PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has finally admitted that he is overwhelmed by the job he craved and wept for. But Nigerians came to that conclusion long before him.
Having waited patiently, albeit fruitlessly, for the president to deliver on his 2014 campaign promises, beleaguered Nigerians who are still wondering how they allowed themselves to be conned seven years ago, have, however, moved on.
They no longer place any stock on his ability to get the job done. Even members of his party – All Progressives Congress, APC – are too ashamed of the mess Buhari has made of governance.
So, when the president quips that he is eager to go as he did on Monday when he received some APC governors, legislators and political leaders at his residence in Daura, Katsina State, he needs to be told that Nigerians are more eager. They can’t wait to see his back in Aso Rock. “I am eager to go. I can tell you it has been tough. I am grateful to God that people appreciate the personal sacrifices we have been making. I wish the person who is coming after me the very best,” he said.
Of course, whoever that will succeed Buhari needs all the prayers because the damage is enormous but it sounded ridiculous hearing him lament the phantom toll official duties had taken on him. When he talks about his personal sacrifices in running the country, it smacks of entitlement. The hubris is insufferable. Buhari thinks he is doing Nigerians a favour being president when he is not. But if he is now eager to go, Nigerians are even more fervent in that desire. In fact, to the average Nigerian, the best time for the president to go was yesterday.
It is hard to fathom those he claimed appreciate the personal sacrifices he claims to have made, but truth be told, Nigerians will not miss him because even if he leaves today, Buhari will leave the country in a precarious situation far worse than when he assumed office on May 29, 2015. His ineffectual leadership even on issues where he ought to have comparative advantage such as security, given his military background, is scandalous to say the least. Take, for instance, the audacious attack on the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja, penultimate Tuesday by scores of armed terrorists and the president’s response. The commander in chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria pretended to be shocked by both the scale and audacity of the attack.
And what did he do? Nothing, other than posing rhetorical questions: “How did the defences at the prison fail to prevent the attack? How many inmates were in the facility? How many of them can you account for? How many personnel did you have on duty? How many of them were armed? Were there guards on the watchtower? What did they do? Does the CCTV work?” After inspecting some of the points impacted by the attack, he expressed his disappointment thus: “I am disappointed with the intelligence system. How can terrorists organise, have weapons, attack a security installation and get away with it?” But that is hypocritical because that is exactly what terrorists have been doing all over the country under his watch in the last seven years.
After spending about 30 minutes at the Correctional Centre where not less than 450 prisoners, including over 63 hardened terrorists escaped, Buhari relapsed to his pastime: hopped into the presidential jet to attend the International Development Association, IDA, for Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal. Any other president in the world whose country was so viciously attacked would have cancelled that trip, but not Buhari. His special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said to abort the trip would be tantamount to giving in to terrorists. “The president should go (to Senegal), because there is an international conference meant for heads of state and presidents; he should attend.
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