By Ehichioya Ezomon
As an aside this week, I highlight an essential element in governance that appears ignored by President Muhammadu Buhari, who, in London in November 2019, was at the Lambert Palace, to see his friend, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Despite the differences in their religion, it’s obvious that both men have a mutual, cordial and affectionate relation. Any time they meet, you would see President Buhari letting down his guards.
A photograph of the visit published by some national dailies on Monday, November 11, showed the duo in a happy “good-to-see-you-again” mood. That makes many to wonder if there’s any Nigerian of the Christian or other faith that Buhari shares such affection and affinity as with Archbishop Welby!
It’s true that friendship is not based on religion or forced, but earned by cultivation. But do we know of a Nigerian, even within the Muslim circle, that the president has intimate relation with that passes the mustard of public acclaim?
I had thought that for “symbolism,” President Buhari, on his return to the country, would cap his congratulatory message with a visit to the new Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Ayau Kaigama.
Besides bespeaking that “charity” doesn’t belong abroad, but actually begins at home, such a visit could temper the religious “selectivism” that critics ascribe to Buhari.
But I concede, too, that visiting Archbishop Kaigama could set a precedent the president might be unable to cope with among the hundreds, if not thousands of Nigeria’s denominations.
If he visits and/or attends the activity of one heavyweight “G.O.” (General Overseer), and abstains from another’s programme, he may incur the label of “disrespecting” a “Man of God.”
Still, what’s Buhari’s scorecard in the cultivation of connection between a ruler and the led? We’re talking about the president relating to, and mingling with the citizens he represents!
Amid a social life that makes people to loosen up, the mental picture Nigerians have, and seldom see of him is a man with reserved smiles even while acknowledging felicitations.
Let’s take a trip to Indonesia, through the lens of the Cable News Network (CNN) on its programme on “Talk Asia.” The outlet, in 2019, regularly showed Indonesia’s President, Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, mixing with ordinary Indonesians.
On Sunday, December 29, the CNN replayed the programme. You could see Widodo walking down a boulevard, security in tow, and exchanging pleasantries with the grassroots: Joking, shaking hands, high-fiving, and wait for it, taking “selfies” with many people.
Each time I watched that programme, I felt envious of a people, whose leader seems to break all barriers and protocols to relate with, and give them a sense of belonging and togetherness.
I always felt we’re missing a lot on our shores, where our leader, President Buhari, is nestled in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and seen mostly via the tube.
Save a working visit to a state, Nigerians, in about three and half years, saw Buhari a record 36 times, within two months, during his re-election tours in 2019. So, calculate the number of times he would have availed himself to the people all those years!
Relatedly, consider former President Barack Obama still keeping in touch with Americans and the world. On New Year’s Eve, he tweeted, @BarackObama, his “Favourite Music Of 2019.”
He wrote: “From hip-hop to country to The Boss, here are my songs of the year. If you’re looking for something to keep you company on a long drive or help you turn up a workout, I hope there’s a track or two in here that does the trick.”
And among the songs he listed are two by Nigerians: “Anybody” by Burna Boy and “Iron Man” by REMA. As at 4:40 p.m. on Saturday, January 4, over 434,000 liked, 69,100 retweeted and 11,800 replied to the post.
No comparison, or suggestion of emulation here! But does our president relate with his people, like President Widodo, or share his “favourite music” with them, as Obama did? How often has he been on the streets of Abuja, to ask after, and share a joke or two with the ‘Talakawas’ he professes to lead?
These little things matter in a relationship. Yes, Buhari is in a “relationship” with Nigerians, who are at “war” on many fronts, but with insecurity, economic hardship, and political discontent topping their worries.
By the way, was President Buhari able to heal the wounds inflicted on the polity during the 2015 polls? What about the injuries from the 2019 elections hotly contested up to the Supreme Court?
Elections over, Nigerians had expected that with a resounding mandate on the last lap of his tenure, Buhari would embark on a “Meet-And-Thank-You-Visit” to at least one state per week.
It’s not enough to say “I’m the President” without a corresponding association with the people. Has he exhibited this bond in times of national crisis, as Nigeria’s experiencing in the polity?
We’re told that Buhari isn’t how he’s portrayed in public. Twice, in a film, and in an 800-metre walk, his handlers had attempted a public relations endeavour to humanize him before Nigerians.
In the late 2017 documentary, presidential aides, trying to present Buhari as genial, eventually portrayed him as a split-personality: The stern, no nonsense former military officer; and a jovial, sociable, likable, jolly good fellow.
That film wanted to prove that he’s good-humoured, as most Nigerians. Going by accounts of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, the president, during the 2015 polls, would tell moonlight tales “that made us to roll on the carpet with laughter.”
In mid-2018, in Daura, Buhari’s hometown, his “800-metre walk,” from the Eld grounds, was mischaracterized by aides as a “fitness test for the 2019 polls,” but the president explained it’s a gesture to the cheering crowd that manned the route to his house.
As I noted in a January 1, 2018, piece, “Buhari: Time to self-humanize publicly,” which I referenced in another piece, “APC and countdown to 2019 polls (4),” on November 19, 2018, there’s one striking feature in the Buhari aides’ narratives.
And that’s, “he only lets his guards down in the circles of his family, friends and associates, including cabinet members. When he’s outside of these groups, he maintains his mien.”
The poser: Must we be Buhari’s acquaintances to experience the avuncular disposition he displays in private? The people don’t need third parties to tell them about his geniality; they want that first hand, and on a regular basis.
They also want to value his governance difficulties, and exchange ideas with him on the phone, radio, television and social media. As we go into 2020-2023, Nigeria needs healing, and a comforter in Buhari. As the nation’s “Father,” he should explore these channels, to relate with the people, to build a mutual trust on both sides.
- Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, can be reached on Twitter: @Ehichioya Ezomon or via WhatsApp: 08033078357.