Dateline: May 29, 2015.

After another valiant and probably final attempt to become Nigeria’s president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.) has fallen short yet again. Nigerians have for the fourth time in a row refused to give the Daura-born septuagenarian and former military Head of State the opportunity he desperately craves to lead the country. We take a detailed look at Muhammadu Buhari, the soldier turned democrat who promised to bring change to Nigeria. We shall examine his plans to transform Nigeria and the opportunities the country might have missed by not granting his seeming altruistic, persistent and patriotic desire to lead the largest black country on earth to the Promised Land.

BUHARI HAD PLANNED TO REVIVE NIGERIA’S ECONOMY
In the next few years, Nigerians may wish they had given Muhammadu Buhari the opportunity he begged for to make the country’s economy the fastest-growing economy in the world with a real GDP growth averaging more than 10% annually. He had laid out a concrete plan to create three million jobs per year and to ensure that 720,000 jobs are created by the 36 states in the federation per annum (20,000 per state).

Buhari swore that all the refineries in the country would be fixed within two years. This would drastically reduce fuel importation, ending the much-abused and corruption-ridden fuel subsidy regime and most importantly, Nigerians would never experience scarcity of petroleum products ever again.

The plan to create additional middle-class of at least two million new home owners in his first year in government and one million annually thereafter would have quelled brain drain. Furthermore, his well-articulated proposal to create an additional middle class of at least 4 million new home owners by enacting national mortgage single digit interest rates for purchase of owner occupier houses as well as reviewing the collateral qualification to make funding for home ownership easier, with 15 to 30 year mortgage terms would have seen many Nigerians in the diaspora returning back home in millions to enjoy better life in the fatherland.

Buhari loves Naira, the much-abused national currency so much. It should be recalled that during his previous stint as Head of State, he broke ties with the International Monetary Fund, when the fund asked the government to devalue the naira by 60%. That is the reason why his promise to make the naira equal to the dollar should have been taken seriously by Nigerian voters. Can you imagine exchanging N1000 for $1000? Did Nigerians just shoot themselves in the foot?

BUHARI WOULD HAVE BROUGHT BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL NIGERIANS
In the years to come, political philosophers will continue the debate on why Nigerians rejected Buhari, thereby surrendering an opportunity for a better country and a better life for all and sundry. A look at Buhari’s patriotic plans for the country would reveal a man who is keen on seeing that the common man enjoys far better quality of life than is obtainable at the moment. Buhari has planned:
At least one functioning airport in each of the 36 states.
The reduction of the infant mortality rate to 3%.
Reducing maternal mortality by more than 70%.
Reducing HIV/AIDS infection rate by 50% and other infectious diseases by 75%.
Increasing the number of physicians from 19 per 1000 population to 50 per 1000.
Free Education at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Education.
Improving life expectancy by additional 10 years on average.

The import of the last point is that for all Nigerians who would die this year, under a Buhari administration, they would have lived for additional ten years!

A man who understands the healthcare needs of the country, Buhari had assured that he would increase the quality of all federal government-owned hospitals to world class standard within three years and would impose a ban on all government officials from seeking medical care abroad. This means that the millions of dollars currently being spent yearly by government officials in medical tourism would have become a thing of the past.

BUHARI WOULD HAVE ENSURED EQUITY AND FAIRNESS FOR ALL NIGERIANS
It is unfortunate that unfounded allegations of autocracy, nepotism and religious irredentism were used by Buhari’s detractors to impugn his reputation and turn the mind of many voters against him. But a look at Buhari’s plan for transforming Nigeria would reveal a genuine strategy to eradicate state of origin, replacing that with state of residence to ensure Nigerians are Nigerians first, before anything else. He also planned to initiate action to amend the Nigerian Constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties, and responsibilities to states in order to entrench true Federalism and the Federal spirit. These plans are anything but autocratic or sectional.

Added to these, there have been some reported skirmishes between some Fulani herdsmen and farmers in some parts of the country leading to the death of some Nigerians. As one of the prominent Fulanis in Nigeria and also the owner of a herd of cattle, as president, Buhari would have used his power and influence to bring such clashes to an end.

BUHARI WOULD HAVE CRUSHED THE BOKO HARAM INSURGENTS
An incident that was not given prominence in the context of the current Boko Haram insurgency was that in 1983, when Chadian forces invaded Nigeria in the Borno State, Buhari used the forces under his command to chase them out of the country. This shows that the former Head of State does not compromise with the territorial integrity of Nigeria. It is also on record that Buhari was not just an armchair general. He was actively involved in a previous battle to preserve Nigeria’s territorial integrity, participating actively in Afikpo, Ogoja, Enugu, Awka, Abagana and Oji River during the Nigerian Civil War.

