At a recent town hall meeting with stakeholders, the Minister of information and culture, Mr. Lai Muhammed, was quoted as saying that the change promised by the APC is already here with us!
Let me hasten to say that I completely disagree with that statement by Mr. Lai Muhammed. On the contrary, I make bold to say that the change promised by the ruling APC led PMB government is not yet here with us because the change is still half baked and at best in the ‘oven’! May be the change which Lai Muhammed was probably referring to as already here with us is the unfolding drama and allegations of “padding” and “insertions” rocking the House of Representatives which is coming on the heels of the allegations of corruption and forgery against the Senate leadership. And to think that most of these allegations are against top members of the ruling APC which is supposedly spearheading the change is indicative of and speaks volume about the change promised by the party which according to Lai Muhammed, is already here with us! Moreover, with the unfolding allegations of budget padding in the National assembly involving top members of the ruling party the pertinent question is whether this is the kind of change they promised – a continuation of business as usual prevalent under the previous dispensation – where party leaders continue to corruptly enrich themselves to the detriment of our common patrimony? If you juxtapose these allegations of corruption involving the senate and house of reps leadership involving members of the ruling APC with the lingering intra party crisis rocking the party and Lai Muhammed now call all these “change” then that must be a negative change that Nigerians did not bargain for when they voted the APC into power! For change to be meaningful, charity must begin at home by way of a thorough in house cleansing in order to purge the ruling party of corrupt elements who are presently holding the government and by extension the country hostage. Also, no meaningful change can take place when the ruling party is crisis ridden! In fact, the intra party crisis have continued to exact negative debilitating effect on good governance, thereby creating a major setback, obstacle and stumbling block to the change mantra/revolution, despite the good intentions of the Buhari government.
Unless and until the PMB government shifts the focus on the fight against corruption by starting in house with members of the ruling party through a reinvention process in order to get rid of the “bad eggs” and corrupt elements among them, we may not witness any meaningful and sustainable change under the ruling APC government, just as the fight against corruption which seems to be selective and focusing more on the opposition party, will continue to be a ruse!
Furthermore, it must be said that real change is not just all about war against corruption, as important as it is. A positive, meaningful and progressive change must be able to better the lives of the people, rather than making it worse than it met it. Any change that does not improve the lives of the people but rather make it worse is a travesty and, at best, a negative and retrogressive change! Therefore, for us to believe that the change we voted for is here with us, the socio economic conditions of the people must witness a turnaround for the better than what it was under the previous dispensation. Regrettably, that is not the case presently. Rather the socio economic conditions of the people are getting worse by the day under a government that promised change! Where is the change, with the current economic recession confronting the country which this government has continued, rightly or wrongly, to lay the blame on the previous government, rather than address the real fundamental economic issues squarely and frontally in order to move the country forward from the ignoble past towards the path of economic recovery, sustainable growth and development?
For now, with all the so called efforts of the PMB government to diversify and turnaround the economy, rather than improving, the economy is regressing judging by all economic growth and development indices, while the people are languishing under excruciating socio economic deprivations, including hunger, poverty, disease as well as severe infrastructural deficits and deficiencies, such as electricity, water and energy crisis, among many others. And yet a minister has the effrontery and audacity, which is tantamount to impunity, to say that the change Nigerians are yearning for is here with us! If the present debilitating socio economic condition of the country and the people is what Lai Muhammed is referring to as the change that is here with us, then he must either be economical with the truth or must be living in another planet, as the present situation in the country can best be described as a negative, backward retrogressive change!
Finally, reading through the address of the minister, Lai Muhammed, in one breath he said that “change is no instant coffee. It is a process” (agreed) and in another breath the minister paradoxically said that “in fact the change we promised is already here and it is manifesting all around us”! What a double speak! Lai Muhammed should be reminded that the era of propaganda and embellishments has gone with party electioneering campaign and the art of governance is a serious business anchored on facts and figures which the people can feel, see and attest to by way of improved living conditions. In conclusion, I’ll rather prefer Mr. Lai Muhammed to say that the process of change has begun and change is in the offing and not that the change is already here with us! The Nigerian people are still expecting the true, positive change promised by the APC government.
KAYODE OLUWA
OLUWA, former Secretary-General of the Nigerian Council of International Chamber of Commerce, wrote in from The Executive Business School, Lagos.
