Drawing past lessons to corroborate with today’s unfolding episodes, President Muhammadu Buhari’s political deja vu is an exemplary product of history and its long term lessons owing to the fact that some events that showcased him as a military ruler have resurfaced as a civilian president and this is a salient topic for sober reflections.
The most fascinating theme about this historical connectivity is our ability to understand it for accurate judgements that carry praises or blames. Since history trains us who we are and why we are the way we are, periscoping Buhari in this context is akin to searching yesterday’s happenings to comprehend today’s emerging reality. In other words, it is a lesson of discerning Buhari’s military junta and juxtaposing it alongside his democratic regime both of which bear noticeable resemblance in relation to corresponding events. In political parallelism, it is history bouncing back and dramatising its similarity character.
Recall that the military coup on the eve of 1984 ousted the late President Shehu Shagari. The core and driving force of that military action was the labeled condemnation against Shagari’s administration as the architect of Nigeria’s multidimensional crises at that time, notably of which were political and economic. In an elaborate festiveness expressed and conducted by Nigerians, Buhari was installed as a new leader with a messianic crown who vowed to offer us a ‘new lease of life’.
Like a spiritual enactment of a political reincarnation in 2015, the ghost of 1983 coup hunted former President Goodluck Jonathan. His administration was branded and lampooned as the worst evil threatening Nigeria and this time, it was mainly security disintegration and its imminent collapse which had brought him bad impression and through the power of votes, we saw the reinvention of Buhari as a faithful of democracy and we graciously welcomed him as twice the messiah we were waiting for.
Historically, the bloodless coup that enthroned Buhari in the power house was popularised by Nigerians as the most famous on the list of coup plotting in Nigeria because the monumental euphoria that greeted it was so unrivalled that Nigerians named the new political baby enticing names such as the regime of hope, the redeemer, the saviour, new year gift, blah blah blah. In a trajectory manner, the landslide victory that offered him the licence for entry into the corridors of power in 2015 was the most razzmatazz election victory displayed in Nigeria because of the overwhelming support the people showed him. It was a national vote for a ‘ change’, a hundred percent love for Buhari, for it was he only that mattered then.
For another recap with a view to aligning with the prevailing trends, the story of Buhari as a military despot narrates to us how the collective hopes of the people were uplifted to greater heights no sooner than he ursurped the mantle of leadership. Nigerians were groaning under the ‘wound’ inflicted on their psyche by the Shagari style leadership. However, instead of prescribing the relevant medication that could effectively dismiss their illness, Nigerians were given the wrong treatment that complicated the disease with more fatal injuries as essential commodities became scarce commodities for which Nigerians had to form long queues, wasting many hours just to purchase a single packet of ordinary detergent. This was in addition to other numerous policies designed to revamp the economy but were made more dangerous through military coercion that did greater harms than good to the masses.
When he made a successful comeback stage in 2015 through enduring perseverance, similar concerted and elated optimisms were clearly demonstrated with pomp and pageantry culminating in some loss of lives. To many among his cult followers, he was taken a mile further from an extra ordinary hero to something like an angel from Heaven who had come with glad tidings for the nation’s survival. Most Nigerians idolized him beyond reproach until they reached the point where there would be a divergence between what Buhari could not do to serve their aspirations and what they ought to do as a demonstration of their sabotaged optimism.
In a figurative term, therefore, a strong and tall wall now stands between Buhari and the disgruntled masses. While the latter are bearing unbearable living, the former assumes himself as putting things into proper perspectives. In other words, there is a clash of belief from both sides of the fence. Gradually, the tempo of his liking could no longer be sustained and the hundred percent love hitherto reserved for him was compelled to evaporate mysteriously to an unknown destination.
Before the demise of his 20 months military rule, most Nigerians were engulfed in a rapidly declining pessimism. The very person they trusted as a reformer was now the antagonist of their yearnings and aspirations. There were numerous decrees notably of which were decrees 2 and 4 that grossly violated fundamental human rights in which innocent people were detained and jailed. For instance, Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson of the Guardian newspaper were victims of Buhari’s high-handedness. The failed regime had retrenched a number of civil servants, introduced obnoxious levies, destroyed structures that were not even illegal,and banned street hawking, among others.
With barely five months to conclude his second term of eight-year leadership, there are unanimous feelings of uncertainty across the country. Buhari’s harsh economic policies have made life unbearable for the masses. Rising cost of living, currency devaluation, humongous debt, scarcity of petroleum products and their exorbitant prices are among the troubles that have devastated the people’s hopes and aspirations. This freaking scenario is a renaissance of what transpired when he was a military ruler.
Buhari’s encapsulation of his government as having done its best leaves much to be desired. Nevertheless, history has its own way of documenting the events of his administration and how it proffers its own verdict is just a matter of time. Though the people also have their reservations for evaluation as well, the fact remains that Buhari has been tested by history and the outcomes will be clearly pronounced in the aftermath of the life span of his power.
Buhari is apparently afraid of blames for the existing socioeconomic ills pervading the country and strongly believes that his government is ‘ corrective as well as constructive’. But the more he defends himself, the more I remember the quote of Goerge Santayana to the effect that, ‘ Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’
Abdullahi writes from Ringim, Jigawa state via [email protected]
