Much as one would have preferred to just move forward and forget the ugly past of Nigeria’s misrule for eight years by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the shadows of this ugly past keep on poking into the present and make the future look dim.
This is the more reason why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s sixteenth President, is not a man you envy. He is not, especially at this time when in spite of his determination to accept his fate as a man who never bargained for what he saw, each passing day seems like a period of new discovery of dark alleys and deep evil secrets in the government of his predecessor whom he ironically helped into power.
Like a Yoruba proverb, “Oro ko dun lenu Iya omo ole,” the mother of a thief has no cheering word except opprobrium and ridicule.
For Tinubu, life and governance in the past eight months have been akin to Yoruba Word -mess inside the masquerade (Iso inu eku,amu m’ora ni) meaning- the masquerade has to cope with the putrid smell from his own mess, for that he has no excuse. The only option he has, if he is feeling uncomfortable is to remove the mask masking him and the real him will be exposed. But obviously that is not to be, for political correctness.
He asked for it and got it.
True, Tinubu has told all Nigerians who cared to listen that he asked for the Job.
As a result, he has not told Nigerians his inner disappointment and won’t likely tell them because he helped his predecessor to power.
Those governors and associates like Abdulrazak of Kwara and Senator Gbenga Daniel of Ogun who spilled the beans of grand gorruption and sell -off of Nigeria’s oil before Tinubu took over spoke out of a pity for a man they cared for and pity.
But, it is very obvious the man who handed over power to Tinubu never cared for who succeeds him since he sees himself as saintly. That self assertion will be proved in due course.
Tinubu is a man, who discovered the content of a room he had to stay for four years, but had no choice but live with both the good (if any), bad and ugly.
Well, that is for Tinubu.
However, as much as we feel the uneasiness in the land, we have to begin to ask questions from former President Muhammadu Buhari whose actions in government laid the foundation for today’s problems we’ve had to tackle.
Thank God, our job in making Buhari answer question is so easy since God Who sees the heart has ambushed Buhari from relocating to Niger Republic where his cousins and friend the deposed President Mohammed Bazoum lives. Since the new junta in Niger has detained their former Leader, Bazoum, Buhari has nowhere to run to.
The only difference is neither Tinubu nor NASS has the nerve and gut to summon the former President to appear before it from his Daura residence. This makes our job easier.
Former Works Minister, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, gave us all a clue as to why we have the ugly disclosures in Buhari’s government as regards action and inactions of his Ministers when he declared that Buhari is a Leader who will give his aides -ministers inclusive- a job and never bother to check on their performance.
In establishments, either public or private, management supervision is crucial and necessary and a bit of human management must have been taught Buhari in some of the trainings he attended both local and overseas while in military service.
While this is not an excuse to absolve Buhari of misgovernance for eight years, he must be made to come out and say the truth about what he know about Fraud, Corruption, Insecurity and all the malfeance which characterise his government and made both Umar Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan regimes saintly.
Buhari must be made by the National Assembly to appear before it -since Tinubu will not do it. Why did Godwin Emefiele, the Chief Monetary Officer, print so much money by Ways and Means, to the tune of N30-40 trillion, and it pumped into an economy with no productivity to back it up?
Only a fraction of OPEC oil allocation is produced but not enough to sustain our Imports, service our mounting debts and even pay local contractors including foreign airlines and others who must remit part of their money home.
Buhari must explain why he allowed Emefiele and his cohorts to allow forex earnings by foreign airlines mount to $7 billion dollars out of which only $5.8 billion dollars are verifiable, according to Yemi Cardoso, the new CBN Governor.
Since the NASS members are empowered to perform oversight functions, they must be courageous enough to forget partisanship, look at Nigeria and help us get to the cause of our afflictions as a country.
Late sage Obafemi Awolowo once described Nigeria as a reactive country which cries out at symptoms of her problems without tackling headlong the cause of such.
