President Buhari and the burden of leadership

President Muhammadu Buhari no doubt is a man of unquestionable integrity. He is one of the few statesmen from Africa with squeaky clean records in public office who cannot be associated with sleaze and self aggrandizement. Even as African leaders have become notorious for corrupt practices especially in stealing and amassing wealth they don’t need, […]

President Muhammadu Buhari no doubt is a man of unquestionable integrity. He is one of the few statesmen from Africa with squeaky clean records in public office who cannot be associated with sleaze and self aggrandizement.

Even as African leaders have become notorious for corrupt practices especially in stealing and amassing wealth they don’t need, the Nigerian President stands out.

He is not only different but has come to be known as a role model on selfless leadership and what service to the people should be all about.

This is because he has done so many things to address the drift in the country and ensure that its people prosper.

In his first outing as head of state, he worked hard to revive the economy through well thought out initiatives and introduced measures to check corruption  while leading by example.

In spite of the fact that he had done so much in the current dispensation to bring sanity to the system and ensure that the country is back on its feet after what it suffered in the last administration, some of the unfortunate happenings by people who have refused to accept that there’s a new order have been attributed to him as a leader because they say the “buck stops on his table.”

This is most unfortunate because of the zeal the man has shown towards helping the country to get its place back in the comity of civilized nations.

Though one might agree that as President, he should take responsibility for what is happening under his administration, but a lot of the misdemeanor cannot be directly pinned on the president due to the fact some of them are as a result of old habits and the old order inherited from the past while some are local failings that could have been handled at lower stages without involving the President if ours is a society that had enthroned probity.

Further to that, our constitution provides for separation of powers, stating amply the roles of the executive, the judiciary and the legislature.

Besides, our constitution provides for three-tiers of government.

One is at a loss then why every blame is heaped on the president as if there are no individuals, bodies, or organsations directly responsible for such.

Why should a woman that has miscarriage in Uyo for instance, or a case of bank robbery in Offa, or an arson in Lokoja, a kidnap in Kaduna, a pot hole in a major road in Sokoto, or a dispute over a traditional tool in Akure, a cold room incident in Lagos, a case of insubordination or an army man act of cowardice, or a local Government chairman’s act of over invoicing, or a State House of Assembly crisis people be blamed on the president? Something is wrong with us.

Have we ever asked or held our Counsellors, Chairmen of Local Government, Commissioners, House of Reps Members, Senators, Ministers, IGP of Police, Army Chief, Navy Chief, Air force  Chief. etc. accountable or confront them to demand for explanation on any discontent about any issue?

What would people say about some who have refused to grow up that even at 35 to 40 years are still under the roof of their parents? Such people will also blame Buhari when they wake up in the morning and do find food on their table.

What kind of people are we? Why can’t we do some level of introspection and hold people to account for their actions instead of this culture of leaving the immediate and blaming a leader who is engrossed in the art of statesmanship for every slip by every citizen.

If we question our immediate constituencies we will learn to appreciate that the though the buck stops at the president’s table, there are designated authorities which have been delegated such functions to take acre and answer for it.

As imperfect as our constitution is, it still defines for us the roles of our political and social structures.

What we are doing now can be likened to when a police constable committing offence at a check point in Pantami and instead of looking for the DPO or Area Commander, or Commissioner of Police, or  Zonal AIG, one goes straight to blame the IGP. That would be unfair.

We can all attest to the fact that President Buhari is not a thief. As far as I know and going by his previous records, he will never steal and will never abuse his office. Yes, there are problems everywhere, but he never promised to solve our problems in  five years and there is no way any leader can solve all the problems of his country even if he is to rule for 100 years. Most of the problems we complain about like poor infrastructure, insecurity and corruption in public service have been on ground before President Buhari took the oath of office as president. Part of the resolve of offering to lead is to use the available human resources to find solutions to these problems and all these are in the process of materializing.

So far, to any fair minded  person, since the President assumed office in 2015, he has through the measures put in place been able to meet the aggregate demand of Nigerians.

We no longer queue for fuel, the Boko Haram has been downgraded, and our financial system has been orderly among other achievements.

Instead of us to join him to interrogate our past and how we got here, we are busy pointing accusing fingers at him.

But the rot the president met on ground cannot be down played. This requires painstaking processes to repair.

Imagine where councilors are stealing, Local Government chairmen are neck deep in corruption, governors are looting  and legislators are busy padding budgets and stealing. If that is the case as it was in the last dispensation, then we can imagine where Nigeria will be by now.

We have passed this route before. We all forget that at the time Buhari came we couldn’t even pay salaries. The president has to use his initiative to introduce bail outs for most of the state which had helped in stabilizing the polity.

We must always try to remember that the burden of leadership is not on the President alone, it is on all of us.

Gara-Gombe, a political analyst writes from Casablanca, Morrocco