Friday 6 May 2016

Buhari: The Joshua Dogonyaro verdict

Buhari: The Joshua Dogonyaro
verdict



Editor’s note: It has been almost one year
since Muhammadu Buhari was inaugurated as
Nigerian President. While many Nigerians
believe that it’s too early to sum up some
achievements Remi Oyeyemi shares his views
on Buhari’s first year in power.
Buhari’s stewardship in the context of the
present sufferings of Nigerians
As we berth at the banks of one year bash
of the ascension of President Muhammadu
Buhari to office as a civilian leader, it is
important that we interrogate his
stewardship so far in the context of the
present sufferings of Nigerians. In this
interrogation, the only sensible and fair
instrument that would be used is that of
History in juxtaposition to the present to
engage in the hazardous task of gauging in a
fairly manner, what the next three years
would likely look like.
It was the Spanish born American trained
essayist, George Santayana who once
posited that those who refused to learn the
lessons of history are bound to repeat the
mistakes of history. In this, he has been
seconded by our own WS, Professor Wole
Soyinka who has also posited, “History
matters. Records are not kept simply to
assist the weakness of memory, but to
operate as guides to the future.”




These two
great scholars and social consciences of the
human race have in the simplest of all forms
communicated one of the greatest lessons
needed by social engineers for the progress,
prosperity and the development of the
human societies especially in the areas of
justice, peace, economic fairness and
eradication of poverty.
President fails to make specific details
public
The social engineers are the politicians. For
it is they who enunciate policies that twitch
the pendulum of development positively or
negatively to underdevelopment, mal –
development or non- development; they
constantly seek the right modulation of
social tenor to achieve the best they know
how. In this task, as these two scholars
contend, lessons of the past are germane
and very instructive. They instruct us about
the failures of the past and why things had
gone wrong and how we could or should
navigate the present to arrive at a better
future for ourselves.
The leopard has not changed its spots
It is for this reason that once again the
interrogation of President Buhari would have
to be done on his score card that his
professional colleagues gave him when he
was removed from power in August 1985.
This is because some of the reasons
appropriated for his removal from power
then unfortunately are the same things that
are currently being manifested in his
governance of Nigeria as we speak. At about
one year in office, it is clear that the leopard
has not changed its spots. There has not
been any difference between the then
General Buhari and the now President
Buhari.


The Joshua Dogonyaro verdict
Brigadier Joshua Dogonyaro who delivered
the broadcast to announce the overthrow of
General Buhari from power on August
25,1985 among other things said the
following:
“The Nigerian public has been made to believe
that the slow pace of action of the Federal
Government headed by Major-General
Muhammadu Buhari was due to the enormity
of the problems left by the last civilian
administration.”
For those who are closely paying attention
to the present Buhari administration and its
fundamentalist apologists, this is the same
mantra that is being flung around; it is the
same inanity that is being ornamented for
his slow pace of things. But a lot of insiders
in this administration know that this is
balderdash. Even then, the fact that he and
his political party sought to replace
president Jonathan from power presupposes
that they knew they had to fix the mess
president Jonathan would leave behind. But
please listen to Brigadier Dogonyaro again:


“Although it is true that a lot of problems were
left behind by the last civilian government, the
real reason, however, for the very slow pace of
action is due to lack of unanimity of purpose
among the ruling body; subsequently, the
business of governance has gradually been
subjected to ill-motivated power play
considerations. The ruling body, the Supreme
Military Council, has, therefore, progressively
been made redundant by the actions of a
select few members charged with the day-to-
day implementation of the SMC’s policies and
decision
The above explanation by Brigadier
Dogonyaro is exactly what is repeating itself
presently in this President Buhari
administration. This writer has it on authority
from some insiders in this administration
who are insisting that the botched 2016
Budget “best explains” the operational style
of this administration with everyone working
at cross-purposes. The obvious lack of plan,
dangerous power-plays, nepotism, negative
tribalism, superiority complex and fear of
initiatives from senior members of the
administration among others are gradually
eating away the ability of this government to
respond to Nigerians who had hoped that
this would be a different era.
But listen to Brigadier Dogonyaro again in
1985:
“The concept of collective leadership has been
substituted by stubborn and ill-advised
unilateral actions, thereby destroying the
principles upon which the government came to
power. Any effort made to advise the
leadership, met with stubborn resistance and
was viewed as a challenge to authority or
disloyalty.
“Thus, the scene was being set for systematic
elimination of what, was termed oppositions.
All the energies of the rulership were directed
at this imaginary opposition rather than to
effective leadership.


