The day Buhari celebrated the foundation of corruption | Babawale Oke
Let me state this from the outset; this piece is not for the Buharists—a group of people who are of the opinion that a dead Buhari will rule this country better than any living Nigerian, not even themselves. Some of them, unfortunately, while standing with PMB have intentionally stood on their own reasoning. May the good Lord deliver them.
Now to the discourse! Buhari, more than every other leader the nation has ever produced has proven to be the most hypocritical. The just concluded Ekiti governorship election says it all. Further, it depicts the country’s number one citizen as a person who is immensely confused about his goals. How does a sane mind explain the open celebration of corruption by a President who has been proclaiming himself as an Apostle of Anti-Corruption?
Without mincing words, the most dragged corruption case in Buhari’s dispensation is the Dasukigate. The former National Security Adviser to Goodluck Jonathan was accused of using his office to divert a whopping $2.1b to sponsor Jonathan’s re-election bid. More than three years into this administration, the case is yet to officially start; all that has been discussed on Dasuki in courts bothers on the legality of his arrest and detention. Whether Dasuki will be prosecuted in this century or not is not a question any average Nigerian can boastfully answer. Our President has been passionately committed to fighting perceived political foes rather than eradicating the cankerworm that has eaten deep into the spirit of many Nigerians.
For times without number, people have called on the President to investigate the source of the campaign funds that brought him to power, but he has been wise enough not to dig his own grave. If you think Buhari only won on goodwill, take out time to know how much it costs to fly chartered flights across the 36 states of the country; air a political campaign live on television stations, place political adverts on newspapers and mobilize an average Nigerian to vote. Before you get to the end of your findings, I’m pretty sure you’ll become a sudden advocate of a change in the country’s political structure.
For multiple times, Buhari has ignorantly acknowledged the fact that none is corrupt among his cabinet members; to him, he carefully selected angelic beings who had never occupied political positions before their appointment as ministers. Probably, he might have forgotten that even Satan was highly revered in heaven before his purported act of betrayal. Millions of naira for drilling boreholes and setting up a website by Babatunde Raji Fashola is not corruption, I guess. If the Ambode-led administration had not been pinched to overlook the many maladies of his predecessor, you would have seen how being a bright mind doesn’t stop one from being a rotten soul. What of the allegation that about N7 billion left the Rivers State treasury on a day? Well, all these are old instances that were waved away by the Change administration.
Now to John Kayode Fayemi and the Ekiti election as a whole! The highest bidder has been declared the winner and our President never hesitated to congratulate the lucky black sheep. In fact, the unfortunate rigger in the contest, Fayose wasn’t spared of being mocked. That tells you that Buhari values politics to governance. He is a wolf in sheep clothing that thrives on emotional sympathies, undeserved accolades and hypocrisy. If we are serious about our future as a country, we should have been on a search for a better alternative by now; a greenhorn in the nation’s political affairs. After all, all the present political gladiators are individuals with unarguably shiny teeth but with glaringly dark intents.
Fayemi won the Ekiti mandate through an all-round corruption. First, he clinched his party’s ticket after heavily bribing delegates. According to reports, each delegate was given between N250,000 to N350,000. Of course, the voting process became mourning money affair instead of future affair. After winning the primaries, he knew with the support of federal agencies and display of ill-gotten wealth, a return to the government house was just a step away. Lo and behold, it all happened as planned. Tens of thousands of naira was given to each voter to confuse them of their initial thought before the D-day. Is this not the foundation of corruption? A situation whereby the will of the people is bought with only-God-knows-where-it-comes-from wealth is nothing but corruption. More so, a man who is elected based on corrupt means will do nothing to fight it.
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Is there any difference between what the Jonathan-led administration diverted money for and what brought Fayemi back as the governor of Ekiti? What gives the so-called anti-corruption ambassador the joy in celebrating a tainted victory? A political triumph or a change in status quo? Well, we need not bother ourselves on the stance of the President; he is not new to confusing people with double standard on vital issues; lover of Abacha, admirer of Abiola; alleged hater of corruption, a shield for Jonathan for peacefully handing over government to him; the then mentee of Obasanjo, the sudden accuser of the ex-president. The list is obviously endless.
With what was played out in Ekiti, winning a second term bid by Buhari won’t be a herculean task. Money will do it; compromise from relevant agencies will support the mission and a temporal pause of people’s reasoning will enthrone the un-saving messiah once again. Breaking away from the cycle doesn’t seem feasible anytime soon. That is our pitiable state as a nation.
Babawale Simon Oke edits TheEcho.
