“CHANGE WITHOUT CHANGE”: GEN. BUHARI THEN AND PRESIDENT BUHARI NOW! AS HE WAS IN THE PAST SO HE IS IN THE PRESENT

By Nnabugwu Chizoba (Development Practitioner)

Maj Gen. Buhari

For two years and some months that President Muhammadu Buhari’s led government has been in power, in Nigeria, I have been following very keenly, developments within the polity.

Among the things I have observed are actions reminiscent of the past, when in 1983 the military head of state, then Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari, took over power through a Military Coup, on 31st December, 1983, informed Nigerians, on 3rd January, 1984:

“My own measure of our economic recovery will be based on the availability of the essentials of life…at prices within the reach of the lowest income earner in the country”.

If you are living in Nigeria presently, like I do, or have been following events in the country keenly, at least, it is obvious that promises like this are still very fresh in your mind, as they are in the minds of many Nigerians. I mean promises, such as:

Making the Naira equal to the Dollar, that is, N1 per Dollar

Fuel selling at N45 per liter

Providing social security to the unemployed

Defeating the Boko Haram insurgents in 3 months

Creating millions of Jobs, and numerous others

I don’t think I should add to the list “stoppage of medical trips abroad”… Do you think otherwise?

Taking you down memory lane again, it is worth emphasizing that soon after Buhari’s statement of 3rd January, 1984; his second in Command, Maj. General Tunde Idiagbon (now late) on 17th January 1984, two weeks after, said to the good people of Nigeria:

“In another month or two, there should be no need for high prices”. 

Quite interesting, encouraging, consolatory and assuring development one would say. However, it will make a whole lot of sense, to ascertain the extent the Head of state’s (Buhari’s) measure of economic recovery at prices within the reach of the lowest income earner in the country, was achieved.

President Buhari

My attempt to investigate some events of the past saw me stumbling into a record containing the prices of goods as they sold between the end of December 1983, when General Muhammadu Buhari took over government, (through a Military Coup); and what they became by the end of Dec. 1984, a year after. 

The result of my finding is presented below:

Products        Price      Price

                      End of    End of 
                      Dec '83  Dec 1984               
                      N               N

Nescafe         1.00            6.00

Bag of Rice    80.00        250.00

Sugar (I Pkt)  00.70k          3.50

Lactogen (Medium) 5.00   16.00

NAN             6.00           22.00

In a related development, from an average price of N90.00, prices of vehicle tyres skyrocketed within the same period, as follows:

Product    Size           Price

Michelin    85 X 15     N750.00

Michelin   560 X 16    N200.00

Dunlop     175 X 14    N270.00

And the list continued…

Aware that some Nigerians are more catholic than the Pope, and among them are those, who will stop at nothing to convince fellow Nigerians, most especially, the teeming Nigerian youths, who were then Teens, that the Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari’s led government was fantastic until it was truncated in 1985. An argument that launched him to power in 2015!

There is need to consider what the Head of state himself told Nigerians in February 1985, affirming the rise in price, and solemnly conceding to his inability to do otherwise, sort of. He said:

“We have not been able to check the high rise in prices. We still have inflation and unemployment”.

What a frank talk. Recall that the promise after they assumed office, was to do it in a month or two.

Away from this to another interesting development as well. Recall that Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari announced a 19 Member Supreme Military Council (SMC), 12 of which were Northerners and 11 out of this 12 were members of the same religion, Islam. 

In the opinion of Nigerians, some of whom qualified the above development as a dramatic departure from the Nigerian tradition, established by military governments before him, of paying due regard to the ethnic and religious plurality of Nigerian nation, not perfunctorily or carelessly but deservedly. 

The said lopsidedness in the constitution of the Supreme Military Council becomes more worrisome when it is considered, allegedly that the hierarchical order of superiority in the military circle was skewed in/to favour (of) the North and Islam.

Like the GREAT leader that Nigerians have been made to belief that Muhammadu Buhari is, the Military, while responding then to the question of the imbalance identified above, rationalized it by saying:

“The soldiers didn’t see themselves as belonging to regions or religions, but to the Nation”. Another frank talk, a very worthy argument; good enough to satisfy the gullible and assuage the thirst of, especially, the ignoramus, whose assessment of situations like this are self-serving, at least. 

For the fair minded, it makes sense to consider and toe the line of the argument presented by some Nigerians then, “That the unsuspended part of the Constitution, which the military operated, carry the injunction that the military government should in its actions reflect the Federal Character of Nigeria”.  

Once again, let us shift from this to another issue of concern, which I consider necessary that you X-ray deeply in the light of President Muhammedu Buhari’s approach to politics, productivity, and leadership style, and to reflect profoundly on your assessment of his performance, especially, in the wake of the GREAT leader theory that the Nigerian populace is forced to swallow.

In the light of the above, I invite you to join me on another trip. This time, considering that creation of millions of jobs is one of the numerous promises of the present Democratic government headed by Muhammadu Buhari, as President. It is therefore, imperative to visit the status of his regime in the past, to see if a similarity exists between the experiences of today and that of the past. To this end, the below may tickle your fancy.

“Unemployment figures, including the graduates, have reached embarrassing and unacceptable proportions”. This statement was made by late Maj. General Sanni Abacha, in his dawn broadcast, on December 31, 1983, when the Military took over power and then, Maj. General Buhari became the Head of state of Nigeria.  

Soon after the above, on Jan 17, 1984, precisely, then, Maj. General Tunde Idiagbon, Maj. General Buhari’s second in command, while addressing private sector executives remarked: “It is our commitment to keep Nigerians in employment in their own country.”

In line with the popular axiomatic expression, “He who wears the shoe knows where it pinches” the work force, the Labour, reacted this way, in Bulletin No.1, 1984, issued by the Mobilization Committee of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC):

“From the time they came to power with promise of restoring the economy, nearly half a million workers have lost their jobs”.

To collaborate the position of Labour, as contained above, and as a matter of fact in order to clear any doubt that still exists in the minds of the reader, towards making a difference between oratory power or prowess and the capacity to deliver on promises, is a Report, which shows that within the same time or period under review, a government department in Akure, the Ondo state capital, advertised for toilet attendants, and over 15,000 applicants turned up for the interview, that was meant to employ only 15 people.

A similar experience showcased in the Military, where the Army public Relations Unit informed that 20,000 Nigerians applied for enlistment into the Army, for 150 spaces available.

By way of encouragement and agenda setting for Nigerians, I wish to paraphrase a statement contained in the “Regime of Hope, 1984, a Federal Military Government publication, which reads:

“To any impartial observer, both in Nigeria and outside, there was no other practical or effective means of creating or checking the malaise afflicting the country except through a military intervention”. But, which I have decided to paraphrase, to now read:

“To any impartial observer, both in Nigeria and outside, there is no other practical or effective means of creating or checking the malaise afflicting the country presently except through massive mobilization, public awareness, education and sensitization that nation development is not achieved through desire and rhetoric by the leader but, by quality leadership; such that impact the life of the citizenry positively, where power belongs to the masses, not to a cabal”.

Let me conclude by cautioning those who belief that a lying compliment is better than a sincere criticism, by drawing the attention of Mr. President to the saying of my people that “those who flatter you more than usual, have either deceived you or wish to do so”.

And to all Nigerians, I say:

Collectively, the experience of people of this nation, has shown glaringly that the future has always arrived before it is prepared for. Any justifiable reason to continue that way?

May you be the judge!

 All references are from the book, Nigeria- Another hope betrayed.