In usual and alarming fashion, tongues started wagging and asking questions about the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari from the group photo taken with the Queen’s representatives from the Royal family, at the UK –Africa Investment Summit held last week.
At the closing ceremony, other African presidents who attended were on the roll call but Buhari was nowhere to be found. Insinuations began to pour in that it is either the president is taking a long rest after working so hard “to achieve little to nothing” at the summit or he is just having an appointment with his United Kingdom (UK) doctors, per the usual.
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However, this minor incident did not remove from the achievements which the presidential entourage reportedly would be bringing back home. Part of the take-home from the summit was reportedly the signing of a street lighting contract in Oyo state.
This claim is even coming at a time when street lighting is already being erected across cities and towns in Oyo State. Some wonders if the so-called propaganda machine of the Federal Government is working hard to lay claim to the effort already being made in states in Nigeria.
At another of the meetups before the end of the Summit, Buhari was seen speaking about the border closure while still obstinately vowing that borders will remain closed until further notice – pending the time the neighbours to the west of Nigeria comply with the directive about smuggling of goods. Whatever hurt the border closure is causing hardworking Nigerians be damned it seems.
As this is a very crucial time for the United Kingdom to get its act right in trade with the African countries in attendance at the summit – due to its imminent exit from Europe by January 31st – if Buhari keeps plucking from the low-hanging fruits such as securing meager contracts for Nigeria, we may submit that he is making a huge joke of that golden opportunity to get the best deals out of the UK.
As Nigeria has began to isolate itself from the remainder of West African neighbours with the border closure and by rejecting to join the new Eco Currency alliance, Nigeria might soon find itself bare-naked in the international community. It seems that with recurring bad and ill-thought-out policies, our leaders keep sending us back into the loop of economic regression.
In the end, the president returned to Nigeria on Thursday, 23rd January. He was seen being welcomed by dignitaries and officials – notable among them being the Inspector General of Police who should have had no business welcoming the president. Perhaps, if he had arrived during day, and not at night, the president would have been given a hero’s welcome with bagpipes, trumpet blowing and a cultural troupe displaying all sorts of acrobatics to boot.
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It is strange that with nothing cogent achieved achieved at the UK-Africa Summit, much fanfare is still being made of an official visit which briefly turned personal. That we have now turned into bench-warmers at these international meetups is a sorry sight for those who understand that much is left undone while the administration is slacking away with frivolities.
So what was the president doing in the UK from January 17th to 23rd? Was he filling the void and creating political optics? Was he really pulling off deals which could potentially profit the lot of the Nigerian masses? Was he using the UK-Africa Summit as a detour to visit his doctors for a quick checkup after a brief time away?
The fortunes of our dear country in the next one year will ascertain if the president was really working while he was away in the UK or if his critics were merely being hard on him.
Source:
Vanguard NG
Kanyi Daily
Featured Image Source: Media Guide NG
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