So it goes without saying that with Buhari at the helm of affairs of the country, he would never allow an inch of Nigeria’s territory to be controlled by the Boko Haram terrorists and the insurgency would come to a quick end. Another motivating factor for Buhari would be the July 2014 bomb attack on his life by Boko Haram in Kaduna in which 82 people were killed. Buhari would have no mercy on those that wanted him dead.

Also Buhari was once the governor of the defunct North East State, an area that today comprises the following states – Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe and Bauchi. Among these states are all the epicentres of the Boko Haram insurgency so he naturally understands these terrain and it would make it easier for him to crush the insurgents for good.

Added to these, it is unthinkable that the Chibokgirls abduction, which has made Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of nations, would have happened under a Buhari administration. No leader with such military experience as Buhari can ever allow terrorists to kidnap innocent school girls under his watch.

BUHARI IS A SELF-MADE MAN OF UNQUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY
Muhammadu Buhari is a self-made man. He lost his father at the tender age of four and was one of 23 bereaved children. In spite of this apparent challenge, he dared the odds to rise to zenith of his chosen career. This latest failed bid to rule Nigeria cannot diminish his standing as one of the greatest Nigerians ever.

For someone who has been petroleum minister, head of state, and chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund, the latter which was described by former president Olusegun Obasanjo as a parallel government, neither Buhari nor any of his family members is known to own any choice property in any of the major cities in the country. None of them is also known to own substantial shares in any major company in Nigeria.

Buhari would never compromise on his principles and has been consistent in his opposition to the ruling PDP. Even when his fellow ANPP party members agreed to join Yar’Adua’s government, Buhari stood firm and alone in the face of a monumental betrayal. He did make a solemn promise to amend the Constitution to remove immunity from prosecution for elected officers in criminal cases and would have publicly declared his assets within 100 days of being sworn in as president.

Now Nigeria may have lost the opportunity of giving the reins of power to an upright man, a man different from the rest of the Nigerian political class who use every opportunity to plunder our collective patrimony. Nigerians may forever regret a missed opportunity to have a leader with a track record of honesty and forthrightness who would curb most of the country’s ills.

BUHARI WOULD HAVE ENSURED A MOST PEACEFUL AND CRIME-FREE NIGERIA
The former Head of State was so concerned about the wellbeing of Nigerians that prominent amongst his strategies for transforming the country was state and community policing, establishment of Crime Squad to combat terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, militants, ethno-religious and communal clashes nationwide, establishing a conflict resolution commission to help prevent, mitigate and resolve civil conflicts within the polity and ensuring permanent peace in the Niger Delta and other conflict prone areas such as Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi, Borno and Abia.

These well-articulated but now stillborn proposals would have made Nigeria the most peaceful country in sub-Saharan Africa, if not the world.

BUHARI’S POLITICAL PARTY IS THE REAL DEAL
The All Progressive Congress (APC), under whose platform Buhari ran for president is not like any other political party Nigerians have ever seen. It is populated mostly by those who have maintained a consistent opposition to the 16-year maladministration of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as well as former members of the PDP who left the party when they realised that their principles and integrity were being tarnished by association.

The APC manifesto is so comprehensive and superb that no kind of summary can ever do justice to it. The contents of this extraordinary but ultimately stillborn document would be a permanent scar on the psyche of Nigerians for decades and maybe centuries to come.

BUHARI’S REJECTION MAY LEAVE NIGERIANS WITH DEEP REGRETS
The noble intentions of Muhammadu Buhari for Nigeria are too numerous to mention. He promised to abolish the annoying Office of the First Lady. This means that his wife, Aisha Buhari, would have neither an office nor aids and would hardly engage in any official function. This would lead to elimination of unnecessary waste of public funds on an office not recognised by the constitution. Some analysts believe that had he been given the mandate to be president, many Nigerians would struggle to remember the name of the wife of the president after one year in office.

However, all these have become aborted dreams as millions of Nigerians have conspired to ensure that the gallant and tenacious desire of Muhammadu Buhari to become Nigeria’s democratically elected president never came to fruition. In the process, they may have foolishly denied themselves the promise of a better life and the realistic prospect of a united, peaceful and prosperous country.

Buhari may shed tears, maybe more tears than he shed the last time he failed in an attempt to lead Nigeria. However, he should be consoled that when the time comes, there would be no better message engraved on his tombstone than: Here lies Muhammadu Buhari – the best democratically-elected president Nigeria never had.

Mayor Ikoroha is an author and public affairs analyst. He is on Twitter as @tellthemayor