Buhari jet out to London again! Medical vacation or 2019 re-election campaign?

By Adetunji Ayobrown

It has becomes a norm for our dear President Muhamadu Buhari to feel free in opening up his mind with little or no restrains when discussing Nigeria issues with newsmen on international scenes. No qualms if you ask me, but letting out what can be harmful to our collective might are rather disturbing.
It was on one of his recent visits he declared to re-contest for his 2nd term of office, come 2019 saying Nigerians are impatient. On another, he blamed late Libyan President Mahman Ghadaffi for infiltration of Fulani herdsmen mercilessly killing in several parts of our land without any regards to sanctity of human life. Also, on his visit again he ‘mistakenly’ call Nigerian youths lazy. So what are we to expect during this latest medical vacation/visit to London.
It is bad enough for our number one citizen seeking medical treatment overseas when we have qualified medical personnel scattered all over Nigeria without modern medical facilities and hospitals and not allowing them to contribute their quarter, let alone wasting millions of naira (in Pounds Sterling and US Dollars) for self treatment of the president.
Leadership they say is position posed with great responsibilities and not a bed of roses, as it comes with great responsibilities and challenges. A good leader with vision, confidence, mentally and physically balanced state of mind, must be determined and courageous, and be ready to take advantage of any given opportunity in his quest to lead aright. These unique features are the necessary impetus that propels a leader to success. Such leader must also be ready to be a burden bearer for the followers. He should put in place machinery to get direct feedback from the people. This allows him to assess his performance and course acceptability in out of his domain.
Hitherto, a poor leadership that has led to the prevailing situation in our country today could get one sick every moment. The precarious security challenges in the country, indescribable level of corruption pervading all strata of the society, the collapsed economy, decaying infrastructure, high rate of unemployment and the hopelessness and bleak future for our youths, are all stories of woe that should not be the lot of this country if the nation’s resources had been managed well. It is pathetic that education, the bedrock of development in any nation, has been relegated to the background and not withstanding increase in the number of universities across the land.
Our President seems to be enjoying the euphoria of power at the detriment of gargantuan challenges facing the nation. A leader leads and proffers solution to problems. He gives hope to the hopeless, support and succour to hapless citizens in time of trouble. The fact that Nigerians are being attacked, maimed and killed everyday should be a serious concern to the leaders who took oath to protect them instead of blaming the late Mahman Ghadaffi for our woes.
The world must be intrigued by the criticism against President Buhari because contemporary leadership scholars, researchers and practitioners are agreed that the notion that leadership is about one man bestriding the stage like a colossus is old fashioned and discredited. The notion is known as the messiah syndrome, according to Peter Guy Northouse, author of the famous book, Leadership: Theory and Practice. In place of the one-man hero idea of leadership which is referred to as personality and trait leadership, scholars now canvass what is called distributed or shared leadership. It seeks to bring on board as many people as possible. You can call it democracy in action.
Seeing how robust the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo is, one wonders if he is ever perturbed by the precarious security situation in the North Eastern part of the country, Imagine the agonies of the parents of the Dapchi schoolgirls, the Bauchi, Benue, Ekiti, Ondo, Nassarawa states farmers to mention few while their president jet out every other week to woo the international community for support in order to be reelected comes 2019! There are times when comfort of leaders should be down-played for sober reflection on the feelings of the people they sworn to lead.
Deaths of ordinary Nigerians and the manner the security agencies turn ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude and refused to answer summons of the National Assembly was indeed sad. The inability of the president to be cognizant of the people’s emotion and to take positive and decisive action on boiling national issues calls for serious concern if you ask an average Nigerians and even friends of Nigeria.
A great leader in his closet should often ask himself silent questions like, have I done the right thing or could I have done it better? Or, have I really achieved uncommon transformation in economy, agriculture and with the nation’s dependence on imported petroleum products and others from abroad? Everyday we read about vessels on the high seas on their way to Nigeria bringing foreign products that ordinarily should have been produced in our land and create jobs for our timing jobless youths you call lazy.
The truth must be told, the impression of most Nigerians in the past three years is that the nation is on the brink of catastrophe due to the activities of political jobbers, carpet baggers, sycophants, government contractors and all the self-styled men of God or ‘god of men’ who, with their ill-gotten wealth, increase billions in their bank accounts in the name of fighting corruption but taking vendetta to their perceived enemies.
I want you to remember that the weapon of your warfare before 2015 then was the power of God through ordinary Nigerian voters, but today you rely on cabals, propagandists and high-handed security agents. It is only God that lifts man to a limitless height; men cannot lift man beyond the length of their arms. Also, when you did not struggle, with God on your side you got it after several attempts. Unlike today that you put on the armour and struggle with all shades of characters supporting your 2019 Presidential ambition.  When there is no place for the gentle voice of God, the voice leaves, and because the space cannot be empty then strange voices of opportunists take over.
Three years of your administration as the president of our beloved nation, the voice of God seems to have ceased, why, the reason is that, the poor who are the delights of God have been neglected totally. Instead, the sycophants, carpet baggers, political jobbers, self labeled men of God took charge blocking the gentle voice of your creator with their strange voices and praises. They are deceitful, telling you that you are flying when you are crawling, that you are on top when you are under, that you are in full control when you have actually lost control and that you are winning when you are fast losing. They only talk from the imagination of their deceitful hearts. They will advise you to increase your dancing steps even when they know that the drummer has long stopped drumming.
The country we seek for greatness is falling before our eyes. Certainly something is wrong with us. We should be marching forward not backward sir. No doubt we have mismanaged ourselves. We should maintain our status as a regional power with all our resources, population and effective personnel. Nigerians abroad are excelling in all their callings and the world is aware, why can’t we exhibit such brilliance here at home?
In spite of all, I believe the present could redefine us and spring us to action. We must wake up from our slumber and take up our positions in the committee of nations.
I do hope President will use this short ‘medical vacation/leave’ to ponder on what Nigerians needs/wants and not what he and his cabals wants and not get carried away with the sumptuous and palatable meals at his beck and call in Mama Charley’s land.
Sir, your international acceptance may not translate to votes comes 2019. God raises the poor out of dunghill and He demotes the wicked when he over-steps his bound. Having toyed with the fate of Nigerians for these years in areas of unemployment, insecurity and economic mismanagement, Mr. President I think, it is dangerous to over-stretch your luck, leave when the ovation is loudest. While Nigerians await yet another bombshell from you sir, your 2019 re-election should not be a must!
Ayobrown, is the Senior System Analyst, National Pilot Newspaper, writes via aayobrown@gmail.com