By Prof Soremekun
As I contemplate the Nigerian condition or non-
condition, I continue to marvel at contemporary
happenings. The nirvana is certainly not here yet.
Still, it is possible to discern new ozone in public
life.
Suddenly, public officials are more responsive. The
refineries appear to be working. Petrol queues, for
now at least, are gone. Electricity supply seems to
have improved. And therefore one is tempted to
ask: What has happened? Have we really had any
novel policy thrusts since Muhammadu Buhari
assumed the Presidency of the country? As a
student of public affairs, it is possible to answer
this question in the negative. Yet, there is a new
ozone in public life. It does not take much to
appreciate that, what has happened so far is that
the President’s reputation and sheer force of
personal example have probably struck the fear of
God in people who run our institutions. The upshot
is that a novel and positive lease of life seems to
pervade the land
One striking instance here is President Muhammadu
Buhari’s recent public declaration of his assets. As
we all know by now, these assets are now in the
public space. And if those details are true, then
what has been declared should sear the conscience
of all past and present public officers, particularly
at the highest of levels. Here is a man, who has
been in control of vast resources as a military
governor, minister of petroleum and a former Head
of State. Yet, all that he could claim to own are
houses and lands in places like Port Harcourt,
Kaduna and Abuja as well as N30n in his bank
account. To be sure, by the general Nigerian
standards, Buhari is not a poor man. But by the
jaded and conscienceless standards of his peers, he
certainly comes up short-at least in materialistic
terms. Some people with warped values are even
likely to snigger and ask: Is this the entire worth
of this man? Probably yes. But on the platform of
morality, very few of his peers can really hold up
the candle to him. And this is partly why, I have
dared to state here that, Buhari is not a Nigerian.
If he was the typical Nigerian in public life, he
would be in possession of trillions, cash wise and
non-cash equivalents in other areas like properties
and jets ownership.
Even then, the declaration in itself has sparked off
implicit and explicit comparisons, which seem to
indicate that this man stands out. Indeed, some
people with a dark sense of humour or out of sheer
wonder and concern have pointed out that the
average local government chairman in Nigeria
(where else?) is richer than Buhari. And of course
and as we all know, this may well be true. But,
what is perhaps much more revealing especially in
these times is that other public officials are
refusing to be drawn into the ring of public asset
declaration. Take our elected governors for
instance. Either out of ignorance or mischief, they
are saying that there are no statutory provisions
which require them to do so. Very much the same
bankrupt postures can be observed on the part of
the senators and members of the House of
Representatives who, by the way, are supposed to
be distinguished and honourable.
Meanwhile, and as revealed in newspaper reports,
Buhari appears to be exasperated by the fact that,
despite his attempts to come clean with what he
owns, he appears to have opened up another round
of controversy on this issue. In a sense, this is
only to be expected. Vultures as they are wont,
have to feed on something. Which is why, the
General’s contentions are very instructive.
According to him, in the course of his public life, he
has declared his assets four times since 1974. At
the risk of being contradicted, I do not think that
any Head of State or public official has come forth
in this way.
However, for the records, as well as balance, it is
relevant to state here that in the recent past,
former President Umaru Yar’Adua, and his then
deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, respectively declared
their assets. But when the latter mounted the
saddle as the point-man of our system, and the
self-same issue came up, he pointedly and
memorably remarked: I do not give a damn! Which is
just as well. For in a rather Freudian and self-
indicting way, Jonathan was known to declare in
another context that some of our leaders behave
like motor park touts!
But even then, before I am done, since Buhari has
bitten the bullet, it may be useful for other public
officials to do the same. I am referring here to
governors, ministers, and the invisible army of
invincible permanent secretaries. And to President
Buhari, he should take heart. After all, my
ancestral folk, in their eternal wisdom, have
always said that if you indict someone for cooking
a bad soup, what will you do to the person who has
cooked none?
Last line: I am sure that the hidden dimensions of
Buhari’s assets would have been exposed by now if
such information was available.
Soremekun is a Professor of Political Science at
the National Open University of Nigeria.
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