by Tara Gambo
What special skills has General Buhari acquired over the last 30 years that would justify his returning to power three decades after?
It was with a mixture of amazement, deep thought and perplexity that I read the very detailed and pragmatic article written by a certain Adeolu Akande. Upon investigation, I discovered the said Akande is currently the chief of staff to the present Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, who assumed automatic leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the State on the passing away of Alhaji Lam Adesina a few months ago.
Firstly, I would like to commend Adeolu Akande for his thorough insight and ability to convey the message in a way that leaves no shadow of doubt about its absoluteness.
In the article, Akande asked, “What Does Buhari Promise?”. Akande suggested that General Buhari, is somewhat confused and has made it a habit to “hit the road without confirming the rail-worthiness of the train”. Akande also found appalling, the fact that Buhari appears hell-bent on trying ‘his hands once again on the plum job’, with no thought to how he thinks he can move Nigeria further.
According to Akande, “In a quest for power, they seem to believe that it is suffice to get the incumbent out and then begin to think of how to run the State thereafter. This is not surprising given the antecedent of General Buhari. In 1983 when he shot his way to power by truncating the democratic process started four years earlier, the only testimony that he was ready for the job he forcefully took was the litany of complaints he had against the political class as contained in his coup speech”.
Akande went further to state that, “Nigerians knew better within weeks of inception of the Buhari Government. Most of the solutions contrived by the Buhari Government proved to be ill-conceived. They worsened the problems they were conceived to ameliorate. But we cannot afford to risk the assault and destruction of our national psyche again by this approach to governance”.
Throughout the article, Akande continues to state with much conviction, that not only does Buhari have nothing to offer Nigeria, he also has no idea how to go about achieving good governance. Akande acknowledged the fact that, “Today, the international community does not convene meetings to discuss the suspension and expulsion of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations or the imposition of sanctions. Instead Nigeria has become the voice the international community cannot ignore in matters concerning Africa and the black race”.
Akande goes on to credit this milestone achievement to the PDP-led government of previous years. With regards the person of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as compared to General Buhari, Akande is quoted to say, “In and outside of office, he(Obasanjo) has proved to be an asset to the foreign image of Nigeria. The same cannot be said of General Buhari. Inspite of his lack of credential in international relations, he is yet to come up with an alternative programme to convince Nigerians why they should trust him with the role of Nigeria’s number one image maker”.
After reading Akande’s article, I was forced into deep thought. Aside from Buhari’s ineptitude and all the other factors highlighted in the article, I couldn’t help but ponder on a few questions of my own:
1) Why would Buhari who was portrayed by Akande, as a gun-totting power-snatcher, who turned out to be inefficient at the job he forcefully coveted, now imagine that Nigerians will consider him for that same job 30 years later (diminishing returns comes to mind).
2) What special skills has General Buhari acquired over the last 30 years that would justify his returning to power three decades after? The world and Nigeria have moved on from where we were 30 years ago, why would we consider taking ourselves 30 whole years back? A child born 30 years ago, by now would have gone through primary, secondary, tertiary and in some cases post-graduate education. 1983 was the year President Ronald Reagan dubbed the USSR, the ‘Evil Empire’. 1983 was when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister in the United Kingdom. 1983 was the year IBM released the IBM PC XT. 1983 was the year Microsoft World was first released. 1983 was the year the Zapatista Army of National Liberation was founded in Mexico. 1983 was the year Michael Jackson’s hit, Thriller was broadcast for the first time. I983 was the year the FCC in the US gave the approval that paved the way for the DynaTac hand held phones (remember those mobile phones that were almost as big as fax machines?). The world has certainly moved far on from the personalities and events of 1983. Why would we as Nigerians decide to regress rather than progress?
3) Capability, coup plotter, international image aside, I would be the first to admit that General Buhari does have a reputation for being disciplined and principled. It is however mind-boggling, why he would consider partnering with a man, whose own presidential candidate openly declared him to be corrupt and confirmed would be persecuted if the candidate was elected to office. As a result, it is hardly surprising the said candidate never made it to Aso Rock. Why would a principled General Buhari get into bed with a man whose reputation is agog with all kinds of news from illegally coveting State assets to his personal property, to having multiple cases with EFCC, to claiming to have been personally invited to President Obama’s inauguration when indeed it became known that he purchased an invite?
