The way forward for Buhari

The counsel to be ‘careful for what you wish for, because you may have them’, holds true in both politics and private life. It is even more so in politics when you seek power. This is so because power for power’s sake is a dead end. You must seek something that you are passionate about and committed to do, every day, every hour.
Those who fail to heed this counsel often run aground. You know why? Tough times reveal character under pressure. That’s also why before committing yourself to an endeavor such as politics which requires selfless public service and personal sacrifices, you have to consult widely with friends and advisers, including family members, the most important people in your life. But, beyond that, to borrow the words of Colin Powell, ex-Joint Chief of Staff in America, you must have to look deep into your “own soul, standing aside from the expectations and enthusiasm of others…”. All of this came into sharp focus in the past one week that the All Progressives Congress marked one year of being in political power at the centre.
For President Muhammadu Buhari, one year in power was even more fulfilling, but with a problem of its own. It was an achievement of a life time ambition that came into fruition after an unprecedented fourth attempt at the presidency. That, in part, was one of the reasons why his victory at last year’s presidential election, over the then incumbent president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, came with so much enthusiasm and expectations.
Buhari, it all seemed, fitted perfectly  into the ‘Change’ mantra of his party. We know that change requires struggles, it doesn’t come over night. But one year on, no one can honestly say that both the President and his party still retain that acceptance and approval that brought them to office a year ago. The reason is simple: when people troop out to the polls to vote for their favourite candidate, they expect not all things, but certain things, which is why when we began these series two weeks ago, we posed the question: “Are you better off with Buhari’s one year in office? The question was for you to answer as honestly as you can. From what we have seen in the past two weeks, and the week after the President’s first anniversary speech, views are divergent on the President’s performance in one year. We have moved on, with whatever our regrets or approval of his performance might be. His second year has since begun.
But these are few irrefutable facts. And these facts are for the President and his party to mull over. While a political official needs the support of acolytes or cronies to remain in office, a president is judged by his actions or inactions in office. That’s why the office of the President is not a prize to be won. It is a duty to deliver. That duty must be earned.
Success is not accidental. It is constructed, created and fashioned. It is driven by ideas that you can see or even measure. This is more profound in politics. And failure is what awaits the one who fails to deliver on the promise that brought the party into power.
It needs restating that Buhari came to power on the crest of his integrity and a profound sense of goodwill. He, it was, that drove the APC vehicle of change to power. Sadly, now, his government runs the risk of losing that goodwill and trust of many Nigerians. It is not unkind to say that he has lost much support and squandered a lot of goodwill in recent months. The reasons we have said in the past two weeks, and no point repeating them here.
But some Presidents run aground in the office when they confuse their own destinies with the collective destiny of their nations and that of their citizens. As The Guardian said in its May 29 Editorial, “Nigerians love President Muhammadu Buhari and there is hardly a better evidence of this than their continued tolerance of even his actions and inactions that ordinarily should ruse the to protests”. But as The Guardian cautioned, the President seems a “bit oblivious of this depth of affection in all corners of Nigeria and remains cocooned in a very small world inhabited by only a few persons he thinks he knows and trust. Hence the perception of many Nigerians that he is, sadly, too short in outreach, too insular, and has a horizon too limited for a pan-Nigerian leadership that history has beckoned on him to provide”. These are not harsh words. They are the grim truths of the President’s handling of affairs in the last one year.
Among other things, this is one of the reasons why many people have argued that the President’s not-too impressive performance in one year could be either that he was not fully prepared before he assumed office, or rather overwhelmed by  the enormity of problems he met on assuming office.
Either way, Nigerians hold him accountable, not for creating the problems he inherited, but for providing solutions to them. As Jewish philosopher  Maimonides said, “free will is offered to all men. If they wish to follow the path of goodness and become righteous, the will to do so is in their hands, and if they wish to follow the path of evil and become wicked, the will to do so is also in their hands.
Pulling it all together, it may be good that the President had a surfeit of deficits in his first year in office. That provides him an ample opportunity to make amends in the years ahead. The power is in his hands. But he must realize when to use it wisely and when to put it in reserve. The problem many presidents have is not knowing how to use presidential powers.Obasanjo’s presidency was a classic example of how not to use power. He used it excessively. Yar’Adua (God bless his memory) was the extreme opposite. He was weak and downright unpresidential. His successor, Jonathan was neither hot nor cold. He was both fiscally and trustworthy deficit. He left the exercise of power in the hands of others. Perhaps he was afraid and clueless, as charged by his traducers.
Therefore, what can Buhari do now? The beginning of wisdom for every elected official is to learn to know what he did not know before. From the look of things in the last one year, the President has not had a firm grasp of what he needs to do. Too many things are crowded out of the real picture. The way forward is to find the capacity, the political will and a listening ear to take Nigeria to where it ought to be. We are not unmindful of the problems facing the nation. But that’s why he sought for the office, and the reason why Nigerians voted for change.