WAKE UP: That fruitless attempt to tag Buhari’s government 2015-2023 as waste

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

“We are waiting to judge administration of the idol, for whose reason they are labouring hard to tag Buhari’s eight-year government as a waste. Buhari’s government in 2015 celebrated First 100 Days in Office and we saw the stage of projects flag-off and ongoing that were celebrated.”

I woke up in the morning of Saturday December 22, 2023 and checked my clock to see that it was exactly 5:03am. I had returned late the night before from the Island of Lagos where the hectic avoidable traffick logjam caused by unannounced presence or visit without prior notice of the President of Nigeria, Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had thrown the people into a state of an almost unending hardship.

Upon that wake up and after solat subhi, I opened my phone WhatsApp to bemoan the post by a friend, who tries to show that he has been captured by the  current mantra of members of Tinubu’s government, his supporters and those seeking him to give them appointments and who have been using destruction of their principal’s predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, as means to achieving that end.

This Buhari he has joined them to destroy, along those who are defending their indefensible idol, is the man, who for three good times had been decorated with the Nigeria’s highest honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, rose from the ranks of Captain in the Nigeria Army which he wore from the Civil War period (1967-1970) up to the rank of Major General at the time of his retirement in 1985.

The Muhammadu Buhari is the Alhaji, Major General, Integrity Apostle, Globalised Respect Commander, Straight Personality and man who not even his worst of enemies has successfully and evidently been able to call a thief. It does not matter if I am described as laundering the image of the only Nigerian Head of State and President, whose money cannot be won in bet by any unholy money (loaded for another discussion), and has record of any American President ever seeking in bow. On his 81st birthday I reminded the set of mischief makers involved in the current smearing of Buhari’s personality the fact that he is one that not even his worst of enemies can call a thief and has been Mr. Performer in his chosen administrative direction.

He is an ex-Civil War fighter and veteran, ex-Military Governor of North-Eastern State (now Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Taraba, Adamawa and Gombe) later split into seven states governed by him alone as 25 year-old yong officer of the Nigeria Army, Ex-Federal Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, Ex-General Officer Commanding (GOC) Three Armoured Division Nigeria Army, Ex-Military Head of State, Ex-Chairman, Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) and Immediate Past President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am talking about Retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.

The smearing post

But in his post, the BATist posted: “SHAME/WASTE OF A NATION. Was there any president in of Nigeria between 2015 – 2023. WASTE PERIOD”. He said and there is no considered need to mention the name of the poster or of those that commented.

Another person joined him with this: “Rogues were just having their field day… looting whatever lootable…known there was an ‘EmptyEggshell’ who could not read between lines ..and can just sign anything ???? and they maximized the opportunity to the brimm… Nigeria Treasury now almost completely emptied…. ????”

The third interlocutor came in with a picture of rot in Nigeria Airways and wrote: “YEAH,The Last Federal Government Did this to This Great Country,They Bastardized the National Carrier,looted it Dry,shee bi?”

My reply

As at Saturday morning that I stumbled over that comment, the post was 9-hour old. Then I expectedly found the need to correct the wrong impression created by the the BATist. My intervention was as reposted below as I wrote:

I laughed and have continued to laugh seeing this post. But (names withheld) , you have only opened the floor for Tinubu boys and girls to expose their inadequacies of knowledge based truths.

But (names withheld) became my consolation when he said yeah, and posted the killing of Nigeria Airways. Except Oluremi was serious about linking that Nigeria Airways death with government of Nigeria between your period of access meet (2015-2023), he did well by the failed attempt and fruitless effort of Tinubu’s supporters to destroy the very man that made their boastful principal president by deciding not to use his power as sitting president to stop him.

Now, instead for you the Tinubu boys and girls to ask your principal to sit down, going to eight months after assuming office, and do governance, you are still here trying to rewrite recent history of governance in Nigeria in our very presence.

We are good that we are still here. Dada, my friend and brother, might have posted this because he was misinformed. Otherwise, he should have expantiated to let us know how government of Nigeria between 2015-3023 qualified to be a waste.

How? If he remembers that Buhari’s worst of enemies will never call the man or his government a thief, he would have tarried a while to push this disgusting postulation into the public. Whatever we do, we should be mindful of our natural responsibility for truth, facts and fear of him that created us and who can cease us at any time.

How can it be a waste or fraud, a government that spent the early part of his first 4-year tenure to start and complete long awarded but undone projects of predecessors’ administrations, that is, of Obasanjo and Jonathan?

He did those things, for examples, the Abuja-Kaduna Railways, Lagos-Ibadan Railways he initiated, designed, awarded, flagged off, completed and commissioned, many new tarmacs and runways at Nigeria’s international and local airports (his Minister of Transportation/Aviation Chief Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi will remain in golden book of history of national development for this). Buhari commenced rehabilitation of the four refineries that only him built as Federal Commissioner for Petroleum, rose to complete long started but abandoned projects of either Jonathan or earlier governments before him WITHOUT BUHARI making attempt to claim or denigrate his predecessor (s), even at that.

How can you tag such an administration a waste after it helped solve decades old problem of daily deaths on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by Buhari’s committed political will to seeing the eventual beginning and completion of the over over 180 kilometres road that is the busiest in Nigeria road network with full and indisputably of highest economic value chain?

