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Every passing day, it’s becoming more evident and disturbing that Nigeria is fast falling dangerously into the hands of terrorists. A very cold bowl of discomfort is upon us and many broken hearts as a result of government’s inability to respond swiftly and firmly. It may seem unkind, even unpatriotic to say that the country is at the crossroads, the gritty truth is that things are getting worse, not better. The events of recent days show how sad, how disheartening things have become.
But let’s start with President Buhari and the choice of of his Cabinet. To a large degree, any administration’s success depends on the ability of the President to recruit a Cabinet of fine quality and work harmoniously with his Cabinet and the legislature. A Cabinet of superb quality is of great importance. It should compose of strong managers who will be able to control the career bureaucrats. The President should not, in any way, become their captives. Most importantly, the Cabinet must be men and women who will at all times give the President unvarnished truth, while the President will concentrate on determining national priorities and directions of the country. Unfortunately, few members of the president’s Cabinet has made him a ‘prisoner’s in Aso Rock, the seat of power in Nigeria. The president has become their captives. And that’s why we are in this mess, at the mercy of bandits. With the kidnap of hundreds of schoolchildren in the president’s home state of Katsina, just as he arrived the state, away from Abuja, it’s time for the president to look into his soul and ask if, indeed, he has been getting that unvarnished truth concerning insecurity across the country. He should ponder on the quality of advice has been getting from the Service Chiefs and aides.
And in the last week, I think one man who has done a lot of harm to the President is the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN. As the nation’s chief law officer, Malami’s position is one of the most critical in the Cabinet. It’s his responsibility to ensure that the president gets the right counsel and correct interpretation of the law.
The health of any democracy rests on public confidence in the legislature. But has Malami been living up to this responsibility and mandate of country’s chief law officer? I think he misadvised the president when he said last week that the National Assembly had no constitutional power to summon the President to brief the lawmakers on the worsening insecurity in parts of the country. His statement which many legal experts have disagreed with, reveals, under magnification, the cracks in the armour of arrogance in which he has encased himself, and repeatedly misled the president. Anybody who read carefully and with deep understanding of the law and the AGF’s argument that the NASS has no power to summon the President over his “operational use of the Armed Forces”, will be thoroughly alarmed and feel a deep sense of sorrow for our constitutional democracy. Is President Buhari an emperor or an imperial president, unanswerable to the lawmaking body of the country and the constitution which he swore to uphold?
The immediate implication of Malami’s submission is clear : It’s an assault on the truth. It’s a hammer blow on our democracy. It was an exercise in raw power and signals a gradual descent into imperial presidency. As a legal matter, Malami’s interpretation of the law is a rough equivalent of throwing the constitution away, and replacing it with the whim of one man. And as a political rhetoric, this is incendiary. It is odious and an affront to the lawmaking body. But can they stand up and defend the constitution? That’s the present danger when you have a legislature that is beholden to the presidency. Recall that president Buhari had before the AGF’s intervention agreed to appear before the NASS, Thursday last week. The constitution is clear on this matter. Under sections 217, 218 and 219, of the 1999 Constitution, the president cannot carry out the “operational use of the Armed Forces” without the parliament concurring or empowering him to do so. Legal experts almost unanimously agree with this position. Under section 219(b), the composition of the Armed Forces of the Federation must reflect the federal character of the country, and only the NASS that has that power and authority to make laws regulating how the president and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces carry out the operational use of the military. The clear interpretation is that president Buhari is subject to the scrutiny of the legislature as to why the strategies so far employed by the president to combat insecurity have failed completely. Recently, the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar 1V, lamented how insurgents have overrun the North without anyone challenging them. Did the government listened to his entreating cry for urgent attention.. Now, no fewer than 333 schoolchildren are reported missing from the President’s home state while he’s still vacationing there.
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And ask: What legacy does the president want to bequeath? How does he want history to judge him . This is one president who has not cared to visit any state in five years, the only president that has had a media chat just once in five years. The desire to leave something permanent behind as evidence of a work of a lifetime is often with every leader, every president from the days of their youth. It’s about looking ahead to posterity. Indeed, eyes on the future, every president believes he will be judged by history for his success or failure in fulfilling the promises that brought him to office.
In this case, what did Buhari promise he would do when he campaigned for the presidency? Has he been able to accomplish them? In the end, it’s the judgement of history that every president fears the most. Some of the questions presidents often ask themselves are: will I like to be remembered as a preserver of my nation’s peace and unity? Or as the man who has enforced the law with equity and fairness to all, or a president who presided over the division of the country? The judgement of history often doesn’t come fast, but historians do. But there is always a good place in history for any leader/President who wants to succeed. The starting point is to define his goals, his vision and purposes of his government in such a way that gives coherence to his administration. He cannot achieve these goals, this vision and purposes if they are packaged in a mishmash manner as this administration is doing.
Most critical is the fact that the presidency is not a prize to be won, it’s a duty to be done. Ultimately, a President is judged by the many things he initiated and accomplished. A President is like a shepherd who knows what stirs the hearts of the people and make better choices that work in their overall interests. Therefore, the challenges that the country faces and the concerns of the citizens are often millstones around the president’s neck, and how he solves them, determines how, in the end, history will look kindly, or harshly, on him. This is why presidents are not judged like ordinary men .
Before the history of his presidency will be written, historians must record, that president Buhari rode into Aso Villa like a knight on a white horse, looking ready, prepared and capable. There was warmth and excitement in the country when he came in 2015. There was optimism that after three failed attempts, he succeeded at acquiring power. History will record Buhari as the President who though raised a powerful voice against poverty in the land, but under his leadership, Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world . In critical sectors, structural and economic, the government seems to be standing still. Will Nigerians wait for things to get worse before they get better?
