President Muhammadu Buhari; Hero of our democracy.

 


On the 29th of may, 2015, he was sworn in as president of the federal republic of Nigeria, and during his inaugural address, he uttered a sentence that has become the most quoted, most cryptic and probably most profound of any president in the history of Nigeria;

'I belong everybody, and I belong to nobody'.

Seven and a half years later into his reign, the quotation looks like a prophecy, for not only has he lived up to his signature quote, he has surpassed expectations in how devoted he is to making it manifest.

His tenure began with the treachery and insubordination in the contest of the leadership of the national assembly, where some rogue legislatures of the ruling party connived with the opposition to hijack the leadership of the NASS. It was the first test of his democratic credentials, their were calls and uproar for the president to go the 'Obasanjo way' and have them removed by any means necessary, however, he let the democratic process take its course. 


Today, Saraki is left gasping for breathe politically thanks to 'Otoge' translating loosely as 'enough is enough' that swept him and his stooges from the limelight in Kwara state, and his accomplist Dogara has been reduced to an ethno-religious champion fizzling out politically, and Dino Melaye who has reduced himself to a giant 'man-child'. Time has all dealt a big blow to their political careers. The president must be given credit for refusing the temptation and pressure to use the instruments of state against them, rather, letting voters neuter them.


Such was his commitment to our democratic journey that despite unprecedented provocations from the irascible former governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Peter Fayose and vitriolic adhominem attacks from Fani Kayode the president ignored them all as he understood the psychology of the political child and loser, who will throw all sorts of tantrums to be noticed and acknowledged, Fayose quitely melted into the background of the dustbin of past governors who are grasping for political relevance having lost his state, and Fani Kayode left to go back to his vomit and suck up to the APC just to have a bone thrown at him.

The advent of inconclusive elections in our political ecosystem sent tongues wagging becoming a huge source of controversy, however, a scholarly and unbiased look at the phenomena will make one to rather appreciate INEC, encouraged and unencumbered by the President's desire for transparency in our electoral process, for no president who is bent on rigging an election will allow the uncertainty of inconclusive polls, but outrightly rig as INEC used to during the dark days of Professor Maurice Iwu who has become the SI unit of electoral malfeasance.


President Muhammadu Buhari is a sticker for the rule of law, sometimes at the detriment of his party, the APC, with the supreme court's verdicts in Zamfara and Bayelsa based on technicalities handing over hard fought victories to the opposition and the ruling in 2019 in Rivers state that completely barred the APC from fielding any candidate for any post to the obvious advantage of the opposition PDP. The president's hands off approach to the judiciary which was almost sacrilegious in Nigeria's political ecosystem went s long way in entrenching judicial autonomy, thus, raising the credibility of the judicial arm of government.

President Muhammadu Buhari's refusal to be railroaded into accenting to a flawed electroral act in the previous dispensation that was full of pitfalls showed sound judgement as it a legislation promulgated in bad faith full of loopholes, his throughness and steadfastness despite a vicious campaign by the opposition and other mushroom NGOs has been vindicated. The introduction of BVAS has significantly improved the quality of our elections as it has made the phenomena of thuggery, ballot snatching and stuffing redundant and rigging counter productive. The use of iRev portal which allows for upload of results will allow voters and political parties to cross check announced results if they tally, this will boost confidence in our process and reduce the possibilities of post electoral violence. The passage and assension of the 'not-too-young-to-run' bill has opened a hitherto cordoned democratic space for the youth.

His statesmanlike conduct before, during and after the hotly contested APC primaries was unprecedented, his refusal to favor or endorse any candidate, thus ensuring a level playing field for all saved the ruling party from potential internal crisis and possible disintegration and avoiding the fate of the opposition PDP, whose primaries left soo much bad blood leading to fissures, especially the Governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike led G-5 which damaged the party irreparably.




It is almost counter-intuitive that a retired general has done more than any president in entrenching and nurturing democracy in Africa's largest nation and economy, but on further consideration, it is not surprising, for no Nigerian has been a victim of electoral shenanigans like President Muhammadu Buhari, from the Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu led INEC of 2003 and 2007 which even the winner, Late President Umaru Musa Yar'adua admitted was flawed to the scientifically rigged 2011 elections.

The naira redesign though painful but went a long way in ensuring an election that was almost devoid of voter inducement and compromise of INEC and security officials, a 'cashless election' if you will.

The outcomes of the 2023 presidential elections have sent shockwaves, where an unfancied Peter Obi led labor party totally upturned the electoral map and Rabi'u Kwankwasso led NNPP making a strong showing, especially in his home state of Kano and appreciable level of penetration in other 'core northern' states. The ruling APC could not win in the president's home state of Katsina, nor in thier presidential candidate's home state of Lagos and other key ruling party strongholds like Yobe (the opposition has never won in Yobe since 1999), Kaduna, Kano and Osun points to President Muhammadu Buhari's commitment to a free and credible election, on which he delivered.

The masses voted and their votes counted. With this, they were able to remove those they deemed unfit to continue ruling/leading them. Many incumbent governors aspiring to be Senators were not elected by the masses and they failed. Incumbent Senators and members of the House of Representatives were sent packing by the votes of the common man. An Okada rider won a seat in the House of Representatives because he was voted by the masses and their votes counted.



This, if sustained will change the democratic atmosphere of our nation, and anybody elected by the electorate will have to justify their votes should he wish to be elected again, otherwise, in the next election, they will use their votes to send him packing. The era of selection rather than election is gradually coming to an end, and President Muhammadu Buhari must be commended for this silent revolution.

INEC still has a lot of room for improvement, especially in the logistical aspects, materials and personnel arriving late in many places have disenfranchised millions and further adoption of technology will make the process less cumbersome and more transparent.

Whilst the pain of electoral defeat and the hysteria and euphoria associated with elections may becloud the reasoning of many, any objective analysis of the President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure will leave one with no other conclusion but to give him his laurels, as even the President of the United States, Joe Biden attested to the fact by calling him 'a model of democracy in Africa'.




He will be remembered as the president who never used the instrument of state for personal aggrandizement, and for this and many reasons highlighted earlier, must be considered as the father of Nigeria's modern democracy.



Comments

  1. Good article. Yes President Buhari has proved to the world that he believes in democracy and he is a true democrat. I am happy he did not at any time descend with any federal might on behalf of his party to give an advantage to them. Not many people can remain this faithful to the ideals of democracy. History will be kind to him. Thank you for penning this piece

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  2. It's a beautiful article sir, well pieced, well done.
    Indeed Mr. Buhari has a good claim to the democratic hero title through his abidance to the rule of law —although this abidance can be criticized for being selective, taking into consideration his refusal to uphold Supreme Court's rulings on Zakzaky, Dasuki, Naira redesign and others; one can boldly say through all these, the interest of the nation was always close at heart to him.
    History will be kind to him.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Ya Sheikh, surely their is room for improvement

      Delete
  3. Exhaustively documented and well written.

    ReplyDelete

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