As Nigeria grapples with a crisis of leadership, it is quite disheartening that almost a year after taking office, the Buhari-led APC government, is yet to make a dent in resolving the insecurity, epileptic power, acute fuel scarcity, mass unemployment, poverty and other daunting challenges facing the nation. Their modus operandi of making excuses and blame past administrations for the parlous state of the nation, is the greatest advertisement of an administration long on ideas, but short on implementation. Nigerians are rightly apprehensive that regime apologists have been asking them to be patient, and give them more time to fix the “mess” they inherited. To this end, let it be said directly: Nigerians cannot change the past, but ten months is enough time to change the direction of the country. Nigeria needs a change in orientation, not excuses. The point must therefore be made, and with emphasis that Nigerians voted for change, not merely as an end itself, but as a means to achieve a comprehensive improvement in governance and their quality of life. This is the clear and urgent challenge of the Buhari-led government.
Lamenting over problems, either as a public relations gimmick or a genuine display of cluelessness seem to have become the nauseating but defining style of the present administration. Petroleum Resources Minister, Ibe Kachikwu is on record telling Nigerians that he is not a magician to perform miracles to end the perennial fuel scarcity in the country. The manifest insolence and insensitivity attracted the anger and frustration of APC leader, Bola Tinubu, who issued a stinking public rebuke to the Minister; even calling for his resignation. Nothing seems to be working in the country in terms of enthroning financial accountability and improving living standards, defeat corruption, unemployment, as well as indiscipline; a phenomenon, which in Buhari’s analysis, three decades ago “is the main problem of Nigeria.”
Rather, Nigerians have been treated to endless appeals for patience; the latest such call coming from the leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajiabiamila, who cautioned Nigerians against hasty expectations from the government, saying 10 months, was not enough for Buhari to deliver. He made the appeal at the 4th Convocation ceremony of Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State last weekend, while accepting an honorary doctorate degree in Political Science. The House leader said there was no way the APC- led administration would have tackled what he termed “the deep hole the nation was pulled into in the last 16 years.” According to him, he was “Aware Nigerians are facing challenges and everybody is complaining, but…it took almost eight years for Obama to take America out of the rots he inherited. It is the same thing that is going on in Nigeria. We inherited a rot that there is no way we could come out of it in 10 months.”
With all due respect to the House leader, it did not take Obama eight years to turn around the US economy. Just for the records, Obama inherited an economy in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Within the first 100 days, he took control of the situation using the power of his office to set clear priorities; got a stimulus package through Congress, bailed out major banks that posed systemic risks to the economy; saved the auto industry and turned the US and the global economy from the brink of collapse. The decisiveness and sense of purpose demonstrated by Obama’s leadership contrasts markedly with the inconsistency and policy somersaults of the Buhari administration, even as the Nigerian economy continues to tailspin into a free fall, amid falling oil prices.
Asking Nigerians to be patient, Gbajiabiamila reiterated that, “change is an organic thing and cannot be achieved overnight.” From a sober outlook, this seems a meek and sincere expression of incapacitation. But a mea culpa posture is not enough. After 16 years of PDP misrule, the APC came to power amidst expectation that the promised change would offer a new lease of life to the entire country in terms of innovative policies, growing the economy, and improving the welfare of the people. Nigerian needs a pro-active, national development agenda; one that integrates and percolates all areas of national life.
A disgusted, disenchanted citizenry yearned for a change, the APC promised it, and the people gave the party the mandate on the civilized platform of free elections. But one year on, after March 28, the APC has failed to deliver change. Contrary to popular expectations, the APC is not doing things differently, and has not governed in accordance with the letters and spirit of progressive politics which, in the ordinary meaning of the term, stands for and promotes political, economic and social reforms in favor of an open government and an increasingly equitable society.
The 1999 constitution in Section 22 states unequivocally that: “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” The welfare of the people is assured when they are empowered to live a productive and decent life. There is no better means to achieve this than to provide a steady supply of fuel and electricity. Buhari’s government has failed to do this quickly and decisively, and without regular and fairly priced petrol and power supply, many of Nigeria’s economic and social problems will not be substantially solved.
In respect of security, it is clear that the national apparatus, as currently constituted, is incapable of meeting its constitutional obligation. Buhari should commission a thorough assessment of the present state of the security system, its expected role, now and in the future, and the requirements to fulfil these roles efficiently and effectively. Riding on the crest of popular acknowledgement of his integrity, Buhari has failed to provide moral leadership to the nation. The presidency has been described as not merely an administrative office, but pre-eminently the place of moral leadership. The sine qua non requirement of this is that the President, as leader, must know the way, show the way and go the way.
The “way” meaning what is right and best not for his tribe, party or religion, but for this plural nation that has entrusted him with power. Having run the affairs of this country once, the President is expected to understand Nigeria’s complexities as well as the basic needs to get the nation back on track. In his acceptance speech, Buhari made many politically correct statements that politicians utter to win the hearts of the populace. He said: “There shall no longer be a ruling party again; APC will be a governing party… that faithfully serves you”.
He hinted on his belief in the supremacy of the party, on the need for party unity and the leadership of a political party to work in concert, for politicians to derive their relevance from their community; he pledged “myself and my government to the rule of law, in which none shall be above the law, that they are subject to its dictates and none shall be so below it that they are not availed of its protection.” Nigerians are still waiting to see their leader walk his talk.
