This column had gotten into trouble early in the life of this administration. A crippling inertia had bedevilled the President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) administration early in the day – from inauguration day on May 29, 2015 up to the end of that year. But not many noticed.
The first 100 days often marked with fanfare and a showcasing of early results by most governments was dismissed gruffly as a no event by the PMB people.
All the low-hanging fruits most new governments pick and process quickly were all lost on the new regime. The appointment of a new cabinet which often signposts the character and substance of any new helmsman as well as critical appointments to strategic positions could not be achieved in the first 100 days. Even some key agencies that drive socio-economic activities are still void of boards till today – almost two years of the PMB era.
This column, befuddled and nonplussed at this crippling slow pace and loss of clear opportunities, wrote many pieces about it. Numerous easy wins were glaring but painfully neglected. One must have been branded to be among the ‘wailers’, who are impatient and seeking to stampede the new administration into derailing from its ‘methodical’ approach. Many readers all but branded this column a saboteur.
One hundred days rolled into 200, and to one year going on to two. And everything goes from bad to worse. The exchange rate, the most critical indicator of the state of health of Nigeria’s economy galloped from N198 to a dollar to about N500 currently. And still rising. What this means, it must be said, is that in 18 months of PMB, the economy is in a complete mess. There is absolutely no justification for this ruinous slide other than sheer incompetence. Our expectations crashed, we wanted to see pithy changes happening quickly but, zilch!
From the foregoing prognosis, every jigsaw may have fallen into place now with the ill-health of PMB becoming protracted and obvious. What all this betokens is that the President must have been seriously ill all this while. Recall that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State raised the alarm about the President’s health in the heat of the 2015 electioneering, but Nigerians railed at him, drowning his (wake up) call in the politics of that moment. But the point remains that if PMB battles with a serious health situation he could never function at the optimum. This must explain the months of inertia when basic things seemed so difficult to execute and the country bled profusely.
Today, it has all come to a head. The President’s illness cannot be concealed anymore and here we are told to watch and pray while he recuperates. Do not disturb, our president is resting: that is the bold sign place in our face. Yet we would naot be apprised with the true situation of our President’s health. From taking a 10-day annual leave to waiting for test results and now, to needing further time to rest.
Of plastic rice and Indian ‘gari’
The first point to note about the Indian garri discovered in a super market in Nigeria is that it is incorrectly spelt as ‘gari’ instead of garri. Last December, we were assailed by rumours of plastic rice emanating from China and dumped on our shores. But let’s not be overly alarmed as this place has long been the dumping ground of the world.
From toxic waste to smelly fuel. Go to any supermarket or the new mega ones; they are filled with imported items – about 90% of over a thousand items you find in them are from other countries.
While we feign alarm at the novelty of Indian ‘gari’, do we have a cassava industry or value chain? No. Do we not import over 80 per cent of what we eat still? Do we have a serious agric sector? No. Let’s get serious.
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