It makes me beg the question, ‘Who Exactly is General Buhari’? Is he the coup-plotter who shoots his way to power? Is he the man who is much loved by some, yet can’t seem to warm his way into the heart of others? Is he the man that in a bid to prove a point and regain power, is willing to compromise his perceived integrity by getting into bed with strange bed-fellows with parallel ideology? Is he the man that attempts to see the good in everyone by trusting someone who betrayed his own candidate? Is he the man who takes pleasure in inflicting pain and disappointment on himself, even in the face of countless rejection? Who exactly is General Buhari?
This brings me to the issue of the proposed opposition parties merger. Personally, I cannot phantom placing my hope for a better Nigeria in the hands of the man, Adeolu Akande has so explicitly described. Nor can I trust a coalition headed by a man who appears to have multiple personalities and another whose personality is too well-defined in negative terms. I cannot buy into ideology that have flip-flopped from military to AP to ANPP to CPC to AD to ACN to CACN or CPCN (or whatever they intend to call the merger).
This further makes it necessary to address the question of Akande himself; he has also evolved from the man who assumed the responsibility of telling the nation that General Buhari has nothing to offer us, to the chief organizer and errand boy for the proposed opposition party merger. The only words that keep coming to mind are: inconsistent, fickle, conflicting, loyal only to self, lacking in integrity, poverty of mind, lacking in character, capricious, whimsical, arbitrary, AGIP (Any Government in Power), unprincipled, obey-the-wind, greedy, bipolar, lacking any tangible agenda other than selfish ones and having no good intentions for the masses. These are exactly the sort of people that are no longer needed in the leadership of a new Nigeria. If we are to ensure that the integrity and labor of our heroes past are not only limited to history books, such personalities need to be expunged from our Nation’s leadership. We deserve better as a people.
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Tara Gambo is an Economics & Finance Specialist with a wealth of experience working across the world. In her spare time, Tara loves to write, see the world and listen to music. She has a very strong passion for Nigeria and looks forward to the day Nigeria will be that country we have all prayed for and worked tirelessly towards actualizing. She writes from HERE.
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
Whao! Wonderful piece of work by Gambo! Truly we have to start to raise our sights as a people; put our sentiments and biases aside and demand all-round good leadership; simply being incorruptible, or not wearing shoes should no longer cut it.
@Usman Abubakar, you are obviously the one being unnecessarily sentimental. Buhari is the only leader in Nigeria "that has not looted 9ja wealth" does not mean he is the only one capable of leading 9ja today and it does not mean he will do a good job of leading 9ja today. Let us leave sentiments aside.
Well said. However the question remains: WHO WILL?? The shoeless leader so far has ₪o† given anything better than his farmer uncle. Worse, they fight publicly these daiz and 2 b candid…i think we don't have d chance 2 take another chance with another unknown story teller. In our current situation, i think its wise 2 stick with honest (abi semi-honest) "old hands.
@ Dulacris… surely we cannot be that bad as a people that we cannot bring forth a few semi-honest men and women with proven integrity (to the most extent). In 2011, the majority rationalised voting in the shoeless one; he is one of us, he feels our pain, he is not from the north etc. Now we are thinking, after the semi-honest one is still better than the obviously compromised shoeless one and his farmer uncle. We need to stop always trying to make-do. We would be better-off 'upping' our standards. If we become more discerning, i bet we'd find that more men and women of integrity will step up to the challenge. Like the writer, i also find it somewhat ridiculous that we could even consider someone 30years later, just because of his semi-honesty.
We have to also remember the semi-honest old hand will be 72 years old in 2015 and 76yrs old by the time the 4yr term will be ending. Can we honestly say we would be getting the best out of him at such a ripe age? No-one is God and we all do not know when our Creator will call, but should we be taking chances of having another president pass away while in office? Would the pressure of ruling a country like Nigeria not be too demanding on him? If he was my father, i definitely would not support him even venturing into it.
