Am I surprised at the gradual change in the public
perception of President Muhammadu Buhari in
approximately two months? No, I am not. He has been
accused of being too slow, of making lop-sided
appointments, of committing faux pas, of having an agenda
against certain sections of the country, and of committing
similar “offences” he had accused former President
Goodluck Jonathan of. However, one thing I will not do is
group all his critics into one category. It took me only a few
weeks to see an emerging pattern and, while things are still
taking shape, you can be sure the ranks of critics will swell
in the months ahead.

Predictably, criticism is borne out of different motives. In
Category One are those who never fancied Buhari and will
never fancy him. For instance, the job of the opposition
party is to say the incumbent is not performing. APC used
to play that role and has now passed the anointing to PDP.

Most Category One critics are Jonathan supporters who
think the former president was hounded out of power
because he is a minority. They accuse the Hausa/Fulani
“supremacists” and their south-west “collaborators” of
conspiracy. Also, some harbour genuine dislike for the
“born-to-rule” Fulani. They have written Buhari off already.
All they seek is his failure so they can gloat.

The Category Two critics are those who used to support
Buhari but are beginning to think they will lose out or are
already losing out in the new dispensation. Their
expectations are steadily being cut off. With their dreams of
controlling the game gradually fading away, they have
launched subtle or open media attacks on Buhari. These
attacks are brilliantly disguised as “a call to action” and a
mere expression of concern. Some of them still think they
can pile pressure on Buhari to rush him into taking certain
decisions and making certain appointments, but the strategy
does not seem to be working. Buhari, for good or for ill,
appears unmoved by these gimmicks.

The Category Three of critics is made up of many genuine
Buhari supporters and neutrals. I define neutrals as those
who do not have any passionate position on who should be
president — all they desire is a better Nigeria. Now, there
are Buhari supporters who are truly worried about the early
days of his government. There are neutrals who honestly
want to give Buhari a chance but are not comfortable with
what they are seeing. But while they are not too pleased
with the pace and pronouncements of Buhari in his first 60
days, they are still ready to give him a benefit of the doubt.
They think it is too early in the day to write him off. They
seek his success.

How should Buhari respond to his critics? His biggest
mistake — which Jonathan also made for five years — will
be to gather his critics into one category and classify all of
them as enemies. As a THISDAY columnist for 12 straight
years now, I must say that there is hardly anything I write
that I don’t get abused or criticised. While some readers will
decently disagree with me and seek an honest debate,
others will malign me, accuse me of being on someone’s
payroll and try to pull me to the gutter — their natural
habitat. The trick is to keep your eye on the ball, engage
with the constructive critics and pay little attention to the
hate mongers.

Yes, I know there is a big difference between journalism and
politics, but certain principles cross borders. Buhari can,
therefore, pick a simple message from that. He must not
treat all his critics as enemies or hate mongers. There are
those who actually wish him well and seek to make him a
great president, compared to those who only think about
how to pull him down. If he loses his true supporters, that
would be disastrous. Ironically, even those who malign him
may unwittingly end up helping him. Knowing the price of
failure should motivate him to pursue only the option of
success with determination. It is human nature to try to
prove your haters wrong.

Having said this, I must immediately admit that Buhari has
taken many steps that worry me. I have not seen enough
evidence to write him off, but I believe he can handle some
things far better. For instance, I can never understand why
he made that “97% vs 5%” statement in trying to explain a
simple matter of inclusiveness and equity. By saying those
who gave him 97% of their votes deserve more goodies than
those who gave him 5%, he simply played into the hands of
his Category One critics. Yet, his conclusion was fantastic:
by law, no part of Nigeria can be marginalised in federal
appointments! So why give the “97% vs 5%” analogy at all?

Even on the issue of appointments, Buhari must be very
sensitive to the political realities of Nigeria. Over the years, I
have argued over and over again on this page that in a
multi-cultural and complicated political set-up like ours,
there must be a conscious effort to avoid lop-sidedness. A
country packed with over 250 ethnic groups — and well-
pronounced geo-political and ethno-religious divides —
requires delicate and deft political management. I
understand very well that there are still thousands of
appointments to come, but the impression you don’t want to
create from the beginning is that you are one-sided. It is
difficult to erase first impressions.

I am finding something very amusing though: the ease with
which people shift their arguments in Nigeria. There was a
time some people argued that competence must be the sole
determinant of appointments. They derided federal
character. Now that Buhari is appointing clearly competent
people but mostly from a different part of the country, the
new argument is that federal character should matter! This
is just a manifestation of the in-built hypocrisy in public
discourse in Nigeria, where arguments are inconsistently
constructed primarily to suit sentiments per time.

