After so much ballyhoo about President Muhammadu Buhari’s proclivity at pampering his ethnic stock over and above the other ethnic nationalities, he finally attempted to defend himself against the charge of ethnic bias. His defence was contained in a homily at a dinner he hosted in honour of leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, January 18.
I probably know the reason Buhari mustered the will to host his party leaders at this time, even when he has not been able to ensure a properly-convened meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of his party as the national leader in three years; or, cause the holding of the party’s national convention to, at least, ratify appointments into NEC positions; or, still, elect chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees.
The dinner was to serve as a precursor to other dress rehearsals that will culminate in his final decision on the 2019 presidency. The visit of the seven northern governors, led by Mallam Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state, amid the anguish of a grieving nation over the episodic genocides unleashed on hapless Christian population in some northern states to persuade Buhari to run, was the first in the series.
The media conference by his Special Adviser on media and publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, wherein he propped up a thesis that sought to validate the fact that the president is healthy enough to re-contest in 2019 is another one. The president’s ill-health has presented as the strongest reason that could encumber him from throwing his hat in the ring once more.  If his health is not good enough to carry him through, that could become his exit strategy.
The third in the series of the dress rehearsals prelude to 2019 was orchestrated by Buhari himself: the January 18 dinner. Although, he has not declared his intention to seek re-election, yet the ticket of his party is secured in his hands.  Except he exercises the right of first refusal, no one within his party, will gleefully jump in front of a moving train. To do so against Buhari, who is a power monger, would amount to committing political hara-kiri within the APC. Former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who is interested in contesting in 2019, was wise to resign from the party.
Now, with the way Buhari tried to dismiss allegations of ethnic bias against him, it was clear that the season of verbal political exhortations and sweet talks is here again. And, without surprise, those who should speak truth to power in defence of the collective position of their people, especially the Igbo stock, have positioned themselves in the corridors of power to mollycoddle the powers-that-be in protection of their enlightened self-interests.  Some so-called Igbo political leaders had, in recent times, gravitated from the PDP to the APC.
Interestingly, the president took the joke straight to them when, in a manner I consider simplistic, he tried to absolve himself of ethnic bias by the fact that he appointed four substantive ministers from the southeast zone. I shuddered at that rationalisation. It does not matter whether the ministers appointed from the southeast are substantive or junior ministers, Buhari did not make the appointment at his own pleasure. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria compelled him to do so.
Any other person, for that matter, in that office, would have been required by the constitution to appoint ministers from the thirty-six states of the federation, even if nobody voted for him or her in all the states in a zone. It is thus the constitutional right of the Southeast people to be so appointed and I am at a loss to read the president deploy that to mitigate the charge of ethnic bias, especially viewed against the backdrop of strategic appointments he made many of which were not constitutionally circumscribed.
For instance, how many southeasterners are accommodated in the commanding heights of the nation’s security architecture where appointments are egregiously lopsided in favour of Buhari’s ethnic stock? The social media are inundated with the narratives of the nepotistic outlook of the president in the strategic appointments made at his pleasure. The chiefs of army and air staff are from the north, although it is argued that appointments in the military are based on seniority and hierarchy.
The Inspector General of Police, whose promotion interestingly was made at the expense of twenty-one or thereabout senior officers who had to be compulsorily retired for him to be enthroned, is from the north.  Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Comptroller General of the Nigerian Custom Service and Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, are northerners. The list is long.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s recent addition to the list of holders of PhD (in Christian Theology), in his trending evangelical treatise, spoke about Buhari’s “nepotistic deployment bordering on clannishness and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members of his nepotistic court.” Obasanjo also indicted Buhari for his poor understanding of the dynamics of internal politics, which has culminated in a much more divided nation afflicted by widened inequality under his leadership.
While I believe the Igbo leaders, who are not in support of Buhari for his anti-Igbo disposition arising largely from his claim that he got only 198,000 votes from them in 2015, would fight to the finish the nepotistic treatment the president has continued to mete out to the Southeast zone, I can imagine how ludicrous those who have moved to the APC, perhaps for “bread and butter” or for political survival to endorse Buhari, would feel now that the tides are against him.
