By Yusuf Adua & Jide Afolabi
Nigeria is the giant of Africa not only because of its gigantic population but also on the premise that the west African country has experienced the reign of diverse leaders from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Among all these GCFR’s, none of them assumed office with more hope and high expectation from the masses than President Muhammadu Buhari-led regime.
The best to come from the quarters of the president and his handlers at the villa since the day he was sworn in till the time of writing this piece has undoubtedly been this Mr. President’s statement:
“I Belong To Everybody And I Belong To Nobody”.
The majority of Nigerians have not been happy with the manifestation of this statement from the Number one citizen, aside from appointment into key offices which has always raised eyebrows since President Buhari assumed office which he justified in his recent interview that he’d not appointed anyone except the most capable and best hands for the position, there’s no hiding in the fact that Nigerians feel that a particular ethnic group in the country is always babysat.
The APC-led federal government is a metamorphosis of individualism, ethnic accident, and religious bigotry in the eyes of many. But to be objective, a comparative analysis of how successive regimes in the country have retained power and position through these same mechanisms will make anyone conclude that Buhari has not done worse in that regard, he has only done bad, There are similarities in the trend of exhibiting power and exercising it by these rulers.
Though Mr. President might have paid little or no attention to public address which has given the masses diverse opinion about his effectiveness as a leader, there is no grumbling in the truth that the person of our incumbent President isn’t a personality of timidity but a person who speaks his mind If and when he wants to. Mr. Buhari and delegation, he’s making his multitudinous aides work for their money. These aides also succeed in portraying the president as an ethnocentric head.
Let’s take the issue of Fulani out of this discourse. President Buhari is a herder too, Is president Buhari for his business partners or us all? Is the President for a specific region who are expertrate in cattle rearing– coincidentally the tribe he hails from or for the generality of Nigerians? Are killer herdsmen Nigerians or outsiders? Where do we go from here?
Mr. President identified himself with cattle breeders and herders once again when quizzed on his next engagement after leaving office, he said he would go back to his farm. But he didn’t associate himself with the killer herdsmen.
Herders are Chadians, some are Nigerians, we have some from the people’s Republic of Niger, whereas, Mr. President is showing international diplomacy and accountability which are qualities of a Democratic leader by not pointing fingers at any of our neighbours.
It will be slanderous to call such a man a mass murderer just because he has been too diplomatic to shut down all trade routes and association with nations outside our borders
Before today everybody thought President Buhari okays the perpetrations of evil acclaimed herders but the recent attitude of the president towards insecurity is dividing opinions. Nomadic herding requires some sort of self defence but not AK 47; as he has promised to go after everyone pouring sand into the beans of the security of the nation.
On the flip side, the president might not have gone back from his words and his efforts will soon begin to metamorphose. We should recall that he hasn’t ordained any successor for this great country, he propagates a choice-oriented leader and he has proved to be not a party or godfather-imposed administrator maybe that’s what he meant with that declaration.
We wonder when we will have a great story to tell as a federal state. We hope that a day comes when we will have a new song to sing, we were hopeful that the thought of voting President Buhari will exterminate our pain, cruelty, facade, war of wants, desolation, troubles, panics, anxiety, and most importantly, that opportune moment that the aphorism I Belong To Everybody And I Belong To Nobody” will be realised, but we have been pegged down by too many losses than wins.
Mr. President made us ravenous and wanting of good government that will build a monumental future where our children will thank us for a sacrifice well paid, a nation empty of all forms of discrimination but his inability to successfully sieve out husks from the grains amongs felliw herdsmen will always becloud his leadership.
We look forward to seeing our President, President Muhammadu Buhari mounting a Nigeria with a working political, economic, security, and social structure devoid of an iota of discrimination.
