An Afternoon With The President Nigeria Cannot Have

By

Prince Charles Dickson

Jos, Plateau Nigeria

 

 

As a matter of principle I do not write about people other than issues, the only person that I always have written about and will continue is the present President, Obj, and I won’t stop until he becomes born again. On the other hand I do tributes from time to time on notable people that have affected the society positively. But then there are exceptions to the rule. Only last week I was guest to General Buhari rtd. and Presidential candidate under the ANPP.

 

From the moment I booked the interview till I had finished the interview, one question that kept going through my mind...why do bad things happen to good people? Speaking with the General was rather a pathetic journey into why Nigeria cannot seem to move forward, while I talked to a couple of his lieutenants it was obvious from their personal opinion that the General will not be the President except a miracle happens. Now wait, the reason...he is too honest, he is principled, so much so that even fellow politicians and power brokers see in him a bad political investment, because he will call a spade a spade not a hammer and he will not compromise.

 

He has never been given a fair share of media because he will never give brown, yellow or purple envelopes like a certain Balaraba Musa wont and others will. At 63 years of age in this Nigeria of ours and compared to his contemporaries, he certainly was very young that I envied him. The General lamented the present situation of the country, he told me that by simply logic and everyday living he could not understand why the nation that has earned more in the last seven years than it did in its whole existence is poorer for it. He blasted an energy reform that cannot provide a steady electricity supply for 12 hours and when it tried to give 3, 4 hours of such it was punctuated by 12-15 minutes intervals of darkness.

 

He spoke with passion, he spoke like the elderstatesman he is, he believed that at 63 and hence there were no constitutional limitations he was capable of providing leadership for the nation.

 

He was Northern by obligation in support for power to come to the North but in principle he said that it should be a contest of capability and service delivery and nothing more, besides his party, the ANPP, was not party to any zoning arrangement. On that note I recall the explanation of Jerry Gana recently that the North had only legitimately held power once through Shah Shagari and that the case of Tafawa Balawa was an aborted pregnancy, this I tried to relate to the General's view which was more matured and most sensible on the note that he argued that the ordinary Nigerian wanted food, clothing, shelter, security of his life, and property if he had any. Not the nonsense of North/South-South or East agitation.

 

How could one miss it, we asked the General if he was going to probe Obasanjo...Oh the answer was one full of hope, the General stated that he was not obsessed with a probe of this and that, but that as a pious Muslim he would not swear as a joke but he then swore to us that he would not turn a blind eye to any official complaint against Obasanjo backed by documentary evidence.

 

To me personally that sounded like 'Baba will have to go back to jail" did you ask me why...I smiled, whether the shares in Transcorp or NYSCCorp is held in blind trust or open sighted distrust Walhalla dey, we already know the magogo and wayo of the Presidential library, the Bells University, the Ota farms that started making millions after Baba was resuscitated back to life in 1999. This is the same farm that could not pay workers salaries, now its birds without any kind of flu lay golden eggs. Away from these unsubstantiated noise, who will forget the third term quickly whether Baba denies knowledge or not some of us no better. Because facts do not lie

 

For this and many more reasons I smiled painfully and knowingly that this good man cannot be President. His campaign office to a large extent told the story; it was not the usual ranka shi dede environment, no praise singers, because no naira notes to grease the hand that beats the praise drums.

 

On IBB, he would not say much but I am I read his lips, it sounded like that  boy leave him to me, and then he smiles, as colleagues at the Council of Former Heads of States, we are friends no wahala. His answer said it that the likes of Orji Kalu were using him and IBB to score cheap points. Never will a marriage between Buhari and IBB occur, they are birds of distinctly different plumages.

 

Why should you not be a power broker, "Oh no I am not that kind of person". To me that sounded like I never will steal and sit somewhere and have need to select people to go and protect a system of a select few crook.

 

I tried to picture the man behind the mask of the dreaded General Idiagbon era and one could see he missed his friend dearly. Inside his eyes I saw a man that could instill a form of discipline into the system, I saw a man that could provide a leadership that would make sure that one does not urinate by the roadside, that the Police does not collect money to buy pen from complainants before they can write their statements. Here was a man that possibly could give all the present reforms a human and truthful face but it was all too good to be true. Even if Christians were not afraid that he would Islamize the nation. Fellow Muslims would not vote him as he would not tolerate hypocrisy.

 

We could not have finished our 30 minutes conversation without discussing accountability and then it was same sad Nigeria as the General lamented on how his own local Government spent 40 million Naira in welcoming the State Governor and of that sum 1million Naira was spent purchasing packaged Nylon water. The petition had been sent but nothing was done. He however patted the EFFC on the back on the count that it had exposed the inefficiency of the Police and in one sweep believed they all, ICPC, police and EFCC could do better than the lack of rhythm makosa dance of the day in providing security and battling crime.

 

Seriously joking I realized that Buhari is a handsome man but I guess he was not Maradonic, neither did he have the business sense of the Custom man from Yola. He did not have enough money to establish an airline, so how could he contest for Presidency, a post that by my rough estimate would require some small billions in Naira. Then off course we all know that he cannot match the firepower of failure of some the Governors who feel they should take their failure on the State pedestal to the next level.

 

Most campaigns have the thuggery department, the rigging section and in recent times the "eliminate our rival office" all of these the General's Organization cannot boast of. So the sad tale of Nigeria… his Buhari organization was too organized to win a Nigerian election. The man believes in something, and that’s where Nigeria needs to get it, we need to believe in something, something true, not lies, not half truth. We need Nigerians who could die for the nation for selfless reasons.

 

Incidentally one other reason I felt that would deny Mallam Buhari that coveted sofa in Aso Rock at least he tried at Dodan Barracks, is the fact that he did not at any point tell us that Allah told him he would win neither did he say he was responding to calls from these and those people, he was doing this as a result of conviction, to try and leave a mark.

 

Throughout the interview as a trained Journalist I could swear on my empty bank account that the General told no lies and did not make an effort in impressing me, not because it was little me, but because he just could not, he picked his words, spoke calmly that I wondered how this man would eradicate all our problems since all the shouting, noise and showmanship of the present PDP could not. He looked at his time and certainly the 30 minutes allotted yours sincerely was over. For days I tried not to wash my hands as I had shaked an honest man, something that rarely happens in today's Nigeria especially in Leadership.

 

I still throw the question back to us…why do good people suffer, why do good people loose out? Do we not really deserve better? When will the likes of Buhari or even better win an election? Is honesty the best policy, they have killed politicians in Jos, Lagos, Ekiti, Lafia and more will follow, What manner of nation and people are we, that  deny themselves the best and settle for mediocrity, a people that lack knowledge...

 

There are times when Almighty Allah takes leave pf a people because of their folly. May we never take our case like the sheep that took a matter to the hungry lion's arena and expected justice? Difficult as it may be lets all collectively see to that we get it right. Let the likes of Buhari join forces for the larger good of the majority.