Why Buhari Should not be President in 2019

by Deji Yesufu

Yesterday, 9th April 2018, the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, officially made his intention to seek re-election known to the Nigerian public. His body language had betrayed this position since December 2017 but the President had said nothing until yesterday.

Let us get it right from the onset that the Nigerian President has the constitutional right to run for Presidency for the second time. The trouble however is not with his right to run but on whether or not the he has earned this right. In this essay, I shall be stating various reason why Muhammadu Buhari should not be re-elected. As he exercises his right to run for presidency, my hope is that Nigerians would equally exercise their right not to vote for him.

To begin with I must state quite frankly that Muhammadu Buhari has not done the minimum to merit re-election. When ordinary Nigerian trooped out in 2015 to vote en-masse for Buhari, defying the odds and voting out an incumbent, they did not do it so that the status quo can continue. After close to three years in power, the Muhammadu Buhari government has not done any thing significantly different from what the government before them did. They have simply maintained the status quo and in some quarters, things have gotten worse.

This presidency promised Nigerians a lean government; they promised that corruption will be dealt a death blow; they promised us security; they promised social welfare for the weak, poor, old, sick and elderly; in short, the Buhari government promised Nigerian good governance. What any honest observer of this government has seen in the past three years is not good governance but lame governance.

While the President’s integrity and good intention is obvious to many Nigerians, it is clear to us today that integrity is not enough to run a government. The team that Buhari set up to work for him have simply not delivered. There is not one minister in all of Buhari’s cabinet that can be said to be exceptional. Allegations of corruption within his government is rampant and the President appears totally unable to curtail it. So that no matter how many people this government brings out on a list of alleged corrupt persons, Nigerians are not fazed.

The worst part of all these is that many men and women who supported Buhari to power in 2015 have today withdrawn their support. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had, in a widely publicized letter, made it clear that the President should not seek a second term in office. The President’s running mate in the 2011 elections, Pastor Tunde Bakare, himself has warned against the President running for re-election. The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), led by the indefatigable Balarabe Musa, have also lent their voice to the President not running.

Besides the fact that the Buhari government has not earned for itself a right to run for re-election, the President is himself not fit to rule Nigeria for another four year. Muhammadu Buhari, when he was elected in 2015, confessed to Nigerians that he could not rule Nigeria in the same manner that he did in 1984 because he was a lot older. Is it not clearer to the President now that he is a lot older now than 2015? Does he not realize that he would be doing a lot lesser than he did in 2015?

At the moment when the President is informing Nigerians that he wishes to seek re-election, he is again preparing for a trip to the United Kingdom. A lot of people have said that this trip is another medical trip, just as he has taken twice now in his first term in office. This time we are not sure when he would be returning. Whether we wish to admit it or not, the Nigerian President is old and he is not totally fit health wise to govern a nation of 180 million people. This is another reason why this President should not seek re-election.

Muhammadu Buhari, obviously because of his age and health, has not shown a firm grip of his government. Too many times, agencies of government have appeared contradictory in public. There have been times when security agencies have themselves clashed in public. Not to talk of the numerous gaffes and mistakes of this government, like receiving an award from a fake Martin Luther King foundation. Regardless of the gaffes, no one is penalized and the government just continues as if nothing has happened. In the process embarrassing the country among the league of nations.

Recently supporters of this government were asked on Twitter to enumerate just one thing this government has achieved since coming to power and no one has been able to do so. Even security that appeared to have been this government main success story at the beginning of the administration, is fast eroding away. Boko Haram continues to run riot in the North East and the rampaging Fulani Herdsmen seem undeterred in their quest to wipe out whole communities in the country. Nigerians are as insecure in their homes today as they were in 2015.

For those who may wish to ask why anyone would say the Presidency should not run for re-election, I would answer by saying that some of us have earned the right to say some thing like this to him – with all due respect. When Buhari sought to be President in 2015, I used my defunct blog, www.yesufu..com, to write numerous articles, campaigning actively for him. While the “Sai Buhari” mantra was indeed a popular one, my writing were even more purposeful. I targeted the Christian community in Nigeria, convincing them that a Buhari presidency would do much better than Jonathan.

Others may use this opportunity to castigate us and say that we brought an incompetent government on Nigerians. But in response, we would to tell such persons that the victory of 2015 was not necessarily a victory for Buhari but a victory of the people over the powers that be. The then incumbent government deployed all available arsenal to perpetuate itself in government but the will of the people prevailed. Money failed Jonathan and the desire of the people to see better governance won the day.

Therefore as we approach another election year, the same drive that the people possessed in removing an incumbent, no matter how impossible it seemed then, is still available. This is what we told President Buhari when he came to power in 2015. We said if he would not deliver, we would gather ourselves again as a people and vote him out. At the moment, we are about to keep our promise.

The beauty of an article like this is the playing out of modern democratic processes even in our nation Nigeria. Prior to 1999, Nigeria was ruled for many years by the military. Our democracy was interrupted over and over again. Thankfully in 2007, there was a successfully transfer of power from civilian to civilian rule. That was the second major democratic victory this nation experienced after returning to civil rule in 1999.

In 2015, there was a removal of an incumbent civilian government. With a functional electoral process and the blessed at heart, Prof. Athahiru Jega, who ensured that he would not be blackmailed by the discredited ranting of Elder Godsday Orubebe, Nigerian saw the transfer of power from one party to another in a civilian government. This was our third major success since returning to civil rule

In 2019, Nigeria stands to effect a fourth major democratic success. It would be the removal of an incumbent government; to be replaced by a government of the people by the people.

These are the writing on the wall in Nigeria and those who have eyes to read should interpret the message to others. These are reasons why I say Muhammadu Buhari should not and cannot be President in 2019.

Source:

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/why-buhari-should-not-be-president-in-2019/

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1594762370599967&id=1505609702848568

Seun, Lalasticlala

Buhari should never have been president in the first place sef and 2019 is the time to correct that mistake before it's too late

Sai Baba till 2023
enemies of Nigeria should all prepare for jail as the second coming of buhari will be like the second coming of Christ