Buhari Can’t Go Without A Legacy

Discerning between projects and legacies does not require intellectual rigour because the fine lines in-between are distinctive.

Over time, the term legacy project has crept into our political lexicon with a very loose meaning, and some politicians use the term to differentiate project importance and preference, but in the true sense of it, legacy projects are not only sublime and transgenerational, they are capable of addressing the challenges of yesterday, offering values to the present day, and transcending generations.

So, what most local, state, federal and government agencies have bandied as legacy projects are simply a joke and sometimes conduit pipes to plunder our common patrimony.

Today, one of the biggest preoccupations of President Buhari is going down without giving Nigerians enduring legacies and rightly so, because it appears everything he represents and worked for, all his life is at stake as he approaches the twilight of his tenure as a two-term civilian President.

In his days as military head of state, and famed for his integrity, discipline and spartan lifestyle, he was feared and loved by many, hence he outclassed his pairs and stood tall as an anti-corruption czar of national reckoning. And of course, 38 years after, that legacy won him the historic 2015 elections.

But barely three months to the end of his second coming, Nigerians are wondering what hit them, just as the future looks unsure and opaque with regards to the President’s legacies. So, the big question is: will Buhari leave the scene this time in ignominy and shame of no enduring legacy to his credit?

Without a doubt, Buhari would have gone down, today, as one of the best Presidents Nigeria ever had, but he did not come to the ring with his fight in this second coming.

Regrettably, such contemplations often meet with partisan venom, scorn, threats and accusations of the APC-led government seen by its faithful to be largely disparaged unjustly, forgetting that there is no better time Nigerians are vibrant and politically conscious in deciphering broad daylight robbery executed by successive regimes, than now.

So, it is proper for Buhari to locate his place in history through the prism of his policies, programmes, and projects encapsulated as his legacies because such an exercise is imperative.

Recently, President Buhari’s handlers put in the public space 1,324 legacy projects executed across the country, and these touted legacy projects cut across poverty alleviation, finance, anti-corruption, infrastructure, healthcare, education, housing, roads, rails, rural electrification schemes, oil and gas, foreign relations, human capital development, ease of doing business, etc., with supposed footprints visibly identified in the regime’s scorecard sheet. 

But what is the value of 1,324 legacy projects without delivering on the core electioneering campaign promises?

For the commoners, the questions are simple, and in a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published August 2016, the total energy distributed was 3,368.44MWH, but, seven years after, the average quantum of utilized electricity is 3,940.54MW, leaving no shift from the dark spot. Also, the naira has been on a dangerous free fall at over N750 to a dollar and still sliding.  

In Q3 2015, the country’s unemployment rate stood at 9.9%, according to NBS, but today it is at 33%, with a further projected slide to 37% by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). In the same vein, inflation has reached at an all-time high since 2005, standing as it were, at 21.82%, today, and amazingly driven by staples like bread and cereal.

Again, the National Multidimensional Poverty Index Report by the NBS shows that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor. The constituent of this categorization is a lack of education, poor living standards, a hazardous environment and a poor health delivery system.

Again, how safe is the country today, and are the institutions fighting corruption better than how this administration met them, coupled with the fact that the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International has disclosed that Nigeria ranks as the 150th most corrupt nation in the world out of 180 countries.

Sadly, refineries are yet not working and may not work as the whole nation awaits Dangote Refinery. Meanwhile, public tertiary education was in limbo for over seven months. Of course, the tales are endless.

So, what is the enthusiasm being displayed by way of the present jamboree going on in the name of campaign rallies by political parties? Billions of naira are spent on adverts, billboards, and mammoth crowds mobilized for parties to present their manifestoes, but most are mere scams.

However, to say president Mohammed Buhari has not made any impact in the last 7 years will be a paid narrative by the opposition.

As a matter of fact, President Buhari’s determination to redeem his image and not go down history without delivering a free, fair and credible election – one of the most exigent legacies Nigerians crave – is very commendable because successive governments had paid lip service to this, but Buhari’s dogged approach to the subject matter may remain a pleasant narrative running deep into generations unborn.

The NO VOTE BUYING salvo by Mr. President tearing the fabric of the All Progressives Congress, APC, (assuming a toga of currency redesign) is courageous and timely, and many Nigerians wonder why the APC governors are hell-bent on arm-twisting the President. All those billions starched away for elections seem to be heating the ovens and making the atmosphere uncomfortable. So, we may hear the confessions in broad daylight soon because Buhari’s conflagration instrument is unearthing ancient secrets of vote buying in this country. 

Quite ironically, like his predecessors, the President should pave the way for victory for his party, but this man from Daura is unpredictably distinct.

The President has, unflinchingly, stated that his successor must reflect the will of the people and no amount of thuggery or attempt of monetary inducement will terminate the pregnancy of the emerging democratic dispensation come May 2023, and the final nail, of course, was contained in his broadcast a few days ago, and to ease the pains of Nigerians, he has reintroduced the N200 note while the N500 and N1000 notes remain outlawed as accepted legal tenders.

Those acquainted with the ways and means of the average politicians will tell you that they keep their loot in N1000 bills, so this Nollywood drama just entered Part Two.

No one searches for legacy with a torchlight because it stares one in the face, and even years after being relegated as relics, their impacts remain incontrovertible.

We should, therefore, celebrate a great leader even when people like Ganduje, Nasir el-Rufia, Yahaya Bello and all APC opposition governors within cry that the man is burning the bridge behind him. However, ordinary Nigerians will worship him as a hero if he delivers free and credible elections. Free and credible elections should swing any way, or are the governors not saying something?

Having said all these, one hopes Emefiele and his men will not be the ones that will write the final epithet on this administration’s grave with their lousy sense of project implementation. Thus, in the coming days, we hope that the so-called unintended outcomes that greeted the currency redesign policy will ease off completely with the president’s recent intervention.

How be it, there seems to be another problem brewing from the directives of CBN that people should go to the nearest CBN office to deposit their old notes. Are those people working at the CBN living in space, or what is happening? Is that a realistic measure?

It appears another disaster will greet them soonest, and one hopes INEC will sit at the corridor of history to midwife one of the best elections in our time.

So, the final verdict is that President Buhari is on course in this matter, and we can forgive all his sins if this is the only thing he delivers at this critical junction of our national life.

And rightly so, one can only hope that the coming administration will name the 2nd Niger Bridge after Muhammadu Buhari; and may history be kind to President Buhari, in this light.

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