It was the standout phrase from President Muhammadu Buhari’s Inauguration Day speech on May 29, 2015: “I belong to everybody, I belong to nobody”. The phrase went viral, triggering an output of comical expressions.
In one of them, the presidential spouse was shown asking Buhari if he meant that he doesn’t belong to the wife anymore, to which the President answered that he merely joked. In another more politically mischievous interpretation, APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, was facing an imaginary reporter, who accosted him in a court.
Asked what he was doing there, Bola Tinubu answered that he came to change his name to”Everybody Bola Tinubu”! It seemed clear that Buhari was underlining the fact that as Nigerian president, he would endeavour to be president of all, but would at the same time not be hostage to individuals. It is a courageous statement coming from a president who was elected on the platform of a political party that was at best, an amalgam of disparate interests. It is never easy to stay aloof from the currents of the mass and the individual, given the pitiless tides of politics.
Germany 5 & 6: UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon, President Muhammadu Buhari and Foreign Minister of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the cocktail reception at the Munich residence
Germany 5 & 6: UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon, President Muhammadu Buhari and Foreign Minister of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the cocktail reception at the Munich residence.
But more poignantly for me, is how to extrapolate the thought which midwifed such phrase into the realities of contemporary Nigerian society. Despite what many might think, Nigeria today is a class society with expressions of some of the most vicious levels of inequalities and injustice in the world today. While a tiny band of our national bourgeoisie creams off some of the greatest levels of luxurious existence comparable to ruling classes elsewhere, we also have some of the greatest and most frightening levels of deprivation in equal measure.
So the issues that face the new president today are directly related to the change slogan which encapsulated why he got the vote of the majority of Nigerians in the first place.
This is a country in need of reformation at levels that might be more than the President himself either realises or could be too frightened to head towards. Nigeria sits atop a volcano of potentially dire social discontent and the slogan of change must sooner than later, begin to take a concrete outline in terms of positive impact on social being of the mass of our people.
Unfortunately, ruling class politicians are practically the same everywhere; they never seem to be in a hurry to look at the problems of society in the face. What is central to their political existence is the posturing for advantages that consumes critical time and resource, but in the long run leads to the sidestepping of the vital issues that trouble the people. Buhari went to the Nigerian people canvassing a strong security posture, a definitive onslaught against corruption as well as finding ways and means on the economy. Nigerians also trusted his personal integrity as a major factor in the process of change. The issue that must be worrisome is how slow things are shaping up in the effort to build momentum for the process of change.
The elections were won in March, and it is incredible that the two months before inauguration were not used to make the choice of personnel to assist the commencement of work. Yet the clock has started ticking and the days passing. Things must take shape early in order to convince the Nigerian people that our president belongs to them, and they can actually take possession of their country through a determined onslaught against the hydra-headed monsters of underdevelopment.
What Nigerians want is a country that works for them through an incremental improvement on the quality of their lives.This was the reason why Buhari became for many of our people, but especially our young, a symbol of the change that will make them own their country. And it won’t be easy for the President to lead such a process because there are too many interests, even within his own political party and related economic interests that will lose a lot, if and when the change process kicks into gear.
And it is within that crucible of change, that President Buhari will be able to live his statement that he belongs to all and he belongs to on one. He would have to look at so many individuals and social groups in the face and be man enough to say that he would not be held hostage. He has vowed to work for the Nigerian people and the interest of the majority would be the most important for him. Again, we must remind that the young people of our country are its majority today.
So when President Buhari stated emphatically that he belonged to everybody and to nobody, the indications were clear to us that he would place our people at the heart of governance because in truth, it was the people that democratically voted him into power. They alone he can be answerable to, not a set of individuals whose class interests privileges their material comfort above those of our country and the mass of the people who stayed patiently on long queues to cast votes and stayed to protect those votes that brought Buhari to power, at the fourth attempt.
Yes, Buhari belongs to all Nigerians, but we suspect that he chose not to belong to anybody in order to have the freedom of action that can lead to the betterment of lives in our country! This president has signaled that he will not be hostage to the interests of a few and our duty as citizens will be to help him keep his words: belong to all; belong to nobody!
