Buhari's 7 Biggest Mistakes In His 1st Year-Premium Times

A year ago, Muhammadu Buhari was Nigeria's Rorschach test, upon whom

Nigerians could project their disparate yearnings, following widespread

disenchantment with the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.

To govern, however, is to choose, and the choices the leader of this

diverse entity

called Nigeria makes in a 12-month period, are what has largely revealed his

personality.

Like any new leader, especially one dogged by security threats and plummeting

economic indices, President Buhari wishes he could have had it less tough.

Mr. Buhari stated earlier this year that he wished he hadn't been

elected president

at a time Nigeria was grappling with severe insecurity and low crude

oil prices at

the international markets.

"But I say why me? Why is it that it is when they have spent all the money, when

they made the country insecure that I returned?" Mr. Buhari lamented

in a February

5 interview with Al-Jazeera. "Why didn't I come when the treasury was full? Oil

price was over $140 per barrel and when I came, it slipped down to $30. Why me?"

Although Mr. Buhari still frequently blames his predecessor for

running the country

aground, bequeathing only a "virtually empty" treasury to him, he also committed

ample embarrassing gaffes in terms of policy pronouncements and his deliberate

indifference to the public mood.

Since Mr. Buhari did not participate in any debate during the campaign–and the

number of times he made stump speeches for himself could be counted on

fingertips—it is hard to suggest that the president would, in

hindsight, wish he had

not pit an ardent campaign against his major challenger, Mr. Jonathan.

Juxtaposing the current state of his presidency with the euphoria that

greeted his

emergence as winner of the historic 2015 elections, here are some low-hanging

fruits that require no legislation that Mr. Buhari should have plucked to assert

himself clearly as a leader who has both the moral and intellectual

astuteness to

effect the fundamental changes Nigerians have long craved.

Disclosure of Asset

Mr. Buhari is arguably the first-ever Nigerian leader that was elected

into office on

the perceived strength of his character as a conviction politician that could

decisively deal with corruption —Nigeria's worst bane.

To further convince Nigerians that he was, indeed, a frugal and

incorruptible man,

Mr. Buhari, in one of his speeches, said he would publicly declare his

assets upon

assumption of office. He also said he would prevail on his appointees to do the

same.

Shortly after his swearing in, Nigerians began demanding copies of Mr. Buhari's

assets declaration documents as submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau. And

the president began prevaricating about the matter immediately.

At first, he released a statement claiming to have fulfilled his public assets

declaration vow on June 6, 2015. That turned out to be misleading. Mr.

Buhari only

submitted his assets declaration form to the CCB as every government official is

mandated to do.

Under intense public pressure, the president released a statement

enumerating his

assets and those of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The statement was at best

imprecise, with no clear details of listed assets. It failed to

provide addresses of

landed of properties, vehicle models, assets of spouse and children as

required by

law, and more. The presidency assured those details would be available to every

Nigerian once they were verified by the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The bureau has since done so, but Mr. Buhari still refuses to come

entirely clean on

how much he is worth, even though the Ahmed Joda transition committee advised

that immediate public declaration of assets would be a "quick win" for Messrs.

Buhari and Osinbajo.

Questioned during a presidential media chat in 2015, a visibly itchy president

questioned why he was singled out, from amongst the governors and

other political

leaders.

Till date, a day away from the government's first birthday, the

president has failed

to disclose his assets by sending the photocopies of what he submitted to CCB to

the media, as former President Umaru Yar'Adua did.

Reap as you vote

The ethnic and tribal sentiments that have for long been a feature of Nigeria's

elections were palpable in the outcome of the 2015 general elections.

The results

showed that while the people of the north embraced Mr. Buhari in large numbers,

those in the south-south and south-east overwhelmingly voted to keep "their

own" in office.

Notwithstanding, a plurality of Nigerians had expected that the president would

govern fairly and inclusively in order to heal whatever wound the election may

have left behind.

Alas, there's little evidence to show that Mr. Buhari did this.

Instead, he began by

appointing mainly northerners to the consternation of even those who were

amongst his staunchest allies. Mr. Buhari appointed dozens of aides in the first

weeks of his administration without ceding any of the positions to the

southeast.

Asked how he intended to implement an inclusive development of the south-

south, Mr. Buhari delved into the results of the elections, speaking of how the

limited support he received from the area would certainly reflect in his

government's policies and programmes to them.

When pressed on the consistent complaints of marginalisation by the South-East,,

a visibly irritated president asked in his maiden media chat on December 30,

2015: "What do the Igbos want?"

Public mood and local media

Upon assumption of office, President Buhari was met with incessant and

devastating attacks by suspected Boko Haram members. It took intense public

criticisms for him to issue a single statement condemning the attacks. He was

quiet most times. He showed similar reluctance with the herdsmen crisis across

the country. The killings in Agatu and other southern communities were not

condemned by the president for weeks. Most went without a single statement of

condolence from his office.

But the president was swift in condemning terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels,

Grand-Bassam and elsewhere.

Similarly, Mr. Buhari hardly speaks to local media. From when he would name his

ministers (in U.S.) to how he won't let the central bank devalue (in Paris) the

president has made most of the key pronouncements abroad. Talking to local

media would have helped him better understand and gauge public opinion.

Presidential Air Fleet

From a Boeing 737 to choppers, those who should know said there are about 11

aircraft in the presidential air fleet. His campaign assured Nigerians

that some of

those aircraft would be disposed of if the president won the

elections. Not one has

gone yet. Why Mr. Buhari has not sold any of them or even addressed Nigerians on

why he couldn't sell remained unclear.

Appointment of ministers

Mr. Buhari failed to appoint his ministers early. From the moment he

took over on

May 29, 2015, till October ending when he finally released names of

his prospective

ministers, Mr. Buhari claimed he was taking his time to appoint the best.

In hindsight, very few people believe the president's appointment was worth the

time he spent shopping for them. Some analysts have blamed the late

appointments partly for the declining state of the economy.

Given the prolonged fall in oil prices even before the elections, they argue,

appointing a top economic team early enough could have helped stabilise the

system and assure investors. The president missed that opportunity.

With budget, it's business as usual in Abuja.

Given that one of Mr. Buhari's rallying cries during the campaign was

a promise to

eliminate waste within his administration and streamline state agencies and

parastatals, history has recorded that Mr. Buhari's first budget was marred by

irregularities–embarrassing and administrative irregularities. It

failed to send the

much-needed signal to unscrupulous civil servants that a new sheriff

was indeed in

town. It was a disaster.

Being Nigeria's most effective salesman.

Of the 30 foreign trips Mr. Buhari made in his first year, hardly did

he return from

any without dropping a "bombshell". While some were inadvertent gaffes, too many

others were as deliberate as they were damaging.

Nigeria's president has travelled to distant lands to castigate his people as

"criminals", "corrupt" and "unruly" and even urged foreign investors to be wary.

Although a plurality of Nigerian foreign policy analysts have condemned the

president for his outbursts, some of his supporters say he was being

honest. That

could seem an afterthought. If the president does not want to sell

Nigeria–which is

actually part of his job– he should, at least, not de-market it.