Ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first 100 days in office, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party has returned a damning verdict on his administration. But the All Progressives Congress and supporters of Buhari believe that Mr. President deserves applause for showing leadership. EZUGWU OBINNA reports

It is now a few days to September 8, 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari will mark his first 100 years in office and as would be expected, stakeholders have begun to rate and analyze his performance.

Buhari has no doubt, witnessed a fair share of compliments and condemnations. As a President who rode to power promising to end corruption, provide adequate security, reduce unemployment and generally right all that is wrong with Nigeria, Buhari’s ascension to the throne was greeted with huge expectations. Starting from the day he was declared winner of the presidential election, the nation was thrown into a frenzy of sort with many embarking on marathon treks celebrate his victory.

In the midst of this frenzy however, Nigerians had one concern… the concern that some individuals who supposedly sponsored his election may eventually hijack his presidency and deny the masses the much anticipated dividends of democracy. As if the President was aware of this nonetheless, he famously observed in his inaugural speech that he belongs to everybody but at the same time, he belongs to nobody. An expression that threw the country into a debate with many proffering explanations as to what the President meant. What appeared to be a general consensus, however, was that he was not going to pander to anyone’s whims.

But just few weeks into his administration, a number of people had begun to doubt his capacity to bring the kind of change he promised. Within the first one month of his administration for instance, attacks by Boko Haram terrorists became more intense, thus casting doubts on his promise to end the insurgency in record time. On the economy, the naira continued to lose value, the anti-corruption crusade also began to assume the posture of too much talks but no action. He failed to constitute a cabinet and generally, the country’s problems remained.

While all that was going on, Buhari won himself a new title… “Baba go-slow” This stemmed from the fact that those who had expected a kind of hurricane change were disappointed with the seemingly slow pace of action by the President. However, he has been able to provide leadership said a stakeholder. The naira has started to appreciate due to new policies adopted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, also electricity supply has become more frequent than what it used to be in the past.”

The growing criticisms of Buhari in this regard had compelled some chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to defend the President.

Chief Anselm Njoku, the leader of South East APC Lagos State while shielding him from blame attributed the slow start to the nature of the country’s problems, which he said were too complicated and required good planning in order to tackle it.

“You know that Nigeria is a complex nation, the problem of the country is so enormous. For you to start tackling the problems, you must first of all have a good statistics, you must do a little research on what you want to do and you must be careful because some people you appoint to help resolve a situation may go there and worsen it. So you must take time to study the situation,” Njoku explained in an interview with Hallmark.

“If you are not in government, the way you hear that government is operated or what you see is not real. It is when you get there that you see the reality. When you are now confronted with the reality, you now make sure you get your priority right. If you don’t get your priority right, you will mess up. I want to assure you that from the handwriting I see, Buhari is going to get it right. The only thing I am advising him as to make sure that every Nigerian, irrespective of tribe, ethnic nationality or religion is carried along because I wouldn’t want a situation where some section of the country will be marginalized under his leadership.”

In his own defence, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu called for 100 days honeymoon period for Buhari, insisting that it was too early to begin to judge him.

“May 29 was when this President was sworn in. It is an international norm; there is honeymoon period, at least a minimum of 100 days’ honeymoon. And you won’t allow honeymoon at all? You said change is not coming. Change is not by magic. It is driven by the people, the spirit and the character and the planning,” he said.

Adding that, “It is not fair to jump into those conclusions. There must be time to plan, to review and even listen to people. There is a separation between a campaign period, and time for articulating your vision, expressing the promises to Nigerians; there is a time to look holistically at what you inherited, analyze it, distill and then take action.

“Even in a 100 metres race, there is a time to say ‘on your mark, ready, go. So, you don’t even want a time to be on your mark, set and go? No, you are not being fair,” Tinubu said.

Suddenly however, the President began to act. A number of past governors were apprehended by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), service chiefs were replaced and the war against Boko Haram terrorists was again on the right track.

Gradually, Buhari began to shed the Baba Go-slow title and started assuming the posture of an action President. However, fresh controversies greeted his actions. While many had interpreted his “I belong to nobody” assertion in his inaugural speech to mean that he would run an all-inclusive government, his appointment pattern soon betrayed him as one who is pursuing what some critics have called “myopic ethnic agenda.”

