Buhari: an encouraging sign

He not only issued a statement lending his support, it was also in the news a few days ago that he would dispatch former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who is a very close friend of the South African President, Jacob Zuma, to lobby him on behalf of Adesina. This development is significant for two main […]

He not only issued a statement lending his support, it was also in the news a few days ago that he would dispatch former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who is a very close friend of the South African President, Jacob Zuma, to lobby him on behalf of Adesina. This development is significant for two main reasons.
One, it shows that Buhari is not reasoning like a politician but like a statesman. Adesina is a proper PDP man and one of the most active and astute salesmen of the Jonathan presidency. Not only this. Should he win the AfDB top job, a large chunk of the credit or glory would go to outgoing President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who initiated the Adesina bid in the first place. But for Buhari and other right-thinking Nigerians, what matters is that Adesina is eminently qualified for that position and that should he win, the victory will be good for Nigeria and Africa as a whole. That is how we should look at things but in the sometimes peculiar way we look at things in Nigeria, this has not always been the case. Buhari’s decision to rise above partisan consideration is very commendable.
Given the fact that the Americans and other powers have in the past always frustrated Nigeria’s efforts to provide a person for the headship of that development bank, the active solidarity which Buhari who has more or less ‘inherited’ Adesina’s candidacy is expressing, will help to deny anyone an excuse to this time again deny Nigeria the chance to head the AfDB.
Two, and even more significantly, Buhari’s endorsement of Adesina’s candidacy also shows that his world view has been broaden since his first outing as military head of state. Those who are old enough to know or who may have read a bit of their Nigerian history will recall an incident that took place between 1984 and 85 when Buhari was head of state. The powerful and influential position of the then OAU Secretary- General had become vacant following the expiration of the term of Salim A. Salim.
A Nigerian, Dr. Peter Onu, who was then the Under Secretary and who was generally acknowledged for his competence and hard work, was the popular choice of many African presidents to replace the departing Salim. For some strange reason, the Buhari government of Nigeria failed to sponsor and promote the candidacy of Onu. If she had done that, there would have been no contest as virtually everybody wanted Onu. Strangely, the Nigerian government headed by Buhari rather supported a candidate from neighbouring Niger Republic, Ide Oumaru, who eventually clinched the job. Many African presidents at the time openly voiced their shock at Nigeria’s behaviour. It will be recalled that during the 2015 presidential election, this Onu case was used by the rival PDP to portray Buhari as a narrow minded person who also hates the Igbo. Onu is an Ibo from the South East.
Some Nigerians at the time traced Buhari’s lack of interest in Onu to the fact that he is a Christian and a southerner. And that explanation seemed the most plausible for what looked difficult to understand of Nigeria’s behaviour. You can now understand why I think that Buhari’s action now is a measure of the fact that he has come of age as a leader who must look at issues from a very broad angle and not from a narrow one. Adesina is a Christian, a southerner and a PDP man. Yet, these have not stopped Buhari from seeing his competence and his usefulness to Nigeria should he eventually gain the position.
His support of the Adesina cause shows that he is becoming more sensitive to the sensibilities of other Nigerians. Sentiment, even more than the reality, plays a huge role in the stability or the lack of it of a fragile or developing polity like ours. Already, some text messages are going around that Buhari wants to over- run Christians and the South. While not sacrificing merit and character, Buhari should therefore be careful in the distribution of his appointments to ensure that some parts of the country do not turn against him so early in the day. The level of expectations of Nigerians of him is so huge that he does not need any distraction that would arise from a vigorous campaign for fairness and equity. Two days ago on the popular RayPower Radio programme Political Platform, a listener sent in a letter saying that if the position of the senate president is zoned to the North East as is being contemplated, it would mean that all the three arms of government would be headed by Muslims and Northerners.
Appointments to government positions mean a lot to most Nigerians and most of our governments fail or succeed in the eyes of most of us largely on the basis of a leader’s skills or the lack of it in making sure that appointments go round and reflect our various diversities.
The sensitivity which Buhari exercised during the unfortunate saga of the banning or non-accreditation of the AIT to cover his activities is another encouraging sign that the man is fully aware of the landmines laid for his presidency by his well-known reputation or notoriety (depending on who loves or hates him) and that he would do everything to re-assure Nigerians that he does not hate the press nor does he hate Christians and Southerners.