Between politics and principle

The declaration of the 2015 presidential election result was perceived quite rightly by most as a victory for Nigeria. The invincible PDP was demystified. The impossible had happened and for many, salvation has come. It was more a victory for the masses than for the APC or their candidate. The common man on the street […]

The declaration of the 2015 presidential election result was perceived quite rightly by most as a victory for Nigeria. The invincible PDP was demystified. The impossible had happened and for many, salvation has come. It was more a victory for the masses than for the APC or their candidate. The common man on the street came to the realization that unlike some parts of the world where it takes so many lives and struggle to change an unwanted administration, it only takes the PVC for Nigerians to oust any administration that has failed in its promises.
The real people that led Buhari to victory are the masses. The ‘mai ruwa’, the hawkers, the taxi drivers, the ‘maigadi’ and even the middle class Nigerians that have always been rather nonchalant about elections until 2015. For them, Buhari stands out among public figures as the only one that has their interest at heart. That has always been their firm belief since his emergence as flag bearer for the ANPP in the 2003 elections.
Whenever one sees the nature of support Buhari has garnered over the past decade amongst the masses, it is always tempting to ask why. And there has always been one answer; with him, there is no compromise when it comes to matters of corruption and association with disreputable persons. After his victory in the polls, even those that have always been reluctant supporting him breathed a sigh of relief. Something different has come. A trustworthy man to set the ills of the PDP right. Five months after taking the seat of the president and commander in chief, president Buhari has given a list of his ministerial nominees to the senate. After a look at the list, all that comes to the mind of concerned Nigerians is whether the president has become ‘one of them’. Whether he seeks to please the people that have been chanting ‘Sai Buhari’ for the past 12 years or the few (some of whom had no choice) that have given their money and support to get the victory in the 2015 polls. After 3 scores and a dozen years of his life gone, many never expected the president to compromise on his principles. He appears to many Nigerians as having lost a little touch of that Buhari that the masses so dearly revered. One would ordinarily think a man of Buhari’s repute would thank the people that helped him ascend to power for their service to the country and if the wind of change needs to destroy even those closest to him, he wouldn’t think twice about it. As many have criticized every of GEJ’s decisions as political, the list of Buhari’s ministerial nominees appears just that too. The popular belief is the president “belongs to nobody”, owes nobody any favours and can do anything that is in the best interest of Nigerians no matter how much it displeases the elite. Now, however, people are beginning to think he probably has the 2019 elections to lose. All patriotic Nigerians wish for nothing other than success for the president and his ‘saints’. We hope and fervently pray that the president emulates the man he has always appeared to be in the eyes of the masses.
Basheer Mukhtar Yola‎