It is all over but the reckoning. President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) beat his closest rival Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by polling a commanding 15,191,847 votes to 11,262,978. It is an emphatic victory and a mandate from Nigerians.
His triumph stresses the president’s cult-like status in parts of the north, where he polled numbers of landslide quality, especially in his home state of Katsina, as well as Kano and Jigawa states, with massive numbers in such states as Bauchi, Kebbi and Borno. Even in Nasarawa State where he has never won since 2003, he eked out a win. In spite of his unlikely performances in the southeast and south-south states, he pulled 25 percent of the votes in Imo and Abia states, with senate seats to the bargain, and relatively sturdy following in Akwa Ibom State.
In Benue State where pundits promised a shellacking owing to the devastations of the so-called herdsmen crisis, he lost by a whisker by way of about seven thousand votes. In the southwest, he won, except in two states, but his standing was stout in numbers.
President Buhari’s victory has signposted the end of the road to a few dinosaurs of Nigerian history, who have turned Nigerian politics into private patrimony. They hector their ways around and bolster a monarchical viewpoint that undermines the full flowering of democracy.
President Buhari accepted his victory with grace and called for unity, cautioning his supporters not to gloat. The speech marked a sober point of his political career that is sometimes more febrile than conciliating, and a few times pricking inflammatory nerves in the country. Victory is a moment for humility and his tone and demeanour evinced a statesman’s poise.
Atiku has rejected the poll results, in spite of affirmations from international observers that the elections were free, fair and credible. He has the right to exercise his dissent in court and it is a legitimate democratic route.
We cannot, of course, forget some of the divisive moments of a fraught campaign season, with combustible rhetoric, tendentious propaganda material and character smears. It is time to put it behind us. We also note that Buhari’s victory captured the divide in a morally besieged nation, with the poor mainly voting for Buhari and some elite precincts casting behind Atiku as their choice. We cannot but also see religious and ethnic flavours, factors that still remind us of the carcinogenic affliction of our primordial obsessions. The New York Times called it “a plebiscite for honesty.” It may be exaggerated but it has its finger on parts of the pulse.
But this mandate means President Buhari has another term of four years to do a lot of good. We cannot deny, in spite of the depleted treasury that the administration inherited, that economic rebound has been tardy, and widespread poverty and unemployment call for a more spirited approach to alleviating the groaning in the land. We shall not forget that anomie led to a series of dramatic suicides in parts of the country and waves of migration outside our shores. We realise that reviving a broken economy takes longer than many expect.
We also appreciate that the Buhari administration has put in place a number of projects geared in the long and even shorter terms to assuage the cravings of the needy. For instance, its infrastructure work in power, rail and roads are palpable and bear the potential to reverse the negative trend in jobs and welfare in the country. The Lagos-Ibadan train project is ready, and the transportation minister has drummed up élan over the jobs that will accrue from it. It will also redraw the demographic map as it may decongest Lagos and workers will have choice in places to reside, thereby creating new economies within the southwest.
The same applies to the proposed Lagos-Calabar and Lagos-Kano rail projects that are about to take off. They will disrupt the patterns of movements and business across the country as it did in Europe and the United States. It will ease other means of transportation, including road and water. The road infrastructure work has also had steady progress, including in the north and southeast. The busiest artery, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, is forging ahead. Power has had incremental increase of up to seven thousand megawatts, with challenges from transmission and distribution paring it to about five thousand megawatts.
Two major projects that have taken off include the Second Niger Bridge and the Mambilla Plateau power. These are transformative, and need urgent focus and consistency.
This trio of infrastructure call for a more enthused work from the president so that the people can benefit. The work is not done until it is completed.
We also note its welfare programmes like school feeding and Trader Moni. These are worthy but need to be expanded so that more Nigerians can benefit. About 9.5 million children feed every school day but there are still many millions who should be incorporated to its benefits. The same applies to the Trader Moni.
A major drawback of the Buhari administration in the past few years relates to its sense of social justice. The president should listen to rumblings of discontent over what has been described as the nepotistic and regionalistic tone of his appointments, especially his security officers. He has denied any such prejudice, but he needs to do more to reassure the nation when only one service chief is not from the north. We have, however, seen conscious efforts to effect “balancing” in agency appointments.
The herdsmen-farmers imbroglio and comments from him and some of his lieutenants like the agriculture and defence ministers, as well as his former inspector-general of police gave him and his administration a bad image that tended to dwarf some good things that would stand him well as the legacy of social justice. For instance, the payment of pensions to Biafra officers as well as ex-workers of the defunct Nigeria Airways was drowned in a howl of discontent and a media too obsessed with bloodletting to see other lights in the administration. The same administration also enacted a policy to patronise only Nigerian fabric and contractors for official uniforms in the armed forces and other services, including the customs and immigration.
What all these mean is that it is time for President Buhari to face his legacy and do things that will endear him to posterity. It means he should not suffer the delays of his first term to set to work. He should be quick in picking his cabinet and not wait till the year almost runs out as he did in 2015. He should be more familiar with his team and he knows their competencies and failings, and how to deploy and work them to productivity.
He said about two years ago that he was going to change his cabinet, but he did not. He has not as yet provided explanation for the delay. He has not worked with a little more haste, even if it means making haste slowly. Four years may seem long, but it flies by fast. After two years, even members of his party and other parties will begin looking beyond him and a frenzy of political manoeuvring may undermine his capacity to produce result.
Messaging was an obvious poor spot in the few years, and it made it difficult at times for this administration to own its narrative in certain parts of the country during the campaign. In the 21st century, it is not enough to have a good product; it amounts to nothing if people do not know about it. In an age of short memories and dins of competing voices, it is easy for your good deeds to be drowned.
The challenges ahead are, therefore, huge. But they are beckoning.
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