Buhari in Kano, Dapchi girls in Sambisa

BY SANI MUHAMMAD UZAIRU

It is unimpeachably a global trend for opposition leaders to strive to woo voters in their efforts to score electoral victory by making myriad promises. Hence, it would never have been thought as outlandish when candidate Buhari promised Nigerians heaven and earth, which was to be actualized through a plethora of policies, programs and interventions.

It is needless to punctuate that leaders world over get down to business after election.This they do via conscious and sustained efforts to act in the interest of the people. Whilst they refrain from rhetoric, they set out to revamp their economy, create opportunities for mass employment as well as improving infrastructural deficit.

Ironically, the case with Nigeria since the emergence of the present government is diametrically opposed. In the true sense, no concerted or spirited action has been altruistically projected to fulfill promises, beyond the inanities of lip service. For all intents and purposes, the APC it appears is yet to divest itself of the hangover of opposition propaganda. This is sobering in view of the reality that the woes of the populace have deteriorated beyond measure. Not too long ago, the National Bureau of Statistics confirmed an appalling rise in unemployment. Transparency international followed suit with a damning revelation of what was already reported in the grapevine as worsening corruption, encouraged by the creeping inertia of the president. Most tragic however is the frightening dimension general insecurity has assumed – if the populace luckily escape the fangs of poverty, herdsmen lay ambush; if however fortune favors them with a miraculously escape, the notorious Boko Haram unleashes mayhem. For the hapless Nigerian therefore there seem no escape route and this is the tragedy of the current Nigerian state.

Instead of however setting to work the compass of governance, with a view to changing the prevailing narrative, what Nigerians get from their clueless and cynical government is buck passing and empty vows not backed by power. This despicable state of affairs is even yet worsened by the growing insularity of the president. Many consider it obtuse and reprehensible that the president who refused to personally visit and sympathize with states fated with mayhem had the presence of mind to grace a wedding fatiha in far away Kano. The events preceding the abduction of those innocent girls of Dapchi and the development in its aftermath is by no measure a sad pass in our national history. No amount of historical revision will erase that!

Whilst it is true that people elect their leaders because of the confidence they repose in them to secure their lives, properties and provide for their welfare, it is also true that when such confidence is abused and betrayed like in Dapchi, no fig leaf of alibi can justify the perfidy of government.

Of course, it is no news that Nigeria has been saddled with poor leadership since the advent of civil rule – President Obasanjo was not good enough; President Yar’Adua didn’t fare better; President Jonathan presidential adventure was destroyed by his personal failings and conspiracy of those who felt their mandate had been usurped; but in all of this, the messiah, President Buhari is worst, and his administration woeful. In just three years, he has frittered away the swell of goodwill the people accorded him, leaving them jolted from their reverie with angst of disappointment and disillusion.

But the redeeming fact is that the people have come to the epiphany that they have been sold a bad check. That the messiah has a feet of clay and an exaggerated sense of probity, thus bringing his fifteen minute of fame to finality. Never again to politics of deception!

Uzairu is a political commentator and can be reached via [email protected]