OLALEKAN ADETAYO writes on the various statements made by President Muhammadu Buhari outside Nigeria which have generated negative reactions among the populace
When President Muhammadu Buhari left Nigeria for the United Kingdom on April 9 ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, he had no inkling that the trip would end up attracting more criticisms than commendation.
The President was almost rounding off his engagements in the British capital when the development that later defined his two-week trip happened. He attended the Commonwealth Business Forum in Westminster where he delivered his keynote address, a prepared speech. He thereafter joined a panel of discussants on the forum’s theme, ‘Making Business Easier between Commonwealth Countries’.
The discussion segment was almost over when the bubble burst. It was at that point that the Nigerian leader made the only statement that his trip can be remembered for. The septuagenarian took a swipe at some Nigerian youths who he alleged sit idly and expect freebies just because the nation is an oil-producing country.
“About the economy, we have a very young population; our population is estimated conservatively to be 180 million. This is a very conservative one. More than 60 per cent of the population is below 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, health care, education free,” the President declared.
Virtually various individuals and groups and stakeholders, who needed to react, came out strongly against Buhari’s statement. They were of the opinion that the President was not fair to the youth. The Presidency’s desperate attempt to clarify that Buhari only referred to “a lot of” and not “all” the youth did not appear to have achieved anything in dousing the tension generated. Critics of that presidential statement already had their minds made up.
Some public commentators hold the belief that Buhari has a penchant for talking down on Nigerians once he is out of the shore of the country. Those who belong to that school of thought have more than enough examples to cite.
The first example that came handy also happened in London where the latest statement was made. Buhari had, in May 2016, publicly agreed with the then British Prime Minister, David Cameron, that Nigeria is a “fantastically corrupt” country. The President spoke briefly with Sky News Diplomatic Editor, Dominic Waghorn, after he delivered his keynote address at the Commonwealth event tagged ‘Tackling corruption together: A conference for civil society, business and government leaders’ held at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London.
When the journalist sought to know if Buhari would like an apology from the Prime Minister, he got an emphatic “No, no. Not at all” response from the Nigerian leader. He got the same negative response when he asked if Buhari was embarrassed by what Cameron said. Apparently surprised by the President’s answers to his questions, the journalist pressed further and asked, “Is Nigeria fantastically corrupt?” He got an emphatic yes answer from Buhari. The statement attracted outrage like the latest one.
Ironically, shortly after Cameron made that offensive statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had reacted, saying Nigeria was embarrassed by the comment. He had said the comment was not reflective of the anti-corruption posture of the present administration.
But Buhari’s interview appeared to be a disclaimer of Shehu’s statement.
Another example was in August 2015 when Buhari shocked Nigerians abroad by telling them to remain wherever they were because Nigeria was battling with the challenge of unemployment. He said this at a meeting with members of the Nigerian community in Benin Republic. Reacting to a question on what his administration was doing to facilitate their return home, Buhari told them to stay put because he would not want them to add to the problem of unemployment. “I believe a lot of you are doing well and are better of here. So, the question of facilitating you to come home does not arise. We don’t want you to come back home and be unemployed. Don’t come and add to our problems. If you have something doing here, please, continue doing it,” he had said.
Still in 2015, Buhari chose the United States Institute of Peace to make Nigerians realise that he could not treat those who voted overwhelmingly for him the same way he would treat those who did not vote for him. “I hope you have a copy of the election results. The constituents, for example, who gave me 97% [of the votes] cannot, in all honesty, be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%,” was the President’s response to a question he was asked.
Another example was when Buhari in October 2016 publicly tackled his wife, Aisha, over her BBC interview where she questioned his leadership strategies. Buhari was on a state visit to Germany and he chose that country to respond. During a joint press briefing with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the President said, “I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room.”
To some observers, the instances are enough to prove that Buhari has a penchant for making wrong statements on the country and its citizens from foreign lands. Another school of thought however believes that there are deliberate efforts on the side of the President’s handlers to protect him from “unnecessary exposure” by way of shielding him from journalists and ensuring that he sticks to his prepared speech whenever the need arises for him to talk in Nigeria. That school of thought noted that in other instances when the President will have to speak without prepared speech, such events hold behind closed doors; therefore, giving his men the opportunity to sift his words properly before releasing the ones they believe are not offensive to the public.
Those who hold this view are quick to say that since he assumed office in 2015, Buhari had only featured on presidential media chat once.
The spokesman for the pan Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, captured it succinctly when he said Buhari was shielded from press at home. He advised that for the remainder of his tenure, the President should learn to speak with his people at home and not talking down on them.
He stated, “The first thing to note is that we have a President who hardly talks to us at home. Since he came to office, maybe he has done one or two presidential media chats. He is shielded from the press at home and when he now goes abroad where he cannot be shielded, then he has to say something, and he talks off point. For instance, on his latest slip, the question was ‘what are the investment opportunities in the North-East?’ and he started saying that the youth are lazy, they want freebies and the rest.
“Clearly, it is either a complex thing or there is a disdain for Nigerians that he does not talk to them at home, he does not interact with them but when he goes out and he is forced to speak, he speaks wrongly.”
Expectedly, however, Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, did not agree with Odumakin on the issue of the President being shielded from the press in Nigeria. He said the President was too big and experienced to be shielded. The presidential aide also said there was no truth in the claim that Buhari had disdain for Nigerian press or Nigerians.
Shehu said, “The President is too big, powerful and experienced to be shielded. If the President wants to do anything, can anybody stand on his way? You can’t. Which media team member can stop the President from talking if he wants to talk?
“The thing about speaking abroad is that when the President travels, there is a schedule of his engagements: diplomatic, protocol, business, and media. So if he has like 30 minutes, why won’t he utilise it?
“In any case, the media is global now. Even in all these interviews, we always have the Nigerian Television Authority and some other Nigerian stations present even when foreign journalists are conducting. So it is not as if he is sidelining the Nigerian media and talking to foreigners. The President does not have disdain for Nigerian media. He reads Nigerian newspapers from the front page to the back page. He reads everything in the newspaper.”
Also, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, did not mince words when he said Buhari had so far proven that he was not a good ambassador of the country.
He added, “Our own stake as a party is that the President is not a good ambassador because every ambassador of a nation goes out to market his country. The President has not succeeded in selling this nation in any forum. All he does is to de-market Nigeria. As far as he is concerned, he is the only Mr. Integrity in the country while every other Nigerian are stigmatised.
“Which foreign investor will come and invest in Nigeria because of an individual? None! Mr. President is only mouthing investment drive and building bilateral relationship. He has never walked the talk. Even if he remains as President forever, he will not change.”
A lawyer, Dr. Kayode Ajulo, in his contribution, said the President was expected to be the country’s chief marketer abroad. While frowning on situations where Buhari make uncomplimentary statements about Nigerians while abroad, Ajulo said it was unbelievable that Buhari would continuously cast aspersions on Nigerians while in foreign countries.
Ajulo stated, “I may not want to heap the blame on the President himself. It is within the purview of his handlers. They have not been helpful. The Presidency seems to have this thinking that Nigerians do not really matter in the scheme of things. But Nigerians did not vote for his handlers, they voted for the President and it is expected that he should look straight at Nigerians and tell them his mind, not that he will go out of the country to make unpalatable remarks.
“I have not, in my years of studying public policies and politics, seen an American President coming to Nigeria to make statements casting aspersion on his citizens. Nigerian President is expected to be the chief marketer of the country abroad. When he gets home, we can tell ourselves the real truth.”
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