By Zik Gbemre

Without a doubt, the Nigerian economy in its present state is quite pathetic, almost coming to ruins, especially with the fallen oil price, grossly depleted foreign and domestic reserve and the obvious harsh economic life daily faced by Nigerians, as many are denied access to even the basic of social amenities. In as much as some may disagree with us, the undeniable fact is that we are where we are today, mostly as a result of the actions and inactions of the 16 years PDP-led government, particularly as a result of the ‘unrestrained looting’ in the immediate past government of Goodluck Jonathan when Nigeria’s revenue from high oil price was at its best. Rather than save for the ‘rainy day,’ which we are currently in, the immediate past government preferred to satisfy their “unquenchable greed” as practically everyone, both within and outside the public sector at the Federal and State levels, were given the free hand to misappropriate the nation’s wealth for their private use. The mind boggling revelations of the sort of corruption that thrived in the immediate past government are obvious justification for this fact.

In our own humble opinion, and truth be told, we believe President Muhammadu Buhari is doing his best for this country; because many years of ‘decay’ will take also many years to repair or fix. Though, we believe there are still adjustments that need to be made in his cabinet for things to really change for good. We will get back to this later. However, it is not President Buhari’s fault that the global oil price has drastically dropped and the nation’s reserves are in the red. These were issues that he met on ground and most of which he does not have the power to turn around, particularly the dwindling oil price, which fortunately, is beginning to show signs of improving. All the President has been doing, which we applaud him, is to try to ‘manage the situation’ until the country’s economy is out of the woods.

We also know that, like everything in life; “things usually get worse before they get better.” There is always light at the end of every dark tunnel. That is why every developed nation that we see across the globe today, were once or several times had experienced ‘real tough times’, which they took the necessary risks, paid the necessary price before they could get to where they are presently. It is this reality check that makes us believe that no matter the tough and difficult times we are experiencing as a nation, we should be willing to pay the price and anticipate that things will get better. And we believe the present government under President Buhari has, within the time they came in, demonstrated that they are ready to take all the risks, make all the hard decisions (even when such decisions are not popular, and regardless of what people think), and pay the sacrifice required to get the country out of the woods. Life itself, is no bed of roses. The tougher times we go through, the stronger and better we will come out as a nation.

But what we find most appalling and rather not good in the interest of the country, is the obvious barrage of criticisms, often unconstructive, from different quarters. And also the obvious political and economic saboteurs that practically do not want the present government to succeed in fixing the nation’s problems.

While the now ruling Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari are trying their best like we said, to address the pile of deplorable legacy of socio-economic and political problems left behind by the now opposition camp of the PDP, the PDP camp themselves and their supporters, practically do not see anything good to say about the ruling government. With the likes of the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, and so many others that use every opportunity they get to rant and criticize the President Buhari administration; one begins to wonder what exactly their problem is with the present government. Though, Oliseh Metuh has somehow been quieted for some time now since he was charged to court to face allegations of gross corruptions, however, one wonders if those who criticize every action of the present government are doing so in the interest of the Nigerian entity or just for their self-centered interest of trying to project the PDP as the best thing that has ever happened to Nigerians. This is our thinking, especially when we consider the fact that most of these critics do not really proffer solutions that would help the government and the country in general to succeed.

It is rather unfortunate that, now that the PDP and its supporters are no longer at the Presidential level, they see nothing good coming out of the ruling President Buhari APC-led government. The PDP, through its national leaders, supporters and of course, those who must have been benefitting from the then Jonathan’s Presidency, have practically been taking frequent swipes and criticizing the Buhari administration for almost every action of the ruling party. The one that is predominant in recent weeks is the barrage of criticisms in the print and electronic media circle and national tabloids. The not-so-journalistic reviews and criticisms that have been dominating the media space, especially in the columns of some Journalists in popular newspapers, is beginning to make us wonder if they are being sponsored by those who do not want the Buhari-led vernment to succeed or they are just dishing out their opinions in the media space to reflect what they feel about the present state of the nation. The likes of Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Debo Adesina, Reuben Abati, Martins Oloja, are just a few names that have in the recent weeks and months, frequently had one thing or the other to say about the Buhari-led government for doing one thing or the other.

