[dropcap]A[/dropcap]lhaji Gulak, a former special adviser to President Jonathan, was on Kaakaki on AIT this morning and he was really quite incisive and acerbic over President Muhammadu Buhari’s 100 days. I was quite impressed.
The first Northerner I have heard since May 29 who has said it like it is to Buhari and told him on national television that he’s done nothing whatsoever in 100 days, using the templates left behind by Jonathan.
On Railways: “Nigerians are funny people. Very funny. The Railways were DEAD before Jonathan came in. Dead. I’m a Northerner. It was Jonathan who fixed the railways and now people are traveling by trains all over the country. Check out the Lagos to Kano route and the other routes.”
On Security: “What has Buhari done there, really? In the fight against Boko Haram, Jonathan had almost finished the fight. The insurgents were fully defeated. Buhari is only trying to continue from where Jonathan stopped.”
He summarised: “I’m judging Buhari on what I have witnessed in the 100 days and I would say there’s nothing really to point to. If after one year or 4 years he does his own we will come back to analyse but for now, absolutely nothing”
I agree. And this is not because I have been pro-Jonathan all these months but because I am a logical thinker and I am built to analyse developmental progressions as a human being.
What we are witnessing at present is a mass hypnotism by the Buhari deification. A personal hero worship of a leader and not an incisive demand that he gets cracking. I witnessed at least six military governments in my lifetime before the present democracy and all I see is a throwback of hypocrisy and straitjacketed adulation which will not translate to anything progressive in the long run.
Will Buhari work in the next 4 years? He has to.
No President in Nigeria’s history ever got to power and did nothing ( and that’s why I chuckle and shake my head when people make stupid statements that the PDP government did nothing in 16 years. Even enlightened people who should know join in that stupidity). Every President gets to power and thinks of his legacy in history. Thankfully, there are everlasting websites to highlight what the past governments did before now.
What I expect from Buhari may be different from what others expect. I suspect we will witness a government of average performance and media hype. The signs have been there since May 29.
Buhari is an austere and frugal person (by self-admission and by body language) and that will rub off on the economy. There will be drastic economic policies in the next 4 years which will slow our economic growth. There will be sacking of civil servants, more fiscal restrictions and heavy propaganda to sway minds on why those policies are successful.
I can safely say too that the purported ‘loot recovery’ will yield little or nothing.
During Buhari’s first outing as a military head of state, his goons could not prove anything against the politicians he rounded up. Nothing. So, they sentenced them to 200 years just to ‘save face’, to put up appearances. General Babaginda on taking over and knowing that the politicians were set up and not deserving of their sentences, freed the politicians through the Justice Uwaifo Review Tribunal. It will be the same case here with Buhari. He will try to ensure that those brought to book should go to jail but this is a democracy. If he sets up special courts for corruption, he can’t do that without going to the National Assembly and that’s where his plans might be watered down or thrown out.
By the way, we haven’t yet seen the clawing from the National Assembly at Buhari. Right now, the federal lawmakers too are lost in the hero worship and have turned a blind eye to glaring constitutional infractions by the President; especially in the appointments of the AMCON Board and the INEC and other appointments which are bound by law to be approved by the Senate. Why the lawmakers are keeping quiet is a wonder but I can bet that there will be rumblings very soon. Buhari’s honeymoon is over. It’s time to put him under a microscope.
As for the repatriation of looted funds, the United States Ambassador has already given an inkling of how almost impossible it would be to return any dollar in the next four years. He said the US would have to ensure that every penny goes through a forensic audit to ascertain if the funds are legitimately lodged. And that would take years.
An accountant told me that the trial of people for corruption will go on for years. Because people who move billions have the best accountants to cover up paper trails. He says it will be difficult for the government to prove it’s case because many of the cronies who might be traced are legitimate companies who also were legitimately awarded contracts too. He said the government would TRY to recover a couple of billions but that would be as far as it goes and that would also be for people who stole stupidly.
Let’s get it straight here. I do not support looters and expect them to face the music if found out. I’m pointing out the scenarios to expect here.
A lawyer told me that lawyers are gearing up to handle high profile cases and it will be impossible to jail people tried for corruption if they have the best lawyers who can throw up technicalities in every step of the way. This is a democracy. He said special courts or no special courts, the constitution is supreme and it guarantees rights to the accused. That also is another hurdle.
A politician told me that Nigeria should get ready for the biggest scandals in the country when the government starts trying some people. That some people would deliberately spill beans which would implicate even members of Buhari’s party and his inner circle which would embarrass the government. He says we should wait and see. That Buhari would have to learn to be a politician at great costs to his government.
So, the accountant, the lawyer and the politician all have angles to the scenarios.
So, I expect the next 4 years to be quite interesting. Of course, as a Nigerian I want my country to move forward but I have seen that we will move sideways as we seem to move forward. That is the truth.
Those of you who are businessmen and women? Aren’t you groaning presently? The hypocrisy of such groans is that you conveniently look away from Buhari’s 100 days ineptitude being the cause of the business slide and hope that it will soon be over. It’s going to be a standstill, if not worse.
Those of you who are parents with kids going back to school this month? Aren’t you scared of the financial scenario? Many parents cannot pay the crazy school fees this period. The economy has affected everything. It will be worse in January. It will continue for some months.
I’m not a fan of Buharinomics; where a whole country and the largest economy in Africa is ruled by a strange and laughable definition called ‘body language’. I’m not impressed so far and Alhaji Gulak spoke my mind.
I want Buhari to succeed but that’s a blighted expectation from the onset. He will only give his all.
If this is a start for him, these past 100 days, I can say that I cherish the money in my pocket and the progress in my business and Buhari has done nothing to inspire or improve both since May 29.
Another three months of this kind of business climate and we all are screwed.
I know they say that ‘it’s all about the Benjamins’ in America but ridiculously bringing it to Nigeria and saying ‘it’s all about the Buharis’ takes a joke too far!
Charles Novia is an award-winning filmmaker. He is founder of November Productions and November Records. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