The Buhari presidency has become encumbered. The president has squandered so much goodwill on which he rode to power in 2015. Apart from his achievements in substantially degrading the Boko Haram terrorists and half-heartedly or selectively fighting corruption, it is doubtful if Buhari has any other redeeming legacies to his credit. Impunity and mediocrity have become governance characters. The agents of the executive arm of government continue to brazenly disobey court orders.
Consider the impunity of the continued detention of former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) and the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky despite several court orders for their release.  What of the impunity of Fulani herdsmen who continually maim and kill innocent farm/land owners in Benue, Plateau, Taraba and other places without any corresponding restraint by the federal government?
At the APC dinner, Buhari claimed that he was aware of the problems of the country and that he would always reflect on the historical antecedents before arriving at decisions. He said he would not hurriedly take decisions for the sake of clear conscience. If the president is aware of the problems, must he reflect ad-infinitum on them before taking decisions?  It is sheer mediocrity on display in governance to so over-reflect, instead of acting expeditiously, while the nation burns or slides into extinction. That attitude is suggestive of lack of governance ideas.
It is mediocre decision by Buhari, who is not economy savvy, to appoint weak Nigerians, according to Obasanjo, who could not help him out, for instance, in the area of the economy, which is why there is worsening poverty in the land and Nigerians that have lost their jobs since 2015 have increased from 6 million to 16 million in number under his presidency. What can be more mediocre than a government that relishes only in bandying statistics of monetary accretion to the coffers without reflecting positively on the wellbeing of the people?
This is, sadly, the story of Buhari’s presidency, which many suffering Nigerians do not want to continue beyond 2019. A vast majority of Nigerians hope he will exhibit his much-vaunted integrity by honourably dismounting from the horse and going home to a deserved rest. The world waits for Buhari to make his historic decision on whether to run or not in 2019, a decision that will, either way, profoundly affect the presidential power calculations. [myad]

Ojeifo, editor-in-chief of The Congresswatch magazine, can be reached ojwonderngr@yahoo.com

Until I am convinced that Nigeria is not being transformed by President Muhammadu Buhari, there is no ground for me to dissociate myself from the millions of voices of Nigerians calling for the continuity of this government. Simply, the world knows that Nigeria was living in a “fool’s paradise”, when the past governments refused to allow Nigerians face the economic reality for a very long time. Maybe if they had done, by now, Nigeria would have been greater than it is and Nigerians would have forgotten the economic hardship they are facing now. But it will be over with the steady and resilient policies being pursued by the incumbent federal administration.
Again until I am convinced that the period between 1999 and 2015, years of democratic experiment indeed, were not the best period to have instituted the solid foundation for Nigeria’s development, there is no ground to dissociate myself from the million of voices of Nigerians solidly standing against the return to old democratic experiences as defined by the past governments. It must be clear that I am talking about government and not individuals.
Furthermore, until I am convinced that the testimonies from developed countries and world economic analysts that Nigeria has been placed on the track of development by the government of the day are mere jokes, there is no ground to dissociate myself from the millions of patriots who wish my country the best under the hands of the best patriots who have conscience and faith and believe in fate.
Finally, until I am convinced that Nigerians made a wrong choice in 2015, there is no ground to dissociate myself from the millions of patriots who want President Muhammad Buhari to continue as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after the 2019 presidential polls and even beyond. That is why I used “run” three times for this title. But I am convinced that he will never seek a third term. I am convinced that he will be the best president Nigeria has ever produced by 2023. And I am convinced that Nigeria will be great under him despite the adversities staged by those who are opposed to the betterment of Nigeria. They are not fighting him, they are fighting the majority of the citizenry and assuredly, the one with God is majority.
It is, indeed, not easy to rule Nigeria. If all the past presidents of Nigeria were to be gathered in one room today to give their experiences, none can give accurate account due to the heat in the seat of leadership. The post-colonial leaders, those alive amongst them today, would testify that it has not been easy for the leaderships since then. I am convinced that they had thought that it would have been as easy as saying “Nigerians can govern themselves.” And from Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe until President Buhari, tirade of hostility amongst Nigerians over leadership has continued basically due to the misunderstanding of unity in diversity and the outright shortsightedness or unabated greed cum self self-centredness of some of the past leaders.
