Now that Buhari is back! By Abdulrazaq Magaji

Date: 2017-08-23

For hours on end, the country had a carnival atmosphere and Nigerians momentarily forgot the undeserved pain induced by the recklessness of the Goodluck Jonathan administration. President Muhammadu Buhari was returning from a medical vacation and Nigerians, resilient as ever, trooped out in their millions in a show solidarity with the Buhari/Osinbajo administration. Never had Nigeria stood still for one individual!

From all indications, it will take a long time to get another Nigerian leader to match the President Buhari’s public ratings. Three facts stand out from the outpouring of love for president. One, it is a reaffirmation of the trust Nigerians have in the president which suggests that, if need be, they will defend the mandate they freely gave the president in 2015. Two, the outpouring of love places a burden on the president; a reminder of the high expectation of Nigerians! Three, if this was dress rehearsal ahead of 2019, it sends a clear message to pretenders to the presidency to stay clear!

Now that the president is back, it is proper to remind ourselves that he is on a salvage mission, the second time in a little over three decades. As it was the other time, President Buhari has the onerous task of leading a team to get Nigeria to walk and work again. It is a rare opportunity that could be likened to a race of a lifetime. Only race horses, not the cart breed, are best suited for this kind of race! It is a race for which Nigerians made a valid choice by staking on the right race horse.

It is no longer news that, while President Buhari was away, Senate president, Bukola Saraki, tried and failed to get his colleagues to appoint him acting president. The failed attempt was an entirely new dimension to the legislative rascality that has characterized the Senate under Senator Saraki. You can never be sure with a man who, for whatever reasons, betrayed and disgraced his doting father to the point of death! Ssuch a man will gladly sell someone else’s father for a bowl of porridge!

The return of the president calls for more vigilance. Good to know that even the most vociferous Saraki-clappers now agree that the senate president's disdainful scowl at President Buhari, right inside a mosque, was a complete giveaway. Of course, tongues have not ceased to wag since the picture of a baleful Bukola Saraki, with a barely-concealed scornful look in the direction of President Buhari, went viral. Senator Saraki did not wait for tongues to stop wagging before he made a botched bid for the presidency in the absence of President Buhari!

One of the enduring attributes of Nigerians is their short memory of hate. Honestly, Nigerians who voted for change and who thought Shangri-La would be here the day President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo entered Aso Rock Villa, unrealistic as the thought was, are right to score the administration low. But, it really does not matter now that that an expectation of instantaneous transformation, after years of unquestioned looting of the country's resources, was unrealistic. What does matter is that Nigeria has averted an imminent crash that would have occurred months back had there been no change of baton last year.

It is this legendary short memory of hate that will come to play when things begin to look up for the country. From the look of things, the day should not be too far off. Nigerians clamoured for change. Now, they have change. And, this is not just any change of guard! Here, we are talking of President Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo. If truth be told, it is the incorruptibility, forthrightness and doggedness of the two top men that continue to inspire confidence in a country best known for throwing up incompetent and clueless leaders. Both men are an indication that there is still hope of salvation for a 'captured' people.

Nigerians who voted for the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket never knew the extent of damage done to the country by the Goodluck Jonathan administration and, therefore, had the misplaced opinion that the coming of the Buhari/Osinbajo administration will transform the economy overnight! It is best to remind ourselves that the Buhari/Osinbajo administration has started a revolution by plugging leakages, reducing stealing of public funds, putting treasury-hijackers and confiscating proceeds of corrupt enrichment.

The campaign for Nigerians to change their ways is a step in the right direction. Before now, few Nigerians believed it was possible to investigate retired and serving army generals and their equivalents in other services, judges and justices, privileged members of the political and business classes and have their ill-gotten wealth confiscated! Had the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket failed, nobody would have heard of the embezzled billions to fight insurgency and the billions stolen by top members of the past administration!

The challenge which, for fear of a possible backlash past administrations sidetracked, has been to genuinely diversify the economy. The process has finally commenced and the years of lip-service and outright dishonesty on diversifying the economy has ended as the Buhari/Osinbajo administration has literally taken the bull by the horn. Attention is gradually shifting from oil, the nation's nemesis, to soil. It has finally taken the Buhari/Osinbajo administration for Nigerians to realise that oil can and, should no longer be used to hold compatriots to ransom.

The transition is going to be painful! No reasonable Nigerian thought the transition is going to be painless, anyway. Much of the credit should go to President Buhari who, without doubt, is the leading light of the administration. Say what you wish about him but even his worst enemies concede that President Buhari is not a thief, does not condone stealing and will not glorify and celebrate criminals! With an able deputy to complement efforts of the president, Nigerians could never have wished for a better leadership!

