Stop the buck-passing for failures – Nigerian Pilot

It is high time the President Muhammadu Buhari-led
All Progressives Congress, APC, administration
took governance seriously and begin to deliver on
its promises and justify the mandate given to him by
Nigerians as President and Commander-in-chief of the
Armed Forces. His administration should stop lamenting
about the current economic situation in the country and begin
to think out of the box how to fix it. They should be prepared
to serve the people now with more focus on their campaign
promises in line with the APC manifestoes.
Why this is compelling is not farfetched: This present
government appears unserious and has lost its bearing on
how to advance the political and economic fortunes of the
country, no matter how severe or bad it met it. Government,
as often said, is a continuum, and it is expected that
whichever political party or group of persons that finds
itself or themselves in such vantage position to govern
the people should have begun preparation on time, right
from the moment it set out as a political group, analysing
manifestos, good economic, social and political policies and
programmes up to the time personalities that will drive
such agenda, if the party eventually wins, are found. This
is completely missing in the Buhari and APC government at
the centre.
Governance is not just about the number of corrupt people
that are thrown into jail or the quantum of amount that is
recovered, and the alleged culprits, especially those from
opposition political parties, that are publicly declared in the
manner this administration is poised. Good governance is
also opposed to increase in petroleum products prices and
electricity tariffs that has further impoverished those the
administration tends to serve.
Time without number, Nigerians have asked if this
administration really understands what governance is all
about, even in its simplest language and terms. This is so
now that Nigeria’s economy has finally snowballed into
recession.
In fact, is it not time a solid economic team made up of
tested experts are put together? Is it also not time flexible
economic and social policies that are progressive are put in
place? Nigerians expect to see forex policies that are flexible.
The troubled Naira should be allowed to play its part in the
market according to the dictates of demand and supply.
Experts have advised that one way to get out of the economic
woods if this government must listen and listen now, is to
engage the new group of militants now blowing up pipelines
in the Niger Delta in dialogue so that at least government can
achieve the 2016 budget benchmark of 2.2mbpd.
As we know, good governance in a democracy can only be
achieved if it is laced on the rule of law; this we don’t see in
this government because it is too boastful and lacks modesty
in its public pronouncements, especially in recent comments
like crushing group of agitators akin to IPOB, Boko Haram
and very recent, the Niger Delta Avengers. Good governance
as it is known in comity of democratic nations is all about
constructive dialogue. It is also not about passing blames for
failures of past governments; it is about looking into the future
and making reasonable meaning out of the present realities
and turning it into opportunities and strength for the country
and its teeming masses.
Interestingly, it is unarguable that when former head of
state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, took over government
in 1998, the price of oil was US$16-US$17 per barrel; it fell
to US$12.8 by October of that year. The same administration
left US$3.9 billion in the foreign reserve for the Obasanjo
administration in 1999.
Former President Obasanjo grew the reserve to over US$40
billion in 2007 from where the late President Musa Yar’adua
raised it to about US$60 and the immediate past government
left about US$40 billion with huge debts, which are not
unusual in any administration.
Truly speaking, no administration within its constitutional
limits of four or eight years can transform the country
to an Eldorado; developments come bit by bit, from one
government to another until reasonable milestones that have
far reaching and positive effects on the people are achieved.
So coming against this setting, we urge President Buhari and
his team not to show signs of helplessness just one year in
a four-year tenure. He should stop blaming his predecessors
and face the challenges on ground; after all he promised to
turn the economy around, fight Boko haram, corruption and
many more assurances that endeared him and his party to the
people. He should stop lamenting because Nigerians are not
interested.
The masses only want to see signs that the economy is
picking and not weeping. He should wake up and face the
truth of the moment – fix Nigeria. Most heads of state and
past presidents met worse economies than he met yet they
contributed their quota, which should be uppermost in his
mind now and not this intolerable howling.