Who is responsible for the current dire situation in Nigeria—for the endemic and rising unemployment, deepening immiseration, ethno-regional conflict, socio-cultural decay, and all-round political chaos? Rightly, many Nigerians will point the finger at state managers at various levels, at the apex of which stands Muhammadu Buhari, the president and the one at whose table the buck stops. In indicting their rulers, Nigerians are not necessarily saying that only they (the authorities) are to blame for all the problems we see in the Nigerian society. Far from it. What they are saying is that to whom much is given, much is expected, and that for far too long, Nigerian leaders, hiding behind the cloak of various dodgy excuses, and having promised heaven and earth during their electioneering, have failed to live up to expectation.
The majority of Nigerians know this— as a matter of fact, many office holders openly admit it—but apparently President Buhari does not. Speaking last week at a reception for the Muhammadu Buhari/Osinbajo (MBO) Dynamic Support Group, most probably a faux civil society group in the mould of the notorious Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha (YEAA), the president, following an arbitrary and self-serving synopsis of the country’s political history, and having naturally found himself without blemish, laid into his countrymen and women, insisting that they are to blame for the untoward state of affairs in the country. In addition to exonerating himself of any blame, President Buhari went on to present himself in the cast of a historical figure who, not minding the discomfort to himself and his family, has gone out of his way to help the country overcome its sundry ills. If only we could be grateful.
Watchers of President Buhari will immediately recognise a pattern here, and that is the penchant for him to always point the finger at someone, anyone else, except himself. In October last year, he placed the blame for the country’s economic woes at the doorstep of previous administrations, conveniently forgetting his tenure as military Head of State (1983-1985). Soon after that, he blamed unnamed “hooligans” for the #EndSARS protests, ignoring the protesters’ legitimate grievances about police impunity and official lawlessness. In February this year, the president blamed an unspecified “few Nigerians with influence and resources” for the rising spate of violence (including banditry and kidnapping) across the country. All in all, the president has blamed the political opposition, young people, anonymous sponsors of banditry; everyone, that is, except the person in his mirror.
That there is enough blame to go around, we do not doubt, and we have never hesitated to call out various actors and institutions at different times. Even so, we find President Buhari’s habitual buck-passing profoundly disconcerting. For a man who took the oath of office to protect the Nigerian constitution and serve Nigerians, he does not seem to grasp the basic demands of the office, never mind the immense opportunities it presents to accomplish great things.
If President Buhari cannot paint, he should get off the ladder. Nigerians are fed up with his constant moaning.