Every leadership is looked at from its ethno-religious affiliation, not on the basis of party, education or even credibility. Other citizens from other ethno-religious groups often tend to see nothing good in such leadership. Each leadership, from independence, has faced threats from within, though propelled contentiously by foreign factors, all often targeted at destabilizing the focus to develop the country. In some cases and out of jealousy, past leaderships would attempt to frustrate the successors who may be progressive in governance. Different strategies are often employed to achieve such motives.
Beyond doubt, I cannot be more convinced that another four years for the present administration will yield more positive results in the transformation agenda. Nigerians must come together in this trying moment for this progressive government and stand for the truth that our growth in underway. It has actually started. So we must give this government another four years. Patriots must not be carried away by distractive sentiments accredited to a former Speaker of the House of Representatives Gali Umar Na’Abba against the president, though he may be right that some party members have hijacked and pocketed the party. Or should patriots take serious statements accredited to Dr. Junaid Mohammed on the 2019 presidential reelection decision. As for the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he is entitled to his opinion. I am convinced that leadership in Nigeria can be so sweet that Obasanjo sought for a third term and crushed all the strong contenders for the 2011 presidential polls. However, every Nigerian enjoys freedom of speech.
Some Nigerians are out there to discredit the government of President Buhari. They have caused many troubles to distract him. They are using the gullible amongst the citizens to cause havocs. But they will fail by the power of the God of Nigeria and Nigerians. That is why I sympathize with the Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, who recently spoke for maturity and patriotism by acknowledging the nation’s difficult times when some people are making political capital out of killings, using “the orgy of bloodshed to advance their political interests,” yet portraying it as a failure of the Buhari-led administration.”
Adesina finds “plenty of prejudice in Nigeria, prodigious quantity of insularity, animus, antipathy against anyone that is not of your ethnic or religious stock, or that belongs to a different political orientation or persuasion.
“If you meet him, kill him, if you can’t catch him, poison his footsteps,” seems to be the singsong among some people. And as the build-up to general elections, next year gathers momentum, matters are made worse. Nothing can be more convincing.
It is true that everything has been politicized, including wanton killings. There is strident attempt to defame, demean and de-market the Buhari government. Those behind it, he said are the crooks, thieves and freeloaders who want business as usual. They hate probity. Their souls abhor accountability. They prefer the plunder of the past years, and can’t wait to see that epoch return. They engage in all sorts of misinformation, disinformation, hate speeches and fake news.
“In or out of government, I stand with Buhari”, Adesina proclaimed. They turned the country into a wasteland, leaving an economy primed for recession. He trusts the President who has made massive investments in infrastructure, roads, rail, power, agriculture and mining with the stock market recently recording N15.78 trillion, N1.3 trillion spent on capital projects in 2016 and almost the same amount for 2017.
He said that although President Buhari has not thrown his hat officially into the ring for a second term in office, the oppositions are in mortal fear of him running, thus are out to dissuade, malign, paint him black and devalue him before the electorate. And what a marvelous prophetic proclamation: “But they don’t know that there are many devices in the hearts of men, but only the counsel of God shall stand. If God has ordained President Buhari to be in power beyond 2019, human effort to stop it can only end in futility.”
Yes, Buhari is the solid ground for Nigeria. And yes for our children and generations yet unborn, he is engendering a new country whose builder and maker is God. I re-echo my call on Nigerians to stand on this solid rock to further rescue our dear country beyond 2019. The supports by the APC leader, Bola Ahmad Tinubu and the Yoruba have been great, indeed; let that be sustained for our dear country. But in the event that he decides not to run, let him nominate a patriot who will doggedly follow his footsteps. It will be a thing of joy to fully support his nomination.
Already, the leaders of APC in the Southeast have re-endorsed him for 2019. National vice chairman of the Southeast APC, Emma Eneukwu, said that four years were not enough for Mr. President to complete his transformational agenda for Nigeria, hence the need for another four years to make Nigeria truly great. The Southeast APC implored Mr. President, as a just and fair-minded leader, to make history by supporting the zoning of the office of the president in APC to the Southeast at the end of his second tenure in office as President in 2023.

Muhammad Ajah, an advocate of humanity, peace and good governance can be reached on mobahawwah@yahoo.co.uk.[myad]