Five years ago, President Muhammadu Buhari was voted in as President following a tumultuous reign of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, whom the APC and foreign powers described as ‘the worst thing to have ever happened to Nigeria’ since 1999.
However, the one whom many had thought is the messiah and who has the magic wand to turn the fortunes of the country around, has since lost popularity even from those who stood by him through thick and thin.
Mahi Tijani who is among millions of Buhari’s base in the North, has recently said the president has betrayed their trust and love for him, by pursuing policies without the poor who voted him, in mind.
He said, “Mr President we loved you and voted you in with our tears and blood. Sincerely speaking, we the masses are not happy with the way things are working in this country.
“We thought you were the Messiah or the savior, but it seems like we were wrong. Our dream is to have a better life and nothing else, but life is getting harder day by day under your regime.”
On his part while assessing Buhari’s performance since becoming president in 2015, Professor Ango Abdullahi who is a former minister and former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and who is now the chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), said there is no evidence of democracy in Nigeria, and that Buhari’s five years in office is the worst since 1999.
Abdullahi made the statement in an interview with Daily Trust Saturday, in response to questions on Nigeria’s 21 years anniversary since the return of democracy.
He said, “I did not believe 29th of May is the Democracy Day for Nigeria. Democracy Day is 1st of October, because that is the day that Nigeria became politically independent from colonial masters.
“If the interpretation of Democracy Day means Nigeria has moved from military to another form of administration, I wouldn’t say that we have moved from military administration to democracy. What we have done was to move from military administration to civilian administration.
“There is difference between civilian administration and democratic administration. As far as I am concerned we have not enjoyed democratic administration in the last 21 years, including the current period that we are in now.
“In fact, we have suffered more in terms of less democracy in the last four to five years than any other time in the last 21 years.”
