Nigerians want a leader who understands what it means to
lead and is readily available to weather the storm with them. Has it not been
said on several occasions that no matter how rough the sea may get, a captain
never abandons his ship? On the contrary, Buhari has long abandoned the
Nigerian ship, and the ship now sails menacingly towards the Bermuda Triangle.
Buhari was a presidential candidate in 2003, 2007 and 2011
before emerging victorious in 2015. Despite contesting for a period of twelve
years before his eventual victory, what is deducible from his growing
ineptitude is that he was never prepared to be president. He simply wanted to
relish the attention, fanfare and the numerous benefits that accrue to the
Office of the President.
During his Chatham House speech on February 26, 2015, Buhari promised “to
lead from the front and by personal example.” But since assuming office, Buhari
has been a catastrophe of monumental proportions and has disowned every promise
he made to Nigerians.
His attitude in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic lends credence
to several assertions that Nigeria is a country without a president. Buhari
only spoke for the first time after he had been severely called out for failing
to address the situation at a time when presidents of other countries give
daily updates on the progress made to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Buhari’s absenteeism has become so embarrassing that it is
now universally known that he is an absentee president. Recently, on Twitter, a
Ugandan lady published a tweet, telling her fellow Ugandan nationals that:
“I know Ugandans deserves (sic) better. But, our president,
Museveni has addressed this nation the 5th time in 2 weeks on the COVID-19
pandemic. You guys needs (sic) to visit Nigerian Twitter. They are looking for
their president. He is nowhere to be found. #WhereIsBuhari #BuhariChallenge”
It was thirty-five days after the first COVID-19 case was
reported in the country that Buhari addressed Nigerians! And as he eventually
addressed the people, he imposed illegal restrictions of people’s movement
without recourse to due process. It is not clear when next he’ll make another
appearance or if he’ll ever be available to answer direct questions from the
media on this rampaging pandemic.
Also, during the recent explosion of March 15 in Lagos,
Buhari only assessed the situation through the photographs supplied to him by
the Lagos State Governor. It was as though the explosion occurred in Mars,
where he could not visit in person.
No serious country can tolerate such a lacklustre
leadership, especially from a man who vie for the office on four occasions,
promised to “lead from the front and by personal example” and even cried on
national television for losing the office to an opponent.
Since assuming office, however, it has been a reign of
ineptitude, corruption, economic depletion, unnecessary accumulation of loans,
human rights abuses and gross waste. Any attempt to question his regime’s
anti-people policies comes with serious consequences.
Buhari does not understand that leadership at all levels
requires selflessness, commitment, passion, communication, empathy, vision,
etc.
Nigerians want a leader who understands what it means to
lead and is readily available to weather the storm with them. Has it not been
said on several occasions that no matter how rough the sea may get, a captain
never abandons his ship? On the contrary, Buhari has long abandoned the
Nigerian ship, and the ship now sails menacingly towards the Bermuda Triangle.
Elias Ozikpu is an activist and a professional playwright,
novelist, essayist and polemicist.
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