While the sun shines, the worst damage bellyachers do to themselves is to badmouth a well-intentioned administration!

Magaji resides in Abuja

<234-805-138-0793>

 


Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Ganiyu Taofiq     Maryam A. Garuba     Alore     Kwara Central     Yusuf Olaolu Ali     Olabode Towoju     Ayo Opadokun     Ilorin Metro Park     Cassava Growers\' Association     Allocation     Ilorin Likeminds Foundation     Habeeb Abdullahi Al-Ilory     Michael Nzekwe     Alagbado     Ibrahim Abdulqadir Abikan     Bursary     Medinat Folorunsho Salman     Jide Ashonibare     Kulende-UITH     Yunus Lawal     Mohammed Yahaya Barki     Ita-Ore     Ajase-Ipo     Egbejila     Abdulrazaq Magaji     Kwara State University Of Education     Olugbense     Elerinjare     Gani Saadu     Raji Ayodele Kamaldeen     JAMB     Saka Asiat Ayinke     CLAY POT     Abdulrauf Aliyu     Aliyu U. Tilde     Oyawoye     Kayode Oyin-Zubair     Esinniobiwa Quareeb     Ndama Al-hassan     Saidu Isa     Shao     Gbugbu     Markaz Arabic And Islamic Training Institute, Agege     Oba Abdulrahim     Abdulrahman Abdullahi Kayode     Alabere     Oniyangi Kunle Sulaiman     Isapa     Mohammed Kamaludeen     Moses Rahman Popoola     Charles Ibitoye     General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport Ilorin     Dorcas Afeniforo     John Obuh     Hijaab     Share-Tsaragi     Awoye     Odogun Olushola Gabriel     Wasiu Odewale     Pius Abioje     Garment Factory     Patigi Regatta     Buari Edun     Nigerian Supreme Council For Islamic Affairs     Kaiama     Hamidu Olowo     Photo News     Mohammed Ghali Alaaya     Amasa     Nigeria Foundation For Artificial Intelligence     TVC Female National Debate     Micheal Imodu-Ganmo Road     Ariyo     Okin High School     Oniye     Najim Yaasin     Folorunsho Alao    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Kpotum Mohammed Baba     Kupchi Hosea Maxwell     Yunus Oniboki     Olabode George Towoju     Kwara Restoration Project     Popo-Igbonna     Hijaab     Yusuf Aiyedun     Bola Tinubu     Isapa     Tunji Arosanyin     Haliru Dantoro     Issa Oloruntogun     Al-Hikmah University     Madawaki     Baba Issa Awoye     Yoruba     Dorcas Afeniforo     Police Commissioner     Raimi Iyanda     Abdullahi Atanda     Muhammed Danjuma     Abdul Jimoh Mohammed     Centre For Community Empowerment And Poverty Eradication     Abubakar Suleiman     Lukman Oyebanji Fagbemi     Abdulrasheed Akogun     High Court     Oni Adebayo     Pakata Patriots     Kwara Politics     Chief Imam Of Omu-Aran     Muhammad-Mustapha Suleiman     Tunji Ajanaku     Alfa Modibbo Belgore     Falokun-Oja     Mohammed Abduraheem     David Adesina     Tsaragi     Yahaya Seriki Gambari     Otuka     Hikmah AbdulKareem     Aminu Ado Bayero     Ahmed Mohammed Rifun     Ahmed Bolaji Nagode     Ilesha-Baruba-Gwanara     Ilorin Talaka Parapo     Salihu Ajia     Share-Tsaragi     Bahago     Tunji Moronfoye     Pacify Labs     Plat Technologies Limited     Ajike People Support Centre     Ilorin.Info     Sa\'adu Salahu     Neuropsychiatric Hospital     Markaz Arabic And Islamic Training Institute, Agege     Akande Idowu Ayoola Muhammed     Nigerian Correctional Service     Offa Poly     Zubair Folorunsho Erubu     Ahmad Olayiwola Kamaldeen     Bamidele Aluko     Obuh     Chief Imam Of Offa     Jumoke Gafar     Emmanuel Bello     Akom Construction And Engineering Synergy Ltd     Adanla-Irese     Bayo Ajia     Moses Adekanye     Mike Omotosho     Salihu Alhaji Musa     Hamidu Olowo     National Pilot     Offa Metropolitan Club