President Buhari’s return fuels more controversy

OBINNA EZUGWU

After spending 104 days in London, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, having significantly recovered from his undisclosed ailment fortnight ago, returned to the country. The generality of his party members and supporters were happy to welcome him back after such long absence. Rallies were held in Abuja, Kaduna, Ekiti, Benue, Enugu and elsewhere. Kogi state even declared a holiday.
He was to address the nation on Monday (last week); it was an address eagerly awaited. Early Monday morning, millions of Nigerians glued to their television screens to watch the significantly leaner president address the country.
There had been issues since he left: escalating agitations for an independent state of Biafra, growing calls for the restructuring of the country, quit notice to Ndigbo living in the northern region by Arewa youths asking them to vacate the region before October 1, counter quit notice by Niger Delta militants and a group of Middle Belt youths who respectively asked Hausa, Yoruba people and Fulani herdsmen to vacate their zones before the October 1 deadline. Boko Haram had equally resurged in recent weeks. Buhari was expected to speak to issues, calm fraying nerves and seek to heal a polarised nation.
But the speech was brief and largely characteristic. In reference to the pro Biafra agitators, he noted ostensibly that in 2003 when he joined partisan politics, the late Biafra leader, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu visited him in Daura, his home town and they had held a lengthy discussion at the end of which they both agreed the country must remain one.
Concluding therefore, that “Nigeria’s unity is settled and not negotiable,” and that he would not allow “irresponsible elements to start trouble and when things get bad they run away and saddle others with the responsibility of bringing back order, if necessary with their blood.” Perhapsit is an attempt to remind the agitators that Ojukwu left for Ivory Coast at the end of the 30-month long Nigeria-Biafra war of 1967 to 1970.
While he admitted that some of the concerns were genuine, he insisted that the National Assembly and the National Council of State were the only legitimate and appropriate bodies for resolution of such issues.
His reference to the National Assembly and Council of State is perhaps an attempt to play to the gallery. A few days ago, the NASS which has a Northern majority rejected power devolution. The Council of State is equally dominated by his Northern constituency generally opposed to the idea of tinkering with the status quo. It was hardly surprising that the speech quickly drew the ire of many people who accused him of being confrontational where diplomacy and reconciliation was needed rather than the poorly written speech which did little to address grievances.
His speech was disappointing,” said Mr. John-Bede Anthonio, public affairs analyst and former Managing Director, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation. “He is a paper tiger; he should have spoken more like a statesman, reconciling all.”
On social media, reactions were instant, and scatting. “I can give an instant citizen’s feedback to President Buhari that his speech this morning was a terrible case of missed opportunity,” wrote Oby Ezekwesili, former education minister.
The embattled former House of Reps chairman on appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin added his voice thus: “…I didn’t expect President Buhari to read a speech this morning like he is announcing a coup de tat”
Others however, praised him for what they called a show of strength and deterrent to ‘trouble makers.’ In a Facebook post, Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani called it the roar of a lion, emphasising that “the President spoke the mind of Nigerians who cherish our unity, peace and collective progress.
“He spoke as a nationalist and he spoke my mind a hundred percent. He sent a clear message to terrorists, ethnic irredentists, secessionists, and champions of sectionalism that this union is an indissoluble matrimony in all circumstances.”
But it would appear that the senator took a rather simplistic view of a complex problem, and many were quick to remind him that the President cannot solve Nigeria’s problems with mere threats.
“He spoke the minds of oppressors, not the oppressed,” responded Ifakola Ifafolaba. “No amount of threats will stop us from demanding restructuring and true federalism. Buhari did not help the problems; he is thinking we are still under military rule.”
Nigeria is a country of many contradictions, a federal state with unitary government; a country of rich political class and impoverished masses. A 2016 report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put at 112 million the number of people living below poverty line in the country of 167 million.
Things have deteriorated under the Buhari government. On the economic front, inflation has been in double digits since 2015. NBS figures show inflation rate was at at 17.26 percent in May. Price of essential commodities have mostly doubled since 2015, job losses are prevalent. The country went into recession last year, and has remained in it one year after. Signs of improvement are very little.
Last week, former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, described the present economic problem in the country as self inflicted, stressing this government inadvertently dug itself into a pit with its myopic policies.
The situation some say is responsible for the escalating crime rate, which has added a new dimension to the already existing security challenges posed by Boko Haram, militants and agitators
“There is a correlation between economic hardship and crime,” opined Dr Dan Ekere of the Philosophy department, University of Lagos. “Crime flourishes where hunger and economic hardship become the order of the day.”
Agitations; be it by separatists or those insisting on restructuring are rife. And neither is swayed by the president’s speech. The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) which is leading the quest for an independent state of Biafra has not shown any sign of slowing down.
Last week, leaders of the South West geopolitical zone, including Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Amos Akingba, Yinka Odumakin, Prof Banji Akintoye and others met in Lagos with a resolve to begin “Yoruba Grand Rally on Restructuring” on September 7 in Ibadan.
Bar. Aremo Oladotun Hassan, President, Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide (YCYW) insisted that the president’s warning will not deter the South West from insisting on restructuring, and as a matter of fact, his group has decided to join in the September rally.
“We in the Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide and Yoruba Youth Leaders Forum shall be joining all other leading groups in the South West on the 7th of September, 2017 at Adamasingba Stadium, Ibadan to collectively state our position on the way forward at the Yoruba Summit Grand Congressional Rally,” he said.
Hassan accused Buhari of being insensitive with his attempt to treat agitations for restructuring as a security problem, noting that the president is deliberately feigning ignorance of what the issues are.
“He did not address properly the demands for devolution of powers and restructuring. In a sane country, the president would have immediately addressed those issues with presidential orders. He should have come up with a strong statement in support of a new constitution that would address the structural challenges bedevilling the country.
He also criticized the president for failing to speak against those issuing quit notice to the Igbo in the North, describing the speech as full of deceit. Pro restructuring protests in the South West coupled with the pro Biafra rallies in the South East and the militancy in the South South could create an atmosphere of unrest in the country that may threaten national stability.
Yet, there is a bigger danger. With a rapidly growing population projected to overtake the US in 2050, mostly unskilled population and dwindling resources, Nigeria is headed for tough days, and it is difficult to see how the President can forcefully hold the country together without sufficiently addressing some of the challenges that give rise to these agitations. Some say, it is either he addresses these issues or watch the nation collapse.
“There are so many ways to do this restructuring,” Ekere averred. “It is either we do it peacefully or we do it violently. Whichever option we chose will play itself out with time. The North cannot tie us down and insist we must follow them.”
In an interview few days ago, seasoned Journalist and publisher of TELL magazine, Mr Nosa Igiebor had also argued that the country cannot stand for too long the way it is.
“A lot of people are equating restructuring with dismemberment of the country,” he said. “But if your fear is dismemberment of the country that will happen when you continue to prevent the needed change from happening.”
The President on Tuesday, held a meeting with service chiefs. The Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, told State House reporters afterwards that the president directed that the activities of IPOB and other security issues be looked into.
“After the meeting, he has directed on some areas we should look at so as to enhance our operations in the country. He talked about the unity of the nation which is non-negotiable; we have all been fully instructed to ensure that that directive is carried out to the letter.
“Every security threat, all security threats were treated one after the other – ranging from terrorism to kidnapping, herdsmen/farmers clash, to IPOB issue were all treated. Comments were made as to what to do as regards those issues.”
In the coming days, it is likely that there would be more military onslaught against pro Biafra agitators, but analysts say such would escalate the challenges it may be intended to solve.