Abuja — One is yet to come across any occasion when Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, former military Head of state and ANPP's former Presidential candidate, ever acknowledged making a mistake or admitting that others can be as good and patriotic as he.

This narcissistic tendency is enough to irritate even Buhari's admirers, especially the discerning ones among them.

Almost daily, Buhari is quoted by one newspaper or another as saying that Nigeria is on the verge of collapse because he was not elected President. Unfortunately, he blames almost everyone, except himself, for the obstacles that undermine his repeated presidential ambition. This messiah complex and the fact that he is not a team player contributed largely to his repeated political discomfiture.

He believes he is a gift from God to Nigerians and that every other opinion on politics is inferior to his own. When a man believes he is morally superior to everyone else, how do you relate with him to understand the nuances and pragmatism of politics? As is common with most fanatics, it is impossible to reason with Buhari. In fact, Bernard Shaw was right when he said, "fanatics don't hold opinions; their opinions hold them." The silent but sometimes open contempt that Buhari has for fellow politicians, makes one wonder why he is in politics in the first place. Karl Marx brilliantly argued that "in politics you must form alliance with the devil to achieve the cause."

Is politics an alliance of saints? May be Buhari thinks so! And if he does, then even the ANPP is not morally fit to accommodate him. He believes ANPP governors are thieves, yet he expects them to bankroll his presidential campaign efforts. Gen. Buhari doesn't have the colossal resources needed to campaign and he therefore badly needs the support of Governors and other rich men of his party to campaign effectively across the country.

It is on record that he alienated ANPP governors and other financial backers of the party because of alleged disdain for them. His personal popularity alone didn't help him to have his candidate emerge as the National Chairman of the ANPP. The candidate nominated by the Governors eventually emerged the party National Chairman. Consensus and compromise are not in Buhari's dictionary; hence it is not surprising why his presidential ambition suffers frequent set - backs.

Politics is beyond good intentions and Gen. Buhari needs to take a hard look at his chimerical approach to politics. He once boasted that he would never have anything to do with politics but once he ultimately found himself in it, he must attune himself to the reality of it.

Ploughing a lonely furrow is not in the nature of politics because you need allies and friends and of course the men of substance or means. When U.S Republicans were out for former President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, despite his public apology, a pro- democratic lady wrote to Time Magazine condemning the hypocrisy of politicians. She argued that if American insists on rigid moral standards in politics, they should vote for a Pope in the next election!

Defining politics within rigid moral standards can run into practical difficulties. For example, the Bible says we should love our enemies! But in the reality of politics, that is almost always difficult to practice. Gen. Buhari himself is known to be vindictive and that explains why he has a deep-seated grudge against Gen. Babangida for removing him from power. Despite all the semblance of reconciliation with Babangida, his animosity against the Minna General still runs deep, at least privately. But the same Buhari forgot that he toppled former President Shehu Shagari and threw him into detention despite his proven honesty. Yet Shagari was ready to put that behind him and relate cordially with Buhari.

The General is a bundle of contradictions. He once described politics as dirty and that he would not touch it with the bargepole. But today he is neck-deep in politics. Prior to his involvement in politics, Gen. Buhari engaged in many tactless acts. For example, he triggered a controversy when he was quoted to have urged Muslims to vote for fellow Muslim politicians during a book launch in Sokoto. Despite the grave implications of such tactless comment from a former Head of State, Gen Buhari felt no need to publicly deny the report. Instead, concerned friends and other opinion leaders had to reach out to him personally to verify the report. Rev. Mathew Hassan Kukah was one of them.

His indifference to the controversy was damaging his reputation insidiously, but he didn't realize the extent of that damage until he joined the 2003 presidential race. Gen. Buhari found himself stopping over at churches in the course of his electioneering campaign to reassure Christians that he was quoted out of context. One of his arguments was that he spoke in Hausa and the reporter who quoted him didn't understand the language to accurately represent his opinion.

Unfortunately, such damage control church visits didn't significantly change Gen. Buhari's perception as one who shouldn't be trusted to rule a multi- ethnic and multi- religious country like Nigeria. His latter-day church visits were like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted! His reassurances to Christians didn't cut any ice with those having serious doubts about his broad-mindedness and liberal attitude in a complex society like Nigeria. Consequently, majority of the predominantly Christian south was not ready to stake their votes with Gen. Buhari. In fact, his political rivals even exploited his tactless comment by printing posters, portraying him as a man determined to Islamize Nigeria. Such contagion of fear about Gen. Buhari spread out of control across the south and among Christian minorities of the north. Despite the unpopularity of Gen. Obasanjo in 2003, Christians would rather elect him to a second term than trust Gen. Buhari to replace him.

Obsessed with a messiah moral superiority complex, Gen. Buhari is not even ready to come to terms with his own problems. Many fear that he would have been worse than Obasanjo and would have had difficulties working with the National Assembly and other politicians. His obdurate posture and a stubborn conviction of being the best for Nigeria wouldn't allow him appreciate the virtues in other politicians. How do you then save Gen. Buhari from himself and make him accept the limitation of his style in politics?

It is most unlikely that Gen. Buhari would have accepted any allegations of rigging if the ANPP had won the 2003 presidential election. But the truth is that no party in Nigeria can claim superior morality over others where rigging is concerned. In Africa, people do not always go into politics for the sake of offering honest service but for private gain: hence the desperation to seek public office by hook or crook. If Gen. Buhari finds the existing parties as too dirty to meet his tough moral standards, he has the option to establish his own party. But does he have the resources to do so without the support of well-to-do Nigerians? And if he is ready to receive such donations from rich men, is he ready to question the sources of their wealth so as not to taint his reputation? Again, he if doesn't need funding from crooks, does he have the capacity to raise funds from the voluntary donations of low income citizens just as Barack Obama did in the U.S.? Is Gen. Buhari ready to re evaluate his attitude to politics within the prism of common sense and pragmatism?

Emerging press interviews and opinion articles rooting for Buhari's candidature is like jumping the gun. Buhari's supporters should allow the initiative consolidate before deciding the choice of presidential candidate which will be decided by more complex factors than General Buhari's stubborn conviction of being the only one suitable to become the movement's presidential candidate. Such posturing of Buhari's supporters at this stage could only play into the hands of the PDP.