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Emmanuel Onwubiko
As a young claretian who just got enlisted into the sacred vows of chastity, obedience and poverty in the claretian missionary sons of Mary of the Catholic Church in Utonkon, Benue State, my first shock came when one of the formators told us thus: “May your ways be rough.” I particularly didn’t know whether to say ‘Amen’ or to say silently like the Protestants would say that ‘it is not my portion’. I however swallowed the hard theological pill and affirmed ‘Amen’ just like many other contemporaries chorused in unison.
In my quiet times however, I approached this formator, who is a well-built young priest, and I asked him to please explain to me the theological implication of that prayer which to me sounded very harsh. He looked at my pretty innocent face and gave me a smile, saying that the prayer meant no harm but that it was only a caution so we know that the journey to the catholic priesthood is characterized by twists and turns since all that glitter are not gold and that anything worth doing is worth doing very well.
Well, I thanked him and went straight to my room but not without reflecting deeply on the words he gave me. But as we proceeded to the philosophy studies, I had an early encounter with Socrates, the father of philosophy who stated that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” This sacred words of Socrates was further confirmed by Immanuel Kant, a modern day philosopher who stated that “I think therefore I exists.”
With all the above experiences in mind, the saying therefore very recently by the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari that his last four years would be tough, did not shock me in any way. As variously captured by the media, President Muhammadu Buhari gave an insight into his forthcoming second term in office, saying “my last lap of four years will be tough.”
Buhari was declared winner of last Saturday’s presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with over 15,191, 847 votes to defeat his main rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar with 11,262, 978 votes.
Speaking while hosting members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa who had converged to congratulate him on his re-election, Buhari said his second term would be tough because Nigerians are so easily forgetful. The president, who said he deliberately went through the rigorous days of campaign in all the 36 states of the federation before the election, added that he opted to campaign in two states per day to make a statement to the opposition that he was strong and fit. He also said the next administration would face the economy very squarely because of the huge unemployment rate bedeviling the country, which he said had become a huge problem to everybody. However, the president, who thanked God for the steady rainfall, submitted that investment in agriculture would have been a futile effort if there had been no good and promising rainy seasons.
He praised states such as Lagos, Ogun, Kebbi, Jigawa, and notably Ebonyi, which he said had played notable roles in stopping rice importation through large scale rice cultivation especially with the unpredictable state of the oil sector. Responding to the congratulatory visit by his ministers, Buhari asked them to also congratulate themselves on the election victory, saying if he had lost the election, the ministers would not have come around to congratulate him.
Buhari who has lately become very philosophical, also gave us the texture, colour and characteristics of his next cabinet. President Muhammadu Buhari said that only people of integrity will make his cabinet in his second tenure of office. However, the President who also promised women and youths that his administration will not disappoint them said that he will not exclude people of his generation which he said is his own constituency in the distribution of positions.
President Buhari stated this during a victory dinner organized by his wife Dr. Aisha Buhari on Saturday night for the All Progressives Congress Youths and Women Presidential Campaign Council at the Old Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa Abuja. While acknowledging the role played by women and youths towards his re-election, he reassured Nigerian women and youths that he will not disappoint them in the next four years.
The group, women and youths had in their demands appealed for more women and youth representation in the next cabinet. But President Buhari in his remarks, promised that only those with integrity and interest of Nigeria will be considered for appointment to the next cabinet. According to him, “I assure you that I have listened on the representation made that my cabinet should include women and youth. Don’t celebrate it yet, I said I have listened to some of the representation made here. Well, I myself I am considering some of the old people and I will protect my constituency too.
Deconstructing the above affirmations of president Buhari has come out with a synthesis that he may after all not have meant harm at all but to warn Nigerians that it is not yet Eldorado.
If the explanation offered to me many years ago by my formator is anything to go by, then it is not a bad thing entirely that president Buhari has further cautioned Nigerians not to expect a bumper harvest of prosperity and the easy life in his last term going by the fact that his first term witnessed the worst case scenario in the area of economy. The last four years of Buhari between 2015 to 2019 just before Nigerians went to the polls last weekend which has come out with a controversial outcome stating that Buhari won by 15 million thus beating his nearest rival of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, saw Nigeria go through the first ever economic recession in thirty years.
Also, during the years under review as aforementioned, there were cases of closures of factories in the manufacturing sector due to collapsing infrastructure just as capital flights led to phenomenal job losses which even by official estimates saw Nigeria losing millions of jobs. Even the sudden postponement of the February 16th polls led to the sudden loses of over $7billion according to estimate by the chambers of commerce and the Nigerian stocks exchange.
Experts say the postponement cost Nigerian businesses about $7.605 billion (N2.737 Trillion). The amount is about two percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), $427 billion.
Onwubiko is Head, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA)
