It’s now almost a week since President Muhammadu Buhari left Kano, where he went to commission some projects that include the three-layer Dangi interchange and the 203 km segment of the Kano-Kaduna rail project.
Before last week, perhaps because of the country’s condition, occasioned by the constant complaint of suffering and the daily difficulty experienced by the people, one would think if Buhari were to set his feet in Kano, no matter the quantum of security provided, the President would be booed to bummer in contempt.
Virtually everyone is crying of deprivation, oppression and poor return on political investment, at a level that is becoming too hard to endure.
And everything is blamed on Buhari. The extremists were even saying if Buhari were to stand for another election today, no matter the magic, he can not come any near half of what he got in 2019.
But Buhari puts the critics to shame last week, as the city was besieged by a sea of people, who took over every cranny of the state capital, in an effort to cheer the man that has undoubtedly turned into an enigma. The mammoth crowd that was at the airport, followed the President to the town and joined others at the major streets in the metropolis, to give him a rousing welcome.
Yes, Buhari is one person that is mysterious, or difficult to understand politically.
In the 2019 Presidential election, President Buhari won all the 44 local government areas of Kano State with 1.4 million votes. INEC records showed that he scored 1,464,768 (78.9 per cent) of the total votes cast, to beat the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who polled 391,593 (21.1 per cent).
Kano is Nigeria’s richest reservoir of votes, with more than 5 million registered voters in 2019.
Long before the last elections, pessimists of president Buhari were all over the place predicting his defeat, or at worse a close race between him and his main rival, Atiku Abubakar. In the end, they were also shamed, because he won the presidential election with almost four million votes.
Not happy with the outcome, Atiku cried foul, pointing accusing fingers at riggers and alleging many flaws and manipulations of the electoral process. He took legal action against Buhari but again lost.
The critics kept hammering on the insecurity Nigeria is facing, believing that it could make internal and external actors to turn their back on him. But Buhari seems unperturbed, as he remained resolutely determined and unwavering.
The government continue to assure the public that it is putting in more resources to increase the human capacity of the military and providing equipment and training, in an effort to end banditry and insurgency in the country. And the military is reportedly recording remarkable successes now.
The Kano visit by Buhari and the tumultuous turnout to receive him, is a manifestation of the President’s confidence on Kano and his perplexing enigma in Nigeria’s political history.
Yes, Buhari would continue to be grateful to the people of Kano, while politicians would continue to envy him, long after he must have left office in 2023.
Because despite the short notice and little publicity given to the short and surprise visit, and days after his departure, the story on the lips of many people in Kano is, Nigeria SAI BUHARI.
*Ibrahim, a media advisor writes from Abuja
