“Think of a secondary student who told his parent that he might not be good at all other subjects to attain B+ grade but he is certain that his mathematics will be extraordinary, 9 months later if the boy is yet to successfully solve a single mathematical equation in the self-acclaimed area of expertise, the doubt of his capabilities will surface.”

The story painted above is no difference from the current situation of President Buhari and the reality hammering him at his forehead. With no iota of sugar coating, prior to the election, President Buhari to majority was tantamount to anti-corruption, mention corruption, you would hear sai baba will solve it, mention security, you would hear sai baba will solve it, mention economy, you would hear APC has a plan. Most of us who voted and campaigned for General Muhammadu Buhari might be guilty of not digging dip into his plans for the economy as there is huge difference between “sai baba will solve it” and “APC has a plan”. During the campaign days, President Muhammadu Buhari can’t go a day without saying “I will fight corruption”, to say it is 9 months already and his well-advertised concentrated antidote of corruption is yet to proof its effectiveness against a real case of corruption is abysmal and a disappointment. In this fight against corruption, President Buhari has not only demonstrated an antiquated approach but also has acted to ascertain the facts that he was really out of reach of latest occurrences before he was rebranded from being an emblematic tyrant to an unrealistic democrat. EFCC has been enormously disappointing, stupendously inept, and embarrassingly childish with their directions, it is a scenario of “a single man chasing multiple rats, he will eventually miss all”. We have heard so many names under investigation but day after day the much publicized anti-corruption war is turning into nothing other than a toothless bulldog, a lousy barrel with nothing in stock and an institution with no direction or priority.

There is a progress, this administration has made an incredible landmark, negative or positive, landmark is landmark. The successful migration from the days where fuel scarcity was a seasonal scenario to the present reality is an achievement, APC and President Buhari promised to elevate us from having fuel scarcity as a seasonal visitor to a state where we wouldn’t know what fuel scarcity is but the reverse is the case. Nigerians now wastes productive hours on queue in order to get fuel at even a much higher price, the terrible reality is the “I don’t care” attitude by the minister of petroleum resources. It’s more than two weeks now and yet no official statement from relevant authorities to apologize for this shambolic order of the day or even tell the populace the ways and actions designed or under design to take us away from this aesthetic ugly display, I then ask; do we still have a government? It is not just a case of Nigerians can’t access fuel, it is a case of high exchange rate plus fuel scarcity, the impact of this on prices of fast moving consumer goods is beyond terrible. In a sane country, there should have been actions to tame the scarcity but in our clime, the messiah is the Minister in charge, he can’t be called out, he is the omnific of our land. The most annoying thing is the point of defense “Buhari is sincere, blunt, doesn’t lie” and I ask “can’t someone be sincerely wrong?”, it is glaring that people  that surrounds President Buhari are timid and are afraid to tell him the reality of the day, hence his presumption that all is well.

The incessant denier of campaign promises is another thing of worry, I wonder if President Buhari and his advisers really understands the concept of contracts and agreement. Any deviation from a signed agreement should not be done by denying such agreement but rather a humble approach should be embraced. Nigerians were not foolish as well were not suffering from amnesia, APC and Buhari promised 5000 naira unemployed  youths allowance but for the presidency to deny such has made it glaring that there was and there is a division and conflict of interest within the APC family. To those who voted APC because of the 5000 naira promise, APC and Buhari has failed them, this is a fact. The payment of the 5000 naira might not be feasible but not a justification to deny the promise, presidency would have done better by coming out to explain to Nigerians, the factors that makes the payment unrealistic. Rather than chewing the humble pie, inane excuses were given “Nigerians will spend the money on prostitute, alcohol, gambling”, when will our government officials understands our importance and stop playing smart on us?

The situation and state of the country in all ramification before the 2015 election was not a thing to be proud of, a need to digress from such state was needed, APC got their shibboleth right on point, the catch word “CHANGE” was perfectly selected but something was imperfectly done by the indomitable voters and that is “understanding the scope of change”. If the change we are experiencing is the scope of the promised “Change”, we will need to wait some more years as this is nothing different. The “change” Nigeria wanted is not just a change of political party in position of authority but a change that will cut across all aspect of the country, change in the mode of appointment, change in spending pattern by the officials, change in government and citizenry communication pattern and other positive ones but the reality is different.

“We have image problem outside the country, my visits to all countries under planet earth will change that” it is appalling but that is the perception of our president and his believed approach to clean the unarguable dirty opinions of foreigners about Nigerians. Let’s come to reality, Nigerians are involved in shady transactions, scamming, defrauding and all sort of vices, no dispute about the fact that actions needs to be taken to repaint us and resell us to the international world but the approach our president is embracing is a thing of concern. Will going to countries one by one to say “now that am the president, you can be sure Nigerians are changed people” help in solving this? No! Our president needs to know that an idle hand is the devils workshop, there is a need for the president to take time, sit down, meditate and ponder on how to provide jobs for the highly unemployed Nigerians, there is nothing bad in applying division of labor to his travel plans, there is a vice president the last time I checked, he can’t represents us?

To say Buhari led administration has failed is too early but is it navigating the failure lane?! Absolutely, it is. We need to understand that President Muhammadu Buhari led administration have not failed and by God’s grace, it wouldn’t fail. That some are patiently waiting for the failure of this government to justify why they campaigned against him is another embarrassing behavior by some Nigerians. The failure will not just be inscribed on Buhari’s history, it will be another set back for the country and any dedicated Nigerian will not want such for his or her beloved country.

The division among the populace is also not helping issues, rather than coming together as one to voice out, we have categorized ourselves into groups based on the political party supported, our national problem is now seen from the angle of “is it my party?”. It is not a scenario of we not knowing what to say but a case of how will it feel, I should criticize the person I campaigned and voted for? What will people tag me? No, instead of criticizing the party I voted for, I will rather be suffering and smiling. God bless Nigeria.

SHOMOYE ABIODUN

@MrShomoye