PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is a man who has tremendous goodwill, perhaps more than any other Nigerian leader before him. That is highly understandable for two reasons. The first is the President’s personal attributes as a man of impeccable integrity, honesty, discipline and Spartan tastes. All these the President had demonstrated in his first coming as Head of State between December 1983 and August 1985 and in retirement.
Secondly, things had gone so bad under his immediate precedessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, that Nigerians desired change so desperately. Apart from the worsening insecurity that had almost reduced the country into a jungle where life is “short and brutish,” the economy was (and still is) in a wobbly state owing to dwindling oil revenue and more by mismanagement and profligacy under the last administration.
So, naturally, and average man on the street had expected things to be turned around overnight. Critics and commentators have thus taken over the public space thumping down the 34-day-old administration over the government’s perceived inertia so far. They have faulted the failure of the President to unveil his ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, replacement for the Service Chiefs, Special Advisers as well as a handful of critical appointments.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, fired the first salvo recently when he accused the administration of being in motion without movement.
Metuh had said in a statement: “We urge Nigerians to join hands in prayers and offer useful suggestions to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC because with what we have seen in the last 30 days, the present administration is finding it very difficult to get its bearings right while showing no inclination towards implementing its numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into office at the centre.
“We are deeply worried that the President, who promised to unveil his cabinet two weeks after his inauguration, has not been able to decide on key appointments such as ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief of Staff and advisers in key sectors of the economy. This is more so as the delay has brought government business in ministries, departments and agencies to a dangerous standstill with coordination of important policies vested on ministers and the SGF now in tatters while the system drifts.
“The situation is taking its toll on the economy sector, which has in the 30 days witnessed unprecedented decline with a terrifying crippling of foreign and domestic investments, including activities in the money and capital market sectors. Under President Buhari, the stock market has lost over N238 billion while the All-Share Index fell by 849.87 basis points as at June 19.
“In security, apart from the directive to relocate the counter terrorism command centre to Borno State and seeking assistance from foreigners, no other concrete step has been taken in the fight against insurgency, which the President in his April 22, 2015 CNN interview promised to end within his two months in office… In this regard, we urge the President to confront insurgency and issues of national security with all the vigour they deserve while calling for restraint from actions capable of destroying the fabrics of security intelligence.”
But Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), disagreed with these views. According to the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the administration has taken a number of positive steps with results. At a press briefing during the week, Mohammed stated that the President has been able to galvanise support from neighbouring countries in the counter insurgency campaign. He cited Buhari’s recent trips to Chad and Niger Republic where he got commitment from the countries’ leaders in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents. Similarly, the party’s spokesman recalled the President’s interaction with the G-7 countries during his recent trip to Germany on the invitation of the G-7. Mohammed said Buhari had since submitted the country’s wish list to the G-7 and that the needed assistance is on the way. The president has also been able to mobilise the Multi-National Joint Task Force for counter insurgency campaign and the Force is billed for deployment by July 30.
The APC spokesman also said that the $5 million pledged by the United States to assist the country in the fight against insurgency offers a ray of hope in tackling terrorism in the land. The administration has already started the anti-corruption campaign with the recent dissolution of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Investigation is also ongoing in the oil and gas sector. The nation’s financial profile is also in the spotlight with a probe into revenue receipts and disbursements under the last administration.
“The president has ordered revenue generating agencies, including the NNPC, FIRS, Customs and NPA, to close all illegal revenue accounts and to remit all funds generated to the Federation Account. This is a momentous step, considering that those illegal accounts are being used to siphon public funds,” Mohammed had stated. The administration, the party said, has also got commitment from western nations to assist Nigeria in repatriating stolen funds ferried offshore by public officials in the last administration.
The President is, no doubt, moving in a measured pace. His pace may not be in synch with the expectations of majority of Nigerians who may want to see the new face of governance moving at supersonic speed. The general restiveness is understandable as it demonstrates how Nigerians are in a hurry to see the change they voted for, after over a decade and half of dashed hopes and expectations. But what many may find hard to believe, according to those close to Mr President, is the fact that Buhari, in the deepest recess of his mind, is twice as much in a hurry as majority of his countrymen and women are. However, with the situation he met on ground, the President’s slow pace is said to be understandable. He may not have unveiled the list of his cabinet ministers but he has made a number of new appointments in the past few days. The President has named his Chief of Staff, a new Director General of the Department of State Security (DSS) and a new Account General of the Federation (NGF).
However, none of President Buhari’s critics has ever raised any issue about his integrity, credibility, sense of accountability and forthrightness. He still enjoys a reasonably high approval rating and goodwill. It is the first time since 1999 that the country would be getting a determined leader to pilot its affairs. Having struggled for 12 years to get the Presidency, Buhari is believed to have prepared very well for governance and knows exactly what to do. The challenge, those close to him say, is the abysmal level things had gone under the last administration, which they say requires careful planning to tackle.
For four years, Jonathan and his PDP took the nation through a wilderness of cluelessness, corruption and impunity. It is for this reason that the nation’s refineries have remained comatose. It’s for the same reason the country has continued to import petroleum products despite being the sixth largest crude oil producer in the world. It’s also not a surprise that the power sector has continued to totter, with billions of taxpayers’ dollars down the drain. Previous dysfunctional leadership style is also the reason why Boko Haram was allowed to grow into a Frankenstein monster before the then government could muster enough courage to clobber together a military campaign against the insurgents. But that came long after the insurgents had annexed some territories in Nigeria and hoisted strange flags, proclaiming headquarters of their caliphate. Officials and praise singers in the last administration kept inflicting on the nation bogus statistics of a rebased and fast growing economy, even when it was apparent that the homeland had been mortgaged to local and foreign creditors.
So, perceptive Nigerians believed the President when he declared recently that he met a virtually empty treasury and suffocating debts. They appreciate the enormity of the task ahead. They don’t seem to imagine that fixing the rot is going to be as smooth as knife cutting through a lump of butter. Nigerians do know that the road to recovery isn’t paved with velvet. Neither do they think that the journey is going to be a picnic. They can foresee the storm and the tide ahead. It’s a grim scenario requiring a total change in direction. And that was the reason Nigerians voted him in. Nigerians have been dragged down the cesspit for 16 years and they can’t pretend like scented roses at this point in their lives. After years of deprivation, their palate can’t wait to have the omelette. It’s time for the President to break the egg.
NATION
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Very soon the newspaper(THE NATION) where this article was culled or gotten from will soon be writing a piece if the cracks in the APC don’t favor them…….So Buhari(if you are reading this) we need affirmative action.
Patience!!! Genuine integrity will always stand the test of time.