Uche Igwe“If you are leading
The visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Washington DC, the capital of the United States of America last week was an important opportunity to refresh relationships between the two countries and deepen strategic partnerships. I think it achieved all those and more. The positive comments of the US President, Barack Obama, about the integrity of the Nigerian leader came as an endorsement that lifted the lingering negative perception cast over Buhari’s leadership of Africa’s most populous nation, largest economy and biggest producer of crude oil. It is no news that the relationship between the two countries suffered a lull towards the end of the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan due to his perceived poor handling of the rising insecurity due to the Boko Haram terrorist activities and lack of control and even complicity to the growing cases of corruption.
I attended some of the meetings and was very impressed with the general mood in Washington DC about the visit and positive discussions that held in the side-lines. Buhari came out very remarkably presidential, firm and confident. Yet, there are a few important lessons that he and the leadership of his ruling All Progressives Congress need to learn from the outing. In general, judging his performance as someone who has been out of government for almost 30 years, he is learning very quickly. But, he needs to do more.
Many observers have commented particularly on the President’s engagement at the United States Institute for Peace. Some of responses were quite unfair while others made their conclusions without getting the full picture. After an intensive three-day engagement with several US policymakers, the President was slightly under the weather and was visibly sneezing while delivering his speech. He committed an error in his answer to a question raised about the Niger Delta probably because he did not hear the person well. Some argue that the reference to the percentage votes he got from different constituencies unwittingly exposed his mindset to favour one region over and more than others. I prefer not to make conclusions yet. Rather, my take on this is to say that the President is not naïve. He knows that such narrow mindset will come with consequences. The results of the last election showed clearly that no one zone in Nigeria can win the Presidency without the other. Such indices are quite risky to ignore because both him and his party will have to pay somehow. One must applaud his commitment to subdue and eventually defeat the Boko Haram insurgents. Terrorism is fast becoming a palpable threat to the existence of Nigeria. Such a determination must not however lead him to ignore or oversimplify the Niger Delta issues or other urgent problems bedevilling the country at this time. That will be a grave error. That development is still lacking in many parts of the Niger Delta region with so many questions yet to be resolved after years of the Jonathan Presidency presents an opportunity for President Buhari to present himself as a nationalist and statesman. He must not fail to extend development to that region and other regions even though he might have got fewer votes therefrom.
On a related note, I submit that the President’s speech was filled with some avoidable contradictions. For instance, the references to the US-based analysts as “arm chair analysts” and “doomsday merchants” were unnecessary and less than complimentary. Such words should not feature in the speech of a leader who is prepared to engage. One must not forget that many of these think tanks gave Nigeria support when it mattered must and we still need them. Their views are taken seriously in the foreign policy arena. Furthermore, the fact remains that those who predicted that Nigeria was at the brink before the 2015 elections had their reasons. Some of them might have been exaggerated but they were not completely wrong. The deep ethnic and religious divides that bedevil our country are real and relevant till today. One can only imagine what could have happened if President Buhari did not win the last election. So, the President must know that it is his responsibility to fill these fragile divides and not exacerbate them in order to move the country forward.
Furthermore, let me add that I share the concern of many analysts that Nigeria as a country would have got a little more from the visit if our President had travelled with a team. Some of the logistic and organisational hiccups experienced during the visit might have been avoided. The reasons put forward for the delay of the appointments can no longer hold water for me. Nigerians are aware that there is deep corruption in our country which worsened during the last administration. Such a complex problem will be fixed gradually by setting realistic but incremental targets. The President is right to seek to appoint those who are knowledgeable, experienced and patriotic. He is also right to exclude those who might have been compromised and who may be seeking to hold the country hostage. However, he should not wait to appoint saints because there are none. He only needs to set his standards, appoint people to positions and watch over them carefully. That is the way to begin to build the institutions that will deliver on the electoral promises he made. If he looks around the country, he will discover that qualified and experienced people are not in short supply. If any appointee deviates from the standards he will set, such a person will expect to be fired. Nigerians appreciate the political will and the tone of integrity set by the Buhari government but one “strong” man only cannot deliver good governance to a country like ours. It brings back the statement made by President Obama that Africa needs strong institutions and not strong men. The support that the Buhari is enjoying so far will likely fizzle out unless he puts the government machinery in place however imperfect. His government will likely reap more benefits from such bilateral engagements if the right team that can translate the President’s vision to concrete programmes can be brought on board quickly.
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