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In a matter of weeks from now, President Buhari will leave office and retire from Nigeria’s politics. From news report, the President is anxious to leave and return to his native Daura, and we the citizens cannot wait to happily wish him farewell.
Before he assumed office, the economy was huge and adjudged the fastest growing economy in Africa. Then, a loaf of bread sold at N500, PMS and diesel sold at N145 and N135 per litre respectively. The Naira exchanged at N156 per dollar. A bag of 50KG Rice sold for N8,000. The rate of inflation inched to 7.9%. The debt profile stood at $65.2 billion while our foreign reserve was put at $40.1 Bn. These were by no means very good statistics as we could do better, and then came Buhari promising change. He promised to end endemic corruption and enthrone good governance. He promised to make Nigeria a prosperous nation.
We believed him, not because we expect any government to resolve all our challenges. No government had ever resolved all the challenges of any country in eight years. Governments by their very nature resolve some problems and also create problems for their successors to inherit. You know a government that will fail when her promises are beyond the count of your five to ten fingers. You believe such politicians at your own peril. The truth is that we are ruled by corrupt people who say one thing before they enter office and do the direct opposite once they get in.
President Buhari is one of such leaders who didn’t just break his promises, he betrayed every hope and broke too many hearts. We were in trouble before we elected him, but he got us into bigger trouble. Yet he claimed he has delivered on his promises.
How do we respond to him? It all depends on your definition of change; he may be right that he has delivered on the change he promised, after all changing Nigeria from bad to worse is still change!
In the twilight of his tenure, a 50 kg bag of rice is selling for N39,000, a loaf of bread is selling for N1,200, PMS is selling at N325 per litre. He is leaving with the worse inflation rate at 24 per cent and a debt profile of N73trn. Under Buhari, ordinary currency swap failed, leaving millions of people stranded and thousands of people dead; the country is broken and the people frustrated beyond imagination. The president’s support has sharply declined since he came into office.
In my honest opinion, I feel like right now, Nigeria is in a state of emergency and we need some real change which we aren’t getting. Under Buhari’s watch, Nigeria held one of the most disputed elections in history. Several citizens are less enthusiastic about the May 29 inauguration. Some are openly calling for the inauguration to be postponed. To the disputants, the date is not sacrosanct. I disagree with this line of thought. On May 29, President Buhari’s tenure will come to an end. There is no reason to keep him a day longer in office and as such he must go.
On 25 February, an election was conducted and a winner declared by INEC. There are strong opinions that the election was marred by irregularities. I acknowledge the right of the disputants to go to court to vent their grievances. It’s their right to pursue the legal option.
I had nevertheless written on this page and expressed my reservations against the courts choosing our leaders. Our leaders must be produced from the ballot box. Our votes should count to make democracy work. This assertion does not vitiate the fact that the court remains an integral part of our electoral process, hence those aggrieved should approach the court instead of doing street battles and social media incitements.
Whatever is our angst, and while we argue on frivolities, we should take a lesson from the ongoing conflict in Sudan. The lesson from Sudan is not so much about Sudanese killing each other but the fact that millions of Nigerians are caught up in the conflict and no country was prepared to accept us across their borders.
According to the Chief Executive of Air Peace whose aircraft eventually airlifted some Nigerians, the authorities in Egypt refused the flight from departing except the plane took the remainder of 15 stranded passengers. The Egyptian government didn’t want as few as 15 Nigerians staying back in Egypt. If no country was willing to accommodate very few of our citizens , then who will accept and accommodate 200 million Nigerians should we lose our senses and get into a civil war due to our political differences?
Recall that, Sudanese people protested and overthrew their former President due to rise in the cost of bread. The Military Generals that overthrew President Omar are today fighting each other, and the citizens that ushered in the military cannot find bread anywhere. The combatants few days ago burnt down the Central Bank of Sudan. Rich Sudanese are fleeing the country with only very few countries willing to accommodate the surging refugees.
Whatever are my reservations concerning the conduct of the 2023 election, the fact is that we have an INEC-declared President elect in the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Some people may not like him but he is the President elect, and on the 29th of May 2023 , he will be inaugurated as President. People with the notion that he may not be sworn in should perish the thought and embrace the reality of President Tinubu who may not be any different from President Buhari.
I have read on the social media that he endorsed Senator Akpabio of South- South for Senate President. If this is true, it shows he is not interested in the unity of Nigeria. I am miffed that the Jihad against the Igbo is real. I also think that the Christian North has a lot to worry about. I don’t see the bloodletting ending anytime soon. I don’t also think that a president that jets out to UK at the slightest opportunity and checked into a hospice will recover Nigeria.
As a country, it seems like we have strayed so far from God’s plan and we are reaping the consequences. Examples abound of how God punished people and nations that strayed from Him.
But things can change. Real change can happen. Rather than curse Nigeria, we should turn to God with heartfelt request for revival to our land and also give thanks for all we have as Nigerians. God blessed Nigeria abundantly only that we are unfortunate to have bad leaders, hence, amidst the storms and uncertainties, we must pray for God to protect and shield this country from harm, both from external threats and from the sins and temptations that undermine our society.
We must as a people pray for His wisdom and guidance for our leaders that they may make decisions that honour God, align with His will and promote righteousness. We must pray that our leaders recognise the sovereignty of God, humble themselves and turn from sin, so that God will heal our land as He has promised
We must pray for our fellow citizens especially those in distress and those that are oppressed so that they will get reprieve and have a renewed faith in the country. We must pray that God Change the heart of the oppressors. Help us to love our neighbours as ourselves. We must pray for God to help the oppressors to show compassion to the vulnerable and to seek the wellbeing of all. As a people we need to go back to doing what is right and not what is popular. May God uplift our nation. Amen!
