“Every hero becomes a bore at last” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 90.

President Buhari was once my hero. In the months leading to the 2015 elections, I was perhaps the lone columnist in VANGUARD who was totally supportive of him. I took my colleagues, friends, family members and my Oba on wholesale in his defence. Nobody was excluded from my attack on those who disagreed that Buhari was better than Jonathan. Today, as the man moves closer to Daura, I must confess that he has been a great disappointment. Jonathan’s grievous deficiencies as a leader made it impossible for us to wonder, at the time, if anybody can be worse. Now we know that we actually dived into hell fire in 2015.

As departure time draws near, Buhari has asked for forgiveness from those he has hurt. That would mean all other Nigerians except those he has allowed to impoverish us and the hoodlums he has allowed to flourish and who now control our lives. Read this for a start.

‘Insecurity will end in 2022, says Buhari’ – News report, September25, 2022.

Buhari made this great proclamation during the Olojo Festival at Ile Ife. He was represented by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who specifically declared: “I want to assure you that the little areas where we are encountering security challenges, we will overcome them before the end of 2022.”

Don’t believe me; just go and ask the Governors of Benue, Kaduna, Sokoto, Plateau, Katsina and Zamfara if Buhari has fulfilled his promise.

From information available to me from sources in Katsina State, Buhari, after May 29, 2023, would be well-advised to stay indoors and be heavily protected when he returns to Daura. There is no guarantee that he might not be abducted. Perpetual insecurity for his own life, for his life time, might be his reward for turning, literally, blind eyes to the atrocities of herdsmen for eight years. One of his closest allies, Governor El-Rufai, exposed the lies being peddled by one of Buhari’s spokesmen – a pastor and journalist — who went on television to tell Nigerians that we are more secure now than in 2014. They paid for a spurious advertisement in newspapers to “prove” their case.

Buhari selected the right set of spokesmen to represent him on great occasions.

“Promises like [biscuits] are made to be broken” – Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745.

Aregbesola was Governor of Osun State for eight years. In his first year, he embarked on establishing an airport in the state. Loans were taken; dignitaries were invited for the foundation laying ceremony. Completion date was fixed; and people sang his praises. Till today, there is no airport in the state. So, what happened to the loans taken?

I recollect being the lone voice of dissent in the media. His sycophants included emeritus professors who thought that an airport in Osogbo was a great idea. I can spot a white elephant project from 500 kilometers away. And, the Osogbo airport was one. With airports at Akure, Ibadan and Ilorin – all ten minutes flying time from Osogbo, all losing money, where is the traffic to support this wasteful project? Osun will continue to pay dearly for this abomination.

So, it was just appropriate that he should be natural choice to represent Buhari and deliver another promise which will definitely not be redeemed. Here are a few facts which have exposed the FG.

KADUNA, ZAMFARA OTHERS ON FIRE AGAIN

‘Kaduna: 125 killed, 60 kidnapped in 82 days’ -News report, APRIL 13, 2023

At the time Aregbesola was inviting fellow Nigerians to join him in living in a fool’s paradise in October last year, more than half of the hoodlums who escaped the Maximum Security Prison, Abuja were still running around free. Their means of livelihood has always been abduction, mass murders, extortion and highway robbery. Why Buhari and his Minister assumed that those hardened criminals would stop is a mystery which only the two can explain. Right now, in vast arrears of Benue, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara, millions of farmers have abandoned their farms during the planting season. Obviously, you can’t harvest what you didn’t sow. Surely, the hoodlums will outlast Buhari and Aregbesola – with less than a month for this government to go. They probably read the statement translated into several Nigerian languages and laughed. They appreciate a good joke when one is released on orders from above.

One person who is not deceiving himself is Governor El-Rufai. As May 29 approaches, when the battalion of security people attached to him will be removed, it has at last dawned on him that the state might be too hot for him and family. He recently raised the alarm asking Buhari to take urgent steps to ensure security before his departure from Aso Rock. Granted, the call was made before Buhari disclosed that he might relocate to Niger Republic if the hoodlums in Katsina are rude enough to threaten his peace of mind. Still, El-Rufai is a brilliant fellow and can make a lot of sense when he does not allow sentiments to get in the way as in this case.

Every adult over 30 years knows that it is more difficult to build than to destroy. Is it the same Buhari, who watched as formerly peaceful Kaduna State became a killing field in eight years, who will now fix the problem in one month? Is he really interested? The more one listens to these people, the more one must wonder if this was the best we can do. What will posterity think of us when they read the history of our period?

CENSUS POSTPONED: MATTERS ARISING

“Better late than never!” Certainly, I am not the only one who felt a great sense of relief when the National Population Commission, NPC, succumbed to commonsense and postponed the exercise from May 3-5 to an indefinite date in the future. No doubt about it, we have wasted millions by this shift in date. But, it is better to accept a small financial setback than to conduct a shabby census.

Demographics are mandatory course for all those reading economics in the USA. After all, economies are made for man; and not man for the economy. For governments, the private sector, international organizations, etc to serve people well, they need to know how many of us are there in Nigeria. But, that is only the beginning. How many male and how many female? How many young and old? Where are they? The list of data to be generated is almost endless.

That was why, a few weeks ago, I called on Ndigbo not to return to the South-East. As a matter of fact, the same call was made to all Nigerians. “Stay where you live and work to be counted there.” The response to that plea was overwhelmingly positive – except one. A young reader sent me a message saying I am being clever by half by asking Ndigbo not to go home; given Nigeria’s history. I ignored the insult. Instead, I replied with a prayer for him and family.

Unknown to the young person, one of my Igbo friends, running a large supermarket, was caught in a dilemma about the call to return home. He wants justice for the people. But, it would require at least two weeks to wind down his business and leave on April 30. He called and asked me what he should do. I told him “don’t go; there will be no Census on May 3.” He pressed me more wanting to know how I could be so sure. The matter, to me, was simple. Every time the FG embarks on a vital project covering the entire country, the agency undertaking it must receive at least 75 per cent of the budget two months from commencement date. Census scheduled to start after the elections ran into the financial traffic hold up resulting from currency change cash scarcity. It was either INEC or NPC; and nobody needs to be told which was the top priority.

Thus, by the time I was pleading with Ndigbo not to go home, I had it on reliable authority that NPC had received only about 40 per cent of the funds requested. The census was postponed long before NPC announced it. I didn’t want people to risk their lives for an event that would not take place. Imagine, what would have happened, if only two million Igbo people took to the roads; heading East for the May 3-5 Census…

BOOKS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE TO PRINT NOW

“…If you want to live forever; write a book.”

Well I am trying to write a book – selected collection of my columns from 1992 to 2023. And, I have just discovered that only millionaires can write books these days. A princely sum of N2 million would be needed just to print. Now, I can understand why most students cannot buy textbooks and must rely on handouts to pass exams. God knows I need a loan…

HELP SUNDAY THIS SUNDAY

I will be 79 tomorrow. And, believe me, I just found another copy of PDP: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED. Name your price; and the book is yours. The money goes to Sunday, the paraplegic athlete. Almighty God will bless you abundantly.