In the build-up to 2015 general election, many promises were made by the then opposition All Progressives Congress to Nigerians. Though some of those promises have been debunked by the President himself trying to extricate himself from the manifesto of the party upon the shoulder of which he rose to power, as another general election is around the corner, it is appropriate to take on each of the items on this list and assess the current government if they have kept their part of the bargain before coming to Nigerians to ask for a renewal of mandate. On the three broad areas of corruption, economy and security, all the efforts to realise them are subject to perception of the analysts and the divide to which they belong and what they choose to see and believe.
Hence, President Muhammadu Buhari and his loyalists would claim they owe Nigerians no apology on this three-point agenda. Coming to the specifics, the APC promised in 2015 that they would end the Boko Haram insurgency, provide two million jobs, make electricity supply stable and constant and stop diversion of public funds into private pockets as well as ensure judicious use of such money to provide essential infrastructure. In a similar vein, Buhari owes Nigerians no apology if up till now these specific objectives have not been achieved. This is because when these promises were made back then, there were no time frames and deadlines attached to them and the President may argue that he needs another term of four years to make them happen.
If the manifesto was written in the fashion such that time was allotted to each objective and the milestones marked as they are achieved or missed one after the other, such as: within two weeks of my administration, Boko Haram insurgency will end; I will provide one million direct jobs within the first 100 days of my administration; power generation will stabilise at 10,000MW with constant supply of electricity to six major industrial cities located in the six geopolitical regions within one year of my swearing-in; two years into my administration, the steel and tin rolling mills will be resuscitated; before I celebrate the third anniversary of my coming into office, the major cities in the four corners of the country will be linked by rail with substantial if not 100 per cent local content efforts, it would have been better tracked.
When promises are made in the like manner, then when the government fails to meet up with the target it sets for itself, it is then that the “Office of the Citizen” (apologies to Madam Oby Ezekwesili and her Red Card Movement for the use of the phrase) can face the President and demand an explanation and apology. But when the objectives are forever work-in-progress, then the masses cannot demand any apology from whosoever is holding the political office.
In 1984, some Second Republic politicians were put on trial by the then military tribunal, notable among them was Chief Olabisi Onabanjo. He was accused of using Ogun State Government money to fund the activities of the then Unity Party of Nigeria (Egbe Imole) literarily meaning the party of light and semantically meaning a transparent party. He was eventually jailed. When President Buhari won the 2015 presidential election, he had in his party many career politicians who had always been exposed to the public finances for considerable number of years and were able to match the war chest of the then incumbent party to wrest power from them. If President Buhari could not establish with strong evidence that legitimately earned money was used by his party to support his political ambition, then as an honest and sincere man that he is known to be, he should know in his heart that he owes those Second Republic politicians an apology.
As another round of general election is around the corner, political parties will be mobilising funds to prosecute their political wars, including the President’s party, the APC. As a man of integrity who has come into politics to clean the dirty game, Buhari should ensure that his party does not have a kobo of government money in its purse and the best way to apologise to the likes of Onabamjo is not by kneeling down by their graveside or rendering a public apology, but by instituting true political party funding structure in his party, whereby every member pays a due for being member and not gathering to share what political office holders and the aspiring political office holders have brought to the table.
In the Nigeria of today, this is easier said than done. But if President Buhari in the little time left before the general election can align himself with those who are bent on doing the right thing and not the typical Nigerian politician whose ambition must be realised by whatever means necessary, he will be writing his name in gold even if he loses the re-election after all a leader like Nelson Mandela served his country for just four years as President to the admiration of all.
Omolade Onifade, Ijoko, Ogun State. 08054641929
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