Mr President, Do Not Be Deceived
FOLLOWERS of political history of Nigeria would rarely be taken aback by the quantum of euphoria and excitement attending the activities of the 2015 general election. As it is customary with our people, the attitude which a Yoruba adage aptly described as “ abandoning the old wife because of a new wife” came to fore during the period. It was as if there were new qualities in Mohammadu Buhari, which were not apparent when we rejected his bid to become the President of Nigeria on three previous occasions. The questions are: Did we just discover that Buhari is an epitome of honesty and integrity as we are peddling around at the moment or did he acquire these traits between his last failed bid in 2011 and 2015 when he was finally elected? If we knew him to be the redeemer, why did we reject him three times before considering him fit for the presidential assignment?
The Buhari fever that greeted the national election was raised to such a ridiculous high stake that the man, in an interview granted at the Chatham House in London confessed that he might be unable to realize the enormous demands of the people. Interestingly, the unreasonable sentimental expectation of what Buhari would do in office transcends diversity in demographic statistics. The conclusion here, is that, it seemed Nigerians were uniting to get rid of a perceived common enemy rather than sharing love for the purposefulness of a new helmsman.
Therefore, Mr. President, a man tendered and schooled by age and exposure is expected to read the psychological compass of the society with the realization that the typical Nigerian is like a thorny tree on which a man cannot lean for strength and support. In the light of this, the President should immediately settle down to his assignment realizing that “ a good government does not necessarily give to people what they want but what is good for them”.
There is no doubt that the situation of Nigeria today is strikingly appalling and very urgent action is required to repair the extensive damage done to the system by all governments since her independence in 1960. However, equally true is the fact that the citizens are not psychologically and mentally prepared for the revolution that is required to obtain a sane and orderly society. Therefore, any leader that would leave an enduring legacy for the nation must make a quick choice between good but unpopular and popular but bad policies. For a septuagenarian president, the former should be the choice so that at the end of it all, he would snore comfortably in the vault where he would be finally laid after his expiration from the world.
The precipitative actions on corruption, as it had been in the past 100 days, can only achieve transient results because of its very deep incursion into the bone marrow of our nation. Therefore, the job of catching and dealing with the plunderers of our resources could be routinely handled by the organs of government saddled with the responsibility while the office of the President plays the role of a watchman. It is obvious that the current brouhaha about corruption and the big stick being displayed in the public will only drive the perpetrators into protective cocoons where they would surface with a vengeance in future. One Akinwale Ogunkua on Facebook likened the current action against corruption to keeping the grass in your lawn very low when you know it will eventually grow back. Moreover, it’s negative impact could also ruin the economy as most investors coming to Nigeria would be unwilling to partake in the business of a politically overheated system.
The situation in Nigeria today requires prompt and decisive actions on all fronts. Granted that democracy must be allowed to prevail, yet, it is becoming increasingly obvious that there is need for checks and balances, which only the societal leadership can provide through proper reorientation of the masses of our people. In Nigeria today, impunity reigns supreme to the extent that citizens have become out rightly irresponsible and rudderless. Agents of government who are employed as gatekeepers of our nation’s resources have turned out to be the plunderers of the commonwealth. There are shameless stories of thieving and robberies of national wealth that would go into Guinness book and also qualify the perpetrators of such scandalous activity for a permanent place in a Neuropsychiatric facility.
Politics have become so lucrative that a man living in seeming penury could own more than half a dozen houses within four years of winning an elective position without anyone probing the sources of the ill-gotten wealth. Moreover, the psyche of the leadership has degenerated to such a level that some of them could no longer differentiate between right and wrong. Sometimes, laws are enacted by the leadership to justify the illegitimate acquisition of wealth. An example is the sharing of oil well to the high and mighty in the society and also, the selling of government owned properties to themselves at ridiculously low prices.