As a matter of fact, Nigerians have been inundated with several articles on national tabloids by these respected Journalists, which include Dr. Rueben Abati, who was the former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan. Though, some of these Journalists like Matins Oloja still believe that the President Buhari-led government can turn things around, which he expressed in his own words that “We want the President to succeed. He is the only hope at the moment. If President Buhari cannot fix Nigeria at this moment, we are doomed.” Others like Dan Agbese, are more intellectually and constructively critical of the Buhari-led government and expressing the ‘real issues’ behind most of the prevailing circumstances around the polity.

That being said, we believe that if those who criticize the present administration are doing so to protect and project the interest of the common masses and the country’s wellbeing, then one would have expected to also find ways they can join hands with the ruling government and proffer solutions to the many problems facing us as a people. And not to refuse to see anything good about the President Buhari government and all they have done since they came into Office in May 2015. The Nigerian Press should be seen to be polite and constructive in their reviews and analysis of the present Government, and by also promoting ‘sustainable national interest’ by giving all maximum and possible support to President Buhari, whom is known all over the world as a man of integrity. Funny enough, when Rueben Abati was in the Jonathan-led government, we do not remember seeing such barrage of criticisms from him and his colleagues of writers, especially when the then government was becoming loose and carefree in public spending. Reuben Abati and his colleagues should not now be seen as ‘prophets of doom.’ They should always give constructive criticisms and suggest ways to improve the Nigerian economy. This is how a critic should be.

When a clump of people refuse to admit their mistakes made while in government, and at the same time refuse to see anything good about the government that dethroned them from office, but rather choose to criticize their actions, then such a camp of people are best described as “political saboteurs” and enemies of general progress. That is how best we can describe all of those in the PDP camp that have been ridiculing and criticizing every of the actions/inactions of the present government under President Buhari.

We find it appalling that Nigerian political leaders are always in the habit of ‘running down’ their opponents/oppositions or perceived enemies in political circles just to score cheap political points and make themselves look good in the eyes of the public or seem relevant in the scheme of things. Even when they know that what they are doing or saying are heap of lies and cooked-up allegations, they do not care, as all that matters to them is to ‘satisfy their self-centered interests’ even if it is to the detriment of all and sundry. In as much as politics is a game of ‘interests’, it is expected that the overriding ‘interests’ at all times, should be that of improving the standard of life of the ordinary citizenry and not on issues that are uncalled for. No wonder one of the terms often used to describe the “Nigerian Politics” is that it is ‘dirty’, and this is hinged on the fact that a lot of times, Nigerian politicians are known to do the unimaginable just to get into public office and remain there for as long as they can. Regardless of who or what they perceive is in their way to attaining public office or actualize their own often self-centered agendas, Nigerian politicians will never hesitate to ‘cook-up’ unjustifiable accusations and say all manner of things to paint their opposition bad and make themselves look good in the eyes of the public.

For people to really appreciate what we are trying to say here, let us consider these facts and let us be reminded that, shortly after Buhari assumed office in May 2015, the popular saying then in the Nigerian public sector is that “the fear of Buhari is the beginning of wisdom,” as the knowledge of President Buhari being a well-principled leader whose intolerance to corruption and indiscipline is obvious, had made every dick and harry in government circles at the Federal and State levels to get their acts together to deliver their public service. In fact, the electricity supply in the country was fairly constant and the queues instantly disappeared from our petrol stations and the prices of petroleum products came down. But at the moment, it seems the Teflon is wearing off. And we can only attribute this to the many political and economic saboteurs within and outside government circles.

This unfortunate situation was also noted by President Buhari himself when he made a surprise admission at his interview with Al Jazeera, and admitted that there are saboteurs in his government. These people, he said, are not “100 percent loyal” to his administration. As emphasized by Dan Agbese in one of his articles, “Loyalty is very important to military men. Chief Obasanjo once told federal permanent secretaries he did not expect 99.9 per cent loyalty from them; he expected 100 loyalty. I suspect civilians have problems with that. Maybe it should not have come as such a surprise really. No government is ever free of those who serve it disloyally. A milder form of disloyalty is what we call eye-service, as in, pretend that you are serving oga when you observe that oga is watching you. Sabotage has been an ever clear and present danger in every administration. It is the axe at the root of every government. A careless move here or there and it goes to work, attacking the roots. Saboteurs are lucky because they have no names and no faces. You do not see them, but you see their evil handiwork. You just wish you could set EFCC after them.

