“When Barack Obama took office in January 2009, he had an unprecedented chance to do what no other recent President could: Seize the nation’s financial reins from the corporate elite and return them to the American people. Progressives everywhere held out hope that their new leader would take advantage of the economic crisis he stepped into and enact bold policies that would evoke real financial reforms – putting Main Street in front of Wall Street, at last. But that is not the way things turned out. Instead, America’s best chance for radical financial reform turned into Wall Street’s greatest victory”
Robert Kuttner, in his book, whose title I have borrowed for dramatic licence, chronicles the disaster that nearly befell the Obama Presidency in its early days. These words could easily apply to the victory that General Buhari, the incoming President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can rightly claim. Already the rumours have begun. This name and that personality have been penciled down for Minister, Special Adviser, Director-General and cabinet member. There is palpable fear that the Lagos wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will dominate the appointments. That Bola Tinubu will outmanoeuvre and frustrate the Katsina mafia who already has designs on the Presidency. Much of this material is and will be deliberately planted in the media to promote certain individuals or interests and must be discounted. Already there is talk that the first 100 days programme has been concluded and how the President will solve specific problems in that period. The low hanging fruit, so to speak.
I have a somewhat different prescription. I start from the premise that the first 100 days is not a period for projects or tackling corruption – the gorilla in the room – but a time for reflection and foundation laying. It is true that the incoming administration must hit the ground running, which expression can mean several things depending on how high up the intellectual ladder you wish to go. Foundations in this instance begin with the transition committee – the men and women who will shake hands with the outgoing regime while designing the early agenda of the President and the new regime. A proto-cabinet, which will manage the President’s and Vice-President’s engagements, and oversee the several technical subcommittees offering ideas on everything from power to health and education. Some of this group may even end up in the cabinet or running agencies in the future, as rightly they should, but the focus has got to be on foundational issues. Cross-cutting philosophical issues consistent with the change that the campaign promised. How to reframe the campaign promises in the cold light of reality. A reality, which speaks of an empty treasury, fifty-dollar-a-barrel oil revenue, a crippling debt portfolio, a dysfunctional civil service and a venal incompetent National Assembly whose exclusive concern, is their own welfare.
The temptation, as with most people, will be to go for “trusted hands”. Safe and experienced hands. Mr. President-elect, please bear in mind that these safe and trusted hands are the same which brought us to this sorry pass. These safe and trusted hands, their surrogates and other grandees are not the vectors of change, at least not the radical departure from business-as-usual that Nigerians are hoping for. You must recognise, Sir that a totally different skills set is required to tackle the challenges ahead than those it took to win the elections. Perhaps a profile of the sort of persons we expect to see in the change team will be helpful. Your dream transition team would be made up of:
• Nigerian professionals with a minimum of 20 years work experience;
• Not older than 65 years;
• Some familiarity with or experience in government would be helpful;
• Cross-cutting knowledge of various sectors of the economy;
• A sound understanding of or background in public policy;
• A capacity for research;
• Demonstrated ability to think out of the box;
• A clear commitment to an anti-corruption agenda.
Few Nigerians meet all the criteria above, but this is a game for the few. To the best of my knowledge, unlike the United States, Nigeria does not have a law guiding the transition process, which is a major oversight. The United States’ Presidential Transition Act of 2000 directs the Administrator of General Services to “provide facilities, funding of approximately five million dollars, access to government services, and support for a transition team, and to provide training and orientation of new government personnel and other procedures to ensure an orderly transition.” This is worthy of emulation, with its emphasis on training for the members of the transition team. Clearly this is serious work and no place for protocol and formality. Neither is it a place for reverence of the aged or social pedigree (my Lords temporal and spiritual).
At the end of the transition period, however, it is defined (first 100 days, May till August), the committee’s recommendations will still be subject to a political filter, so that the political parties and politicians need not feel left out. I hope the members of the transition team, who ever they may be, do not throw the baby and the bath water out, as they must ferret out the good work done by the Jonathan administration, however limited, while having the courage to chart new paths.
