I read on WhatsApp, a strong censure of the media by Kadaria Ahmed.
While what she penned was largely correct, it was also plagued with the danger of one-sidedness and as such, will be unable to address the problem it sets out to solve.
Whatever comes out of the present tensed situation in Nigeria, whether a descent to conflagration and civil war or an embrace with serendipity, in which case Nigeria miraculously pulls back from the precipice as it is legendarily accustomed to, whenever the history of this epoch is written, the lion’s share of the blame will go to failed leadership and it will be laid squarely at the feet of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Prolonged immiseration of Nigerians made them erroneously believe that being frugal and hating corruption are enough credentials for great leadership.
That perhaps, gives President Buhari himself an inflated and erroneous impression of his ability to lead Nigeria efficiently and effectively.
Both President Buhari and Nigerians were wrong.
It takes much more than fighting corruption or abhorring corruption to successfully govern a complicated and variegated country like Nigeria.
Lest I got misunderstood. I’m not saying fighting corruption isn’t part of the deal. As a matter of fact, fighting corruption and the abhorrence of it in its various guises are indispensable in the efforts to salvage Nigeria, nay any society for that matter, from ruins.
But equally important are also other traits such as broadmindedness, fairness, impartiality, sensitivity, intelligence, wisdom, nimbleness and other virtues that are indispensable to running successfully, a country as heterogeneous and complicated as Nigeria.
Other than the solid achievements in infrastructure, which by no means reflect his strength in frugality and honesty, what other significant achievements can we attribute to President Buhari? But under him, the fissiparous tendencies in Nigeria have been strengthened just as the fracture lines within the country continue to increase in breath and depth.
To underscore the point that fighting corruption may not be enough, if civil war erupts in Nigeria today, all the infrastructure that he has laboured to put in place will go up in flames. God forbids this grim prognosis, aameen.
Therefore, any blame sharing that excludes Mr. Buhari and the criminal Fulani herdsmen that have become a collective menace to the entire country is not fair. President Buhari appears the principal culprit if Nigerians go to war with fellow Nigerians. And that will be simply because he fails to be fair enough in handling the affairs of the nation.
Toyyib Olaniyi Musa-Omoloja writes in from Ondo state.
PS: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily that of the Publishers of The Precision NG.
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