A voice from the wilderness

Since May 29 when President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn-in to power, things have not been the same again. Nigerian behaviour has also become same, same but different, a bit more constructive here and a bit more careful there. Leadership, which for ages has been identified as the trouble with Nigeria, is assuming a new meaning. […]

Since May 29 when President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn-in to power, things have not been the same again. Nigerian behaviour has also become same, same but different, a bit more constructive here and a bit more careful there. Leadership, which for ages has been identified as the trouble with Nigeria, is assuming a new meaning. Adjustments for the better keep falling into place in a furtive and surreptitious manner, in all aspects of Nigerian life.
In the war against terror, troops’-spirit has risen inestimably even before the new boots are on the ground. In the civil service, people are sitting up. And those who have been lucky to be appointed into the government are looking like angels while the Chibok parents and their IDP compatriots are feeling like their misery is turning its last bend.
In spite of all these, those who seem to have the ear of the president or a voice in the wilderness continue raising alarm everywhere, scaring the populace. The scare-mongering is probably responsible for the rumour that Godwin Obuah, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) had died in detention. But he denied the rumour on TV himself.
It is instructive to note that those who seemed untouchable yesterday were at their wits end in Washington, where they are being relegated to what they once considered a reduced Nigerian status. Nigerians are becoming all equal before their president.
The economy which has been injured to the tune of USD150bn has received a boost. The pronouncement, by US President Barrack Obama that Buhari has integrity and an agenda for prosperity is getting tongues wagging on the prospects of the Nigeria economy, moving forward.
This whole situation is not lost on Buhari himself. He tried on his CNN outing with Christiane Amanpour, to conceal his stern hardliner persona, on camera, particularly when asked the question about the crooks in his crew. No one will escape justice, he had said, with clarity. Obviously, president Buhari relished the question of that moment, the way he smirked before proceeding to respond.
Since the US trip, Nigerians are already returning a verdict of a successful diplomatic tour for Buhari, if not the most successful, by any president, knowing our penchant for hyperbole. It cannot be completely unanticipated, going by the structural degradation that the country had witnessed in the last decade or so. Politicians and their quest for power were behind most of that. The country, especially the people who ruled in a cavalier manner had stubbornly refused to fully examine the period before or to hold accountable some of those widely believed to have been involved in unsavoury activities.
Perhaps, what ran in their minds is that when they are all safely dead a commission of inquiry will be installed to ask of others what we could have asked directly of the individuals themselves.
But why does it matter now? It’s because the extreme devaluation of human life, Nigerian life, began or was seriously aggravated until this May 29. It was made acceptable to take people’s lives simply to get them out of the way. A life was rendered no more valuable than a plate of goat meat. A part of the struggle we face today is how to reset the switch on the sanctity of human life, and how to teach conscience to a swathe of the population that has none.
With or without acknowledgement or accountability, how far we have come since the last few months will remain indelible in the annals of Nigerian history. What answers have we arrived at to the questions of the causes of chronic violence, animosity and disharmony? What solutions have those answers led to?
Since the start of this administration, more than 400 people have been butchered in a section of the country constantly at war with itself. But in spite of that the people in the war ravaged area have been hopeful that the days of the insurgents are numbered. And by relocating the army central command to the north east, government seems to be committed to ending insurgency promptly.
In the face of these rapid changes however, we continue to struggle with social degeneration. At the same time, we dream of attracting well-thinking investors from safer shores to put their money in our economy to help us achieve growth. I wonder sometimes if what we are looking for is altruism, people to invest in our country just to be kind; or because it is beautiful, produces great results and booming markets, gives birth to new rap artists who throw great parties.
However, there is a particularly gladdening aspect of the scenario that Nigerians must not lose sight of. That Buhari seems to be aware of his environment; contrary to the wild assumptions he held more than thirty years ago that he was invincible. That previous situation led to his easy ouster in a palace coup by the Ibrahim Babangida junta. He is a different man now. He is in total control. He knows he is referred to as Baba go slow and has already responded that he will go slow and steady. And while answering one of the questions Amanpour posed to him, he made precise reference to three and three quarter years as the remaining time he has before the next election. This whole scenario reminds me of Shakespeare’s Hamlet where it is admonished thus: beware of entrance to a quarrel but bear that, being in the opposed are beware of thee. For Nigerians, beware, the battle has just begun and the opponents are aware of thee.