Buhari In The Shadows Of Boris Johnson

The resignation on Thursday of Boris Johnson as the leader of the Conservative Party, and with it, his imminent exit as prime minister of the United Kingdom was remarkable.

With the development, the affable Boris Johnson has lost his opportunity to host his long planned wedding reception at Chequers, the grace and favour mansion holiday home of British prime ministers.

It is something that Mr Johnson is bound to rue for life. Chequers is one of those beloved perks of British prime ministers to which they can resort to for relaxation, away from the bustle and restrictions at the flat upstairs in Downing Street.

Such privileges for British ministers are preciously valued. One will not forget when as the war between Margaret Thatcher and her former trusted ally, Sir Geoffrey Howe degenerated that the loss of one of such perks added fuel to the quarrel.  
Sir Howe was the longest serving foreign secretary of the modern era and had loved the Chevening official residence attached to the office.

It was whispered in the British press at that time that one of the major regrets Sir Howe had leaving the position when Thatcher removed him in 1989 was the loss of the official residence.

Not long after he was promoted to irrelevance as deputy prime minister and lost his cherished Chevening Official quarters, Howe delivered a powerful speech that quickened the melting of the Iron Lady, Thatcher.

It is as well remarkable that in Nigeria we also have one Mr Geoffrey Onyeama as about the longest serving foreign affairs minister in recent history.

Does he have the power to deliver the kind of speech that could bring President Muhammadu Buhari to order just as Howe did to Thatcher? Or as several ministers in UK recently did to force Johnson out?

The BBC on Thursday reported five prominent issues among others that forced Boris Johnson out of office.

Among the issues were the Chris Pincher affair, Partygate, the cost of living crisis, Owen Paterson row and a lack of focus and ideas.

Examining these reasons, they would seem trivial compared to issues that have been brushed aside in Nigeria.

The Chris Pincher affair in the UK relates to the case of the former deputy chief whip, embarrassing himself in a sexual way after drinking too much.

In Nigeria we have had the government playing ostrich when Dr Isa Pantami was revealed as a former closet supporter of extreme Islamist groups. The president never once questioned the issue, rather he was kept on to manage the nation’s data base. Sure, to no one’s surprise, the linkage of the NIN to telephone numbers has not deterred the extreme groups that were once associated with Pantami in their war against the country.

Even more, the president gave him the unique honour of superintending over his son’s wedding.

The partygate affair refers to the scandal associated with the Prime Minister organizing a bring your booze party during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was incredulous for the citizenry that while they were asked to self-isolate, that the prime minister was rocking himself in a bring your booze party.

In Nigeria, during the same lockdown exercise when movements were restricted including flights, it was revealed that a personal assistant to the president commandeered a presidential jet to visit his wife in Lagos. He came back and some members of the first family insisted that he should self-isolate but he refused.

Another reason given for the exit of Johnson was the rise in the cost of living. The simplest comparison for Nigerians would be to compare the cost of rice, petrol and other basic commodities presently and before Buhari came to power in 2015.

A lack of ideas was also given as another reason for the insurrection against Boris Johnson. This lack of ideas is very evident under the outgoing administration.

In seven years, the government has not been able to churn out one deliverable that would be seen as the Buhari legacy. Considering the petroleum sector where Buhari otherwise would have been seen as an expert, given that he has been petroleum minister for seven years, it is shocking that that area has even turned into the Achilles Heel for the government.

How can it be said that Buhari has for seven years administered over a programme of importation of petrol, a product that is otherwise supposed to be used for the country’s competitive advantage in the international market place.

With the continued importation of the product is the unbridled corruption in the subsidy regime of the product.

Yes, the cabinet system of government in Britain may well invest ministers with powers to push the prime minister who is only prime, (first among equals).

In the presidential system that we pride as executive system of government, one man bears the knife and yam, that is the president. No one but the National Assembly can force him out. He bears the yoke of incompetence or reward of good service alone.

For Buhari extreme values are already being put on him even before his exit. He is being projected by some like Lai Mohammed as the best and by others as the worst to have come our way.

The full verdict on him will come after May 29, 2023. However, judgment has been running since 2015 and Buhari has limited time to realign himself in a good place in history.

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