“When the president talked of sabotage in his government in the face of the current daily grind and suffering at petrol stations and the compulsory burning of candles, it is easy for some of us to link it to the ‘unholy role of men’ in government with their business partners who have chopped all the money and given us darkness and empty petrol tankers. Not many of us are unaware that saboteurs are entrenched in the Power sector (NEPA) and the Petroleum industry (NNPC). They have been sabotaging the two organizations  for close to two generations now. The more money government spends on them, the less result we see. The last time anyone cared to talk about it, the country had spent some scary figure of $25 billion between 1999 and 2013 on power alone. Yet our Power sector (NEPA) wires and transformers are dead cold. We know of no country that has spent so much on power and reaped not even healthy peanuts. Nigeria is the only country in Africa, big or small, that is in permanent struggle with something as basic as generating and distributing enough power to its people. The curse of oil wealth?”

No doubt, these economic saboteurs, as we would like to call them, are indeed very smart to observe any ‘weakness’ or ‘loophole’ in the running of the present government where they can capitalize on to ‘spoil things’ to make the government look really bad and at the same time enrich their private pockets. The argument by many is that the Presidency has replaced the ‘old experienced hands’ with the new ‘inexperienced hands.’ However, while we believe there is need for the President to make some adjustments a reappraisal after its one year in office, we do not think this is the only problem that is responsible for some of the issues we see? There are those that have been in the Civil Service, for instance far and above their retirement age. Now if they do not leave, how will we try new hands and reduce the level of the unemployed? The crux of the matter is that many of those in government circles do not want to see or accept change, even when it has become evident. Many still prefer things to remain they way they are, especially when the “status quo” is often in the best interest of some selected few but to the detriment of many. As a matter of fact, we believe it is this set of people that are trying to make the government look bad by all means necessary.

Aside these groups of saboteurs, there are also those other ‘political saboteurs’ whose primary agenda is to see that Nigeria’s Unity is compromised. These include those instigating violence against the nation through the Boko Haram insurgency and that of the quest for a Biafran nation in the South East. At a time when Nigeria is facing harsh economic realities owing to depleting foreign revenue as a result of fallen oil price, and when our democratic dispensation is beginning to gain more footing and consolidation; it is really sad that some group of persons has decided to re-open old wounds and rock the boat already united toward one course, in the name of fighting for secession from the entity called Nigeria. At a time when all Nigerians should be preaching and practicing ‘unity’ so that we can, as a nation, surmount all the challenges besetting us, it is rather unfortunate that some people are more interested in using a ‘forgotten sad story’ of a civil war, to gain cheap popularity, attract undue international attention but all to the detriment of many. Without a doubt, it is usually very easy to instigate and start a war in any society, but the agonies, pains, human and material losses often left behind by such a war; are scars that usually take forever to heal. This is why we were seriously perturbed with the recent unpatriotic activities of the so called Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). That of the Boko Haram insurgency that has been with us for some years now, is being addressed gradually by the current Buhari government. Again, we do not expect any sane government to sit down and allow unscrupulous elements to compromise the unity of its people.

None of us expected the President to wave the magic wand and end this blight on our national pride but however, many like us expect that by this time, these lingering problems that have become the bane of our economic, industrial and social development to be seen to be beating a permanent retreat. Epileptic power and fuel shortage are, perhaps, the most visible, but ugly faces of corruption and impunity in the country. Yes, efforts are already being put in place to address these problems, but the issue of its sustainability becomes another question. But most important too, as noted by Dan Agbase, is for those political and economic saboteurs within the government to be shown the way out. But in order to permanently shut his critics up, President Buhari seriously needs to perform better than we are seeing. However, to fully actualize this, there is need for some adjustments to be made at the Presidential level. That is, the President Buhari should use the one-year in office appraisal and celebration time to overhaul his (Presidential) bureaucracy. That is, all affiliated offices called the Presidency.

Without a doubt, there is a sense in which we can claim that there exists a correlation between the quality of the Presidential bureaucracy and operational efficiency of the presidency. We mean the starting point of “dynamic capabilities” in any government is the quality of the men and women that assist the President in his peculiar office. And that is why even the Constitution provides for this in Section 171, which deals with “Presidential Appointments”. The following are principal actors in the special bureaucracy that should define the ‘colour’ of Presidential efficiency or deficiency: Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; Permanent Secretaries; and the Non-constitutional Offices in the Presidency which includes: Chief of Staff to the President (Created by President Obasanjo in 1999 as borrowed from the U.S Presidency); Principal Secretary to the President; Special Advisers/Special Assistants; etc, although there is a reference to advisers to be approved by the Senate to assist the President. Let the appointments of men and women in these positions be strictly based on their wealth of experience and proven integrity and loyalty, regardless and irrespective of their party affiliations, ethnicity and religious backgrounds.

