According to Eleanor Brown, “There are times in our lives when we have to realize our past is precisely what it is, and we cannot change it.”

One person who appears to disagree with Eleanor however, is President Muhammadu Buhari.

The president has, in a little over one year of his democratic leadership, repeatedly taken ‘virtual’ trips down memory lane, before local and international press.

With each statement credited to President Buhari, Nigerians are beginning to get convinced that the democratically-elected president, might just still be mentally stuck in the era of his dictatorial military regime, from 1983 to 1985- and not this contemporary era.

Here are 4 different times President Buhari showed he is still stuck in the past.

1. The famous ‘West Germany’ goof

Somebody must not have told President Buhari that West Germany and East Germany had been unified on October 3, 1990 after the country had been divided into in 1945.

Well, President Buhari did visit Germany shortly after his inauguration in 2015, where he showed the world that he was not yet up to speed on world affairs.

During this visit, President Buhari referred to the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel as the President of West Germany.

Watch the goof below.

 

2. Constantly blaming PDP for Nigeria’s woes

While President Buhari took everyone way back in time for the ‘West Germany’ goof, he didn’t have to travel far back in time to find an excuse for the failures of the Nigerian government- just a short flashback to the last 16 years.

It did appear that the President and his cabinet members made it a point of duty to blame everything wrong in the country on former ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party with the popular phrase; ‘PDP’s 16 years of misrule.’

The president’s constant blaming of the opposition party leaves one to wonder if he was elected to lead the country out of the purported misrule or to continue reminding Nigerians that for the past 16 years, government has been failing.

3. The Ibrahim Babangida coup saga

President Buhari should have taken up teaching history in schools after his retirement from the Army as he appears to be very versed in reminding people of the past.

Just a few weeks ago, President Buhari, in citing his anti-corruption curriculum vitae asked Nigerians to ask former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida why he (Buhari) was overthrown from government in 1985.

He bragged that he was overthrown by Babangida because he had insisted on purging the military of corruption.

It’s quite baffling that at a time when his war against corruption has been heavily criticized as a witch-hunt and a selective exercise, President Buhari chose to refer Nigerians to his anti-corruption credentials from over 3 decades ago instead of setting new precedents.

4. His economic policy

President Buhari’s administration has so far been bedeviled with series of economy-crushing decisions.

From the stubborn refusal to devalue the Naira despite recommendations from several respected and reputable financial entities to the stiff regulation of foreign exchange ordered by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Buhari has continued to show that even though he is the president in 2016, he is determined to bring back his 1983 style of government.

As was with his first stint in power, President Buhari constantly sings of a war against corruption while the economy continues on a steady descent into chaos and financial anarchy.

“If you want to fly on the sky, you need to leave the earth. If you want to move forward, you need to let go the past that drags you down”- Amit Ray

Somebody needs to jerk Mr. President back to 2016 if the words of Amit Ray are anything to go by.