Sai Buhari (USA)!

Indeed, wonders will never cease. We the ex-partners of KPMG decided to go shopping on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA, as it was close to our hotel. To our great surprise, the top floor Penthouse Suite at Luxe Rodeo Drive was the venue for a celebration party hosted by a multi-billionaire who made his huge fortune from Nigeria’s oil in the 80s and 90s. It turned out that he had won a huge bet (placed as far back as 2011) on the outcome of the Nigerian elections which resulted in victory for General Muhammadu Buhari on 28th March, 2015. In next to no time, the Buhari fever was all over town. Even on Rodeo Drive which boasts of the most expensive boutiques/shops in the world, ‘Sai Buhari’ T-shirts were selling like hot cakes at crazy prices. The bandwagon effect was simply phenomenal.

Suddenly, photographs of the new president of Nigeria were everywhere. What better confirmation that nothing succeeds like success! Everyone loves a winner.

What was even more fascinating about the T-shirts, photographs and souvenir was that the General was decked in the various outfits he had adorned while he was on the campaign trail. Somehow, the one with the president sporting silk smoking jacket over casual trousers and the one where General Buhari is wearing a formal dinner jacket together with a bowtie were no match for the photograph of the General with his family or the one where he is kitted out in the full regalia of a General in the Senior Officers Mess. What a dose of nostalgia – a throwback to the days when officers were gentlemen.

Anyway, Beverley Hills Penthouse offers not only ultra-private space but also breathtaking views of the sparkling city and rolling hills along with an expansive wrap-around terrace and exotic ambiance together with artistic opulence. The word that sums it all up is swanky (elegant).

One of the quirks of American life is that whatever becomes a hit on the West Coast (California) will eventually drift to the East Coast (New York; Washington DC, etc). Therefore, it was no surprise that in next to no time ‘Sai Buhari’ T-Shirts were all over the East Coast too. There is no need to add that Nigerians in the diaspora and Black Americans were buying them in large numbers. Whites and Hispanics were not left out. Success does not recognize race, religion or gender. Everyone loves a winner.

What has captivated Americans from coast to coast was the appearance on the Dave Letterman show of the “Magic Lady” whose story had been published in Daily Independent newspaper as front page on May 6, 2015 – Headline: “How I Saved Buhari From Coup Plotters In 1984”.

What has amazed, intrigued and beguiled Americans from the Midwest to the Deep South as well as Florida, Hawaii, etc is the incongruity of the reputation of General Buhari as a disciplined, incorruptible, honest and committed politician endowed with an indomitable spirit in a country with a longstanding reputation for endemic corruption, “419” scams, drug peddling, kidnapping, smuggling, etc. The more they tried to figure out the seeming anomaly, the more ‘Sai Buhari’ T-shirts were being sold in Chicago, Baltimore, Memphis, Atlanta, Miami, Batten Rouge, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, etc.

Perhaps that was what prompted the irrepressible Jon Stewart to devote an entire episode of his “Daily Show” on Comedy Central to the lamentation of Tony Ademiluyi, “Nauseating Severance Packages for Public Officers”, thus:

“The recent decision by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to dole out about N3.27 billion in the name of severance packages for outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, former ministers, outgoing members of the National Assembly and presidential aides is most callous and disheartening. They are all to receive 300 percent of their annual basic pay for life. President Jonathan’s package will rise from N3,514,705 million to N10,544,115 million. Sambo’s bonanza will be up from N3,031,572.50 million to N9,094,717.50. Each of the 76 senators that will not be returning will be entitled to N6,079,200 million while their counterparts in the House of Representatives will smile home with N1,727,134.875 million. Each of the senior ministers will receive N6,079,200 million while their junior counterparts who double as ministers of state will be thanking their stars with N5,872,740 million. The 133 presidential aides will be richer by N5,828,625 million.

“This is highly condemnable in view of the dwindling revenue occasioned by the slump of crude oil price in the international market and the low demand for the nation’s petroleum products by former customers such as the United States. At a time when states like Osun and Benue owe civil servants salary arrears up to five months and above, this is most callous. Which elected public officeholder in Nigeria relies on his or her salary? The salary is not the motivation for joining politics or lobbying ceaselessly for political appointments. The security vote which the president and vice-president enjoy runs into hundreds of millions of naira or more annually. They also have the power to award multi-billion naira contracts and engage in deals that will permanently keep their generations unborn in the billion-dollar club. The same rings true for the ministers and presidential aides. They sit on top of goldmines in the form of contracts and other juicy perks of office and really have no need for the pittance called salaries. The revelation by Jonathan that about N2 trillion was sunk into the last elections is a pointer to the largesse that these privileged officials sit over. Why then punish the nation with the needless rip-off in guise of severance pay? The Nigerian Labour Congress is currently pushing for a N90,000 a month minimum wage which hardly qualifies for a living wage in view of the hydra-headed monster of inflation ravaging the country. But that will even be a pipedream as the N18,000 monthly starvation wage which is the minimum is not even being paid in many states as they claim they are too broke to do so.

“Former heads of state, both civilian and military including coup plotters, are already entitled to N23 million every month. It is a well-known fact that many of these ‘elder statesmen’ made billions of dollars overnight while at the helm of affairs. Yet their avarice won’t let them turn down what their morbid minds would term as money for the boys.

“This severance package trend had its roots, in the current democracy, from some governors in some states. Three states stand out – Akwa Ibom, Lagos and Rivers – as they have the biggest packages for the former chief executives of these states.”

The outrage and outcry all over the United States of America was overwhelming. It opened the floodgate of protests by viewers who were enraged that such brazen impunity confirms that the governors regard themselves as in the same league as medieval tyrants who can do whatever they please with public funds.

As further evidence of the rot which the new president of Nigeria would inherit, CBS has given great publicity to the “Right of Reply” by one of the Nigerian governors which was featured on the front page of Daily Trust on May 6, 2015. Headline: “Why Lawmakers Want Me Out – Chime”.

For Americans, impunity or corruption by politicians is a very RED line. They either play by the rules or end up in jail.

J.K Randle