Buhari must eschew religious, ethnic sentiments to succeed

Remarks on 2015 election
That the elections were conducted peacefully and successfully is the making of God because the polity was already heated and there was fear that violence could trail the exercise. But we thank God on the way it turned out to be.
 
One cannot but mention the fatherly roles played by the out-going President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and other statesmen like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, General Abdusalami Abubakar, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
 
Their efforts and commitment to the stability of the country is what we are enjoying otherwise we would be saying a different thing in Nigeria today.
 
The election taught us to be flexible because nothing is gold-casted. Today, I have learnt that Nigerians have a voice. The election has shown that whoever misbehaves in office would be kicked out through the ballot box.
   
Circumstances that led to the change
We should look at ourselves as Nigerians and not from religious or ethnic perspectives. Religion and ethnicity are the cause of most of the problems we have today. The second problem was lack of discipline that led to corruption. That was why Nigerians got up and said President Jonathan has done his best and that it was time to move and try somebody else.
 
It is an open fact that once the welfare of the Nigerian majority is not guaranteed, there will be problem. If they are deprived of their social welfare then it is high time to kick out whoever is in power. Nigerians are now so politically sophisticated that despite the inducement they voted according to their conscience.
 
Slow judicial process in the country
Slow judicial process is not peculiar to Nigeria alone; cases are like that all over the world. But there are cases that should be fast-tracked. And that is up to the President and the judicial team to have a way of not having some cases staying for too long before adjudication. There should be duration for cases.
From the antecedents of the Vice President-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, he is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), a seasoned administrator, he surely knows what to be done in the administration of justice.
 
Challenges Buhari may likely face
First and foremost, the incoming President will need all Nigerians’ support to succeed. It is God and not Buhari that can solve the problems plaguing the country. Therefore, we should all come together the way we did during the elections to assist him in the onerous task of nation building.
   
We should not expect miracle overnight. People should not make Buhari’s work more difficult by expecting instant miracle from him.
 
I believe that discipline must be maintained because lack of it breeds corruption. And corruption has eaten deep into our fabric and we just have to fight it together as one.
 
Secondly, we have to look into the challenges of power sector because without constant supply of electricity, nothing can work. So much money has been spent on electricity, yet nothing positive has happened. How can we manufacture without power? That is why manufacturing is more expensive here than anywhere in the world.
 
There are no infrastructures on ground. No good roads and our ports are alarmingly porous. So, at what point can we begin to say we want to produce anything that the masses would gain from.
   
Expectations from the new administration
We are yet to see what the incoming government has in stock for us and how the people, especially the opposition would accept it. That is why I said we should organize and harmonize ourselves to assist the incoming administration to be effective.
 
And as I said earlier, it is about discipline. With discipline, you will realize that Nigerians are easy people to lead. For me, it is a collective responsibility and people should give God-fearing advice.
   
Buhari’s cabinet
The fact is that the presidential system is expensive but the coming cabinet should be trimmed to save cost. Only capable hands should be appointed to make things work. We need competent hands on board to carry it out, not the people that would see the incoming administration as business as usual.
   
Fuel crisis
To me the lingering fuel crisis does not make sense. It is as a result of selfish interest. Why should we be producing oil, taking the same oil outside to be refined, and bringing it back to the country and we then paying subsidy on it? It doesn’t add up. Nigeria should look elsewhere beyond oil. Our country is blessed with a lot of resources. But what do we do about that? Everybody just concentrates on oil.