Now that Buhari has won

To many Nigerians, March 28, 2015 will eternally ring true as the day they voted out an incumbent president, the first time in Nigerian history!

Some of us at first did not deem Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) enough threat to dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party hegemony. I thought Buhari had run too many times and was jaded; lacked the necessary appeal needed to attract a younger generation of voters; and his candidature would only increase the chances of President Goodluck Jonathan, who will use the incumbency factor to trounce him at the polls. Alas, the incumbent was far too damaged for such a possibility. Along the line, Buhari’s candidature gained traction such that “change” became the mantra of the season.

In the past weeks, I have watched friends take on the “change” campaign with an enthusiastic mien, campaigning as if it was an evangelistic crusade while the incumbent remained stuck on old paradigms of analysis about electoral victories. Their feet were disconnected from the grounds of reality to realise that identity politics can be limited because of its shifty nature. The interview Jonathan granted tothecableng.com on the eve of election showed he still peddled the old stuff even when the ground beneath his feet long shifted. The idea of patriarch-leaders “delivering” their constituency can only work in tandem with performance to boost a candidate’s marketability.

It was no surprise the President and his party, the PDP, fell over like an old and dried tree in a relentless storm. Now, the PDP even has fewer members in the Senate; they will be Nigeria’s “opposition” party at least for the next four years. That flip will enhance Nigeria’s democratic culture because politicians will — hopefully — learn not to take people for granted until six weeks before the election.

When you are handed a mandate, you do not sleep on it until another election season and then begin to attack your opponent. From the way they ran their campaign before the six-week shift in elections, you could tell that they were playing to lose. They were so hung over on their own brew that they focused on pettiness and inanities. They did not even have time to create a manifesto! Their campaign showed them as a bunch that was as stale as beer left open overnight. For much of their time, they ran up and down like a chicken with severed head.

Half of their campaign was built around Buhari and what he would do and not do rather than them selling the substance of their own candidate. By focusing unduly on Buhari — from his certificate to the condition of his brain and even the length of his life, they managed to centre the man and maybe even whip up some sentiment for him. When the story of Buhari’s political trajectory is narrated, there should be some portion dedicated to how the PDP, through its bumbling, helped in the creation of the Buhari myth.

One thing that should be pointed out to the APC, however, is the price of their victory. It did not come cheap. It came through the sweat dripping from the brow of folk like my friend who went door to door campaigning for Buhari. Unremunerated for his efforts, and perhaps unnoticed by the party leadership, he kept at it simply because he believed — with something akin to religious zeal — in a better Nigeria through Buhari.

For the sake of people like him, the APC had better not fail. Now that Buhari has won, it would be a shame if in 2019 we have not added any megawatts to what currently subsists. It would be awful if we return to the familiar lamentations of no light, no water, no security, no jobs and a disintegrating country.

The weight of expectations built around Buhari and his presidency is unenviably enormous. He himself acknowledged this and knowing that he knows gives some comfort. Buhari should be reminded that a similar mountain of expectations was built around Olusegun Obasanjo when he took over in 1999. The night he was sworn in, our household reeked with the excitement of the beginning of a new Nigeria. Yes, Obasanjo had the panache to do well by Nigerians if his mega-sized hypocrisy and narcissism had not overruled him. The Jonathan presidency was the beginning of a similar cycle of great expectations. People looked to him for fresh air but were rewarded with putrid stench of non-governing governance.

The Buhari campaign team has spent a good amount of time telling us about change. Let them know from the beginning that we had better see a change for the better in our condition. There will be no room for excuses for Buhari and his disciples to hem and haw if he fails to deliver on his promises. If in the next four years he does not pay attention to the key issues bedevilling Nigeria, we would be right to seek to upturn him the way we did for Jonathan. Public office is nobody’s birthright and those who assume that occupying a position of such immense responsibility is because of the perks of office had better begin to have a radical rethink. Nigerians are understandably impatient; their feet have been running for years now and they are tired. Tired of asking the same things they did since the days of M.K.O. Abiola’s Hope ‘93.

One of the main challenges we will be contending with from May 29, 2015 is to ensure that we have not pushed down one oppressor’s banner only to hoist another one albeit in different colours. With an APC victory, the political configuration will change to occupy new interests and also realign existing dynamics. The newfound access to political power will activate the beasts in some people. This is the season when the zealots around the president-elect will try to guarantee their own pension by segregating the country into those for “us” and those against “us.” There should be no room for divisive rhetoric because it unnecessarily distracts.

In the months to come, all the spoilers and ruiners of Nigeria who are currently in the PDP are likely to defect to join their counterparts in the APC. I hope the prebendalist passion that drives these movements is delimited. The times ahead are going to be tough because Nigeria is going broke. For years, we have nursed lasciviously at nature’s breast but now things have changed. Hard times might be ahead but such juncture also presents Nigeria the opportunity to re-calibrate her priorities and opportunities. Nigeria can be great but we owe it to ourselves to make it happen.