2023 presidency: A poisoned chalice for Buhari’s successor?
Every successive president in Nigeria seems to always leave the state of affairs in worse conditions than their predecessor. Will the winner of the 2023 presidential election inherit the same fate?
Before our very eyes, we’re seeing a repeat of the pre-2015 campaign era that gave Muhammadu Buhari the privilege of becoming the president of the most populous black nation on Earth. His ousting of former president Goodluck Jonathan was spectacular. I mean, there is this term in the Nigerian political lexicon, ‘federal might,’ describing the limitless capability of an incumbent government to do anything they want, including swindling electoral votes, to retain power.
Although Jonathan, a PhD holder from the minority south-southern region, possessed the federal might at the time, he lost the political fight to Buhari, a retired military general who once ruled Nigeria for about 20 months in the 1980s. His rule was draconian, historians say. And when he returned to the political scene, contesting the country’s presidency, he failed three times. But on his fourth try in 2015, it was a victory.
Buhari’s victory happened due to many reasons, chief of which was the general atmosphere of anger, hunger and frustration by the citizenry in the Jonathan era. Under the doctor’s government, the cost of living increased under a baleful standard of living conditions, and debauchery thrived in high places, even as Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped, maimed and slaughtered thousands of civilians and soldiers. Who would not be tired under these conditions?
So when Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress, brought the message of “change” to Nigerians, it kind of sounded like a message of hope and restoration to many. If you talked to people at the time, many saw Buhari as the long-lost saviour they were looking for – the one with the psychokinesis to reach the “Upside Down” and bring positive change to the physical world, just like Eleven in Netflix’s Stranger Things. Who isn’t a fan?
Summarily, one could say Buhari’s victory over Jonathan seemed to be just what the doctor ordered.
Sorry, [don’t] Blame It on Me
I wish I knew someone who knows President Buhari’s music preference. Does he like R&B? Yeah? Does he like Akon? Well, my presumption is, even if Mr President likes R&B as well as Akon, he may not like the artiste’s 2007 hit single, ‘Sorry, Blame It on Me.’
You can put the blame on Akon, but please don’t put the blame on Buhari. I guess it was at the point that Mr President sat in the State House – you can see it as the Nigerian equivalent of the Oval Office – that the reality on the ground dawned on him.
Months and years after his 2015 victory, Buhari still always blames the previous administrations for his failure of addressing the economic downturn of the country. One such report is here. Insecurity, as it was under the Jonathan era, still remains a major challenge under the Buhari era. Want to guess who the president keeps blaming? The opposition. I remember there was a report on this recently.
Of course, there is nothing wrong in laying bare the facts of a situation. But to keep regurgitating the same facts over and over again? Nah. The job of a president, and any leader, is to instil confidence in their people, that they are capable and willing to do whatever it takes to improve their people’s lot. And this is where I believe President Buhari has failed Nigerians.
Would Buhari be immune from blame?
As much as Buhari has blamed his predecessors, he too should perhaps get ready to be blamed. In my previous and first Substack post, I wrote about how being a Nigerian living in Nigeria could be depressing in times like this.
The economy is in distress; the government has borrowed trillions of naira that would probably take generations to repay; the cost of living, no thanks to rising inflation, is bleeding the people’s pockets; poverty is rising; corruption is still thriving; while terrorists called “bandits” are on a killing spree, kidnapping and murdering hopeless and defenceless citizens. No wonder professionals, especially youths, are leaving this country in droves.
These are happening and who would you blame? Well, the president may keep putting the blame on the presidents of yesteryear. But in his closet, does he feel justified heaping the blame on everyone else except him?
If your job was being the president of a country, wouldn’t you see yourself as being blessed by the heavens? Wouldn’t you forever be thankful for having a great and rare privilege? I bet you would. But if you knew you were inheriting the mess of another government, would you still see the job in the same light?
Look at the indices being dished out on a daily basis and how they affect the citizens. No doubt, Buhari has left a big mess for the next president and this is why I see the incoming presidency as a poisoned chalice. But maybe we’d be lucky this time to have someone who brings a real change, real hope and relief, to the people. Just maybe.
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Wishing you a better government comes 2023
This is nice
Let's just hope the next government will help reduce our plight