A colleague helped to coin this headline. It stemmed from our conversation
\non the state of the nation; the anger on the streets; the dismay and
\ndistraught that drape the faces of the people, the frustrations that barb
\nthe souls of men, the bitterness that attends otherwise cordial
\nrelationships, the Hobbesian vitriolic angst that separates neighbours
\nthese days.<\/p>\n
Our talk centred on the economy, the erosion and degradation of the
\npurchasing power of Nigerians; the stripping of men of their manliness,
\nthe corrosion of the pride of women; the savagery of employers against
\ntheir employees to the point of sacking them in hordes and driving them
\ninto the streets of stress, into the paths of pain. It was then my dear
\ncolleague, an economist and Chevening scholar, averted my mind to a
\ntrending disease on social media. It is called Buharia, some dubbed it
\nBuhariasis. And someone even added that it is worse than diarrhea.<\/p>\n
The disease is reportedly fatal, more dangerous than HIV\/AIDS, heart
\nattack, malaria or any of the mortal ailments that have continued to
\nassail the nation. Buharia is the latest malady in town and its hatchery
\nis the President Muhammadu Buhari government. It should be expected. Every
\ngovernment in Nigeria comes with its peculiar manifestations. The Umaru
\nYar\u2019Adua government was notorious for its self-inflicted inertia, a
\ngovernment that did not move, could not move and did not even attempt to
\nmake any motion. It was simply inert. The circumstantial Goodluck Jonathan
\ngovernment was itself bogged down by circumstances of its birth. The man
\nfrom Otuoke all too soon lost his streak of good luck and moulted into a
\nsocio-economic gridlock. Both Yar\u2019Adua and Jonathan were weak leaders and
\nthe locusts capitalized on their weakness to feast on the national
\npatrimony. But even in their weakness, life was still tolerable under both
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
Unlike Yar\u2019Adua and Jonathan, Buhari comes as a strong man of steely
\nfibre. He comes with a perception of being squeaky clean, reticent,
\nascetic and someone who would not condone the feast of lucre or drink from
\nthe broth of corruption. This is the profile that brought him to power.
\nAnd he knew it, and made good use of it when he hinged his campaign on the
\nramparts of anti-corruption.<\/p>\n
But Buhari has a dark side which many of his admirers never factored into
\nthe mix. He is a poor manager, lacking in peoples skill and void of the
\ncerebral aptitude required of his office. He has yet another weakness. He
\nis an unrepentant nepotist, parochial in his worldview of the concept of
\nfederalism and nationalism.<\/p>\n
It is the clash of the dual personalities in one man that has created the
\nsocial discontent that attends his administration. Yes, Buhari the upright
\nman is fighting corruption, but it is a clearly lopsided fight that tends
\nto hypocrisy. Buhari is vigorously probing how the Jonathan government
\npillaged the national treasury to execute their agenda in the 2015 general
\nelections but he has failed to disclose the sponsors of his own election
\nand how such sponsors made the billions of naira splashed in the
\nelectioneering that brought him to office. I commend Buhari\u2019s courage to
\ntame corruption but it would just be fine, even better and justiceable, if
\nhe starts from his closets.<\/p>\n
Buhari\u2019s proclivity to nepotism beggars belief. Nigeria is yet to witness
\nany leader that has acted in a manner that shows scant or no regard for
\nfederal character. Not even the late General Sani Abacha at the height of
\nhis tyranny was this nepotistic in his appointments. Indeed, President
\nBuhari deserves an Oscar in this regard.<\/p>\n
A more darkling and troubling part of the President is that he is
\nhorrendously a poor manager, an unwilling even unprepared administrator.
\nBuhari is a slow actor. And even when he acts, his actions do not justify
\nhis slowness because in most cases, so far, they lack thoroughness.<\/p>\n
Theresa May became the British Prime Minister, the second female to hold
\nsuch position after Margaret Thatcher, on Wednesday, July 13. Same day,
\nshe named six key cabinet members with a promise to unveil her full
\nministerial team in a matter of days. Now compare with Buhari\u2019s style of
\nleadership. He was sworn-in as President on May 29, 2015. He named no aide
\nwith immediacy, had no ministers and trudged on without a cabinet for six
\nmonths. Such lethargy from a leader; such inclination to walk and work
\nalone does no good to productivity. In fact, it is anathema to
\nproductiveness.<\/p>\n
But that is the character and nature of Mr. Buhari, the lone ranger. As
\nyou read this most parastatals are without the full complement of their
\nboards. Till this day, about 38 parastatals do not have budgets; their
\nbudgets are yet to be passed and we are in the second half of the year. It
\nis a carry-over from the Buhari style. Remember the national budget
\nsuffered the same delay. First, it was submitted to the National Assembly
\nvery late, then it got missing, underwent mutilation and later resurfaced
\nbefore it was passed.<\/p>\n
Newton\u2019s law says \u201caction and reaction are equal and opposite\u201d. This means
\nthat for every action, there is a commensurate consequence. In the case of
\nBuhari, Nigerians are already paying for his slowness and inertia. The
\ndelay in passage of the budget, the non-composition of boards of
\nparastatals resulted in the delay in the execution and payment for jobs
\nrequiring the ratification of a tenders\u2019 board.\u00a0 Up till this day,
\nPresident Buhari is still grumbling over the recent devaluation of the
\nnaira by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Yet, conventional economics and
\nwisdom suggest otherwise. He would rather no action is taken at all to
\nsave the naira.<\/p>\n
This type of logic is what has kept the national economy down. It is the
\nroot cause of Buharia, the trending disease in Nigeria. Its symptoms are
\nmanifold. High cost of goods and services, massive job cuts to the extent
\nthat the Minister of Labour and Productivity tried to use fiat to halt the
\njob loss, avoidable social discontent typified by the actions of the
\npro-Biafra agitators, the Niger Delta Avengers and other upheavals across
\nthe nation.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian economy is in stasis but it is not solely down to the dip in
\ncrude oil receipts. It is even much more a function of lack of creativity
\nand inventiveness in the management of the little drops that still accrue
\nfrom the oil and gas sector. President Buhari has demonstrated enough
\nevidence to show his poor understanding of how to manage scarce resources.
\nTo use the words of President Olusegun Obasanjo: \u201cBuhari is not a very hot
\nperson on the economy and foreign affairs. But he will do well in matters
\nof military and he will do well in fighting Boko Haram\u201d.<\/p>\n
Yes, Buhari may have done well in fighting insurgency, but he has done a
\nterrible damage to the nation\u2019s economy, first by his inertia and now by
\nhis lack of understanding of the dictates of modern economics.<\/p>\n
Way out: Mr. Buhari should reform his ways, be more inclusive in his
\nappointments; learn to trust people including those he appointed. He would
\ndo well to arrest the drift to anarchy especially by assuaging the anger
\nof the various agitators. The consequences of Buharia are damaging enough;
\nhe must not add to the distress that hounds the people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A colleague helped to coin this headline. It stemmed from our conversation on the state of the nation; the anger on the streets; the dismay and distraught that drape the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n