I see ur point and must commend ur reason'n. Very unbiased. May God elevate us with a sincere and viable candidate.
Amin! We need him or her urgently.
My brother, you spoke my mind. Too many of our people are intellectually lazy and refuse to think beneath the surface. I will always love GMB, but I also do not believe he is the man for the job in our Nigeria of today, especially not with him walking alongside Tinubu.
Akande or Tara Gambo! U r a mad person. U r not a true 9ja citizen if u say somebody that was once a Governor, Minister of Petroleum, and a Military Head of State but has not looted d national cake of 9ja and even Obasanjo has proved that Buhari is d leader that has not looted 9ja wealth. Madam don't be sentimental in ur life if not u r not going to enter paradise. Tara u r mad once again!
Reading people's comments here just convinces me that we have many intellectually lazy people. That is why it is easy for politicians to play with our emotions through false promises of el dorado. Crazy heard mentality. As per my opinion, the writer did an excellent critique and has convinced why GMB is not the best for Nigeria, despite his famed anti-corruption stance.
Nice piece of literature there, Tara Gambo. It is not long after i started read'n before i began wonder'n what vast amont of knowledge u may have acquired 4 urself to produce a piece like that. However, am sure ur knowledge would allow u accept the difference btwn knowledge and wisdom. That being said, don't you think its time Nigeria started 2 face its own problems and address them rather than remain concerned about our international image. Am only 29yrs old, yet i reckon that our problems is as a matter of fact based on our hunger on impression. All these in my opinion add up to be the root causes of d corruption and lack in intergrity that has chewed deep into the hearts of our public figures. I don't know how long Nelson Mandela spent in jail but am certain he had no added experience in jail when he emerged out of jail and did his wonderful one term to his nation. Let's not degenerate our biased reasoning to rigid ideologies. Everyone deserves a change in heart as change is the only inevitable thing that remains constant in human existence. Akande is entitled to his opinions (and change of heart) and i doubt if the calibre of person General Buhari is thought to be is majorly attributed to power and greed (u urself had to perhaps unknowingly contradict urself by refer'n to him as both disciplined and indisciplined). But if that reasoning is wrong, what could Nigeria possible lose @ dis stage when things r actually 30yrs worse than they were before 1960. Take a chance!
Akande's article can also be read here:
http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/barticles/buhar…
This is the original article by the Akande:
http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/2003/m…
The guy was Press Secretary for Atiku. Now he is Chief of Staff for Ajimobi. He is obviously an opportunist. Now I understand Gambo's viewpoint better. I quite agree too, that most of these people should be expunged from our politics for the country to progress.
Na im you know write your own! Sabinus!
Writer is facing the facts as they should be faced; without bias or sentiments. Buhari o, Obasanjo o, Tinubu o and the double-mouthed Akande… We do not want! Where are the able men and women of integrity in Nigeria. A country of about 180million people should be able to offer worthy alternatives. I like Buhari, but his attempt to run again, is akin to Margaret Thatcher wanting to be Prime Minister of England again. It would very likely go down in the Guinness Book of Records as the most ridiculous thing in the history of politics.
Nigerians need to wake up, get real & stop making the same mistakes repeatedly. 1st one had no shoes, now a man that led 30yrs ago, till date still remains the best man for the job, in partnership with one whose reputation is far from the best. For heaven's sake folks, think!
In my opinion, I think some are missing the point of this article. The writer appears to be highlighting the hypocrisy of the said akande. Akande did what some of you call a hatchet job on Buhari, only to do a 'Reuben-Abati' & be involved in the process of the proposed merger. The writer is however pointing out that the likes of Akande are not needed in our politics of today. And also questioning that, 3 decades after buhari, are we saying we can't produce one single man or woman who can lead the country right?
This is where our lack of depth as a nation comes to light. 'Overthrow PDP', then what? Become enslaved by the Jagabandits? It should be about finding a sincere and able leader who will move the country forward and make life better for the masses. Without a decent alternative, 'overthrowing PDP' will be a case of going from frying pan to fire. I think Buhari might have been better off standing on his own. This attempt to romance Tinubu is denting his reputation.
