by Chris Adetayo
First, I trust President Muhammadu Buhari implicitly.
Second, I believe he means well.
Third, I know that leadership in a multi-opinionated state like ours is not going to be easy.
My sense is that the less opposition a leader generates, the better for him. As it is, Buhari has yet to commence any major policy thrust but he has already lost at least half his country-wide support via self-inflicted wounds.
Buhari has given ammunition to the die-hard “wailers” and made it difficult for his own supporters to hold ground.
I am happy with the appointment of non-career politicians. Great stuff!
But, given all the noise arising from the appointments he made in June/July, surely Buhari should have cast his net wider and delivered a more broad-based inner cabinet.
Perception is everything and for many (the majority) who are easily swayed, well, he’s just about made it easy fo them to accept the narrative that he is parochial.
Worse, Buhari has had opportunities to learn. His military govt had the top 3 (if not more) from the North – himself, Idiagbon and Babangida.
For years, Buhari failed to shake off the perception of parochialism until the coalition that brought him to power this year. Why waste such goodwill in such a short period of time? It’s one thing to mean well. It’s another to be perceived to mean well.
Chris is a marketing communications professional and an avid analyst of national and international affairs Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
