As he marched to victory at the ballot box at the fourth time of asking and created history in the process, there was a nagging doubt by those who supported the candidacy of Muhammadu Buhari. Was he going to be a messianic figure whose personal reputation for incorruptibility would pave the way for a better nation, or was he, and his harshest critics described, a man with thinly veiled dictatorial tendencies and a narrow world view, an archaic leader who would be even more out of his depth in 2016 than he was in 1984?

The more reluctant supporters got on the Buhari train as a result of a grand bargain: That he would provide the necessary cover for technocrats to do the work necessary to fix the country’s numerous problems. They hoped that the expanded coalition that carried him to the presidency would continue when he took office, and serve as a counterweight to his narrow tendencies.

Events since then have shattered those hopes. Nigeria was without ministers for 7 months of the 17 spent by the administration so far, and the result was a budget debacle that lasted until a few days before the administration’s first year in office.

The current recession, while no doubt partly caused by low oil prices, would have been avoided if only the right steps had been taken much earlier. Buhari has enabled the CBN governor’s ruinous forex policy, leading to the creation of six separate foreign exchange markets, and a huge loss of credibility for the country. Inflation remains high, and job growth is stagnant.

The anti-corruption war is a major plank of Buhari’s agenda, and has become a war prosecuted through press releases, asset seizures and high impact arrests, without any convictions. The most recent targets of the war are members of the Nigerian judiciary. After eight arrests, no charges have been brought, and there is the growing perception that the raids by the DSS were just for purposes of intimidation.

The return of twenty-one Chibok Girls last week is a notable high point, but this has been overshadowed by a public disagreement with his First Lady, Aisha. In responding to her very problematic comments on how the government is being run, Buhari has further dismayed a good number of his supporters.

When he said his wife belonged in the kitchen and living room, President Buhari was standing next to Angela Merkel, Germany’s female Chancellor, who is in charge of Europe’s largest economy. Theresa May is Prime Minister of Britain, Europe’s second largest economy, and Hillary Clinton will soon join them as America’s President in January.

In 2016, women cannot be confined to just a few rooms in a house, but this appears lost on the President. He spoke as if this was 1976, instead of 2016, and he cast himself as a man who has simply been bypassed by time.

This mindset will simply not be sufficient.

What Nigeria needs now is a leader willing to learn and engage with the world as it is, not one who is stuck in his ways. Not to do so would prove his critics right, and even worse, could put a whole country to ruin.

Isime Esene