“The result of this misdirected effort is now
very evident in the country as a whole. The
government has started to drift. The economy
does not seem to be getting any better as we
witness daily increased inflation.”
Everything in the above quotes sounds like
just now. It sounds as if this is a criticism of
President Buhari as opposed to General
Buhari. Same old approaches, same old
results. But please, do not conclude yet.
Brigadier Dongoyaro also said inter alia:
“The nation’s meagre resources are once
again being wasted on unproductive ventures.
Government has distanced itself from the
people and the yearnings and aspirations of
the people as constantly reflected in the media
have been ignored.
“This is because a few people have arrogated
to themselves the right to make the decisions
for the larger part of the ruling body. All these
events have shown that the present
composition of our country’s leadership
cannot, therefore, justify its continued
occupation of that position.
“Furthermore, the initial objectives and
programmes of action which were meant to
have been implemented since the ascension to
power of the Buhari Administration in January
1984 have been betrayed and discarded. The
present state of uncertainty and stagnation
cannot be permitted to degenerate into
suppression and retrogression.”
Do the above statements sound relevant to
the present? You bet it does. Yes, this is
history repeating itself. This is part of what
some asked the political leaders to look at
before they anointed Buhari as the flag
bearer of the party. They did not listen. And
here we go again.
Nigeria once again is betraying the hope of
its peoples by recycling a fiendish retired
military man turned emergency politician to
pilot its fortunes. Those who gave him a
benefit of the doubt in his second coming
are already gnashing their teeth now. As
much as they want to keep excusing him,
the basis on which they have to offer
explanations for his indiscretions and failings
are getting too numerous by the day. The
most painful of all this is that this second
coming could easily have been averted. The
trajectory chosen for Nigeria could easily
have been different. But the kind of the
political leadership in control is challenged in
so many ways than one to make better
decisions for Nigeria.
There are a lot of things that are dangerous
about President Buhari – from incorrigible
religious fanaticism, ticklish tribalism,
malignant nepotism, dastard dishonesty to
craven corruption. But the two most
dangerous things about President Buhari are
his deception and incompetence. The issue
on the table is not that there are not
knowledgeable men around him but like
Brigadier Dogonyaro insisted in 1985, “Any
effort made to advise the leadership, met
with stubborn resistance and was viewed as
a challenge to authority or disloyalty.” It was
the issue them. It is still the issue now.


This could be seen in the practice of the
administration and its fundamentalist
apologists who would brand any honest
critique as coming from a PDP or a member
of the opposition. They have no tolerant of
any divergent view. Their excuse is that
there is too much corruption for Buhari to be
opposed. They insist that Buhari should be
allowed to do whatever he wants as long as
he fights corruption. Even, my good friend
and colleague, Femi Adesina sees the critics
of the administrations as “Wailing Wailers.”
He even suggested that when Buhari speaks
with Nigerians, it was a favour that he did
not have to do. He has forgotten that calling
Buhari or any other occupier of that office
“President” is euphemism for “First Serve
As Brigadier Dogonyaro advised, “No nation
can ever achieve meaningful strides in its
development where there is an absence of
cohesion in the hierarchy of government;
where it has become clear that positive action
by the policy makers is hindered because as a
body it lacks a unity of purpose. It is evident
that the nation would be endangered with the
risk of continuous misdirection. We are
presently confronted with that danger. In such
a situation, if action can be taken to arrest
further damage, it should and must be taken.”
Agonies on the Nigerian streets
Aside from corruption not abating under
Buhari, there are agonies on the Nigerian
streets. Boko Haram is still hanging like the
sword of Damocles on the heads of
Nigerians; the Fulani herdsmen are maiming,
raping, murdering and looting across Nigeria,
they are openly carrying arms in violations of
the law and they are being protected by the
compromised and tribalised security
agencies ; light has become more irregular;
there is no fuel in our stations; food are
more costly; kidnapping is on the rise; armed
robbery is becoming daily event; salaries are
unpaid for several months across the
country and Nigerians are dying needlessly
on daily basis.


With all his best intentions, President Buhari
constitutes a danger to the country. The
greatest danger constituted by President
Buhari to the country is his lack of know-
how. It is not his dishonesty; or his
corruption; or his tribalism; or his religious
fanaticism. It is his lack of knowledge on
how to do whatever he thinks he has to do.
Even if he wants to prove wrong his critics,
he has no idea how to go about it. Some
think he is overwhelmed. Others think that
the problems of the country are too complex
for him.
The Dogonyaro verdict of 1985 still remains
relevant in 2016
The same shenanigans that prompted the
overthrow of Buhari in 1985 are presently
manifesting before our very eyes again.
Buhari’s leopard has not been able to
change its spots. His views have remained
the same. His methods have not changed.
His feelings remain the same. His vision has
remained tunnelled. His mission is as
serpentine as ever. He promised “change”
and has no idea what “change” means. With
this same conformation, the next three years
do not look exciting for Nigeria and its
peoples. Nigerians, aside from Buhari’s
fundamentalist apologists, so far have been
enormously disappointed.

Disclaimer!!!
This article expresses the authors’ opinion
only.

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