FIFA’s World Cup of corruption
In 2010, a British newspaper’s sting operation caught a FIFA official from Nigeria, Dr. Amos Adamu, red-handed seeking money from reporters who had posed as lobbyists for a World Cup bidding city. Adamu and a few other officials were suspended by FIFA. That opened up a window into the opaque manner that the most important sporting body on earth was run.
The suspicions about shady goings-on inside FIFA have never really subsided and the FBI and Swiss investigations of the past two weeks have been most unprecedented. FIFA officials are being investigated around the world and by last week, freshly re-elected FIFA President Joseph Blatter was forced to announce that he would resign his position. But things are not altogether as simple as they appear or have been presented, especially by the Western media. While we cannot excuse the corruption that casts a pall on the beautiful game’s ruling body, there are underlining political currents that we must put in context.
Why are the FBI and the US taking extra-territorial roles in the prosecution of FIFA officials? Is it true as former FIFA official, Jack Warner alleged, that the US is launching a vendetta for losing the right to host the World Cup? And why are the Europeans, especially the English, annoyed that every country, from the tiniest to the biggest soccer heavyweights, possesses a single and equal vote inside FIFA? Isn’t it true that they are trying to takeover FIFA in order to impose their own control and thus overturn the democracy that respects the weak and strong?
Isn’t it clear that whatever might be the problems that FIFA under Blatter has run into, it was nevertheless on the side of Africa, Asia and the poorer countries of the world?
Could the fact that Blatter has consistently opened up the rights of different countries to host the World Cup and other FIFA-organised tournaments have been reason enough for the way he and FIFA are being demonised? We must also not forget that it was under Blatter’s leadership, that the number of African slots at the World Cup have increased to five today. Yes, we must not allow corruption and the opacity within FIFA’s structure must be eliminated. Similarly, we must have an open and transparent governance structure inside FIFA, but we must be very careful not to throw away the baby with the bath water.
The imperialist powers must not be allowed to take over FIFA in order to impose an unequal structure which prioritises their own agendas above those of the mainly, poorer countries of Africa and Asia.
That is their wish and the anti-corruption red herring is just a convenient excuse to capture FIFA to their own advantage. We must not allow our interest become marginalised under the pretext of fighting “FIFA’s World Cup of Corruption” as the FBI stated at the commencement of its extra-territorial operation against FIFA.
Nasir el-Rufai: Setting into a rhythm of governance
If I have to make a choice, I thinkNasir El-Rufai amongst the newer governors, is faster in settling into a rhythm of governance in Kaduna. He had announced early the first set of people that would work with him. Given the precarious state of finance, he indicated that he would sacrifice a percentage of his salary as governor and by this week, there was announced the streamlining of the Kaduna state governmental structure, with the reduction and merger of government ministries.
The steps that have been taken so early in the administration’s lifespan are indicative of a serious approach to governance. I feel truly excited that Kaduna is on the cusp of something exciting and despite the paucity of funds and the accumulated mess, our Kaduna is likely to witness governance that works. Kaduna is one of the cities that I live in and it’s a place I have tremendous emotional attachment to.
Over the past few years, there was a steady deterioration of standards as well as of infrastructure. Kaduna became a shadow of its rich history and in many parts of city and state there was instituted very frightening levels of inter-communal suspicions which were clearly unhealthy and inimical to the building of harmonious existence. A lot of the problems are related to politics and governance issues.
I think that it was an important victory for the people of Kaduna, that we turned our backs on the previous administration and voted massively for Nasir El-Rufai. I think he would give his all to the process of regeneration and development of Kaduna. The early steps taken are indicative of the urge to get the work going. Kaduna is going to transform because it now has at the helms a governor who has the vision, capacity and courage to lead the change process.
What is definitive is that El-Rufai will drive that process to ensure that change genuinely touches our lives. That is why as a resident of Kaduna, and a taxpayer and employer 1of labour to boot, I feel so excited that the process is getting into gear in my city!
VANGUARD
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