We are convinced that President Buhari has ‘personal integrity’ and ‘capacity’ to the ‘change’ Nigerians so desire at this moment of our history. We know that the expectations were and are huge and even unrealistic, but they speak, not of foolishness on the part of the people, but of a cry of despair and frustration from the heart. They constitute a yearning for the man we verily believe has the capacity to turn the brown vegetation of our lost hope green again with renewed hope in the future of our country. No small burden thrust on a leader, surely. It is the ‘change agenda’ that we want to see in a visible road map taking us from point A to point B. Nothing and no one should be allowed to sabotage this important ‘social contract’. It was what moved millions of Nigerians to, for the first time in our political history, throw out the PDP-led government that had held us hostage to thievery, incompetence and arrogance. President Buhari needs no one to tell him that our hope as individuals and our future as a nation hang on his faithful and competent execution of the ‘social contract’. If there be saboteurs, as he rightly admitted and is actually obvious, the door should always be left open to match them out through it.

However, let no one be deceived that miracles will happen if the men and women President Buhari has chosen to do the job of fixing our nation’s broken walls are incapable. So, as the one year in office of the President approaches, there is need for President Buhari to do some introspection, and appraisal about the quality of the bureaucracy in the Presidency to really ascertain if the people he has picked before now actually have what it takes to deliver the ‘change agenda’ of his administration. And here is the thing as noted by Martins Oloja: “If you want a football club that can play like the Barcelona and Real Madrid, you should look for your Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo”.

Succinctly, all we can say to the Buhari Government is to perform more. That is the surest and only best way to shut the President’s critics up. This was what exactly President Barack Obama of USA did when he came into office as the first black man as USA President, despite the Republicans threats and maneuvers to frustrate his government. And today, the USA economy is better off than when Obama came in. In the same vein, there need for President Buhari to focus more attention in some vital areas of the Nigerian economy. This includes addressing the nation’s perennial epileptic power supply, adequate funding of the Joint Venture (JV) in the Oil and Gas sector, permanently addressing the issue with the supply of petroleum products in our filling stations, prompt passage and holistic execution/implementation of the 2016 Budget proposal, amongst other pressing Security needs and challenges facing the nation.

While future plans are made and executed to diversify the Nigerian economy for things to greatly improve sustainably, especially in the area of unemployment, however, special attention should equally be given and sustained in the Oil and Gas sector (which is still Nigeria’s mainstay), and JV funding. There is need for President Buhari to greatly improve on this, particularly in the area of Gas Development and Production. This is the surest and quickest way to redeem us from the present ‘economic hardship’ we are facing in the country. The Presidency just has to keep ‘servicing’ the Oil and Gas sector for things to ‘normalize.’ The funding of the JV has to be made a priority.

Conclusively, while there is need for the corruption fight to be sustained with a greater momentum, there is also need for President Buhari and his government to reveal to Nigerians how much has been recovered and for what purpose these recovered funds will be used for. The President should regularly inform Nigerians about the successes in its anti-corruption fight and the plans of the government.

As a matter of fact, with the prevailing, obviously uncomfortable and ‘trying times’ currently being faced by Nigerians, and in the need for the President Buhari government to carry-everyone along in its laudable plans to address these pressing concerns, we strongly believe there is an expedient need for Buhari, as President and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; to regularly have a State Of The Nation Briefings where the President would speak to Nigerians on various problems facing the nation and the plans being executed or put in place by the government to address them. This State Of The Nation Briefings, which is similar to that being done by USA Presidents, but in our own case, should be done as a National Broadcast, could be done by the President on a monthly, quarterly or half-yearly basis as the case may be, and as it pleases the President. But the importance of such a State Of The Nation Briefings cannot be overemphasized. In fact, such State Of The Nation Briefings will keep the Nigerian populace abreast with President Buhari administration’s plans, policies, progress being made with recorded achievements, as well as the challenges; concerning the various sectors like Electricity supply, Education, Fuel distribution ‘wahala’, unemployment, Security and the Economy in general. Without a doubt, this State Of The Nation Briefings will reduce a lot of tension, criticism, spurious speculations and all rumour-mongering.

 

 

Zik Gbemre, JP.

National Coordinator

Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)