Restructuring: Buhari Is Disconnected From Nigerians — Ozekhome SAN

Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is too distant and disconnected from Nigerians.

According to him, it is absurd that Buhari erroneously believes that the problem of Nigeria is how to make local governments functional and the Judiciary independent, instead of people’s yearnings on restructuring.

The constitutional lawyer, in a statement on Sunday, stated: “He is distant too and disconnected from his people. He does not care; does not listen to their cries, woes, pains, pangs, tears, sorrow, and blood. He cares not about their genuine yearnings and desires.”

“Buhari erroneously believes, he knows what the 211 million Nigerian populace wants. He is making a grave mistake. No ruler in history has ever perpetually dictated to or held down his people with the sheer jackboot. Mussolini woefully failed, just like Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Stalin, and Lenin. Ask the bones of Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pinochet, Genghis Khan, Pol Pot, and Kim Jong. They will tell Buhari how and why they failed miserably to dictate to their citizens forever.”

Ozekhome was reacting to a comment made through the Executive Secretary, Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, Mohammed Shehu, in Zaria, at the Kudirat Abiola Sabon Gari Peace Foundation on Saturday.

Ozekhome said he was not surprised by the president’s comments, which he described as erroneous. “I was not (shocked) because as a close monitor and commentator on national and international affairs, I didn’t expect anything more from him. My thesis is simple, not rocket science: a leopard cannot change its spots. Buhari said he did not understand what the restructure proponents want, or what is to be restructured.

“Buhari erroneously believes that the problem of Nigeria is how to make Local Governments functional and the Judiciary independent. As important as these are, President Buhari has merely seen the smaller picture, rather than the larger picture, as President of a hemorrhaging country yearning for urgent rescue. So, for those Nigerians who had heaved a little sigh of relief last week on the little tokenism conceded by Buhari , I sympathize with you.”