Buhari, don’t just go in 2023


Again, President Muhammadu Buhari, this week, has declared that he would quit office at the end of his tenure in 2023.
In a letter to mark the 2020 New Year celebrations in Abuja, the president said he would not take part in any future elections in the country.
“I will be standing down in 2023 and will not be available in any future elections,” he said. “But I am determined to help strengthen the electoral process both in Nigeria and across the region, where several ECOWAS members go to the polls this year.”  
Ordinarily, with the country’s constitutional provision for two terms of four years in office for president, his vice, governors and their deputies, Buhari needs not to say that he will leave at the expiration of his second term. The president’s party is in control of the majority of legislators at the federal level and in a majority of the states in the country. So, if the president wishes, he can use his party’s overwhelming parliamentary superiority to seek third-term in office.


Other than that, this is Africa, where with a few notable exceptions, there is and has been reluctance among the continent’s leaders to relinquish power. Whether they ascended through a military coup or a civilian election, no sooner do they get there than they begin plotting and scheming to stay in power indefinitely.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon, which can be described as the foremost weakness of the leaders of the third world has shown them to be vain, greedy, immature and inconsiderate. The attitude of African leaders have become a major threat to the rule of law and good governance.
Many African leaders have become an obstacle to progress and development in their individual countries as they consistently refuse to play politics in a fair and even handed manner. They are often tyrannical and intolerant of opposing views.
This matter, needless to say, is serious and deserves the African Union (AU) to devote a session to the consideration of this political aberration in Africa.For example, in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni who assumed power in 1986, is planning and plotting to go for another term, contrary to his country’s constitution, and in Cameroun, Paul Biya has been in power since 1982.
Not long ago, in Nigeria, we had the case of General Ibrahim Babangida who, not satisfied with the unilateral extension of his term to eight years, planned to retain power for even longer. He annulled a free and fair election presumably won by Chief Moshood Abiola.


But when Babangida found that it was impossible for him to continue in office, he announced to the world that he was ‘stepping aside’ in order for a civilian interim government appointed by him to take over power.


Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who swore to uphold the constitution of Nigeria, was and still is embroiled in a ferocious debate on whether he planned, contrary to the constitution, to go for a third term.
However, while it’s important to appreciate Buhari’s resolve not to violate the constitution, there is the need for the evolution of a new style of leadership in Africa, a style that encourages mentoring and succession.
In advanced democracies, there is always a succession plan unlike what obtains in Africa, where it is often not known where the next leader is coming from. There is, therefore, the need for Buhari to identify and groom his successor if only to guarantee the continuity of the laudable policies and programmes of his administration.


For Buhari, it is not enough to say that he won’t run again and highlight the fact that that, like him, those who succeed others must allow others to succeed them. The president should, rightly, show interest in who succeeds him because doing so it in the interest of the country’s process of leadership change and overall development.

Let’s keep fighting corruption


 President Muhammadu Buhari, like he used to do, this week, urged Nigerians to be tolerant, law abiding and peace loving as they begin year 2020.
In a letter to Nigerians to mark the New Year celebration, the president stated why Nigerians should rededicate themselves to the service of the country as the nation entered what he describes as a decade of prosperity and promise for Nigeria and for Africa.
“This is a new year and the beginning of a new decade – the Nigerian decade of prosperity and promise for Nigeria and Africa,’’ he said.
The president attributed the many successes recorded by his present administration to the support of Nigerians.
“This is a joint initiative. Where our policies have worked best, it has been because of the support of ordinary Nigerians,” he said.


The president said that the policies of his administration are working and the results would continue to show themselves more clearly in the years ahead.But, arguably, the president said: “Nigeria is the most tremendous, can-do market, offering extraordinary opportunities and returns. Investors can look forward with confidence not only to an increasing momentum of change but also to specific incentives, including our new visa-on-arrival policy.”


Speaking on the issue of the crusade against corruption, the president said the government remains committed to fighting all forms of corrupt practices to a standstill.
And, truly, the government must wrestle corruption to the ground in all its manifestations. Otherwise, the government’s desires to have investors come and invest here and engender socio-economic development will remain a mere dream. Corruption, has, for too long and for no just reasons, allowed by the previous administrations to thrive and stunt development of the country and its people.


While, on the other hand, the beneficiaries of corruption who, in most cases, are government functionaries and their cronies continue to live large all at the expense of the nation’s development.
Therefore, to improve the economy of Nigeria, Nigerian leaders should begin to consider working on the statistics of corruption in the country and they should be sincere in holding public servants or any Nigerian concerned responsible for their actions and in-actions.


Agreed, this is easier said than done, but the fact remains that if the economy of Nigeria is to be improved, Nigeria needs to be pragmatic in fighting corruption.Of course, to achieve socio-economic development in Nigeria, electricity remains one factor that must be fixed. Electricity means everything and there can be no industrialisation and economic improvement in Nigeria without Nigerians fixing electricity.


Unfortunately, fixing this area in Nigeria provides, more than any other thing, a rather secure means of corruption, where officials have embezzled billions of dollars while pretending to fix the nation’s electricity.


There’s no need to say that in order to develop, Nigeria must defeat extremism and violence. Every nation that wants to develop knows that without peaceful atmosphere prevailing, there cannot be development. Thus, Nigerian economy can be improved if insurgency is discouraged.
Above all, the Buhari-led administration should prioritise education with a view to improving the dismal literacy level in the country. After all, education remains the bedrock of growth and development as people that are educated are, in truth, prosperous people.
The government should encourage every Nigerian to access education, at least basic, education and political education which all would combine to help Nigerians hold their leaders responsible and accountable.

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