Since 2015, when the current All Progressives Congress (APC) regime came to power, things have never been the same in a Country that was hitherto regarded as the pride of Africa. The giant of Africa as we are told is now a lying recumbent, wounded, sick and dying. Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world with over 133 million multi-dimensionally poor with estimated over 11 million more to join this category before the end of the year according to the recent World Bank report. Millions of Nigerian youths have taken to crime as the resort due to desperation occasioned by unemployment. Nigeria is now classified as a pariah state in the rank of Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia due to terrorism, insurgency, banditry, separatist agitation and other forms of civil unrest that have made the country one of the most unlivable place in the world. As a patriotic Nigeria, I am saddened by the deplorable state of affairs in the country at present. And I am more worried by the ineptitude and insensitivity of those at the helm of affairs in the country. It is also troubling that the masses that bore the brunt of bad leadership in the country do not have the capacity to hold their leaders accountable for their misdeeds. And the elites who know the truth appear to seal their lips and give tacit acquiescence to the evils that go on in the land out of fear or other selfish considerations. And more troubling is the fact that those who in the past claim to advocate for us all are self-seeking and hypocritical.

And for eight years, Mohammadu Buhari ravaged the country and put the nation in a state of topsy-turvy and handed power over Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) another character like him to continue his obnoxious policies against the wish of the electorates. And regrettably, Tinubu has made good his promise to continue in the footsteps of PMB. In the build up to the February, 2023 general elections, the popular comment in the North was that we can’t move from baba to kaka while elsewhere, the people said that we should replace Buhari with another version of Buhari. Just as the Nigerians had said then, it is not difficult to see the similarities between the leadership styles of Buhari and Tinubu as events unfold.

First, when Buhari came to power, it was very clear that he was much unprepared for civil governance despite having campaigned many years and at different times contested for the exalted office of the president of the country. It took him six months to constitute his cabinet. He made very wrong and parochial decisions and blamed the past regime for his incompetence. Tinubu has started very much the same way. Almost sixty days after swearing, Asiwaju Tinubu is yet to constitute his cabinet. Tinubu has also started the blame game. He announced to the nation in his inaugural speech that the subsidy for the petroleum product is gone but when the people complained against that controversial decision made without any fall-back plan to cushion the effect, he said that the subsidy removal was the decision of his immediate predecessor. Sixty days after coming to power, Tinubu is yet to unfold his program of activities as contained in his cut-and paste manifesto. What we have seen him do like Buhari was arrest and detention of perceived political opponents. The arrest of Godwin Emefiele, the erstwhile boss of the nation’s Apex bank, the arrest of Bawa, the former boss of the nation’s anti-corruption agency, the EFCC and others and the refusal to obey court orders are symptomatic of dictatorship and despotism of the Buhari’s era.

Another glaring similarity between Buhari and Tinubu is the arbitrariness in their political appointments. It was glaring during the Buhari regime that his appointment were lop-sided and the appointments even in the security and military sector was not based on competence but by primordial consideration and that was the insecurity metastasized into every nook and cranny of the country despite the heavy security spending. Buhari’s regime was vengeful and purposeless. As I noted earlier, the government wasted time and national resources chasing enemies. Tinubu has towed the same line chasing shadows. The Tinubu government and his military stooges are always talking about the supposed insecurity in the Southeast without addressing the reason for that while ignoring the real threat to the security and corporate existence of the nation. Tinubu has ignored the xenophobia and hooliganism brewing in Lagos just as Buhari intentionally ignored that of the menace of herdsmen and armed banditry in the Northern part of the country and wasted more energy trying to suppress opposition and civil advocacy.

In his time, Buhari by omission and commission did not attend to the main challenges confronting the nation. And in the past two months Tinubu has shown that he did not quite understand what the main problem of the country is neither did he seem to know what to do to move the country forward. He does not seem to have the tools or the patriotic zeal to work for the progress of the country. He did know where to begin. His primary concern propelled by his entitlement mentality seems to be to consolidate his position by meddling in the affairs of the other arms of the government just as Buhari did in his time.

For eight grueling years Buhari had no real strategy to move the Nigerian economy forward. Twice he threw the economy into recession by his outmoded policies. He went on a borrowing spree accumulating heavy debts stock that the country is finding very difficult to service. Tinubu has started in very much the same way. His planned agenda to borrow $800million dollars to be shared as hand out in the name of subsidy removal palliatives exemplifies a government that is purposeless and directionless. Under Tinubu, the economy is convulsing with the exchange rate at over N800 per dollar and other indicators tumbling downwards and may relapse into recession if adequate measures are not taken to remedy the situation.

Generally, every patriotic citizen should want any one at the helm of affairs in his country to succeed for his success is that of the country and his failure will negatively affect the country. But wishing the president success does not mean he cannot be criticized. I am not a pessimist but what we have seen so far about Tinubu, indicates that he does not seem to have the wherewithal in terms of ideas or the political will to move this nation to the desired destination and the country will do much better without him at the helm of affairs. Those of them that hail every false move he made and opined that it is too early to appraise him are part of the obstacles on his way. When some of us pointed out during the electioneering campaign period that Tinubu’s much hyped manifesto was a patchwork put together to fulfill all righteousness, his supporters kicked but it is now obvious that we were indeed right. My candid advice to Tinubu is for him to stop threatening the judiciary as Buhari did. There will not be anarchy if Tinubu is sacked rather Nigerians will celebrate. There will only be anarchy if he intimidates the judiciary into doing otherwise.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed
[email protected]
An actress, social activist, politician
London, UK