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President Muhammadu Buhari

(Opinion) Of BuhariGate and wailing wailers

President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari
By Bola Bolawole
If you are not in government, you are hard put to know a lot of things about government and governance. Especially in a country like Nigeria where government is treated like a cult and transparency and accountability are yet to permeate the mentality of many in the corridors of powers, information that, ordinarily, should be in the public domain is classified as state secret. The Freedom of Information Act has done very little to punch a hole in the armour of official secrecy. I suspect that government officials enjoy the “special status” that the hoarding of information confers on them. It gives them an air of superiority over and above ordinary folk who are far removed from the sanctuary of power. How often have we heard them pity us the ordinary folk about our ignorance of how intricately government works or about the intrigues, plots, and sub-plots that shape the decisions and indecisions of government! Information hoarding also helps them to keep their secrets secret and this way they are able to commit monstrous atrocities and get away with blue murder. The horrendous plundering of the treasury that began to be exposed lately was only made possible because the ruling elite treated government and governance as a cult. Recently, when a new Ooni was installed at Ile-Ife, most of the processes were done in secrecy and only the initiates knew what actually took place. Essentially, government and governance here are conducted in like manner. Whereas President Muhammadu Buhari is prising open the cans of worms of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, the likelihood is that the lids are being held firmly in place on his own administration’s shenanigans.
Unnecessary secrecy over government affairs is, however, an ill-wind that blows no one any good. Take, for instance, the BuhariGate over which presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, decided to fume last week when he should have saved his breath. But for the fact that those concerned decided to treat the matter in utter secrecy, it would not have raised an eyebrow; least of all call to question the intimidating moral credentials of Buhari. What happened? Everyone knew when Buhari’s convoy was bombed in Kaduna and how the then presidential candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress escaped death by the whiskers. But no one knew when the Jonathan government rushed bullet proof cars and cash to Buhari. It was treated in the usual government secrecy. Buhari himself goofed when he accepted, according to his own belated admission, the cars while rejecting the cash. If, as we are now being told, these were his legitimate entitlements as a former head of state, then, he should have had no qualms accepting them but doing so in the open. Those who offered it secretly perhaps had a nefarious mission; and the man who accepted it fully or haphazardly in secrecy also did not show tact. That is why today people who are not altogether altruistic can talk of BuhariGate. Secrecy in itself is an admission that something is amiss and or is being held back from public glare.
One lesson from BuhariGate is that it is in Buhari’s best interest to conduct the affairs of State in the open. There is nothing done in secrecy that will not be exposed in the fullness of time. Moreover, an otherwise innocuous action assumes the toga of corruptibility when it is covered with the cloak of secrecy. The Peoples Democratic Party may have been defeated but its tentacles are still everywhere. Buhari and APC will learn the hard way if they trivialise the capability of the new opposition party to inflict maximum damage. Besides, APC is not one, united house but a fractious party where warlords and godfathers perpetually scheme to take advantage of one another. Such a party is the veritable headquarters of fifth columnists and “insider sources” ready to squeal on their own party and spill the beans to gain the upper hand or pay back competitors who beat them to positions of influence and power. Importantly, six months in the saddle is enough a time for any administration to chalk up its own fair share of scandals and cans of worm, especially if the administration also conducts its affairs in secrecy. This administration will be making a grievous mistake if it thinks Buhari will forever remain unassailable in the eyes of Nigerians. The honeymoon may soon be over. Except the administration quickly begins to deliver on its promises to Nigerians, the story of the treacherous Tortoise and his in-law should serve as wake-up call. After collecting a wife, Tortoise still went ahead to steal from his father-in-law’s barn. He was caught, tied hands and legs, and brought to the village and chained to a tree in front of his in-law’s house. On their way to the market, everyone who saw Tortoise so disgraced inquired what could the matter be: On learning what Tortoise did, they rained insults on him and chorused, ‘serves you right’. But on their way back from the market in the evening and they still met Tortoise tied up by his in-law, the story changed and the in-law received the rough edge of the people’s tongue. The chorus became: ‘Do you want to kill him? Haven’t you punished him enough?’
Buhari should watch it lest a swing of public opinion steal upon him. Learn from the downfall of Jose Mourinho: Today’s hero can become tomorrow’s villain. Every conceivable “sin” is hanged around the neck of Jonathan/PDP today. Very well; but it will not be so forever. Very soon, the people will revolt and jump Buhari himself – except things improve. Teasing the “wailing wailers” (euphemism for PDP) like another presidential aide, Femi Adesina, did in his 2015 Christmas greetings may suffice for now; but I doubt if it will next year if the situation of Nigerians remain this parlous. By the way, is Femi not aware of the Yoruba saying: “akini n je akini; afinihan n je afinihan…?” Femi’s Christmas message, however, is a clear case of “abuni n je abuni…!” That, perhaps, is why it rebounded on the “wailing wailers”.
LAST WORD: I wish everyone out there a happy and prosperous New Year 2016.

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