Nigerians will surely heave a sigh of great relief on Monday, May 29, 2023, as the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari comes to an inglorious end. For the ex-General, who took over the reins of power from former President Goodluck Jonathan on May 29, 2015, with tremendous goodwill and great expectations from Nigerians, and served a two-term tenure of four years each, the total failure that his administration later turned out to be is too glaring for all to see.
Little wonder the President, who brought Nigeria to her lowest ebb in history, is in a hurry to leave the Aso Villa. He has also warned that he would not want to be disturbed in his cattle farm in Daura, Katsina State, after his exit, otherwise, Niger Republic would give him all the cover he needs, knowing full well that his past will always haunt him.
However, Nigerians are not really surprised by this declaration from a leader who seems to be basking in self-delusion and vainglory of the highest order. Despite the monumental failure of his administration, he still believes that he has done his best for Nigeria.
Buhari should be told that there cannot be any hiding place for him when the time to account for his actions and inactions while in power comes as he would be fished out from wherever he might be.
While it took the old General quite awhile to constitute his cabinet at inception in 2015, his choice of ministers later turned into a monumental disaster as most of them were not in tune with the reality on ground. Apart from just a few, Buhari surrounded himself with arrogant bedfellows and sycophants who would rather do the bidding of their master than respect the wishes of the long-suffering masses for good governance. It was no surprise that propaganda and blatant lies became the order of the day with a cacophony of voices over simple government policies.
The recent embarrassing confession of the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, that he knew nothing about education when he was given the appointment, is just one of the many cases of dysfunctional and lopsided appointments made by Buhari. The rot in the education sector and the shabby treatment of university lecturers throughout the eight-year tenure of Buhari is not therefore surprising. Nigerian students would not forget the Buhari era in a hurry for the pains and frustrations inflicted on them by the nonchalance of his administration to their plight.
Only last week, junior ministers in his government could no longer hold their peace as they told Nigerians that they were just figure heads in the administration as their offices had no constitutional backing. Like rebels, they threw caution to the winds and busted the long-time in-house politics of the Buhari administration to the chagrin of many Nigerians. Yet, instead of pulling out honorably, they shamelessly chose to stay put till the end of the most clueless administration in the chequered history of Nigeria only to cry wolf at the end.
An administration that confidently chose the anti-corruption crusade as its mantra upon assumption of office also derailed totally with so much disappointment to end up as one of the most corrupt administrations in the history of Nigeria. Allegations of massive looting and re-looting of recovered loot rocked the administration to its foundation and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) under the watch of our dear “mai gaskiya” got his fingers burnt with massive looting of the nation’s treasury.
Hiding under the provision of the much-needed infrastructure during his tenure, which he keeps flaunting to high heavens till his last day in office, Buhari turned Nigeria into a debtor country and the world’s poverty capital with so much suffering and lamentation.
Nigerians however wonder the cost at which the much-hyped infrastructure was delivered, more so, as the contracts for the so-called infrastructure were mostly jerked up by corrupt officials of his administration.
There is no doubting the fact that the experience of most Nigerians under the inglorious era of the Buhari presidency was largely unpleasant with the youth, whom he described as lazy, suffering the most. Massive layoffs were common as the economy went into a permanent coma till date. Insecurity continued unabated and life in Nigeria became so miserable and cheap.
We therefore call on the incoming president, Bola Tinubu, whose inauguration comes up on Monday, May 29, to live up to the expectations of Nigerians and renew the hope that has been dashed by his predecessor in the past eight years to restore the glory of Nigeria. While we wish President Buhari goodluck as he takes a bow on Monday, we have no doubt that most Nigerians would be happy for the good riddance to the bad rubbish that his administration has become.
