''Buhari rode on waves of Populism and dubious Integrity!'' - Gboyega Adejumo

Buhari rode on waves of Populism and dubious Integrity,
Until it crashed the Country!

As soon as Buhari's CPC joined up with Tinubu's ACN, to begin his journey into the presidency, he began galvanizing a populist version of a man that could fix what ever was wrong with Nigeria...!

But he didn't create the populist movement, neither did he author the dubious integrity - Nigerians did....! And they did, for the simple reason of being Idle!

The Nigeria that carried Mr Mohammadu Buhari from his estate of many houses at Number 9 Udo Udoma Street, Asokoro in the highbrow district of Abuja, to the presidential nomination was largely an uninformed, docile, weak, Ready-to-accept anything country that had since the period of June 22 been mentally subdued!
A Nigeria that accepted the annulment of June 12, 1993 elections, and was docile enough to go with an Abacha candidacy of being the presidential candidate of all the five political parties of Abacha's time, morphed effortlessly into a washed up society that does no checks and follows blindly their oppressors...!
Nigeria, a country of crass, pathetic citizens, formed by waves of money waving crafty crooks who as soon as they can throw a few illegally acquired money into the assemblage of pressmen and yesmen, simply become their Lord and Master!

"We the people", is just a washed up Cliché that aptly describes the Nigeria that became frenzied with tale after tale of a Buhari who was not taking salaries, or half salary or no salary and finally a Buhari that only took only 10% of his salary or what ever ex dictators are paid!

The Nigeria that was too happy to be fed story after story, was sated with tales retold without as much as a verification by way of interviews, debates, fact checks and even direct question and answer sessions..
This Nigeria that came to be, for reasons still shrouded in shock, disbelief and outright contempt, was too happy to accommodate more lies and conjecture.
Anyone remotely seen as a little cautious was an "Enemy of Progress"!
It was a mass doping of some sort - A nation, high on resinous octane of Lies, Propaganda and Subterfuge.

The more the wizened, bribed and totally unprofessional press, fed the people with these stuffs, the more the people's perception became glazed... Doped!
There were just too many issues of Liberty, Balancing the polity, Equality, Equity... And even the most important which is Leadership - The capacity, temperament and adequacy of the knowledge base of who can rightly steer the ship of state...
All were overlooked!

The problems of Nigeria, stems primarily from INEQUITY, INIQUITY AND INEQUALITY!  And if we first seek to have a thorough check of where we are at today, to really propound the reasons for why we have not progressed beyond this level, we can spend an hour, a day, a month, a year, even a lifetime looking for answers, and it didn't matter how long, but surely by the time we are ready to properly situate the issues that deter us from moving forward as a Nation, United, within those forms, as stated above, lie the Answers....

Detroit is an American city, with an overwhelming Black population, yet Detroit is the city of the automobile Giants.
It didn't matter that the Blacks populate Detroit, the importance of Detroit to American economic growth is too pivotal to the survival of the American state to be played with - Every successive American President knows that, and such should also the the pivotal importance of The Niger Delta to our Economy.

Why can't Aba, Nnenwi corridors be also, our own Detroit!??
The Igbo during the Civil War were able to make something hugely technological out of Nothing...!

The Igbo built tractors, Armoured vehicles, manufactured Bombs and guns, built local refineries and many more feats were wrought by them....
We have Igbos manufacturing automobile vehicles today and Nothing is been being done to help transform Nigeria into a technological state through the efforts of its citizens, simply because these citizen happen to be Igbo...!

When I heard on AIT that the Buhari administration is to build an airstrip in Daura to help keep track on cow rustlers, I was immediately torn between emotions, either to cry or to laugh.

What is more important - The provision of adequate infrastructure to allow indigenous technologies develop so as to even be an Exporting Nation or the idea of an airstrip in Daura to help with the pet project of a president, obsessed with cows!??
His pet project, is arguably the nation's pet peeve - our most annoying element of the insensitivity of this Artless, Heartless government.
We are daily reminded of how the very ones the president spends more time, energy and resources, both material and human resources protecting, his Fulani kinsmen who are the murdering herdsmen responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Nigerians since he became president!
INEQUITY, INIQUITY AND INEQUALITY!

In less than one year in the life of this Buhari's administration, even his once robust populist enclave had begun to shrink considerably....
His once vocal support base so devastated with series of disappointing policies and direction.

His own party in disarray and the Nigeria that created all of these in total dejection, rejection, recession, regression and depression.

The grievances are not surprisingly limited along party and ethnic lines - even Buhari's northern base is mostly reeling in a wave of grieving and unprecedented umbrage of open criticism against their own.

And yet, the Nigeria that led itself into this lacuna is yet to fully understand the mess it has drawn itself into.
A mess of the political party kind, the likes of which has not been seen since the days of the, "Nigerian National Democratic Party" known as "Demo",
And the United Progressives Grand Alliance", known as "UPGA", of the 1964/65 general elections...

Ask those who know or experienced these events, in the old Western Region, to tell you.

If only, Buhari had defied the odds and managed this country well...!
If only he had Not chosen to unethically favor some, based on ethnicity.
Only if he had chosen to be Nationalistic...
If only he had chosen to balance things rightly.
If, If, If and Only If.....

Now, it's looking as if, Nigeria is on The March Again...
I'm beginning to see new alliances emerge that totally define the Nigerian state, more on Ethnic and Sociocultural dimensions...
Now, we are simply divided more than ever!
Will we get it right this time....!?
Are we simply going to take whatever they tell us!?
Are we again going to be only empty receptive vessels....
Are we again going to be docile as a cat?
Are we going to be Idle!

This much I am only permitted to say on the coming alliances, because I am also involved.

What I see is frightening....!
I see a future bleak.
I see a creation of the elite that are only after their own interests...
I see the youth of this nation as mere pawns...

As 2017 beckons, these things will start to manifest early, and earnestly.

While I have cause to be worried about the past, the present distresses me more, and fears about the future of Nigeria is too Real for me to bear alone.... !
So, I decided to write this for posterity...!
What becomes of the future for our children with such a huge burden of the dearth of the right kind of Leadership...!??

My Sister, Oluwaseunfunmi Odunsi and
I, just two nights ago spoke on this issues for hours into the early morning hours...
While some think our major problem is corruption, I'd rather believe our major problem is Quality of Leadership!

All is Not well with my Dear country, Nigeria.....!