By George Onmonya Daniel
I feel a need to respond to Mr. Femi Adesina’s article titled,
“President Buhari focused on National Building and Unity of Nigeria,”
published in the Daily Trust of 15th September, 2020.
Being the spokesman to the president, Mr. Femi Adesina’s sole job is
defending the president and nothing more no matter what. I understand
that. It’s a tough job and right now I don’t envy him. These are not the
best of times for President Muhammadu Buhari and it’s not an easy job
defending the indefensible, especially at a time when perception is
completely not favorable of the president and his administration.
This time most of the mordant criticism of the Buhari administration is
coming from his strong base, the Core North, even from the President’s
home state of Katsina. We have witnessed protests over bandits coming
from Katsina State and seen photos of protesters burning billboard with
the large photo of the president.
Videos have emerged on social media with different notable Islamic
clerics angrily criticising the president and blaming him for failing
the masses, all of them noting the hunger in the land as food prices
skyrocket out of reach of the masses, and the insecurity problem in the
North West where bandits are on rampage killing and kidnapping people
for ransome.
On top all of these scathing criticism, former President Olusegun
Obasanjo finally buried his fang into the sore by hitting on Buhari when
he made a statement in Abuja recently at the consultative dialogue
attended by various socio-cultural groups which includes Afenifere,
Middle Belt Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and Pan Niger
Delta Forum. Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo said Nigeria is slowly becoming a
failed, divided state, and the poverty capital of the world. He added
that he has never seen a country in such a bad state, blaming the
current state of the country on poor management of the nation’s
diversity. Prior to this Obasanjo had accused President Buhari of
nepotism in his appointments of people working with him in a letter.
Despite Mr. Femi Adesina’s attempts to wade off former President
Obasanjo’s statement by attacking his person and his administration,
notable Nigerians have waded in supporting Obasanjo. Elder statesman,
Playwrights and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, issued a statement saying
that even though he is not a fan of Obasanjo he cannot fault his
statement.
President Buhari is not having it easy barely a year and four months
into his second term in office. He can no longer hide under the 16 years
underperformance of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in power that
shielded him in his first four years in office. He can no longer hide
under the cover of his late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, who was his
shock absorber, absorbing all the criticism and taking it with
equanimity. Accused of misleading the president.
Mr. Femi Adesina’s efforts to defend his boss is something he is paid to
do, but nowadays it is becoming increasingly impossible to be
believable. With hunger in the land, killings and kidnappings now the
new normal, corruption within Buhari’s people, with Magu, the
anti-corruption boss getting busted and removed, unemployment, and more,
no one in his or her right senses will take this administration
seriously.
