[dropcap]S[/dropcap]ince President Muhammadu Buhari left Nigeria to continue his medical tourism (nobody should blame me for calling it medical tourism. That was exactly what the APC called it during their campaigns in the run up to the 2015 elections) in London on May 7, 2017, there is an unarguable return of sanity of some sorts to the country.
It was one of America’s greatest presidents and renowned world leader, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who said, “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”
We can safely say that ever since the president’s travel, attacks by Boko Haram has ceased, albeit temporarily. The Fulani Herdsmen terrorists no longer hold sway as they used to do. Agatu is at peace. Southern Kaduna has known relative peace. IPOB/MASSOB had very successful and impactful peaceful sit-at-home protests without anyone being shot at. People discuss their wishes and aspirations freely without threats of being hounded or actually being hounded. The palpable tension that used to pervade our political space has since dissipated into thin air. Sanity is gradually returning to our polity. Tranquility is prevailing.
It was the same thing that took place in Buhari’s first “missionary journey” to London in January. Osinbajo who was then given full powers of the president in an acting capacity without any ambiguity in the letter to the senate at that time, opened the nation’s window and allowed fresh air to come in.
God just has his own ways of relieving his people of strangulating oppressive tendencies of Buhari and his despotic cabal. God knew Nigerians were in dire need of relief; the people were choking from all forms of injustice and tyranny visited upon them. He knew it was time to send in fresh air to save us. With Nigeria locked up in a choky confinement without ventilation, God intervened by sending Buhari out to London so that the fresh air God was sending to refresh His people would not be contaminated.
At that time, when Osinbajo was in charge, Nigerians testified, that indeed, our Redeemer liveth! Osinbajo was able to galvanize the nation together, healing the wounds which his boss had earlier inflicted before leaving for London.
Within that short period, our economic indices improved. His visit to the Niger Delta was as reassuring as his visit to Southern Kaduna, the first by the highest level of the presidency, was soothing. While Buhari left the Southern Kaduna crisis to an equally tyrannical El Rufai, the whimsical governor of the state, Osinbajo seized the opportunity of Buhari’s absence to do the right thing: against all odds and protestations by the Kaduna mafia, visit a people who, under Buhari’s watch, had lost over a thousand of their people including harmless women and helpless children, not to talk of their sources of livelihood.
The same thing is happening now. In the absence of Buhari, Fulani herdsmen seem to have got the message that the Grand Patron of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) is no longer in town. Their waywardness can no longer be tolerated. No one except him would tolerate their macabre murders of innocent citizens unchallenged. They are now behaving, at least, for now, until MACBAN’s grand patron returns.
In the absence of Buhari, Southern Kaduna is at peace. Abia is enjoying some peace. Enugu is in a state of refreshing tranquility. Agatu people can now gather for their religious services without being molested by the AK47 wielding kinsmen of our dear president. Delta communities are experiencing relative peace. IPOB/MASSOB can now freely associate and assemble without the army or police shooting anyone on sight.
How fast can thing change. Does anyone still think this is an accident?
What about the rancorous and teleguided whistle blowers and their belligerent paymasters? Where are they? Why hasn’t anyone blown any whistle since Buhari travelled? Did the president travel along with all the whistles meant for EFCC and DSS’ dramatization of responsibilities and their usual media razzmatazz?
Why has the theatre of absurdities suddenly gone dry? Is it because the one to entertain with such grandiose display of executive recklessness is on holiday in the UK, and there is no need wasting talents, efforts and other resources on ordinary Nigerians who would not appreciate the commitment of our policing thespians?
If only for this reason, Buhari should return back home. Nigerians have missed the odious entertainment value which his presence provides them with. It is unbelievable that within the month the president travelled, no humongous amounts have been found anywhere? The brash and rash EFCC is now as quiet as a graveyard.
This is what the cabal does not want. This is the reason they rushed the old man back the first time, hence, his return to London within a short time thereafter.
Following Roosevelt’s assertion, can we then safely conclude that the self-suppression of the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the absence of Buhari is not accidental? Can we safely say that the fact that not a single shot was fired by the army/police on May 30, during the sit-at-home exercise of IPOB/MASSOB etc was not accidental? We still remember the days when the army were accused of even going into people’s closets to mow them down in cold blood as it happened in Zaria and some other parts of the south east without anyone being arrested for such mindless murders! Can we safely assert that the relative constitutional freedom that Nigerians are enjoying in the absence of Buhari is not fortuitous?
With the above, it should not surprise anyone that many Nigerians are praying that Buhari should remain in London on vacation even after he has recovered fully from ill-health. They can continue to pay his emoluments and other entitlements while he is in London. Nigerians have no problem with that at all.
Their fears stem from the fact that his return might embolden Fulani herdsmen terrorists to embark on a fresh round of killings across the country knowing full well that none of their killer-members is hardly arrested or prosecuted, rather they are even rewarded with monetary sums by the authorities as was the case in Southern Kaduna.
The unnecessary overheating of the polity which the EFCC and the DSS might throw our country into with their excessive dramatization of arrests and amateur “Sting operations” might return full blast with the return of the president.
With the current sanity in the polity, it is advisable that the president continue to remain in London even if it is for leisure. Nigerians are happier that way! They will stii pay his bills and rightful emoluments!
Jude Ndukwe is a political analyst who lives and works in Abuja, Nigeria. He is a member of The Trent’s Elite Columnists. His column is published every Friday. He tweets from @stjudendukwe.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
