The current APC saga reminds me of one of those folklores. You know, the one where three people came together to plan a major heist. At the successful completion of their dare-devil operation, they faltered at the sharing of spoils. Each wanted the entire spoil to himself and planned on how to eliminate the other two.
At the end, they managed to kill themselves and the loot went to a bystander who knew nothing about how the money came to be. Another example is the historical account of how five ‘experts’ came together to plan the robbery of a bank. They worked on the minutest detail including digging an underground tunnel and evading the elaborate security system.
They forgot one important thing though; they did not work out the formula for sharing the loot. One was so unhappy with what he got that he blew the whistle on the others. They were all rounded up and a significant portion of the loot was recovered. The first lesson here is about greed. The second lesson is about managing people’s aspirations and ambitions—or if you like, greed—and aligning them with the goals and limitations of the outfit. These are lessons for APC.
President Buhari put it very nicely when he said last week, at yet another futile attempt to reconcile the warring parties, that the party won the battle and lost the war. Except that I don’t think it has lost the war yet. The war will be won or lost over the period of four years. What has happened is that the party won a significant battle and was so consumed with the sharing of spoils that it took its eyes off the ball forgetting that there are still many battles and many mine fields ahead. One of the imminent battles is the media battle.
Any government, in fact, any politician that ignores the importance of the media these days is toying with their political destiny. The first hundred days syndrome started by late US President Kennedy was in itself a media gimmick designed to show the dynamism of a nascent government. We are now half way to the first hundred days of the Buhari government and the weight of expectations is beginning to take its toll. There are many cruel jokes in the social media these days woven around the image of ‘Baba go slow’.
Even the PDP is now beginning to find its voice because it seems the myriad of inherited problems has not miraculously disappeared. Petrol scarcity has not gone away, the Naira is deteriorating, salaries are still left unpaid, even Boko Haram is flexing more than its muscles. On top of all that is the unnecessary distraction in the National Assembly and the seeming indiscipline in the ruling party. The general impression is that of a government overwhelmed by the demands of office.
Yet I am told by people I have met or spoken to, that this government is working very, very hard. But the rot that pervades every sector of the system just can’t be wished away. On Boko Haram, for example, I am told that some of the equipment bought in the last six weeks of the Jonathan administration are already packing up and this has slowed the earlier impressive advances of our Military. This unfortunately is the story of Nigeria where leaders have been self-seeking rather than nation seeking.
Those who expect a miraculous disappearance of the problems in the first hundred days probably do not understand the extent of the damage. Bluntly told, the Nation was almost bankrupt. And it will take a Professor Peller, the magician, to lift up a comatose country the size of Nigeria in less than six months.
Some people also point at the fact that Ministers have not been appointed. That’s a political thing that should not affect the work of government if the institutions are strong. In fact, to me, the class of people that has not yet benefited from this administration is the political class. And I don’t think that is such a bad thing. Think of how much money Buhari has saved for the country by not appointing Ministers and P.As and Special Assistants yet. He has also done the proper thing by allowing the Civil Servants run their respectful ministries and making them accountable.
However, Buhari does not seem to want to play to the gallery. Which is rather unfortunate because these days, all politicians play to the gallery. UK’s Cameron made so much noise about the state of the British economy that he effectively shut Labour up for at least the first two years. Ditto US President Obama. Somebody close to the government was explaining to me the other day, some of the efforts of government in grappling with its various challenges.
At the end, I told him he knew what he knew because of his proximity to government. Unfortunately, people can only understand what they are told. And patience and trust are alien words in the modern world. This is what Buhari is asking of people. For the people to trust, they need information; and they need it continuously as it happens.
What is happening now on the media front is rather strange because the APC won the media battle- both the conventional and the social media so handily—despite the vast power of the PDP incumbency. This is probably one of the fall-outs of a people divided against itself as the media arm during the days of opposition was handled by the South-West APC. Now the South-West APC seems strangely cool and aloof creating the impression that it has withdrawn or it is withdrawing into its shell.
Another emerging image of this government is that the North has taken over. A casual view of the few appointments of the administration shows a northern preponderance. But a deeper view shows merit and a desire to right some wrongs. I personally don’t see anything wrong in the appointments so far and it is too early to say whether Buhari intends to marginalise any section of the country the way Jonathan did.
There are many battles ahead before the war can be said to have been won or lost. One of them, like I said earlier, is the media battle. Buhari and his men need to seize the initiative and stop being on the defensive. PDP should not be allowed to find its voice so soon. We had six years of a woeful governance where corruption and impunity were the order of the day. PDP should not be allowed to gloss over this sordid past.
– See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/seizing-the-momentum/#sthash.d1TrlgoC.dpuf
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