It is almost one year since the All Progressives Congress (APC) unseated the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), bringing to an end a 16-year rule of the umbrella party, yet the country continues to grapple with inconsistent policies amid a fragile economy.
March 31st marked one year when President Muhammadu Buhari was announced as the winner of the 2015 Presidential elections. He has done 28 foreign trips since taking the oath of office and an unsigned appropriation bill. All these leave Nigerians wondering about the fulfillment of promises made, approximately one year ago.
I still remember with nostalgia the drama that had played out at the result collation centre, when a former minister had taken the stage in a bid to drive home his point of not agreeing with the results (you
know that story well enough). The streets were full with Nigerians carrying brooms and chanting ‘sai baba’, celebrating Buhari’s win.
Winning at the polls, Buhari emerged the model of perseverance. You see, he had contested for the highest seat in the land four times. The President, as you read this would be on his way back from the Nuclear Summit in Washington DC, his 28th trip to foreign lands since assuming office, May 29th last year.
After 11 months in office, the romance seems to be waning as Nigerians cry under the weight of a near economic collapse and other hard-biting challenges like fuel scarcity. The challenges are gradually taking the shape of a daunting hydra too fierce to fix, needing the much-talked about magic wand.
I think it is time to borrow a magic wand before things spiral out of control before the honeymoon is finally over. Nigerians are fast becoming impatient and I can’t blame them. A little breath of fresh
air via constant electricity and available gas for our gas would be great, or don’t you think so? Please borrow a wand that can make all these sufferings disappear (is that even possible in Naija? just try).
Speaking of magic wands, our minister of state for Petroleum, Ibe kachikwu last week got the short end of the stick for a ‘joke’ (that is what he called it) taken too far. Telling Nigerians that he did not have the magic wand to make the queues disappear was a tad too insensitive and this changing Nigeria would have none of that.
Coincidentally, his boss, the Minister of Petroleum (President Buhari) had at a time used almost the same phrase when he told Nigerians not to ‘expect him to perform miracles in fixing the country’s troubles.
Forgetting that for Nigerians, the honeymoon is almost over and everyone is eager to see the end of what has become like a merry go round or rat race (fuel today, longer queues tomorrow) in the oil sector, Kachikwu stirred that water and I bet he didn’t anticipate such a reaction from Nigerians.
Well, our public office holders must learn to borrow a sense of empathy when addressing public issues, do not fling words at Nigerians because you happen to be in a position to fix things (which you are still struggling to fix anyway). You too are a Nigerian and I am sure you had at one point in time cried out when situations took a turn for the worse in the country. I do not ask that you become a spin doctor with a magic wand, just fix the issues. Fix the issue of fuel scarcity, power supply and get us out of the darkness.
Speaking of spin doctors, have you noticed that now the Presidency takes its time to sell the reason behind each of the President’s foreign trips? They give details of what he is expected to do and with whom and what Nigeria stands to gain, all in a bid to defend his trips.
Press Statements announcing the President’s departure on a trip no longer reads, President Buhari to attend Nuclear Summit. It now contains details. Take this, for instance, “At plenary sessions of the summit which is dedicated to reinforcing international commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, President Buhari will insist that while Nigeria will continue to sustain that commitment, world powers must respect the right of other countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy for development purposes,” a paragraph lifted from the last release on the President’s trip to Washington DC.
They try to give us a clearer picture of why the President should personally be at that forum, they have even taken it a notch further.
I have noticed that after each trip these days an aide of the President writes an analysis of the benefits of the trips and tries to embellish what we already know. Funny enough, some Nigerians confessed they are not interested in reading those pieces because they feel it is written by government personnel trying to spin the wheel for their boss when all they (Nigerians) want is just to see a needed change.
I need to mention also that ministers are gradually becoming journalists and columnists too. They now take pages in newspapers trying to explain what they have done so far and the crux of a matter they seem to be handling (well sounds like they are not getting the much-needed publicity and would rather tell the stories themselves, but Honourable minister, please face your work and let us do ours).
And while we are still trading blames as to who is responsible for the lack of fuel and power, the National Assembly, and the Presidency are up at each other for the delay in the signing of the 2016 budget. As they usually say, once bitten twice shy, our President seems to have learnt his lesson from all that padding drama.
While in Washington, President Buhari announced that he would not append his signature on the budget until he has thoroughly scrutinised it (can you blame him?)
This is what he said: “Some bureaucrats removed what we put in the proposal and replaced it with what they wanted. I have to look at the bill that has been passed by the National Assembly, ministry by ministry, to be sure that what has been brought back for me to sign is in line with our original submission,” the President said.
Even as we realise that this will set us back about a month, we agree that the right thing has to be done and we pray that nothing escapes your eye.
On a lighter note, last week I visited one of the offices of the sale points of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company to purchase recharge units for my prepaid meter. There was no one at the sale point and after waiting for a while, a security personnel showed up to tell me that there was no light (power) and no fuel to power the generating set. I was angry but not surprised as it dawned on me that this was our present day reality. Who do I blame?
Elizabeth Archibong
