FEMI ADEOTI COLUMN
He remains defiant and brutal. He does not pretend it. Instead, he proudly showcases it with relish. That way, he moves on like the bulldozer he really is. He viciously demolishes anything. Is it in, on or out of sight? He ravages and rampages at equal speed. He needs not be appeased. That would irritate him the more. He is bent in destroying everything he met in good shape. That deed will be done by May 29, 2023. It’s given. Only then will he be eternally fulfilled. He has taken us for a rough ride since he came.
President Muhammadu Buhari has assiduously kept to his lane. He maintained his distance from us. He won’t want to have anything reasonable to do with us. He never did, even before now. He’s on the move. You dare not dare him. He is on a mission best known to him alone. It is deadly. It’s completely at huge variance with ours. And there’s no stopping him. That would be a great risk.
He’s hitting hard on every sector. None is spared and nothing will be spared. He moves like a wolf. And devours whatever crosses his crooked path. His latest prey is the judiciary. Pray it won’t fall his victim. That’s the last hope left for us. He tramples on justice with reckless impunity! He must have his way all the time. He doesn’t care a hoot. His body language speaks louder than words. He is blind and deaf to our hue and cry trailing his rampage. He crashes all the rules, stands them on their heads. Law and order practically mean nothing anymore.
We have never been bruised like this. Our fragile democracy is the biggest casualty. It’s slipping down the drain. That democracy is being led to Golgotha. Under his watch! The Supreme Court attested to that much. It fought back stoutly and rose to our defence. That was when all hopes were almost trashed and thrashed. The court was blunt. Buhari came under its heavy hammer. It was visibly angry. And refused to hide it. The court did not mince, mix or miss words. It went for Buhari’s jugular. It detested the flouting of its order on old naira with reckless abandon.
Dateline: February 8, 2023. The apex court gave order. It retained circulation of old notes. It wanted them to run side by side with the new notes. Buhari thought differently and dragged his feet. He opted to obey the order half-heartedly. Worst still, he did it after a week. That was February 16, 2023. The eminent jurists were amazed. That a President could so brazenly rubbish their ruling. What audacity! On Friday, March 3, 2023, the court came calling again; this time, fuming and furious. Justice Emmanuel Agim spoke for his colleagues. He literally spit fire. He took the President to the cleaners: “In disobedience of the order, he (Buhari) directed that only the old N200 notes be re-circulated. Interestingly, there is nothing to show the implementation of even that directive.”
Buhari never followed due process in re-colouring the naira. He blatantly refused to do the needful. The court testified: “The unlawful use of executive powers by the President inflicted unprecedented economic hardship on the citizens.” We cannot agree less. Pregnant Shema’u Labaran’s ordeal aptly typifies the naira tragedy. And it nearly passed unsung. Her moving story will break any human with blood flowing in his veins. Perhaps, you choose to be stone-hearted. You will cringe inside of you. The lion-hearted will equally succumb. The 32-year-old woman was in serious labour pain. Her husband, Bello Baffa, 42, took her to Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Kano. Then they got stuck. A dead end! The hospital insisted on new naira notes. It refused point of sale (PoS) payment except through transfer. Baffa was in trouble. His wife was left unattended to for eight excruciating hours. As he struggled through transfer, the wife bled to death. He lost mother and child at exactly 3am. Labaran was just one out of so many others unreported.
The trust deficit of this regime is huge. And it keeps mounting. It is taking a heavy toll on us. It is painful. Sensing they were losing grip fast, they made a belated turnaround. As usual, they used us as a launching pad. As cannon fodder! They barged on us. It’s in their eerie character. The Presidency pointedly denied Godwin Emefiele, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). His co-traveller, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, was also not spared. Buhari washed his hands off them: “The Presidency wishes to react to some public concerns that President Buhari did not react to the Supreme Court judgement on the issue of the N500 and N1,000 old currency notes, and states here plainly and clearly that at no time did he instruct the Attorney-General and the CBN governor to disobey any court orders involving the government and other parties.”
He was specific on Emefiele and his CBN: “The CBN has no reason not to comply with court orders on the excuse of waiting for directives from the President.” But Emefiele received similar directives from Buhari on February 16, 2023. He ordered him to release only old N200 notes. This fell short of the order of the Supreme Court on February 8, 2023. The court was emphatic. It ordered all old notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 to circulate with the new notes. The reason Emefiele and Nigerians waited for 13 odd days.
Weep not for Emefiele. He deserves the whipping he gets. No tears for him either. Not even crocodile’s. For, he merits all the tearing down. He asked for it. And he got it in good measure. He once enjoyed good times. Yes, with the Presidency. And to our disgust and detriment. Let him lick his deep wounds now. All by himself alone. Confused. Emefiele resorted to fire-brigade measures. He assembled his team. They rushed to their situation room. It suddenly dawned on them that the court order must be obeyed. They struggled to churn out this terse statement. And in the dead of the night: “In compliance with the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance of the rule of law principle… the operations of CBN, as a regulator, (and) deposit money banks have been directed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, 2023. “Accordingly, the CBN has directed that the old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes remain legal tender alongside the redesigned notes till December 31, 2023.”
Certainly, there’s no cause for celebration. No. Not this time. It’s the right moment for heavy sanctions. See how they played killing kite with our precious lives. And the culprits too well know themselves. We are casualties of a government that rules by impulse. There is a great disconnect in this administration. The reason it dwells richly in buck-passing, blame games, excuses and their likes. A President passing the buck to his subordinates! Quite unfortunate. Buhari’s aides should watch it. It’s a warning worth heeding. You may be denied and dumped. And it can happen anytime. You can be sacrificed as a scapegoat. Ask Emefiele!
Emefiele will have tales to tell: the good, the bad, the ugly. Some gory and awful. Others sweet and pleasant all rolled into one. He has already passed as our most negatively discussed CBN governor. He’s the most controversial of any before him. This is where his naira re-colouration has landed us: Monumental disaster. We definitely have a Pharaoh on our hands. Right in our midst! No praises, no encomiums for Buhari. No. He deserves it not!