Nigeria at 56: agony of overgrown toddler (3)

It is understandable that the president is silent on the disquiet in the House of Reps following Hon Jibrin’s grave allegations of fraud against his colleagues. But one would expect a president who came to power largely on the strength of his zero tolerance for corruption to not let the matter evaporate into thin air as it seems right now. Both Jibrin and those he accuses of fraud need to be questioned further and appropriate steps taken to address the issues raised.



Like I previously said, it’s not about Jibrin but Nigeria. We can’t be talking about fighting corruption or making sacrifices while we ignore certain glaring allegations of corruption. If I were Buhari I would not trade off my primary constituency, the masses that trusted him again and again until they put him in power, for a handful of backstabbers.



It was HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II that first warned that the regime was dangerously drifting off course by allowing a formidable FOREX cabal to substitute the much hated oil subsidy cabal. And in the cabal are the three, four or five people the president’s wife Aisha Buhari claimed, in the BBC interview now stirring ripples, have hijacked the regime.



With the help of a willing stooge at the country’s Apex bank, it’s alleged, they procure the much sought-after US$ at official rate and pass on to their buddies who then sell at an exorbitant rate. Neither HRH Sanusi II nor Aisha Buhari’s criticism of the government in this respect has been taken kindly by many of us who have so revered the president that we don’t believe he’s fallible. No mortal is perfect!



But like I mentioned previously President Buhari’s integrity is intact. He’s not corrupt; he does not condone corruption, especially by his family members. But there’s a small number of people he trusts absolutely that appear to betray the trust.



I appreciate that the matter between the President and his wife, which has become a subject of fierce public debate, should not have been brought out in the open. I, in particular, blame Aisha Buhari for washing her family’s dirty linen in public. But I also believe the first lady is in a tough battle for survival, the survival of her marriage, which the president’s unquestionable trust in his nephew, Mamman Daura, puts at risk.



Mrs Buhari’s media outburst came to me as a rude shock and, instinctively, I feared for her and the regime. I feared she might have said enough to drown the regime. But after listening to the full interview I was relieved a bit. We knew much of what she said, except that coming from her made it not so palatable. Nonetheless, the president should take it as a wake-up call.



Even his leadership of the party needs buckling up. For instance some party leaders think he doesn’t care much about the party’s survival beyond 2019. It’s based on this premise they often act on major issues affecting the party and only inform him afterwards. While some of the decisions have produced excellent outcomes, like beating the PDP at their own game in Edo State, some of the outcomes are devastatingly embarrassing.



Although, like most unapologetic Buharists, I don’t care much about APC I see it as a necessary evil. And that’s why its survival should be a priority too. I, however, fault Mrs Buhari overemphasis on rewards for party members that contributed to the president’s success in the 2015 election. It’s not possible to reward everyone but some very competent hands should not have been ignored.



When the president assumed office in May 2015 the country was already on the brink. Most people felt the president would recruit exceptionally competent hands, which the country is endowed with in all fields. And when the search went on almost forever many thought a dream cabinet would be unveiled. But when the list came out many criticised it for mainly comprising the same old faces. More worrying was most of the appointees hit the ground lying down and drifted to sleep soon after.



Again, the president needs to consider all that is happening now as a wakeup call even though he may be planning not to seek re-election in 2019. He needs to move quickly to douse tensions within the party and reassure the South-West leaders that the North-South alliance would survive beyond 2019. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s role in the triumph of APC cannot be forgotten in a hurry, so it won’t be out of place to pacify him.



Regardless of how negatively we perceive Aisha Buhari’s out of character act, she has stirred the hornets’ nest, perhaps, positively, which could galvanise us to action and steer us back on course. 2019 is not too faraway and the earlier the president does a full introspect of his leadership the merrier for country and us.



We have invested our all in this business and can’t just afford a ghastly cruise. President Buhari is our First Eleven, like a friend observed recently, and we can’t watch him lose.