Even if Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was the only project done by Buhari in eight years, it will be a great sin to God and wrong against humanity to say his government was a waste. I once heard about how an ambulance conveying a sick person and medical team with him from Lagos for a surgical operation only UCH could do and, midway, the ambulance got entrapped in bad road afflicted accident and all its human contents were claimed by jaws of death. I personally witnessed accident involving an 18-passenger bus, whose presenters were thrown, rolled deep in sand having swerved along the road side that we initially thought they were bags of cement until some of them started regaining consciousness and rearing up their heads. Is it such a Buhari government  that Tinubu’s supporters including those who are looking for him to give them appointments and government members are labouring hard to let us accept to be a waste?

Aviation, for eight years, there was no commercial or chartered or private flight crash because the administration, say whatever you like, was full of discipline. You cannot achieve 100 percent perfection in a multi-ownership venture like of democratic government of Nigeria. However, the integrity of Buhari remained a guiding principle for his administration abs members in his 8 years in office.

Looting? You cannot be correct to say that Buhari’s government was a looter because a government that sees looters and arrest them means business with anti-corruption fighting. It is different from government that either defends looting or prosecutes anti-corruption war as a tool for vendetta and equipment to be deployed in fighting against political enemies.

Agriculture? Buhari was excellent. Your principal should tell us what role he played to let Buhari’s many largesse of Federal Government sent to Lagos reach the people.  I won’t say more than this.

Ajaokuta? Buhari through his Attorney General that Tinubu’s supporters hated so much engaged in serious legal battle that returned Ajaokuta Rolling Mills to the ownership by government. Anyone who has succeeded him should up the standards from there.

Global respect for Nigeria was restored under the government of Buhari between 2015-2023 and ELECTORAL CONDUCTS AND PROCESSES were based on “one-man one-vote”, letting Nigerian electorate choose and vote for candidates of their choices across the political parties with less of post-election litigations.

Investment in the armed forces, security and intelligence architectures? President Buhari’s 2015-2023 government will continue to be remembered for the impact he made. Buhari restored dignity, confidence and trust in this sector of national standing. He knew not how Boko Haram started, same way he knew not the modules operandi of terrorists that abducted and took away over 200 Chibok school girls under Goodluckj Jonathan administration in 2014. But one year after, in the fulfilment of of his campaign promise, he retrieved close to 200 retrievable among them and took them after the other abroad for complete rehabilitation and sound education. It was those who do not know how fighting terrorism is operated that think Buhari did nothing on security but their conscience with hitch them when the likes of fearless Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, and the people of his state tell them how their state is now a hub for true governance Tourism. And they give thanks to Muhammadu Buhari GCFR.

We are waiting to judge administration of the idol, for whose reason they are labouring hard to tag Buhari’s eight-year government as a waste. Buhari’s government in 2015 celebrated First 100 Days in Office and we saw the stage of projects flag-off and ongoing that were celebrated. Seven months after, since Buhari’shanding over in May, their idol is yet to take off even as with poverty level seriously on the high side daily and these guys are pretending like all is well.

Openness. The government of Buhari was transparent, accountable, responsive and always ready to explain as it, more often, encouraged the public to “say something when you see something”. It has now been said that those who used the media to pretend not to see the achievements and performances, but were quick to publicise twisted news and information, about Buhari’s government are the same people who are today not only being economical with the truth but also are allegedly buying over the same media, in order not write about their own inadequacies. Law of Nature? It will certainly take its course.

Currently, they have inadequacies such as scarcity of cash making Christmas unfelt in the market and streets, unending rise of rate of foreign exchange between Naira and Dollar despite earlier boast of injection of dollars to crash the dollars, including the promised intervention of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to bring down the Dollar against Naira and help revamp Nigeria’s ailing refineries. Nobody has been able to come out to ask questions why these are not physically seen. The Port Harcourt Refinery being celebrated now is the product of $1.5 billion Buhari’s rehabilitation he started and was almost completed as at the time of his exit from power.  It was part of preparation Buhari made towards anticipated removal of fuel subsidy he was advised by IMF to do. He was always clear about fuel subsidy removal, saying without working refineries, locally, he would do no such thing. How one of them now blames Buhari for not having removed subsidy before Tinubu’s coming remains a question only him can answer.

To end this with Oluremi’s posted comments he illustrated with a dead Nigeria Airways plane, let me clear your minds with a reminder that Obasanjo (1999-2007) killed Nigeria Airways and failed to settle its workers until after Jonathan when Buhari came and settled them. Buhari also settled reintegrated Biafra soldiers and, INDUSTRIALLY, he put smiles in the face of manufacturers and farmers. We saw the ranking of Mouka Foam as the best producer of foam in Africa, despite struggle against Buhari’s effort at ensuring effective power generation by elements to whom hitherto PDP government sold NEPA and who used it as weapon to sabotage his government.

So, to say Buhari’s government (2015-2023) was a waste is to commit treason.

*WAKE UP is opinion article column of Nigeria’s Prince Bashir Adefaka, a journalist, publisher, media and publicity consultant and media business proprietor. Reach him via his email: omope72@gmail.com or WhatsApp (only): 08163323906.