It is only an insincere person that will say the Jonathan administrative has failed. It is global knowledge that the administration has rebuilt the institutions on which a modern and prosperous Nigeria can thrive. If Nigerians think the President could have done better and want change, the question is: must it be change for change’s sake? If we want change, what are we changing for? My fear is that we cannot change for Buhari because his candidacy as a change agent is flawed on grounds of age, company, character, convictions and style.
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State governor, has once made this case against Buhari . He said that Agbaje at 57 is too old to succeed him as governor of Lagos. If a 57-year-old is too old to govern Lagos, one of the 36 states in Nigeria, why is a 72-year-old man not too old to govern Nigeria? Tell me a sound mind who appoints a man in his 70s as chief executive of a company. Anybody of that age is in retirement. I therefore cannot understand the position of those who see nothing wrong in handing over Nigeria with all its problems to a 72 year old to run. Some people have argued that we need a tested hand.
My question is what would happen to Nigeria in 10 year’s time when all the tested hands: Buhari, Obasanjo, Babangida, Shagari and Shonekan would no longer be capable of being called to lead Nigeria? Others have argued that Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (76) is old. Check out how she contained (or failed to contain) Ebola and it would be clear that Liberians made a mistake in electing her. Some have argued that Prof Yemi Osibanjo, Buhari’s running mate is young and would make up for the age of his principal. Nothing can be more deceptive. Experience has shown that in Nigeria, the vice president is a spare tyre. He is relevant to the extent the president wants him to be.
Talking about the cabal, my other reservation with the Buhari candidacy is the company he shares. Buhari has been sold as Mr. Clean but as Sule Lamido, governor of Jigawa State, pointed out, he is surrounded by not so clean men. No one is ever greater than the mafia that brings him to power. How would Buhari deal with those in his company?
I find Buhari’s character flawed, thanks to the certificate scandal. The issue is not whether Buhari has a school certificate or not. The issue is that he either lied or had chosen to treat Nigerians with contempt. The matter is this simple: Buhari says he had a certificate and it was with the army. The army says he never submitted one but joined the force with a recommendation letter from his principal.
He lied about this. To get around it, he has come out with a statement of result issued by his former school. That has stirred more controversy. What the General needs to do is ask Cambridge Assessment, the body that conducted the examination, to provide a copy of his certificate. If indeed he had a certificate but has failed to ask Cambridge Assessment for a copy, he is simply treating Nigerians with contempt, the same way he did when he refused to appear before the panel on human rights.
The man who said his ambition is to implement Sharia throughout Nigeria is running to be the president of a secular state like Nigeria. My question is: at what point did Buhari purge himself of this conviction? As Nair El Rufai-former federal minister and now APC governorship candidate for Kaduna state once said, ‘His (Buhari’s) insensitivity to Nigeria’s diversity and his parochial focus are already well-known’. As a military leader, he was autocratic, when did he become a democrat. If he was a democrat, why did he say the blood of baboons would flow if he loses the 2011 election leading to the post election violence that cost many lives? Which democrat cannot stand losing an election?
My last problem with Buhari is leadership style. When he first came to power, I was 16 then and remember that Brig. Gen. Tunde Idiagbon was the face I saw every day on TV doing this or doing that so much that the government was known as Buhari/Idiagbon administration. In the history of Nigeria, there has been no such government.
There was no Babangida/Aikhomu government. Even Gowon who was very young did not have a Gowon/Awo government. In PTF, he allegedly handed over the agency to Afri Projects Consortium (APC) to run. When scandals emerged, he remained Mr. Clean and the corruption was laid at the feet of APC. His inability to assume and take full responsibility for his mandates worries me. Does it mean that he would surrender the government to some other person to run: Osibanjo or the cabal?
I believe that the challenge of 2015 means we need an effective, strong and capable government.
SUN
END
This is the poorest article I have read in recent times. Not only does it lack depth,it is illogical and full of primordial sentiments. Imagine someone accusing Ellen johnson of failure due to Ebola but thinks GEJ has done well despite the impunity, corruption and deliberate failure to tackle insurgency.
He/She is sceptical of responsible personalities(called cabal by the writer) around GMB but comfortable with FFK,OKUPE,TOMPOLO,ASARI DOKUBO,GANI ADAMS,FASEUN,GEN. BOYLOAF,GEN. SHOOT-AT-SIGHT ETC that surround GEJ.
That GMB deligated jobs to his deputy even as a military man is indicative of his sportsmanship nature, not those who make their deputies spare tyres.
I would have thought that those of you (writer) who think he had no qualification has the responsibility to write cambridge. Not minding your smear campaigns, GMB is coasting home to victory in March 2015.
This writer is obviously brainless in his opinion. GMB cannot deal with the Nigeria problems, I suppose it is your GEJ that has been able to show responsible and effective leadership. No matter what you say or feel, a weak and old,”brain dead” Buhari is 150% better than a corrupt,clueless,lying and pusillanimous Badluck Ebele Jonathan whose cronies are confirmed rogues. His thieving business partners are unrepentant,shoot-at-sight ex-convicts and ex-militants,at least their names tell one how class they are money or no money. This writer must be one of the current or probably prospective looters and that is why he writing this rubbish.
While you’ve succeeded in telling us why we shouldn’t vote for GMB, you’ve failed to point to a single reason why we must continue with GEJ. I’m not surprised, afterall GEJ can’t articulate a single reason why we should continue with him. What a shame!