|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
There is a new campaign in town and I hope you are already falling into line with it. Yes, you guessed right; the rebranded War Against Indiscipline.
Last week President Muhammadu Buhari launched a re-invented version of his War Against Indiscipline (WAI). I think there used to be an added phrase of corruption, making it WAI-C as I heard at the time. I was born to see so many uniformed people around as a child.
The WAI brigade and the MAN O’ War, remember them? They are back but with another name. Those days, they went around the neighbourhood probably looking for those exhibiting traits of indiscipline. People were flogged and trampled on by the jackboot of troops. Buying essential food items including rice, bread, and milk during the austerity measure at the time required people queuing properly or they were flogged into line. One wonders, was it a good thing of some sort?
Maybe, because Nigerians obeyed mostly in fear.
Information Minister Lai Mohammed took the liberty to answer some questions from journalists who sought to know if the new campaign was the same old story. He replied that this time there would be no flogging or use of force. So fear not. It would just be mild persuasion to your conscience and your abilities.
Come to think of it, can they actually still flog people into doing the needful in the 21st Century? I doubt that. I am unsure resurfaced videos of WAI brigade flogging erring youth into line will make a good sell for the country. If it ever happens, I think I would love to point out drivers who always love to break the ranks whenever there is a little traffic on the road, they should get the short end of the stick.
A key question for me is why the Buhari administration bothered to change the name of the campaign from WAI to ‘Change Begins with Me”?
Sounds like every government has to bring its own re-branding programme, oh sorry this is about re-orientation.
At the launch of the rebranded campaign on Thursday, the president told Nigerians to first of all be accountable before they think of holding the government accountable.
“Our citizens must realise that the change they want to see begins with them and that personal and social reforms are not theoretic exercise. If you have not seen the change in you, you cannot see it in others or even the larger society. In other words, before you ask ‘where is the change they promised us’, you must first ask how far have I changed my ways; ‘what have I done to be part of the change for the greater good of society?” the president lectured.
This part of the president’s speech generated some heated debates on social media. Some argued that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had started another ploy to cook up a defence in case the change mantra fails. Naija! I love my people; we just never take anything we are told to the bank. We actually think of the worst first, then the good.
What do you expect when those we vote into office give us sugar-coated lines that we later realise are not bankable.
Come to think of it, there have been different efforts by different administrations to re-orientate Nigerians under all sorts of names.
After the Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon’s WAI, there came the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s MAMSER (Mass Mobilisation for Social Justice, Self-Reliance, and Economic Recovery). Not to be outdone, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government brought up the Heart of Africa campaign and the Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan regime there was rebranding Nigeria championed by the late Dora Akunyili. She had tagged it ‘Good People, Great Nation’ in a bid to change the perception of the country and its people.
I will not bore you with all the holes picked in the various campaigns but one thing was evident, whatever they preached, they always came first. I am not sure we need to fall under a particular umbrella name to do things right or change our ideology. The name does not matter, what does is that you are trying to restore sanity in the land.
On the other side of things, I watched the short clips that were shown at the event which held at the banquet hall of the Presidential Villa.
Some thought it was a tad one-sided. Guests around me discussed their disappointments. The videos captured all forms of ills in the Nigerian society except acts of terrorism like joining the Boko Haram and herdsmen attack on farmers. Curious right? I thought so too and decided to pen it down when a lady and gentleman beside me thought out loud.
Some other journalists and I were excited about the part of buying Nigeria-made textiles except that one of the ladies in the advertisement was spotting a Brazilian hair. While we picked out that sour point, the message still stuck. Forget what is written on the bus and get in. But most importantly, the change should start from the top, then flow all the way down. With the launch of this new campaign, now more than ever the APC government that came into power promising change should lead by exemplifying the change they promised.
For the people, the message is clear. We do not want to be flogged into line. In fact, we would fight back but we all need to change somehow. In your little corner do the good you can, be a change agent (not the APC change). Let us keep our environs clean, be law abiding, pay our taxes, keep away from things that compromise our integrity, be orderly and respectful.
Wait! Did I just preach change? You see, it cannot be that difficult to be a believer for once. Let us forget the change mantra and just accept that the whole country is actually in need of some change or shift or whatever name you choose to live with.
On the lighter side of things, President Jonathan decided to attend the National Council of State meeting held at the Villa last week. I know you are already asking and so? Nobody expected him to show up, period. Especially not with all the blame game going on.
For those who don’t know, the national council of states is an advisory body set up under section 153 of the1999 Constitution to advise sitting presidents on various issues. The body comprises the president, who chairs the meeting, the vice president, all former presidents and heads of government, former chief justices and sitting governors.
Jonathan is currently entangled in a web of allegations relating to corruption during his tenure in office. To put it bluntly, he’s being “scapegoated” by the Buhari administration for all that is wrong with the current government from record high unemployment and inflation to the ongoing economic recession. Just name the current ill in the land and he’s the cause. So picture him sitting in the same room with some former leaders (Obasanjo was absent) and they are discussing the current state of the economy and President Buhari points to him and say “he is the one that put us here”. Then they all start to argue about what he did or didn’t do.
Anyway, so it was time for the arrival and as is the norm, all the former presidents or heads of state attending the meeting would first head to the red carpet where the President’s office is and then they would all proceed to join the governors, ex-chief justices, and others.
On that day, President Buhari-led Jonathan and other ex-leaders, Abdulsalam Abubakar and Ernest Shonekan to the meeting. Once they got into the council chambers, in a reflex move the cameramen and photographers turned and focused their lenses exclusively on Jonathan, leaving Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, governors, and other officials in attendance to look on for about a minute.
The media didn’t expect Jonathan would turn up so his presence was surprising. That was why he stole the thunder on the day.
Just the day before, journalists stood along the corridors of power, literally, like we mostly do, arguing whether or not Jonathan would make bold to attend the meeting. From all indications, it looked unlikely that he would be in attendance. How wrong we were. Dressed in his trademark sombre coloured Etibo attire and a fedora hat, he showed up. Make no mistakes, Buhari’s body language did not give off that any love was lost between them.
After the meeting, President Buhari headed to his office talking with his National Security Adviser, while Jonathan and the other former leaders waited to get into their cars. In the past, we were used the seeing the President (not Buhari) wait with his guests (the former leaders) until the last one leaves. Whatever the grouse, I accept that they have to find a meeting point to agree, if not for anything but for their experience that should help the country.
I hope you have purchased your ram or whatever you can afford for the Sallah? I know the times are hard, lots of markets tell us the whole story. Happy Sallah in advance.
Keep being the change!
Elizabeth Archibong
