I inherited a country near bankruptcy – President Tinubu at Saint Lucia, July 3, 2025.
It must have been divine coincidence. One of Buhari’s former Senior Special Assistants launched his book a day before – undoubtedly full of half-truths and plain lies about the wonders performed by the former President. Nobody expects an ex-official, who spent eight years peddling falsehood about the government he served, to suddenly turn around and start telling the truth now that he is out of office.
In his last television appearance in 2023, he announced, as if it was true, that Buhari achieved more than any other predecessor.
Incidentally, Buhari was reported to be ill a few days after Tinubu’s bombshell in the Caribbean Island which has shredded his fictitious legacy.
Buhari now is in urgent need of very erudite people who can help to salvage his damaged reputation.
This condemnation was not by the opposition; or known critics of his government.
Reputation wreckage was done by the person who was his co-founder of the All Progressives Congress, APC; the friend who brought him out of self-retirement and financed his election. This is the same person declaring that Buhari had spent eight years bringing Nigeria to “the brink of collapse”.
It is enough to make even the strongest man sick.
Unfortunately, there is no presidential jet to take him abroad for treatment.
I wish him well; he needs renewed strength to for the battle to redeem his self-image – in light of these grave allegations threatening to rubbish his legacy forever.
To some extent, presidential candidate Tinubu supported all the propaganda; so much so, that on page 3 of the RENEWED HOPE document he declared that his vision of governance was “standing on the foundation emplaced by the current administration”. That was not the only time the candidate heaped encomiums on the out-going government. Candidate Tinubu, perhaps constrained by political expediency, was full of praises for the lame-duck President Buhari.
That announcement raises several questions demanding answers.
WHEN DID TINUBU REALISE THE TRUTH?
“Knowledge on the eighth day of the week”.
That is how one of my sages describes information received long after they would have mattered.
There was perhaps no single day from the time Buhari appointed his Ministers and other top economic policy advisers, and made announcements that economic and financial experts were not pointing to the negative impacts those policies would have on the Nigerian economy.
Buhari finished his first term, 2015-2019, with the economy growing at 0.8 per cent on the aggregate.
The second term was hardly better.
In 2020, the second recession of his administration occurred.
His legacy programme – Social Investment Programme, SIP—encouraged idleness and discouraged productivity; it was also riddled with monumental corruption.
The media, including Tinubu’s paper – The Nation – relentlessly chronicled the steady destruction of the nation’s economy up to the last day of Buhari’s government.
If Tinubu followed the news, it appears inexplicable that he could be proposing to build hid new vision on “the foundation emplaced by the current administration” – when everybody not in that government or APC was aware of the near collapse of the economy under Buhari.
It would be interesting to know, precisely, when President Tinubu realised that he had inherited a disaster. Irrespective of when he knew, it must have come as a shock for him to be told the colossal mess he had inherited from the man he brought to power.
WHY SAINT LUCIA AND WHY NOW?
“Charity begins at home”. That was drummed into our heads in St Peter’s Primary School, Lagos Island.
Nigerian Presidents, since 1999, have turned the age-long adage on its head. For them, altruism is reserved for foreigners.
Some of the most important news they hoard from us are reserved for non-stakeholders abroad.
Obasanjo, who once had a notice on the front gate of Temperance Farms (now Obasanjo Farms) saying “Dogs and Journalists keep out”, was eventually saved from Abacha’s firing squad by journalists.
He saved his best press conferences for foreign media.
His first interview was with CNN. Jonathan went all the way to Turkey in 2011 to announce PIB will be signed into law before May that year.
It wasn’t.
Buhari was in London to agree with former British Prime Minister that Nigeria is incurably corrupt.
Now, the good people of a tiny Island Saint Lucia, population, 180, 000, GDP, $2.43bn, that is approximately half of Lagos Island and less than one quarter the GDP.
Not a single one of them cares about Nigeria; yet, they were the first to be officially informed that President Tinubu inherited an economy on the verge of collapse from his predecessor.
Why?
I think it was strategic and deliberate. Strategic because it is a truth that needed to be told; deliberate, because saying it, so far away, avoided the need to elaborate which would have been unavoidable in Nigeria.
Tinubu would return to Abuja, disappear into Aso Rock, leaving us with matters arising as a result of his breaking news. It will take months before we get a chance to ask questions.
Why now? Politics has trumped governance.
The race for 2027 is on; and one of Tinubu’s major problems is the economy.
He is keenly aware that the recovery, now underway, might not be strong enough to wipe out the negative side effects of reform by Election Day.
A plausible explanation or an alibi is required to silence the opposition.
We should remember that in politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent self-interests. Shielding Buhari has become a serious liability.
Shoving the fellow under the bus as soon as possible is now imperative.
JUST IN: OTHER ATTACKS ON BUHARI’S LEGACY
“NSA RIBADU: Nigeria on the brink when Tinubu assumed office” -VANGUARD, JULY 6, 2025.
Nigeria “dead” before Tinubu took over – Wike” (VANGUARD, JULY 7, 2025)
In what must now be apparent as a co-ordinated attack on Buhari’s legacy, three top officials in Tinubu’s government have destroyed his predecessor’s eight years in office with their utterances.
Ribadu pointed out that 47, 000 lives were lost in the North.
Obviously, Southerners’ lives don’t matter to the current National Security Adviser.
One might as well ask him why he kept quiet when the genocide was in progress.
Wike is only acting true to character. He says loudest, so the boss can hear what others whisper. Amaechi and Jonathan, his former bosses, have heard such noises before.
Buhari is the latest victim of his sycophancy.
But, make no mistake about it, the Tinubu-led APC intends, henceforth, to distance itself from Buhari’s records.
A distant holiday resort island, offering very little economic value for Nigeria, is the sort of setting for the first stab in the back.
It has been delivered.
Others have followed; and there will be more.
Buhari’s eight years in office will be rubbished more frequently by the APC in the months ahead than by the opposition.
The truth will be revealed about the worst civilian government Nigeria has had so far.
The question is: how will Buhari respond?
BUHARI’S UNPLEASANT OPTIONS
“Silence means consent.”
Despite my repeated condemnation of his performance during his eight years in office, I still feel sorry for Buhari. Attack by ones’ political adversaries is common and can be dismissed with a wave of the hand; being savaged by ones “friends” hurts to the bone marrows.
Three options are available: Silence, open rebuttal and quiet revenge or vendetta.
Silence is never golden when you are being stripped naked publicly by people presumed to be associates.
There can be no dispute about who preceded Tinubu in office.
The two primary functions of government are: Management of security and the economy.
Everything else – education, health, transportation, infrastructure, environment and hospitality etc – comes under sub-head to those two.
Tinubu, in Saint Lucia, declared that the economy was on the verge of collapse; the National Security Adviser said: “We inherited five intractable security challenges that had brought our nation to the brink.”
The Minister for Federal Capital Territory, FCT, summarised everything by pronouncing that “the country was dead”.
Silence by Buhari would be construed as consent; and would portray him as a liar for saying he left the country better than he found it.
A rejoinder, while serving to partially redeem his battered reputation, would result in a shouting match with the incumbent government; as well as provoke more embarrassing revelations.
Quiet revenge might be his only viable option; and, that is what Tinubu should dread the most.
Always be very careful of the man who, when slapped, walks away without a word.
“A man cannot be too careful about his choice of enemies” (Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900)
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