Nevertheless, I have always insisted on fairness and equity,
and that remains my advice to Buhari.
I fully respect the president’s position that he will not
appoint ministers until September, even if I don’t really
agree with him. As far as I’m concerned, Buhari became
president four months ago — on April 1 to be specific, when
he was declared winner of the March 28 poll. I don’t think it
should take four months to appoint ministers. But I concede
to the argument that he is only being careful in the midst of
the pressure and the commotion. He wants only the best
hands in his team, not the usual all-comers affair. Past
cabinets were filled with election losers and party chieftains.

The result was a preoccupation with settling political IOUs to
the detriment of Nigeria’s development.
It is always difficult to fight corruption when you are
seeking to compensate politicians and your sponsors with
cabinet appointments. It is a wrong way for any
government to take off. More so, Buhari is someone that
once he gives you a job to do, he gives you the free hand to
do it. We should remember he is a retired general who
served when Nigerian military was not yet that of “anything
goes”. Buhari believes in systems. He believes in hierarchy.
He believes in team work and team discipline. I am,
therefore, willing to wait patiently till next month for Team
Buhari to emerge. But it had better be a solid team. If not,
God have mercy!

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, one of the architects of
Buhari’s victory, has asked us to be patient with the
president, maintaining that he deserves at least 100 days of
honeymoon. Tinubu has been there before — we were all on
his case when he became Lagos governor in 1999 and spent
the first few months renaming streets in honour of NADECO
heroes. We got so fed up we told him he was not elected to
be renaming streets. He took the criticism constructively
and went on to build a solid foundation for Lagos — which
his successor Babatunde Fashola admirably built upon.
That is a positive way of using criticism.

But Buhari’s honeymoon could end in a bitter divorce from
his genuine supporters if he does not respond to criticism
with positive energy. I believe Jonathan would have
performed far better if he had made positive use of
criticism. He paid too much attention to his Category One
critics and lumped everyone together — missing the key
messages in the process. Buhari’s responses to criticism so
far are in order, but the risk of “lumping” is there if the
kitchen gets hotter. He should remember the trick: engage
with constructive criticism, keep your eye on the ball and
refuse to go into the gutter with the naysayers who, by the
way, may also have a point.


AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…


CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER
I’m one of those Nigerians that are worried — not terribly
worried — by President Muhammadu Buhari’s delay in
naming his team. Everybody has his style. If the president
wants to take his time before naming his cabinet, that is his
choice. He should just be sure he knows what he is doing.
However, since he already has senate approval to appoint
advisers, I think he can at least appoint his chief economic
adviser so that his policy thoughts can be properly
articulated and, as it were, warehoused in the meantime.
That will chart and build the direction for his administration.
Vital.


“AMERICA WILL KNOW”
There are yet no signs that we are about to get over our
chronic colonial mentality — as evident in our excitement
anytime a Nigerian president travels to the US or Europe.
We are even begging President Barack Obama to visit
Nigeria! Many naive Nigerians think this is the solution to
our problems. Meanwhile, I think the publicity blitz to
glamorise Governor Rochas Okorocha’s handshake with
Obama is way too low, too low for zero — no matter who
did it. Most Asian countries have overcome this inferiority
complex and taken charge of their own destinies. And they
are making good progress. Shame.


CALAIS CRISIS
UK Prime Minister David Cameron was accused of racism
for using the phrase, “a swarm of immigrants”, to refer to
the immigrants trying to force their way to his country
through the Calais border with France. To be honest, I do
not blame Cameron. We deserve the insult. Shameless and
heartless African leaders mismanage their countries, forcing
hapless and helpless citizens to flee in search of the elusive
gold on the streets of Europe. Our leaders grab power by all
means, plunder our resources, feather their own nests and
leave the people hungry and wasted. Hence this migration
desperation. Disgusting.


IN MEMORIAM
My friend, brother and mentor, Oronto Natei Douglas, would
have been 49 on Thursday, August 6, but for his death on
April 9. Our friendship of nearly 20 years was painfully
terminated by cancer, and I find it very difficult getting over
the memories of watching him fight the battle for his life in
the last six years. I am still traumatised by the memory of
my last encounter with him — that moment when he waved
me goodbye at the Heathrow airport, London, on March 25,
on his way to Abuja. I knew I would never see him again.
Life.


https://www.thecable.ng/honeymoon-ends-divorce


cc: lalasticlala

If I can book FTC space for u Genea, it shows dat I can buy u d world.
I love u to a default Genea

OREMUSSANCTUS:

READ AND COMMENT.

Change

Dharniel:


READ AND COMMENT.

We ve a common goal, and dat goal is to displace introvert. D enemies of my enemy(introvert) is my frnd.

This man Buhari seriously has no clear cut plans. He just rode to power from a Conspiracy Theory. And today we are suffering that issue!


When the dullard rules, the people regret!!

How ishilove and lalasticlala go leave dem job dhe go church. I go report dem to seun ooooo.

OREMUSSANCTUS:
If I can book FTC space for u Genea, it shows dat I can buy u d world.
I love u to a default Genea

awwwwwn so cute,been so busy dear,no tym to check nl