EYIMBATV: President lacks intellectual capacity to govern Nigeria - Ben Nwabueze

President lacks intellectual capacity to govern Nigeria - Ben Nwabueze

Renowned lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze also warned Nigerians not to expect much from the Buhari administration.

Renowned lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze has reportedly said that President Muhammadu Buhari lacks the intellectual capacity to govern Nigeria.
Nwabueze also warned Nigerians not to expect much from the Buhari administration.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) made the comments during an interview with the Daily Sun. Excerpts below:

Are you satisfied with the direction President Buhari is going?

The President is not going in the direction of democratic rule. He is not going in that direction. He declared himself to be a born again democrat. He said that after his election and installation. But I don’t think the way he has been going has really proved him to be a born again democrat.

Some have accused the President of not following due process in the fight against corruption, is it possible to tackle corruption without such allegation flying in the air ?

We all support the war against corruption, but that war must be fought according to the constitution. It is a choice we have to make whether we want to fight corruption at all costs, irrespective of the constitution; is that what we want? The moment we throw away the constitution, you are inviting anarchy.

The constitution is like a glue, maybe a weak glue, but it is still a glue that holds all the over 389 ethnic groups in this country together. The moment you throw it away, there would be problems. Corruption is a very small part of the problems of this country, relatively speaking.

The country’s economy appears to be at a standstill and some people have advocated an economic summit that would come up with solutions to our economic problems. Do you subscribe to that, or do you recommend that Nigerians be patient with the President?

It may help, because the economic situation right now is really biting hard. Some solution has to be looked for. I do not know what the solution is, but we can’t continue like this. Our currency is almost valueless because of the exchange rate.

Some have argued that these developments shows that this administration was not actually prepared for governance, while others say that President Buhari does not have the capacity to govern the country. Which of the two claims is correct?

I do not think that it is a question of not being prepared. Don’t forget that the 2015 election was his fourth time of contesting, of making attempt at being President. He tried to be president for 12 years. So, he had more than enough time to prepare himself if he had the capacity. So, it is not that he was not prepared; the fact is that he lacks the capacity to govern as the problems are beyond him.

Even if you give him 20 years to prepare, it would still be beyond his capacity. Nigeria is a very complex country. I have told you before, that we have 389 ethnic nationalities. The complexities and the issues involved in ruling such a country are huge.

Leading such a complex country is an intellectual issue and Buhari does not have the intellectual capacity to comprehend what it means to govern this country.