It is not uncommon today to see Chinese and Indians repairing and constructing roads in all parts of Nigeria with nobody asking questions about the role of the Nigerian Society of Engineers in the building of our national infrastructures. What becomes of the trillions of dollars spent to produce Engineering graduates in our Universities and Research institutions when we cannot manufacture a pin from raw material to the final product? Upon all these, the people have become so mentally dented and psychologically subdued that they would rather eat the crumbs dropping from the table of the thieving leaders than protest. The citizens are not better in their societal conduct as everybody has become so irresponsible that crazy tendencies have become institutionalized.
The recent protest by the Nigerian Labour Congress to demand for capital punishment for corrupt officials is an indication of our collective stupidity. After all, what constitutes corruption is a matter of definition. It is obvious that membership of NLC are responsible for the largest chunk of problems on corruption. An Igbo proverb says, “ It is the rat within the home that tells the one outside that there is food in the house”. How will public office holders steal if the Civil Servants did not show them the hole in the safe where monies are kept? There is hardly anyone working in the Ministries and their adjoining parastatals that are not members of the NLC. The consequence of this is that the placard carrying NLC is demanding for capital punishment against itself.
Civil servants have become “ Evil Servants” who join multinationals and local contractors to unleash continuous poverty on the country with disgusting recklessness and unprecedented impunity. Infrastructures are in comatose because those assigned to keep them working and safe have refused to discharge their duties. Recently, while responding to questions on the “magic”performed by him to make electricity stable, the president explained he only read the riot act to the providers. According to reports, the President gave them the option to either deliver electricity on the doorsteps of the people or refund the monies collected. With what one would describe as “ordinary word of mouth”, the electricity situation improved to such level that Nigeria has not witnessed in the last half a century. The inference from this is that the energy is available but some individuals are deliberately hoarding them. If the actions of these saboteurs are not regarded as treasonable, I wonder the classification that the government would give to such damning act. A country that is endowed with one of the largest gas reserves in the world barely has gas to run its turbines. Vandalism has become a lucrative business that goes-on on daily basis without being nipped in the bud.
President Buhari must help this nation by providing an enduring legacy that will make every Nigerian raise his head high amongst the citizens of the world. At seventy-two, there is no doubt that the president does not enjoy the advantage of age but he is better placed to deliver a big blow to ineptitude, lack of nationalism, corruption and other vices that have made our country the laughing stock of other countries because, he has nothing to lose in the process. Even small countries peck on the flesh of Nigeria because of the realization that she is uncoordinated and therefore hapless in many situations that demand prompt and decisive actions. The starting point for any government that would do well is a redefinition of our national goals and complete reorientation of our people. The current laizze- faire attitude that is breeding highly irresponsible citizenry must be curbed without further delay through a programme that would unite our thoughts and sentiment to our nation without losing the essence of democratic tenets and values. Nelson Mandela did just that within a spate of four years in South Africa while Mahatma Ghandi who cut his wisdom teeth in the same South Africa redirected the focus of the people of India through his truth and ahimsa campaign. These leaders and many others who at the pleasure of the Almighty God were endowed to humanity battled against all odds to leave an everlasting legacy in our world. Who knows, President Muhammadu Buhari may just be another messiah but that is if he approaches his God given assignment with noble intention.
Four years are indeed a short time, which should not be wasted in chasing a ship that has left the shores. Corruption is bad and it is endemic in our nation but for a nation whose people are enmeshed and soaked in the ocean of misdeed, misdemeanor and impropriety, time should be devoted to reorientation of the people and restructuring those evil characteristics that make corruptive tendencies lucrative. Here again, a Yoruba adage says, “It is the child you do not build, that will sell the house built by you”. It has become more exigent to “rebuild” the masses of our people for a lasting and effective nation and people. We are already stretching our luck too thin.
• Professor Rasheed Kola Ojikutu is of Faculty of Business Administration,
University of Lagos.
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1 Comments
I totally agree with you prof. but you don’t throw away your dirty clothes, simply because they are dirty and get new ones. you just have to clean them first. so let the fight against corruption go on along side reorientation. because deterrence is a vital tool.
We will review and take appropriate action.