Nigerian society has actually transformed President Muhammadu Buhari, a ‘converted democrat’, setting aside the memorable military bloody reign of terror; still displaying that military orientation with a resounding powerful, very concise, heavily loaded Mission Statement in 1,863-1,916 words. He avowed to serve as the President of all, irrespective of political, ethnicity, or religious affiliations, detached from being categorized as a religious zealot, Buhari philosophically stated, Friday, May 29, 2015, 1:39:34 pm, “Having just a few minutes ago sworn on the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all Nigerians. I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.”

The inauguration speech of a new President is unique in a number of ways and for a number of reasons. It is the first after a campaign and thus provides the newly-elected President an opportunity to articulate, in a bipartisan (non-partisan) manner, his vision of development for the nation. It is one speech regarded as being from the heart of the man-of-the-moment, knowing that the speech-maker is no longer under the debilitating pressure represented by political hustings.

Timi Alaibe cuts the picture of a young, cute Nigerian.
But beneath that veneer is a very strong character steeped in intelligence, foresight and an uncommon determination to ensure that Nigeria is made great using the vast resources of the Niger Delta, his geopolitical zone, as a catalyst.
This was what then President Olusegun Obasanjo and late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua saw before appointing him Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC; and later, as Honourary Special Adviser to Yar’Adua on Niger Delta Affairs. It was Timi Alaibe’s well-grounded understanding of the region, it’s nuances and all that recommended him to Yar’Adua. And the story of Amnesty cannot be told without the pivotal role he played, working with some leaders of the region, which eventually led to the disarmament of the Niger Delta militants.
Last week, Alaibe pricked the conscience of the Nigerian state in a paper titled “PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI CHANGE AGENDA AND THE NIGER DELTA STRUGGLE FOR DEVELOPMENT”.

But if Mr. President, a devout Muslim, recognises the sect as “a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of,” why would he criticize the fight against the group as an injustice against the North, a terrain dominated by adherents of Islam? Could he have been referring to a variant of the group, perhaps a political clone as opposed to the original religious one he refers to in his speech?

Nigerians who witnessed the 1950s,’60s and ’70s hold fond memories of their country. “In those days’’, they often reminisce, “Nigeria used to be a very good country to live in.”