Buhari’s Eight-Year Rule: A Postscript (1) By Kazeem Akintunde
President Muhammadu Buhari, like a heavyweight boxing champion going for the 12th round, is already battle-weary and eagerly awaiting the referee to end the contest. For him, his contract with Nigeria and Nigerians will come to an end on May 29th when he would formally handover the reign of government to President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He has told whoever cares to listen that he is tired of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, and longs to be with his cows and people in Daura, his hometown of Katsina state, for a deserved rest.
In the next three or four editions of ‘The Monday Discourse’ starting this week, we shall examine the contributions and failures of his government on national development in core sectors vis-à-vis the campaign promises of the All Progressive Congress (APC), the political vehicle through which Buhari came to power and what has been achieved so far. Today, the emphasis will be on the fight against corruption and insecurity that has spread to all parts of the country.
In 2015, when Buhari was campaigning to lead Nigeria after three failed attempts in 2003 and 2007 on the platform of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), and in 2011, under the banner of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), he promised Nigerians Heaven on earth but the electorate did not see him worthy of being elected their leader. On those occasions, he was rejected at the polls but in 2014, he formed an alliance with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), led by Tinubu (the man he will be handing over power to), to form the APC. That party, a year later, was able to convince Nigerians of the need to cast their ballots for the new party, promising to change their lot within a short period of time. Buhari became the standard bearer of the party and soon got elected into office as the number one citizen of the most populous black country in the world.
What endeared Buhari to the masses was his spartan lifestyle as a military officer who is seen as a disciplined man that would be ready to tackle corruption headlong. Again, as a retired General, he is perceived as one who would give the insecurity that the Jonathan government seemed incapable of tackling a bloody nose. But eight years after, insecurity and corruption seem to have found a home and a bed with Buhari-led administration.
The APC and Buhari in their manifesto, promised to urgently increase the capacity and capability of Nigeria’s military, police, and other security agencies through the employment of additional personnel, provision of modern equipment, and a commitment to professionalism, merit and excellence in the respective services to meet the needs of Nigeria’s growing population. Specifically, it promised to provide an average of 200 patrol vehicles per annum to each state police command in the country, with the 36 commands and the FCT getting 7,400 vehicles at an average cost of N5 million each, thereby spending N37 billion annually. In four years, the party said that it would spend N148 billion to provide patrol vehicles for the police. Apart from vehicles donated by corporate bodies and state governments, the Federal Government only early this year, bought some crowd control and special utility vehicles for the police. The yearly 200 vehicles are nowhere in sight.
Although annually, money was budgeted for police commands and formations, the funds are not enough to radically improved the lot of the average police officer, some of whom are forced to sleep in derelict quarters and some, in personal vehicles once they are transferred outside their bases.
Additionally, the APC promised to create immediate new jobs by employing an average of 10,000 police officers to improve the police-to-population ratio nationwide. In fulfillment of this promise, the Police Service Commission, few years after the administration took over the reign of government, advertised and recruited 10,000 people into the force.
However, infighting on who should be the boss between the Police Service Commission and the Inspector General of Police subsequently killed further recruitment exercises. It was so bad that the two institutions had to drag the matter before the judiciary and the president kept mum throughout the whole period.
Aside from the Police, the Nigerian military, consisting of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, have recruited officers although the exact number could not be established due to the sensitive nature of the exercise. The administration could also not ensure proper procurement practices within the military, police, and paramilitary bodies as contained in its party manifesto. This has led to high-wired corruption among the top echelon of the military. While the APC promised to review hazard allowance, increase death and disability insurance from N100,000 to N1 million, and provide better logistics to the military, the police, and paramilitary services, it is still the same old story of retirees and dead military officers getting their entitlement paid as at when due.
In the fight against the deadly Boko Haram sect, the government has evidently pushed back the deadly terrorists but it has failed to rein in the rampaging herdsmen who have continued to unleash terror on communities across the country. Besides, kidnapping, armed robbery, and sundry crimes have not abated. Rather, banditry and kidnapping have been on the rise and have, in fact, been turned into a big business across the country. Citizens have been forced to cough out several millions of naira to pay ransom for kidnapped loved ones. It is so bad that now, a wife can plan the kidnap of her husband all in an effort to get some quick cash and the law enforcement agencies have not been able to rein in the problem.
