It
is indisputable that the greatest undoing of the President Muhammadu
Buhari-administration is his praise singers. Since he assumed office on
May 29, 2015, they have been moving from one television and radio
station to another speaking vehemently in support of whatever decisions
he has taken so far. His supporters who have the flair to write are
also keeping the newspapers awash with opinions defending his actions
too.
Recall,
when Buhari wasted six months searching for his proverbial saintly and
incorruptible ministers, the praise singers eulogized him to high
heavens insisting it was the best decision ever taken by any Nigerian
President. But when the names of the “angelic ministers” were released,
the same people were perturbed and disappointed. Within the six months
of searching for the sanctimonious ministers, Buhari ran the country
as a sole administrator and the poor management of the economy are the
pains Nigerians are reaping at the moment.
By
November 2015 when he clocked 181 days, President Buhari had travelled
to 12 countries under the delusion of seeking foreign investors. By
May 2016, he has made 26 foreign trips! With the scenarios painted
above, one can imagine the number of foreign trips he would make at the
end of his four-year tenure in 2019. Reports had it that Buhari spent
about N64 billion on foreign trips alone in just one year in office!
Since
May 29, 1999, he remained the greatest critic of successive
administrations. He criticised former President Olusegun Obasanjo for
his excessive foreign travels. He took the same hardline position
against the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua, but his criticism
became more acidic and venomous against former President Goodluck
Jonathan’s foreign journeys. As the Presidential candidate in the 2011
general elections under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change
(CPC), one of the political parties that merged to form the All
Progressive Congress (APC), he chided Jonathan over his foreign trips.
CPC spokesman, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, stated: “It is conventional
wisdom that charity begins at home. Unfortunately, President Jonathan
has not imbibed this. Where did the incessant shuttles of Obasanjo’s
eight years lead us to in terms of foreign investment? Did it positively
affect our balance of trade?
Former
National Chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), now part of
APC, Chief Bisi Akande, chastised Jonathan for his foreign trips too.
Akande spoke through Mr. Lani Baderinwa and said: “We are not saying he
should not travel abroad, but the mood of the country should dictate his
sojourn abroad. The Brazil summit is likely to benefit Nigeria, but of
what use is the summit when Nigerians are being killed on a daily
basis?”
It
is therefore baffling that the same people who condemned Jonathan for
his foreign travels are extolling Buhari over his excessive travels
even in the midst of incessant massacre of Nigerians by Boko Haram and
Fulani herdsmen.
No
doubt, the purported N64 billion that President Buhari has spent so far
on foreign trips is a misadventure which ought not to, given the
antecedents.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Dear readers, please leave your comments. We appreciate them.