Six months into the current administration is enough time to look at the direction the country is heading under the Buhari/Osinbajo regime. As citizens we are joint stakeholders in the nation’s destiny. As voters who voted for change, we are also concerned about the sustenance of the change regime. By every definition, therefore, we have every right – in fact, a duty – to bring out what we feel is hampering the success of the government before it is too late. In short, President Buhari should know that we will not keep quiet when we see things going wrong. The president should also know that we are duty-bound to pinpoint these mistakes as quickly as possible.
The most important thing Buhari should know is that the people of Nigeria are suffering. The basic responsibility of the government as defined by the constitution is to work for “the welfare and wellbeing” of the citizens. The president should know that the welfare and wellbeing of Nigerians is on the decline largely due to what his government has done and not done. What this government has not done so far is to clearly articulate an economic policy, but what the government has done so far is to make impulsive, ad-hoc pronouncements on the economy that has so far impoverished the people. In fact, up until now there is no economic management team in place to articulate and implement the economic agenda of this administration.
Not only is there no coherent economic policy but, since May when this administration came to office, there has been no chief economic adviser to the president. The 7th Senate under David Mark had already approved 14 advisers for the president but so far only two have been appointed – both on media and national security. Even political adviser to the president has not been appointed at a time when there is need for serious political considerations for any policy pronouncements or key political appointments.
The verdict out there in the public is that power is currently concentrated in very few hands and those few are not happy with opening the space for other capable hands to have access to the centre of power. That is why even principal private secretary to the president is not yet in place. If these few were doing the right things, no one would have cared. But, as it is, they have turned out to be inept, incompetent and are even accused of being corrupt and unwell. This is a poisonous brew, especially given the fact that Shehu Abdullahi Dan Fodio, the radical younger brother of the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Shehu Usman Dan Fodio, wrote that “giving responsibility to irresponsible people is a sin”. As people with rich history, we don’t have to look anywhere for guidance but to our great ancestors who were empire builders.
The consequences are here for all to see. The capital market is in turmoil. One US dollar exchanges for N250 in the foreign exchange market; and Nigeria is yet to redeem about $3.5 billion of letters of credit (LC) so far. Unemployment is increasing because the little foreign exchange is not being utilized for importing machinery to resuscitate the industries for manufacturing to create jobs; but 28 per cent of the foreign exchange is being used for credit cards, in other words, frivolous luxury consumption by mostly corrupt people who got easy money that they never worked for. We can’t continue with this reckless squandering of our riches.
The president should equally know that people are happy with his war against corruption. Only a Buhari could have had the courage and moral authority to bring these “sacred cows” of yester year to book as is being done now. The people are also very disappointed that at a time when innocent people, particularly in the northern parts of Nigeria, are being slaughtered like goats, it is some northerners who are stealing the money meant to buy arms to protect them. This is a good case to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if our judiciary is playing with it. But the president should equally not allow corruption to go on right under his nose by those he trusts.
The bulk of Nigerian voters are youth and women. The president should know that this is the backbone of his support base and they constitute the majority of the Nigerian population. In every policy and even appointment, these segments of the population have to be taken into consideration. The youth are the future of the nation and the women are the most productive in the society. The president should know that the success or failure of his administration is determined by what his government has done to impact positively on these important segments of the nation’s population.
President Buhari should also know that there is need for effective information management by the government. In this era of ICT, with instant messages beamed across the world in a fraction of seconds, government cannot afford to allow the initiative to slip from its hands. Allowing speculations and rumours as well as reacting to negative comments is not the best approach. The system has to be proactive. In this regard, by way of suggestion, since the president has already told the whole world that there has been some recovery of looted resources from corrupt officials and their fronts, there is need for the finance minister to address the nation and make it public to enhance transparency and accountability.
President Buhari should know that the people still have confidence in him but some of his key appointees, by their actions and inactions, are trying to squander the goodwill the government is enjoying. That is why there is economic paralysis, social inertia and political morass. This is something the president should immediately address. We cannot afford to go into 2016 with people around the president whose dreams are all about the past, but are still unable to learn from history. They should appropriately belong to the past and the president should bring on board fresh people with fresh ideas, who would plan positively for the future.
The future, indeed, belongs to the just, and history is always on the side of the oppressed.
LEADERSHIP
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