By Tunde Oyedoyin – That President Muhammadu Buhari spoke to the Daily Telegraph last week is no longer news, what it has revealed is the opportunity for the Nigerian public to better grasp an understanding of some of the issues that the country is contending with, notably, Boko Haram. Firstly, the President must be commended for his honesty in admitting that the government doesn’t know the identity of the current leadership of the terrorist organisation. That probably implies that Boko Haram is now so weak and disorganised that nobody can stand up to be claiming to be the head of the group. Survival seems to be their main priority, it seems
Another good thing about the interview is that it has also allowed Nigerians know that his nine-month old administration has reclaimed all the 14 local governments that the terror group forcefully seized during their deadly reign. If nothing, life will be gradually returning to normal in the affected areas, as the government makes its presence felt the more. Critics of his administration may be saying that Boko Haram should have long been taken out, what they fail to realise is that irrespective of the promises the All Progressives Congress, APC, made during its time in opposition, the reality is that they cannot totally undo and win the war against terror within a year. What should be delighting us is that Boko Haram is being put on the run by a military that has been unshackled, and one whose Commander -in- Chief is all out for business. Buhari’s job is keep things that way.
Moreover, that the president has used the opportunity of being wooed by the G7 to ask for military help is smartness. Thank goodness, he didn’t go with cap in hand, saying “give us this or give us that or write off our debts, please.” All he did was to “… subsequently send Nigeria’s shopping list in terms of infrastructure destroyed.”
Having said that, Mr. President should know when to stop blaming the previous government and rather focus on his own business. He should get to grips with the art of fielding questions. As a footnote, If you’re a Nigerian, whose relation or friend is doing time in a foreign prison for doing drugs, you better know that our president doesn’t see any crime in saying that such criminals have themselves to blame.
By the way, who lied to the president that Nigerians have an image problem abroad? He shouldn’t let the British press or any foreign interviewer lead him down the route of feeding into their stereotypes about our people. Which country doesn’t have its fair share of criminals? Besides, I’m not saying that the president doesn’t read widely, what I’ll be asking him to do is to find time to read more, particularly on weekends. After all it is said that “readers are leaders.” If he makes an habit of reading for an hour every day, including on weekends, he will surely see that the number of Nigerians who occasionally drag the name of the country in the mud are so insignificant for anyone to make a career out of.
The president should, as a matter of choice, take this advice for free, when next a lazy journalist or interviewer asks such a question, he should ask the reporter “interview over.” Alternatively, ask the reporter to mention the names of three Nigerians doing great things in that country. For the records, was it not someone with Nigerian blood –Angelo Ogbonna – who headed West Ham into the next round of the FA Cup on Tuesday night?
