The return of Muhammadu Buhari

Or rather the second return of Buhari, because he had actually returned the first time from a similar medical treatment in the United Kingdom, only to go back. In the aftermath of his first treatment which spanned the period between January and March this year, Buhari told us that he had never been that sick; […]

Or rather the second return of Buhari, because he had actually returned the first time from a similar medical treatment in the United Kingdom, only to go back. In the aftermath of his first treatment which spanned the period between January and March this year, Buhari told us that he had never been that sick; he said he had undergone blood transfusion and that he would have to return to the United Kingdom for further medical attention. Accordingly, he travelled again to London in May for the second round of treatment which kept him away from the country for 103 days. 

However, on Saturday, 19th August, 2017 contrary to all the expectations of his enemies, President Muhammadu Buhari returned to Nigeria alive and kicking. From the time his plane left London, all through the minute it landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Buhari’s movement was closely monitored. A few weeks ago, some of our compatriots demanded that Buhari address them. Ayo Fayose, the governor of Ekiti state claimed that he had evidence the President was on a life support system. The other evil mind, Femi Fani-Kayode said triumphantly that the Buhari dispensation was all but over. 

Across the country, all manner of civil right organisations had embarked on pro or anti-Buhari demonstrations. The most recent one, #ourmumudondo, led by Charles Oputa, alias Charlie Boy, left a sour taste in the mouth. Charlie Boy and his group were doubly unlucky; after being manhandled by the Nigeria Police as well as a pro-Buhari group on the grounds of Unity Fountain, they also had the misfortune of being waylaid by a horde of Buhari supporters after they made the strategic mistake of taking their anti-Buhari protest to Wuse Market. Some of the angriest Nigerians are those who push wheel barrows and they abound in the markets of Abuja. It is likely that a majority of them are northerners and their support for Buhari remains rock solid for one reason: his government’s continuing confiscation of money and property belonging to looters!

Mercifully, this past Saturday, we saw Muhammadu Buhari on his feet disembarking from the Presidential aircraft unaided. Yesterday, President Buhari addressed Nigerians in a six-minute national broadcast. Now I hear some people say the broadcast was too brief and that the President didn’t address ASUU and other issues. There isn’t anything that the President will say that will assuage the anger and intolerance of those opposed to him, and there is no single speech that will address all of the issues.

Still, the President’s address was remarkable for a few things; unlike the previous occasions, the President didn’t address us as mere fellow Nigerians, he said dear brothers and sisters, how much more conciliatory can someone be beyond calling you his brother. The President undertook to speak about the most important matter for Nigerians, which is about whether some places are no go areas for some persons. He restated the constitutional right of every Nigerian to live or work in any part of the country he or she chooses. The President conceded that there were “legitimate concerns” that could warrant some form of challenge to the state but some of the ethnic hate and religious bigotry spewed in the social media is really unhealthy. 

The President’s allusion to his conversations with Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu when he visited him in Daura in 2003 was targeted at the so called Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) bigots. Far from saying that he and Ojukwu had decided Nigeria’s fate, President Buhari observed, rightly, that there was a national consensus that we stay together as one country. I have consistently said it here that Buhari, being a member of the old school, will rather go to war than allow irresponsible elements like Nnamdi Kanu to carve out Biafra out of Nigeria.

He has referred all the agitators to the national assembly and the Council of State so they could push whatever agenda they have for redesigning the country. I still strongly believe that if roles were reversed, those clamouring for restructuring would think differently. This hell about restructuring has become a serious but desperate battle cry for losers in the current dispensation. Some people have gone as far as saying, treasonably, that unless the country is restructured, there won’t be election in 2019! When has the resolution of any mundane matter, other than the fulfilment of the constitutional obligation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), become a pre-condition for our democratic national elections? 

Equally, President Buhari has restated his commitment to continue to protect the country by renewing the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency and all other forms of insecurity. 

Some of us remain unshakably loyal to the agenda of Muhammadu Buhari to restore national security, reconstruct the economy and eliminate corruption. Still, there is the belief that to achieve these, the President needs to reinvigorate government machinery; the situation requires that President Buhari dismisses some of his appointees from their present jobs, reshuffle the cabinet and fill all existing vacancies with men and women of integrity.

For now, many of us that felt like orphans during his absence are happy at his return which has seriously left both his adversaries and false friends in shock and disbelief. There is a renewed hope that President Buhari will continue to serve our country faithfully while fulfilling the promises he made to its citizens.

Here is welcoming the President back home and a prayer that he fully regains his good health; here is also wishing him Allah’s protection.