Of all the nearly 30 appointments Buhari has made so far, only five southerners have been appointed, with the South West having three, the South-South two and surprisingly, the South-East has been completely neglected. Not unexpected therefore that the leaders of the zone have been crying foul.

Former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwemeka Ezeife, had a few days ago for instance, berated the President for neglecting the South East.

“How would a President appoint people into key positions in Nigeria, yet none of them is Igbo? What kind of thing is that?” he queried.

“On merit, we have the best people in Nigeria and that is not boasting. On motivation, it is the same thing. If Buhari wants to ignore federal character, we are not begging him for any appointment. And it is good for us to know where we belong and make appropriate adjustments. It is not a matter of whether Nigeria appreciates us or not. If they think we have done enough and we should go, there is more where what we brought to Nigeria came from.” he stated.

Also speaking on the same subject matter, Barr Robert Okoroji, a chieftain of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) expressed discomfort with the arrangement, and accused Buhari of bigotry

“I am not pleased particularly with the appointment pattern, it is sectional; it is a reflection of bigotry, it is vindictive, it is myopic,” Okoroji said.

“He has little or no consideration for competency and other more useful factors that should be put in place. You can’t convince anybody in this world that there are no competent people in South Eastern and South Southern Nigeria to deserve key appointments. That’s why I still insist that his appointment pattern is vindictive, parochial and sectional,” he adds.

The president has, however denied the above accusations, insisting that he appoints only competent people.  Again, while Buhari has been hailed for stepping up his anti-graft graft war, he has at the same time received series of criticisms from those who accuse him of fighting only political enemies. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as other groups such as Ohanaeze Ndigbo had variously reminded him that he has corrupt people around him and that if he is honest about fighting corruption, he ought to start from those close to him.

There are petitions against Rotimi Amaechi, former Rivers State governor, Babatunde Fashola as well as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, two past governors of Lagos State who have been accused of corruption being cited in this regard.

Consequently, the decision by Buhari to restrict his probe to the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has equally attracted more than a few criticisms with many suggesting he is only interested in intimidating Jonathan, or perhaps because Jonathan is the weakest link among the past presidents.

Concerned stakeholders, including Prof Ben Nwabueze has cautioned that Buhari should go beyond the immediate past government in his probe if he is actually serious about fighting corruption.

“Only the probe and prosecution of factual, traceable and clearly identifiable cases of abuse of office and misuse of public funds will inspire confidence and receive commendation of the citizenry and the international community,” the Igbo leaders of Thought led by Prof. Nwabueze said in a statement.

“Humiliating and deliberately degrading political opponents in the guise of probe and prosecution of corrupt officials will only reduce the whole exercise to a jamboree, that could lead to a lot of acrimony and bad blood which we believe, is the last thing Nigeria needs at the moment,” the group further stated.

Not everyone toes the group’s line however, speaking on Buhari’s performance so far, Dr. Greg Ezea, Head, Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka explained that the decision to restrict probe to Jonathan’s administration does not imply him attempting to intimidate his predecessor. He noted that Buhari has through his performance so far shown that he is committed to bringing the promised change.

“He has shown that he cannot succumb to pressure in his war against corruption. Going by his pedigree, I have no doubt he will perform; he will fight corruption,” Ezea said.

Meanwhile, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed the President’s performance so far as a disappointment. The party’s Lagos State spokesperson, Mr. Gani Taofeek who made this assertion in a chat with Hallmark explained that the ruling party “has turned out to be a disappointment to Nigerians,” judging by the uncultured manner in which it handles issues. He stressed that the party is failing to tackle the country’s problems.

In his own assessment nonetheless, a chieftain of the APC in Enugu State, Comrade Kelvin Ezeoha disagreed with the opposition party’s assertion. Ezeoha who is the Enugu South Chairman of the party noted that Buhari has started his anti-graft war by exposing corrupt individuals and is looking set to change the country for the better.

“His campaign promises were hinged on three cardinal points: fighting corruption, this he has started by exposing the massive looting of the country’s treasury. Those involved would be charged to court soon; he promised to end insecurity, he has concluded plans to end insurgency before December; employment, he recently announced the creation of 10 thousand job opportunities in the Nigerian police force. With these, he has done well in his first 100 days in office,” he said.