What was once predominant in a part of the country has now spread to almost every geopolitical zone in the country in the form of one attack or the other, from armed groups such as Boko Haram/ISWAP, IPOB separatists, and bandits. Nigeria is also witnessing arguably the highest number of abductions and hostage-taking since 2014, when the Chibok schoolgirls were abducted. Besides, the country is also witnessing jailbreaks as no fewer than four prisons were affected in the past year. Additionally, bandits have overshadowed the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists as they have made some states in the North-west and North-central the epicentres of killings in the country.
Hundreds of Nigerians are kidnapped monthly by armed groups across the country. The victims are usually held for days and weeks until a ransom is paid. Early this year, over 50 train passengers were kidnapped in March from a Kaduna-bound train. They were only released after huge sums of money exchanged hands. Beyond kidnapping, dozens of people are killed monthly across Nigeria by various non-state actors, but Buhari says he “and the security agencies are doing all we can to free those unfortunate countrymen and countrywomen safely.(sic) I am living daily with the grief and worry for all those victims and prisoners of terrorism and kidnapping.”
His government tried all it could to stem the tide by pumping money into the security sector but those in charge of those critical areas of our national lives saw those funds as manna from heaven that they diverted to their personal pockets while our President either feigned ignorance or, perhaps, due to the fact that they are of the same ethnic stock, looks the other way. Many top military generals became billionaires overnight while the rank and file were left with outdated equipment at the battle fronts.
Corruption, which many Nigerians felt Buhari would be in a better position to tackle became another problem as our ratings by Transparency International and other World bodies against corruption is nothing to write home about.
Indeed, the United States of America in the year 2020 described the scale of corruption in Nigeria under Buhari’s administration as “massive, widespread, and pervasive.’ According to the 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released by the US Department of State, Section 4 of the report focusing on Nigeria titled ‘Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government’, the United States noted that: “Although the law provides criminal penalties for conviction of official corruption, the government did not consistently implement the law, and government employees frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. “Massive, widespread, and pervasive corruption affected all levels of government, including the judiciary and security services. The constitution provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution for the President, Vice President, Governors, and Deputy Governors while in office. There were numerous allegations of government corruption during the year.” The report released on March 30, 2021, also touched on the security situation in the country, noting that, “The insurgency in the Northeast by the militant terrorist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa continued. “The groups conducted numerous attacks on government and civilian targets, resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries, widespread destruction, the internal displacement of more than two million persons, and the external displacement of somewhat more than an estimated 300,000 Nigerian refugees to neighboring countries as of December 14.” In actual fact, we do not need the U.S. department to tell us that Corruption under Buhari was taken a notch higher than before.
Former Nigeria’s Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, had said that corruption in President Buhari’s administration was worse than when he was in government. Babangida, while speaking on ARISE TV few years ago, said that while he moved against a former military Governor who embezzled N313,000, those who stole billions in Buhari’s government are walking freely.
Babangida, who served as military Head of State between 1985 – 1993 said that his administration was a saint compared to what is happening now. Asked if he agrees with those who said his government was very corrupt, Babangida said: “But what’s happening now is worse than when we were in power… we are saints when compared with that.”
Babangida said he sacked a Governor during his time for corruption involving money less than N300.
President-elect Tinubu and his team have their work cut out for them. It will not be easy and it never was meant to be. Securing and uniting the country, tackling corruption, revenue generation, debt management and strengthening institutions of government should be of immediate concern for the president-elect, because, as a matter of fact, the challenges met by President Buhari in 2015 still remain. Whether he has put the nation on a pedestal for growth and development still remains to be seen, not until a full historical appraisal is made, in the future, at least. It is, however, time to allow President Buhari to retire peacefully to Daura while Nigerians hope and pray that the incoming government will have the balls to tackle insecurity and corruption that seem to have now become part of our national life in Nigeria. God will help him.
See you next week
