Buhari's Confession and the ineptitude of Leadership in Nigeria

The man at the center may have come for many sticks from all and sundry, indeed why not? when you take into consideration the barrage of electoral promises rolled out from the APC in months before the 2015 general elections. For some of us who cared to bother, we noticed that, the promises and the seeming utopian contents of the manifesto of the APC were just too good to believe and revealed if nothing less a rather desperate group of individuals who are obsessed with capturing power at all cost and will not mind even making promises that even to them is unattainable.

However, like old magic, the trick worked and perfectly well at that, will you rather blame Nigerians in their majority and in their supposed intellectual vastness for falling for such phony stories? No!!!! in fact, some, knew all along, but most were tired of the mediocrity attached to the PDP rule of 16years and thus needed a breather in any form it emerges. We got our wish but are we getting what we as masses bargained for? that answer is more of an individual one as we all have our differing views concerning our bearing as an entity.

My primary concern today is President Buhari's statement about how he felt, immediately after resuming office and waking up to the stalk reality of him inheriting an empty treasury. in Sai Baba's words ' i felt like absconding'. Okay, to call a spade what it is which is a spade, that is in no way a patriotic statement to make from any Nigerian, talk less of our number one citizen. His statement revealed so many flaws of the Nigerian President. In his defense, He is still here and did not choose the option of absconding.

However,  from that statement, you will agree with me that, it give reasons to believe that our current predicament and woes economically are not accidental. Yes the signs for recession have been glaringly written and marked on the pages of the Nigerian economy since 2014. However, having a president now who was prepared and understood in truism the dynamics of the economy would have made the effects or impacts of such looming doom minimal on the Nigerian populace through his strategic preparedness and pro-activeness.

How was he to do this when he had access to minimal information you ask, i say he did have more than enough indicators if he truly was ready and understood what leadership means and what it is to be a leader, because a lot of questions were raised of the celebrated economic growth as marked under GEJ. And in case i was to agree with you that He did actually had access to minute Intel concerning the state of the nation, actions after his inauguration suggested that Baba was not ready for leadership.

With no insult directed at Baba for his intellectual capacity, baba is no economist and he will never be ( am not one my self). He is a trained soldier who is good at his game ( take a look at the fight against terror in the North east even if it is still not a won battle) a prepared man would have sprung to action, putting in place an economic team. But what we got was embarrassing, continuing to ravel and basking in the euphoria of the super human image accorded him by his party and the overwhelming expectations of the masses alike. Baba took things for levity like he had a wand to swish and flick  whenever his lordship merlin deemed as appropriate. In face of dwindling economic fortunes we had a president who could afford the luxury of going months without a cabinet and deriving pleasure in jetting down the globe when the fortunes of the home front was in grave peril.

In his defense, you say he had to take his time to get us the best abi... After months of allowing the economy to suffer, the best baba brought to Nigeria was making Fayemi who from all depths has no idea of economic management nor resource control cum management (see Ekiti between 2011 and 2014)  a minister for what? solid minerals and other comedies called ministerial appointments that Baba got us. Those were the best that Baba searched in futility the whole of obodo Nigeria for between March and May 2015. Jesters like the lying dude, and visible absentees from office that most of his cabinet members are, the conclusive best baba got us after irrelevantly dallying for too long.

Another thing to note out for is, did baba actually know what he was doing during the campaigns or did he believe in what he was doing? The second is asking if baba believed in his critique of Jonathan as he was ransacking all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria seeking our votes. If he did believe in it, then he should not have been shocked (na so e talk am oo) at the state of the treasury when he got in. ( although i elect to believe that the whole empty treasury thing is a farce) so why the shock? or to answer our first position, probably our dear baba never knew what he as saying or doing, probably just reading anything presented to him by the media and campaign team of the APC (just flash back at the saga of plagiarism that rocked our social media accounts and you may be giving your self a better chance at understanding me on this one).

I will tell you what it is. It is unfortunate that the mantra that brought baba to power was CHANGE. However, the thoughtless, and strategically damaging confession of baba indicates no change but rather a continuation of the norm and only goes to show the ineptitude of leadership and leaders in Africa. Lazy, uninventive, archaic and unpatriotic leaders which have perhaps been an unrivaled bane to the development of Africa. Our concept of leadership as portrayed by that phrase from Sai baba is primitive and non-revolutionary. Leadership in form of business as usual. Share the gala share the... as Harry song puts it or perhaps the now born again Mama G ' i will divide the national cake and share the national moi moi...'

Baba in his mannerism has given us his ever awaiting army of critics another issue to yarn about and expect another episode to be out soon as we never seem to run out such episodes only made possible by the ingenuity of Baba's skills as a playwright. Who said we were missing Mama peace? we got baba as a more than capable replacement.

Pax.

Ayodele Kelvin
kevinayodele96@yahoo.com
Afolabi Ayodele Oluwasina on facebook.