By Denrele Animasaun

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty-never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” — Winston S. Churchill

We have had so much rumblings about the Buhari’s visit to the UK. It has whipped the rumour mill to a frenzy. Depending on what was written by the conspiracy theorists; the London visit, did not really happen, he came for medical checks and anyway, the campaign is running out of funds and so on. The tittle-tattle has been going on for so long that, it would be wrong for me not to mention how this behaviour and how it comes across to rational human beings. Sadly, the reality of the situation is lost on those who cannot see sense.

Gen Buhari at Chatham House

I was not planning on commenting on any more politics and politicking. Until Buhari had to walk in to my neck of the woods.

His visit to Chatham House had the rent-a-mob out, to register their displeasure with placards and printed T-shirts and in a democracy, it is their right to do so. They do not represent the views of all Nigerians. It was obvious that it was orchestrated.

So, with baited breathe, we listened to the live stream of the speech Buhari gave at Chatham House. It was an inspirational and aspirational speech that gives renewed hope to Nigerians and a restoration of our long lost pride and hope for the future. It was honest and to the point. Warts and all. It did not embellish Nigeria’s short comings nor did it skirt about the issue of the heart of the matter; insecurity, unemployment, economic growth and corruption.

It was a speech that renewed hope that Nigeria will indeed rise again to its rightful place in the League of Nations and be a credible partners in the region. On those waiting for the Buhari the military man they were disappointed. This was a man who knows that democracy is about people’s power and not the power of the gun. He reassured them:” As you all know, I had been a military head of state in Nigeria for twenty months. We intervened because we were unhappy with the state of affairs in our country. We wanted to arrest the drift. Driven by patriotism, influenced by the prevalence and popularity of such drastic measures all over Africa and elsewhere, we fought our way to power.”

On the insurgency he declared: “Boko Haram has sadly put Nigeria on the terrorism map, killing more than 13,000 of our nationals, displacing millions internally and externally, and at a time holding on to portions of our territory, the size of Belgium. What has been consistently lacking is the required leadership in our battle against insurgency. I, as a retired general and a former head of state, have always known about our soldiers: they are capable, well trained, patriotic, and brave and always ready to do their duty in the service of our country. And he further stated:” But in the matter of this insurgency, our soldiers have neither received the necessary support nor the required incentives to tackle this problem”

This is a man on a mission to clear the country of the scourge of evil and barbarity. There is no place for extremism and definitely, it cannot longer let a rag tag, blight of society run amok and destabilise a whole region for so long.

On corruption, he said:” there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration. First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only. Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. The institutions of state dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference”

And he reassures those who are afraid of reprisal and are worried:” I must emphasise that any war waged on corruption should not be misconstrued as settling old scores or a witch-hunt. I’m running for President to lead Nigeria to prosperity and not adversity.” This was a measured response for those who are hell bent on convincing themselves that there will be a large scale penal colony in Nigeria for everyone that displeases Buhari. This is not the case and cannot be the case. This man is on a mission and the work ahead is one, that requires everyone and all hands have to be on deck for nation building.

On wealth distribution and societal benefit he said:” Our GDP is now valued at $510 billion and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also on the bright side, inflation has been kept at single digit for a while and our economy has grown at an average of 7% for about a decade. But it is more of paper growth, a growth that, on account of mismanagement, profligacy and corruption, has not translated to human development or shared prosperity. A development economist once said three questions should be asked about a country’s development: one, what is happening to poverty? Two, what is happening to unemployment? And three, what is happening to inequality?”

This is a man that thinks nationally and globally:” So let me say upfront that the global interest in Nigeria’s landmark election is not misplaced at all and indeed should be commended; for this is an election that has serious import for the world. I urge the international community to continue to focus on Nigeria at this very critical moment. Given increasing global linkages, it is in our collective interests that the postponed elections should hold on the rescheduled dates; that they should be free and fair; that their outcomes should be respected by all parties; and that any form of extension, under whichever guise, is unconstitutional and will not be tolerated”

For me, what I am most excited about was the future of the young generation and the direction of their future in Nigeria (and I believed he nailed it;)” even by official figures, 33.1% of Nigerians live in extreme poverty. That’s at almost 60 million, almost the population of the United Kingdom. There is also the unemployment crisis simmering beneath the surface, ready to explode at the slightest stress, with officially 23.9% of our adult population and almost 60% of our youth unemployed. We also have one of the highest rates of inequalities in the world and “diversify the base of our economy, strengthen productive sectors, improve the productive capacities of our people and create jobs for our teeming youths”

And with a parting shot to those rumour mongers and spin doctors; he had this to say:” I cannot change the past. But I can change the present and the future. So before you is a former military ruler and a converted democrat who is ready to operate under democratic norms and is subjecting himself to the rigours of democratic elections for the fourth time.

With that and thanking everyone, Buhari left the building. It was truly inspirational and I do hope that we can share in the vision of a better Nigeria and a better tomorrow for all Nigerians.