disintegrate in 2015. With the political desperation and frenzy that
marked the political campaigns of the 2015 presidential election, many
thought that Nigeria was at the point of the predicted 2015
disintegration. Surprisingly, the election took place without the much
anticipated violence. And following the election, the incumbent
president, Goodluck Jonathan, conceded defeat to the victorious
opposition presidential candidate, Mohammudu Buhari. This forestalled
the anticipated violence and predicted breakup. Refreshingly, the
doomsayers were proved wrong.
Disturbingly, Nigeria is still not completely out of the woods; as it
may still break up. The possibility of conflict and dissolution of the
country continue to loom because Buhari is stoking trouble. He is
actively stirring up issues that can lead to serious national
conflicts. Nigeria is a very complex country, and its governance is
complicated by tribal, religious and sectional rivalries. In my
viewpoint, Buhari is insensitive to this complexity and lacks the
finesse and dexterity needed to govern Nigeria. With a military
background and orientation, and a total lack of a liberal education,
he is ill-equipped to preside over a democratic Nigeria. He has no
refinement, and as such, only understands the language of force. He
also does not understand the world order. Recall that he once referred
to Germany as Western Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel as
President Michelle. Those were just tip of the iceberg.
There is no doubt that corruption is killing Nigeria, and that
something needs to be done urgently to deal with it. But you do not
pull the entire house down simply to kill the rats in the ceiling. It
demands that you methodically take out the rats one by one, so that,
after the rats are gone, you still have a house to live in. He needs
to respect the equality of all Nigerians under the law. His 95 per
cent formula is naive and counterproductive. A successful war on
corruption is not necessarily a function of the number of people
jailed. The emphasis should not be just on sending people to jail for
corruption, but also, in deterring acts of corruption. In his fight
against corruption, Buhari refuses to understand that Nigeria is a
representative democracy, and not a military dictatorship or a
neo-military dictatorship.
A democracy is guided by the rule of law and not the impulsiveness and
arbitrariness of a retired army general. The legal process is usually
slow and painstaking. Buhari is impetuous; he does not have the
patience and tolerance for the measured pace of the law. He wants, at
his whims and caprices, to jail southern politicians and his enemies
of northern extraction such as Col. Sambo Dasuki for corruption. He
wants to rearrange the judiciary, and reconstruct and expand Kirikiri
Prison. He will then fill the prison with his political enemies, as
all those he fingered for corruption will automatically be arrested by
the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and jailed for one
hundred years or more by a compliant judiciary, dominated by northern
judges.
Is Buhari's hypocrisy not conspicuously obvious? To tackle corruption,
he must first purge himself of his excess baggage. He must approach
equity with clean hands. How on earth can he fight corruption when the
likes of Tinubu, Okorocha and former governor, Amaechi are his
political allies? Please explain it to me! Amaechi is the man that
funded Buhari's campaign with the money he stole from the coffers of
the government of Rivers State. Buhari, of course, knew that the funds
were stolen and laundered by the former governor. At the time he was
splurging stolen money on the Buhari Presidential Campaign, he was a
sitting governor. He was not a multibillionaire in the mold of
Dangote. So, the source of the money was obvious to Buhari.
It is understandable that a president appoints people that he is
comfortable with to work with him. But to appoint only his friends and
relatives to pivotal positions as the Director Generals of the
Directorate of State Security (DSS), Customs and Immigrations and the
Chairman of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) is
nepotism. Nepotism is corruption. And he insulted the sensibilities of
Nigerians by justifying the appointments on the grounds that the
appointees are loyal to him as friends and relatives. It is wrong for
him to give the impression that only his friends, relatives and others
from the northern part of Nigeria are competent, and committed to his
vision. In addition, his punishing of those regions of the country
that did not vote for him in the presidential election is grossly
unfair. It is not only setting a dangerous precedent but inflames
ethnic fury.
My honest advice to Buhari is to first of all stabilize the economy
and embark on institutional reforms that will strengthen the judiciary
and the legislature before delving into other major divisive issues.
However, he is neither reforming nor strengthening our national
institutions. Actually, he is weakening them; he meddles in the
judiciary and remote-controls the Senate and the House; thus,
undermining the separation of powers. This is posing a serious problem
for Nigerian democracy because these branches of government need to
operate independently.
What we are experiencing today is a military regime masquerading as a
democracy. Buhari's hounding of his political enemies with
Gestapo-styled DSS raids on state government houses, private homes,
etc attests to this reality. The lopsidedness of his administration's
actions is causing some silent but powerful and dangerous ripple.
Nigeria is boiling. I see 1966 coming full cycle. And if this
continues, Nigeria will break up.
Lloyd Ukwu, an international lawyer writes from Washington, D.C. USA.
-PointBlank
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