It is only in Nigeria that politicians are unashamed of
ridicule and indecency, some at least. Or what else will one call the charade
that ensued between General Buhari, the presidency and the Peoples’ Democratic
Party? For making declarations to his party members, the presidency and the ruling
PDP ran into the mud gleefully to prove to everyone that the country’s
leadership is swift to reaction and gradually the country has descended into a
mud fight. General Muhamodu Buhari’s declarations have since resulted into an
exchange that is neither helpful nor is it in anyway productive to the polity. In
a democracy (this is hardly one), there is room to tackle another party but it
must be issue driven. The general spoke on an issue or issues but the reaction
has been largely personal.
General Buhari had
said that there will be a mass revolt in 2015 if INEC fails to conduct free and
fair polls. Speaking to some members of his party the Congress for Progressive
Change (CPC) who came to wish him well on his return from surgery abroad, the
former head of state said that there are several kinds of Boko Haram and that
the biggest is the Federal Government.
In a swift reaction,
the PDP spokesman described the general as a serial election loser who is not
only blood thirsty but was suffering from combat withdrawal syndrome. The spokesman
turned doctor now a specialist in diagnosing ailments without tests went ahead
to proffer a line of treatment for the general: a readmission into the Nigerian
army and possibly leading a contingent to Mali.
The CPC has reacted
as expected. They described the President’s regime as being clannish and puerile.
It went on to reaffirm the assertions credited to General Buhari. Meanwhile the
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has thrown its weight behind the General
urging the presidency to be wary of using language unbecoming of the
presidency.
It is sad, very sad
that the presidency has degenerated to this exercise of distracting everyone
and itself from urgent national issues. At a time when there are challenges on
nearly all facets of national life the least you expect is talk about a person
who lost elections and then calling him names when he obviously raised salient
issues that are yet to be addressed.
In case the PDP has
forgotten, Nigeria was divided at the last polls. It was vehemently defeated in
the north while it won in the south. Several polls conducted today show that
Nigerians whether north or south regret Jonathan’s victory. The promised breath
of fresh air has since turned out to be a sour smelling gale with consistent
shows of impetuous abrasiveness, unwillingness to tackle corruption and gross
mediocrity. General Buhari might be anticipating the next elections where
should this trend of mediocre governance continue, and then an opposition party
should win. The opposition cannot win the polls however unless there is an
improvement in the conduct of elections. This is the message General Buhari was
trying to convey.
General Buhari for
his part has demonstrated time and again to be a patriot. It is important
though to stress that at 70 years of age, the general should not continue to
vie for the presidency. By 2015, he would be 74 years. The general may have
succeeded in many areas but has failed in that he is yet to produce men like
himself or at least a man like himself to succeed him. His party though
enjoying popularity in the north failed at the governorship polls and the news
coming from that party is not what anyone interested in viable opposition should
get excited about.
General Buhari has
paid his dues and will be remembered as a fearless, incorruptible ex-head of
state whose regime brought discipline to Nigeria. There is not only one role
though through which men may actualize themselves. The General should earnestly
begin the quest to solidifying his party’s position as a viable opposition and
strengthening whatever values he thinks fit. The General must realize that his
popularity is not enough to get him the presidency in today’s Nigeria. General
Buhari may have expressed a popular opinion in describing the federal
government as Boko Haram; it is however unbecoming of a man of his exposure to
make such proclamations public even if he has proof of such assertions.
On a national note,
the presidency has been made a mess of by this yet again. Not every comment is deserving
of a reaction and not every reaction should be this demeaning. Terms like the
ones used by the PDP to describe the general should only be used at informal
circles but not made national issues where even children can pick up the wrong
impression. More importantly, the reaction of the PDP has proven yet again that
its leadership of Nigeria is largely personality driven and not issue or
ideology based. The inability of the presidency to separate the general’s
comments suggests also that the presidency is not focused but heavily
distracted on several fronts.
As for the Nigerian
people, there is an urgent need to throw away indifference, shun sectionalism
but bring to bear true watchfulness on these undeserving elements that
currently masquerade themselves as politicians. The time approaches when the
revolution so spoken off long ago must take place, a revolution not made with
guns and bullets but of voters and their ballot.
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