What Mr. Obama did not realise, according to Kuttner, was that his transition team was seeded with special interests whose agenda was to preserve the status quo and others sympathetic to the agenda of the outgoing administration. A cautionary tale for the Nigerian President-elect.
True seismic Change is only possible at punctuations moments. This is for Nigeria one such moment. Mr. President-elect, give us a sign.
DAILY INDEPENDENT
END
LOOKING FOR CHANGE IN NIGERIA?
Sunday 26 April 2015, by Mabinuori Idowu (aka ID)
“Nothing Dey for town to give the youths good example! How our big people and traditional rulers dey do! Them don spoil the tradition and corrupt all the town! Them come make the youths look-up to Europe and USA! In those places self! People don loose them common sense!”
Listening to the above extracts from the song “Just Like That,” written 34 years ago, one can but say Fela Kuti was the man who saw tomorrow if we see the song like his many others in the context of Nigeria’s today politics. Many so-called leaders of opinion; traditional rulers and journalist called (big people in the song), try very hard to make us believe that Nigerians are different people. They even go as far as invent words like: “Yoruba Race!” Hausa race!” “Igbo Race!” Every knowledgeable person today knows that the “RACE” subject no-longer exist since the conclusions from members of the international scientific committee at the colloquium on the population of ancient Egypt and the decrypting of Meroe scripts for the production of a general history of Africa held in Cairo, Egypt from January 28–February 3rd, 1974 under the auspices of UNESCO. An important conclusion from the colloquium is invitation to the scientific community to re-write universal history of humanity granting Black Africa her primordial role that she has effectively assumed in the edification of civilization. There is one human race, anybody talking today of “Yoruba Race” does not have historic and political consciousness. A “historical consciousness” means: I am conscious of my past, I am aware of this and I have a conscience of the future. This is what we call the historical consciousness of the human conditions. If we looking for change; it is time to stop playing to the divide and rule tactics that allows the system to continue to exploit the majority. Again if I may ask, are the demands of the people in the South of Nigeria different from those in the North? Water, light, food and house problems are common to all be you Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba. Polluted landscape, youths without jobs, are all these demands from the people in the South of Nigeria different from those of the North? Finally like I said in an earlier post: if they have water, light, food and house in France today it is because the French people in 1789 made a REVOLUTION. We can achieve this by education that will give us the historic and politic consciousness necessary to identify who our real leaders are. What we are doing here is to set our mind straight on who we should look-up-to as leaders in this decadence called Federal Government of Nigeria. There are people in Nigeria, who refused to serve or be part of a corrupt system – it is not refusal to serve their country. The core of my message is: we cannot continue to recycle the same old politicians that looted Nigeria before. We cannot continue what Fela aptly described as Army Arrangement. If we are organized as MASS, it is not only in the Nigerian capital that will hear our voices but in all seats of power in all four corners of the world. It is time to put our respective apathy and fears aside, we are not doing anything illegal before any law by getting organized against a common oppressor. We cannot be considered “terrorist” as all our deliberations are open on social network. What we need is a determination to want to make a difference in the way our lives are run. It is necessary to be determined in our purpose as all things that have happened in the history of humanity were due to the human determination and decisions. Even if we are called “terrorists” despite our open organisation, we can take solace in the popular saying: “one man’s food is another man’s poison”. One man’s “terrorist” is another man’s “freedom fighter.” We have seen it with Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC), how they were treated as “terrorist” for demanding their freedom. Like Burning Spear sang: “BROTHERS AND SISTERS! SHOULDER YOUR ARMS AND COME!” THE ONLY WAY TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK IS TO GET ORGANIZED. JOIN OUR MOVEMENT AGAINST SECOND SLAVERY (MASS) NOW! WHEN WE HAVE ONE MILLION REGISTERED MEMBERS IN OUR RANK, WE CAN ASK THOSE VIPs (VAGABONDS IN POWER) IN ABUJA: “WHERE IS OUR MONEY?”
https://youtu.be/pyP796l21ks
He who has ears let him hear. By the time Obama found his cojones, it was too late to save the every day american
The Nigerian Masquerade appears to have simply changed its mask, you will know it by its dance steps. No point for bated breath, one will simply end up light headed and disoriented