President Muhammadu Buhari gave what could be likened to a State of the Nation address last Thursday. Only that he spoke, not to the nation, but to the National Executive Council of his party, the All Progressives Congress.
Perhaps, because it was meant for people who are more or less members of the same political family, the speech was plain and devoid of the elegance that memorable speeches are made of. But what it lacks in floweriness, it filled up for in the President’s usual candour, this time laced with very effective imagery.
Take a sampler: “…We gave a blanket order which we had to rescind when we said all boards are suspended or dissolved. We had to go back and lick our vomit in terms…” This was in explaining the administration’s capitulation on the summary dismissal of the governing councils of universities in contravention of laid down regulations.
The President did not just acknowledge that his administration reversed itself, he went ahead to apologise for the action. He promised tact in the future and craved the indulgence of Nigerians anytime the government slipped in its baby steps towards the mastery of democracy.
President Buhari reminded his party members of the cord that drew them together. This, he said was the need to put an end to the 16 years of rule of the Peoples Democratic Party. He pointed out the three focal issues that the legacy parties identified were: security, economy and unemployment, and corruption. These became the fulcrum of the APC’s campaign, he said.
Being 10 months after the administration was sworn in; he gave an account of how the government has fared. Again, Buhari’slegendary candour flashed up here
He said a lot has been done taming Boko Haram insurgents to the effect that the 14 local government areas held by the group in May 2015 have been recovered and “…as far as I know and the service chiefs who are on ground, they are not holding any local government. But they still have some capability especially on soft targets by using technology.”
He owned up to the disgraceful electoral trajectory that the nation has travelled since he became President, regretted the situation and promised to make amends. He spoke about the benefits of the Treasury Single Account.
He touched on the infirm state of the economy, the imperative of diversifying the economy with agriculture and solid minerals being “two areas that can quickly come to help us to recover economically, at least in terms of employment and feeding ourselves and more importantly, saving the hard currency to make sure that what is left our industries remain open, employing Nigerians and producing goods and services which is very important.”
All said and done, this address seems to give the hope that better times are ahead for Nigeria if the Buhari administration quickly settles down to work and sees, at least, some of its plans through. It is the expediency of getting to work without further delay that elicits my concern from one of the things that President Buhari said in this speech.
In encouraging members of his party not to be deterred by frequent jabs of non-performance from sceptics, the President said: “I know you are being harassed since the election that they haven’t seen anything on the ground. Well, if you have any explanation that could be accepted, is that you have three more years to go…”
What first came to mind on reading this was to wonder if the illusion of having four years to deliver could be behind the seeming slow pace in which this administration is conducting its business.
You will recall that it took the government close to five months to name ministers and another two or three weeks to swear them in. Five months after taking office, just a few of those ministers can be said to have inspired any confidence in the people. It is possible to agree that the budget, having just been passed by the legislature last week, is responsible for this slow pace but does the current set of elected politicians have three more years to prove their mettle? I reckon not.
From my understanding of Nigerian politics, Buhari does not have more than the next one and a half, maximum two years to prove himself and show Nigerians why he or his party deserves to be re-elected in 2019.
The President will do well to know that by the end of 2017, most politicians in the country, no matter what office they hold, will think of nothing but the prospects that 2019 holds for them. In some cases, people are not even waiting that long and I wonder why the President has not noticed!
Has he not heard about the endless altercations between Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai and Senator Shehu Sani and the fact that this may all be about 2019? Has he not heard insinuations that the governor of his state of residence may be aspiring for higher office in the next general elections?
Did he learn that 2019 is the fire behind the smoke ravaging the APC in Kano State? That the current governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, pulled off the gloves against Rabiu Kwankwanso, his predecessor and benefactor on the strength of the latter’s alleged interest in the Presidency in 2019.
Doesn’t Buhari realise that most of those who work with him hold their current positions as stepping stones unto something greater? By the end of 2017, the President will be shocked to realise that a lot of his ministers and heads of parastatals will abandon their duties or exploit them to feather the nests of their individual ambitions to be governors or senators or something.
In addition to this, the President needs to realise that the gestation period for a lot of what he wants to achieve are longer than two or three years, a reason for which politicians seize the first few months of their elections to set the ball of development in motion.
President Buhari has lost the initial momentum but he cannot continue to move at the snail’s pace of the past one year if he intends to achieve anything before 2019. He has to take certain urgent and strategic steps to reposition his administration for greater efficiency.
Of utmost importance, for example, is the need to recalibrate his cabinet to have more pegs in fitting roles. The Ministry of Education, for instance, is too strategic for the joke that we currently make of it. I am of the opinion that there is a need to reconsider the superman duties allocated Babatunde Fashola and deploy experienced and practitising professionals to swiftly move in and tackle the myriads of problems that Nigerians face in some of these areas.
Buhari also needs to do more about galvanising national cohesion. It is gratifying that he indicated the readiness of his government to encourage Niger Delta militants to join in the important task of moving Nigeria forward. This is a soothing departure from his combative utterance during one of his trips abroad last year. In addition to a rapprochement with the Niger Delta groups, he should also consider talking to agitators for New Biafra. No matter how unreasonable the idea sounds, those who broach it are motivated by something and a leader who wants unity must strive for the understanding of everyone.
To restrict performance on security to accomplishments on Boko and Haram and Niger Delta issues would be very inimical to national development. Imagine the terror that herdsmen have suddenly become in the past few months, imagine the endless stories of kidnappings for ransom and killings all over Nigeria. Just two days ago, a colonel of the Nigerian army was found murdered days after he was abducted. Nigeria needs a total overhaul of its security architecture with every part of the country in focus.
I do not think there is any doubt about how much the Buhari administration desires to change Nigeria and set it on the path for sustainable growth but in achieving that, we must learn to optimise the limits of time and other resources at our disposal. The President should hear this.
PUNCH
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