Akande is a scumbag.
I am in full agreement with the writer. Surely in 2013, Nigeria should be able to produce a leader other than the Buhari's and Obasanjo's. These are the same people that have been recycling themselves for over 30yrs. Nigeria also does not need the likes of Abati and Akande, who are all about contradictory opinions in a bid to line their pockets.
This is actually a disappointing piece based on mostly unproveable facts from a biased point of view aimed at distorting the already tampered with image of GMB. All this will nt help move our nation forward which I blv is d goal of most patriots.using d words of som1 whose credibility we can't b sure of saying nonsense. If u feel sm1 isn't credible then vote 4 whom u feel is more credible and stop dis nonsense of passing out personalised and misleading information about others.
Who is Tara Gambo and what does she stand for? You see my problem with this hack writers? They always sell themselves out at the end. Maybe the writer is not living in Nigeria or she would have known by now that the issue is not about GMB being the Messiah for our tottering country but that any alternative is preferable to d reeking corruption and cluelessness of the present PDP Government. What gave Tara Gambo (If that's her real name) away as another paid ''pen pusher'' from the PDP (a dishounourable roll she shares with the Deris n Democracy4evers of this world), was her deafening silence throughout her plagiarized and unoriginal piece (by her own admission) on the atrocities of the PDP-led govt. Ok Tinubu is corrupt, Buhari has no ''new ideas'', and the opposition alliance will fail bla bla but surely, she should have spared a mention too for the PDP who are more filled with ''strange bedfellows'' and shady characters than any political party in the world? Tara, you sold yourself away. Run to @MrfixNigeria and tell him your message was recieved with a Pinch of salt (apologies @Stanleyazuakola) and a very chilled bottle of Malt. GMB towers head, shoulder and laps over any imagined 'alternative' you have in your head.
I agree totally wif d writer,it is obvious dat d merger plan is headin 2wards a rock.personal interst and selfishness is d brain behind dis merger.y in heavens name will d dictator thinks after 30yrs he is still d rit captain 2 sail d ship.oga go and rest we are about 170miln naijarians nw.u r nt d only 1.recently u said u av nt forgiven OBJ and u will never 4get wat IBB did 2 u,dis r obvoius statemnt proving u 2 b on a revenge mission.we dnt want a leader who will spend 8yrs on revenge mission.we need a man or woman who can takle d real problems facin us as a nation,remove d cabals dat r suckin our blood knw as PDP.
If they try to potray Buhari as old sch for naija politics, then hw have the new sch on board bin able 2 salvage naija?
Excellent hatchet job on Buhari – obviously, that was the motive or intention of this article.
True, there are issues in regards to Buhari (CPC funding, national outreach, the endless feasting on a reputation of incorruptibility etc) but there is very good reason to question the motives of this writer.
Given the lack of credible alternatives to the PDP, the onus should be on Tara Gambo to justify the vitriolic nature of this hatchet job on Buhari – and her dismissive attitude towards an effort to "overthrow" PDP rule in Nigeria.
"Instead Nigeria has become the voice the international community cannot ignore in matters concerning Africa and the black race”.
Akande is a liar. I don't care what else he has to say; that one is a lie. Nigeria? The voice of wetin? Abeg!
Nice try at a negative analysis…Not very convincing tho'….Αnd by the way, it is 'Fathom' not 'phantom'.
politics is dynamics likewise politicking. No permanent friends and no eternal enemies.
You wrote rubish. Go and read Buhari manifestos for 2011 election.
All d noice u make ar unvalueble to any sensible nigeria, it seems PDP hv payed u to make unecessory noice, u don't think of d corrupt leader like obasanjo and pdp as a whole, u ar there insulting inoccent buhari who don't care much our resoucer, a respected hero, i cold nt mention them as much due to time limit. I don't blame u , u ar one of d looter and i pray Allah will reveil ur secrete to d suffering inocent masses.
Nonsense opinion… You are just another PDP agent that has been paid to blackmail…Go and do something meaningful with you time..
What re u driving at?pls address the issue of corrupted leader nt to talk of irrelevant issue while d populace are suffering