure a sumptuous meal in the refectory because the anticipated condiments were nowhere to be found. But something must be placed on the table for eaters who had salivated big.
Nigerians who had envisaged best governance from Mr President changed the song. Friends turned foes. Lovers became haters. Opposition seized the opportunity to wail the more. Enemies within and without propagandised to cripple the progress of the administration.
Mr President sharpened EFCC’s teeth to bite. He needed to do that to fulfil his campaign promise, and to replete the depleted treasury so as to make the expected miracles happen. Mr President stepped on toes in his corruption crusade. Wounded lions could not but fight back in a bigger way. Senators, honourables were shaken – the reason the fearless Ibrahim Magu hasn’t been confirmed as substantive EFCC chair, and the trillions realized from looters could not be spent by government. Corruption is seriously fighting back. Bukola Saraki and his cohorts are battling hard.
Only one thing saved Buhari’s administration, else, anarchy would have set in. And that is one lesson I have learned from him. It was integrity. He passed the integrity test even with his enemies. With that assuring characteristic, there was hope for the country. It was a sacrificial seed Nigerians had to sew, and now, the results are being gradually reaped. Power is relatively stable unlike the monumental damage that was done to it in 16 long years of Obasanjo’s party – the PDP. Roads are being constructed all over the country, including the ones awarded and abandoned by past administrations. We can see it, though they may not be enough yet. Dollar exchange is stable and the foreign reserve repleted. There is hope, apparently.
May Allah ease the herculean task for Mr President.
