Nigerians expectations from Buhari are like Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead

Mr Dele Momodu, the publisher of the Qvation magazine, was the presidential candidate of the National Commission Party (NCP) in the  2011 general elections. In this interview, Momodu speaks on the Buhari administration, the elections of the leaders of the two chambers of the National Assembly and his relationship with the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as well as the late politician, Chief MKO Abiola, among other issues.

You were, before the general elections, one of the unofficial spokespersons for  President Muhammadu  Buhari, who was then the APC presidential candidate.  But of recent, your thoughts about the president appears to be changing?

I am surprised  at your comment because I have never changed. I am the biggest supporter of  President Muhammadu Buhari today. All I have done is to tell the president what people are saying outside, that is my job. We don’t tell our leaders the truth. I told former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the truth throughout his tenure. This is detailed in  my forthcoming book, titled, ‘’Pendulum, a book of prophesy’’. Everything I told President Jonathan  happened. I owe that  to our president too  today.

Once you become the president in Nigeria, people stop telling you the truth. They only tell you what you want to hear. I am a stakeholder in this government. I wonder what would have happened to me if the PDP had returned to power. I was already under constant threat. I received threat messages.  I had to name all the numbers anonymous because they were all attacking me for supporting Buhari.
I didn’t support the president because I wanted anything from him. I supported him because I believed  at this time of our lives, we need a father-figure, what I called the Mandela- option in Nigeria. And I thought Buhari, as a man of integrity, of impeccable character, fits that bill.

FILE PHOTO: Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and President Muhammadu Buhari at the APC NEC Meeting.

But, three months after the election, Nigerians are getting impatient  because most of them cannot wait for even one second. I was the first to write an article titled, ‘’In Search Of Patience’’, telling the people to exercise patience with  the man.  But being patient does not mean we should fold our arms indefinitely. There are things that can still be done. I found a proverb some where which says ‘’the meat of antelope tastes very good, but while it is cooking, we can still make do with groundnut’’. While we are waiting for that big action, some things must keep us going, whether pop corn, ice cream or something. If the National Assembly, within some minutes, approved about 15 Special Advisers; so, what is stopping us from picking our National Security Adviser, if we have to change the one there now.

How about the Chief of Staff, the Principal Secretary, the Secretary to the Federal Government. The longer it takes, the longer the tension, and also the longer the pressure on Mr President. I want  the president to know that if they begin to put pressure on him, things may begin to fall apart. Had it been some things are already  in place, I am sure the tension would have reduced.

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