BUHARI, ARCHITECT OF TODAY’S ECONOMIC WOES
Let both arms of the legislature rescue Tinubu and by extension Nigeria from the powerful cabal who hijacked Buhari and his government and made the startling revelations coming from Jim Obazee,an investigator hired by Tinubu to look at CBN books, give us a guide to the identify source of our afflictions.
The questioning of Buhari may also help to know why his ministers and aides embarked on over- invoicing to the tune of between $6-8 billion to cater for their needs while Buhari wrung his hand pretending all is well.
All will not be well while the evil men in Buhari’s government parade the streets of Nigeria with their ill-gotten wealth.
TINUBU’S UNENVIABLE TASK OF CLEANING THE MESS LEFT BEHIND BY HIS PREDECESSOR
A NASS action (similar to the Chukwudifu Oputa panel set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo) will also help Tinubu to identify some of his party men who are culpable in the financial malfeasance and allow him defeat corruption that is now the source of our economic and security afflictions.
It is only by punishing those who stole and compromised Nigeria under Buhari’s watch that a Renewed Hope promised by Tinubu may be realised.
It will serve as evidence that Tinubu’s government too will not allow a similar fate to befall it.
The NASS has to help itself, help Tinubu and help Nigeria if truly its oversight functions will be meaningful.
D 9th NASS under d leadership of Senator Ahmad Lawan is equally to blame for all d atrocities committed by Buhari’s govt.
All d 9th NASS members looked d other way while Buhari & his ministers were committing one blunder or d other. An example – Malam Abubakar Malami, d erstwhile Justice Minister, said no State has d right to have its own Police apart from d Nigeria Police. Meanwhile, some Northern States established d Sharia Police – Hisbah to enforce Islamic laws. Dis is in a kontry dat is secular with no adopted State or official religion. D 9th NASS failed to ask d Justice Minister for d relevant portion of d Nigerian Constitution dat authorized d establishment of Sharia Police. More so dat Pres. Buhari himself, while on an official visit to Lagos, stated categorically dat State governors should not expect him to secure their States for dem from Abuja. And d governors demselves kept mute, not going ahead to create their own Police to secure thrir states. When d killings were becoming a daily occurrence in Benue State, I suggested to Gov. Sam. Ortom den to secure his State by creating own Police and go to court & ask, if challenged by Abubakar Malami, for d meaning & modus operandi of true federalism. In federalism, powers are decentralized & not unitary which d 1999 Constitution foisted on us.
If d 9th NASS had been active, up & doing in d discharge of its legislative duties, d rotten mess now confronting us would not have been dis serious. There are many other issues which d 9th NASS failed to address. Buhari said he would never open d 2014 National Conference Resolutions handed over to him by his predecessor in office – Pres. G. E. Jonathan & which he never did. Over N4 trillion was expended to organize d conference. Senator Ahmad Lawan saw no need to compel a re-visit to dat conference. Who knows if some of d resolutions & recommendations had been implemented, d kontry would have faired better. Imagine d 9th NASS going on recess at a time Nigerians were forced to queue up for PVCs, re-designed new Naira notes & NIN, all at d same time under d mid-day scorching sun.
2015 – 2023, under Buhari & Ahmad Lawan was a complete draw-back for Nigeria which qualifies it as d most reckless & directionless government Nigeria ever had since 1960.
Nobody has ever attained political power without d active support of other parties. D argument dat Pres. Bola Ahmed Tinubu helped Buhari to power is not a new development. You can take a horse to d river but can never force it to drink. One can help somebody to secure employment, it is left for d person so helped to prove his worth. Tinubu helped Buhari to power only for Buhari to disappoint not only Tinubu but also all Nigerians minus d Fulanis, of course.
All patriotic Nigerians should pray for God to re-energise d President with good health, divine wisdom & mental alertness – himself & his ministers to do d needful dat will take our kontry Nigeria to her glorious land.