At a ceremony marking Nigeria’s transition from military to civilian rule on May 29, 1999, the Late President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania foretold Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja that he was facing one problem- he had come to rule Nigerian at a time expectations were high, when Nigerians, tired of military rascality hoped that with democracy, total freedom would be achieved. In the past sixteen years it is difficult to say whether our military era is worse than our democracy. Nigeria has achieved civilian rule and not democratic rule.
On March 28, 2015, Nigeria finally faced the oddest and staunchest test for its electoral experimentation. It was odd because the two acknowledged top contending political parties in the presidential race were ideological twins, united by a shared predatory vision of governance. If the PDP had retained power, it would have been the certain continuation of a ruinous order. And now the APC has won, we look forward to see at best, cosmetic and fleeting benefits.
In that historic election, Nigerians especially in the North and South-west, in full sobriety, insisted on octogenarian General, Muhammadu Buhari whom they declared congenial and committed to discipline even though they proclaimed their distaste for his political fixers like Tinubu. Needless to say that it is nonsensical to embrace the man and claim to abjure the hidden hands that both produced and defined him. This is not the time to scratch the pains of pointing out the pitfalls of the party that we have given our mandate to take us to Eldorado. This is time to fix Nigeria according to the APC’s master plan.
One of the greatest weapons used against Goodluck Jonathan was the slogan of ‘Change’. It is a word every Nigerian desires to hear. People have grown wary of ordinary ways of addressing Nigeria’s myriad of problems. People are fed up with the PDP style of slapping on the waists of corruption, unemployment and poverty.
Across the country, everywhere deserves attention. The state of the economy calls for bold and swift action to create new jobs for the teeming unemployed and lay a new foundation for growth. The infrastructure require urgent attention; we need to build the roads, bridges, and industries, the electric grids and digital lines to feed our commerce and utilize our abundant mineral resources. Science needs to be restored and modern technological wonders innovated to raise health care quality and lower cost. Our agricultural abundance deserves harnessing to run our factories, fuel our economy and keep inflations at single digit. Schools, colleges, and universities need to be transformed to meet the demands of the ICT age. Our democratic institutions suffer elite patronage, evidence of corruption. Our electoral process falls short of credibility, political maneuvering is high, the judiciary suffers executive patronage, and the way we make laws demands more prudence. Each day now brings further evidence that the ways we cultivate corrupt mindset, strengthen poverty and threaten our future.
That Nigeria has managed to carry on beyond March 28, 2015, presidential election is not because of the skills and vision of those who have been in high offices, but because the people of the country have remained faithful and true to the ideals of our forebears: hope over fears, unity of purpose over conflicts and discord. This is the foundation for the future. And this is what Nigerians want to see Buhari do.
During his electioneering, Buhari and his APC made a lot of thrilling promises, most of them laughable, but all reflecting wishes of many Nigerians. If wishes were horses, Nigerians will love to see them come true. It is possible that the APC knows the reality of governance before making the promise. Be that as it may, what we have seen in the past has always been a bogus agenda presented to Nigerians as party manifestoes. None of these had ever come to fulfilment.
If Buhari will be the change we are desirous of, he should keep certain truth in mind. Nigerians are tired of bogus agenda where his predecessors have promised us only what God can supply and in the end dashed our hopes and appetite to the wild wind. We do not expect him to bore us with too many point-agenda. Corruption and security are more important to Nigerians than 37-point agenda reflecting 36 states and FCT. Corruption once tackled will allow us know the actual amount accruing to national coffers from oil. It will expose the hippopotamuses in the power sector, dry their pond and expose them to public ridicule. It will allow us know the ghost workers who have denied our youths their employment. With light restored and security assured, industrialization and massive employment will follow.
Corruption is at the heart of Nigeria’s problem. It cuts across all sectors of life. A comedian reminded Buhari that each tin of Titus sardine used to be eight in 1999. But today, if you are a regular consumer of that brand of tinned fish, you can know the wide margin the depreciation has gone.
With discipline, government will reduce the cost of governance. This will do away with the problem of multiplication of ministries into mini-ministries that end up competing for budgetary allocations. The worst is that such a situation has seen duties of ministries overlapping. Buhari needs not appoint 36 ministers. He can charge competent and trusted Nigerians with many ministries and give them soft landing to deliver. He needs to make political offices unattractive in order to save money to handle other necessities.
There are bogus economic empowerment policies that are siphoning symbols in Nigeria. Among them are Sure-P, Youwin, etc. These policies can be scraped and the money diverted to other areas like education in order to make it an attractive destination like the health sector.
Our army does well when on international assignment but not at home. Corruption explains why it is so. During his campaign, Buhari assured us that with his military background, he would turn down the tide of insecurity occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram. He must remain true to this promise and help us see a Nigeria which will be the destination pride of investors.
Buhari assured us with the APC on saddle of leadership, a dollar would be equal to a naira. We are awaiting the consummation of this laughable promise. Yet, Buhari can use his presidency to restore our agriculture which was the pride of Nigeria before the discovery of oil. Our cocoa, our groundnut, our palm oil, etc can be a springboard for an economy hoping to compete with the USA.
There is one temptation Buhari must avoid. He should checkmate the excesses of his wife and the party boys. Bottom power dictatorship was part of Jonathan’s problem. Party dictatorship is another hurdle waiting for the Septuagenarian General to jump over. He has a dubious association with Nigeria most feared political conspirators. If he must work, he must distance himself from them.
