Yet another sad news with the reported massacre of
over 20 innocent students at the Federal Polytechnic Mubi in Adamawa
State. These are indeed troubling times for Nigeria. We have not trod
this path before. There is a palpable sense of anxiety, if not fear over
where the country is heading. Terrorism, kidnappings, armed robbery,
ritual killings and assassinations are now common place, with no signs
of abating. Businesses in the north have almost ground to a halt because
of the incessant bombings. Agitations by tribal groups to go it alone,
that were once quiet mutterings are now getting louder and bolder. Cases
of tribal and religious intolerance are on the increase as Nigerians
are beginning for the first time to question openly the basis of our
federalism. States are at loggerheads on the fairness of the current
revenue sharing formula as the debate rages on how the nation’s wealth
is shared. Cracks are appearing in the bond that once held us together
as a nation. Things seem to be falling apart and the centre is
struggling to hold.
Continue reading after the cut...
The president of the Senate, David Mark, captured
the mood of the nation, in his summation of the dire state of the nation
in his welcome address to his colleagues, from their summer recess. The
message was honest, it was blunt, it was timely and needed to be said
from the high echelons of power.
Paradoxically, the emergence of Boko Haram seems to
have awakened northern leaders from their slumber. For decades, this
elite group of individuals paid little attention to the developmental
aspirations of their people. They were content for their people to
forage for crumbs falling from their table, whilst they lived
sumptuously from state revenue allocations and oil patronages. They
learnt nothing from the selfless leadership of their forebears, such as
Ahmadu Bello and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Apart from a few progressive
governors in the South, the story is the same; the story of greed, graft
and incompetence. Driving through Asaba, Delta State’s capital, it is
hard to believe that this state gets more than four times the revenue
allocation of Edo State where so much is happening in infrastructure
development.
At the root of all our current challenges are
corruption and incompetence of leadership. Although the President tells
us he is doing his best to fight corruption, the evidence does not
support this assertion. Although Nigeria is ranked as one of the most
corrupt countries in the world, and the issue of corruption dominates
our daily discourse, it is ironic that no politician or civil servant of
any note is serving time for this crime. This is the question the
President should be asking his Attorney-General and Minister for
Justice. All across the length and breadth of the country, the cry is
going out that we are tired of corruption, but the response from the
nation’s Attorney-General, who should be at the forefront of this fight,
is a deafening hush. Obviously, any serious fight against corruption
must begin with his replacement. He is clearly not part of the solution.
Sadly, most Nigerians believe that the President either lacks the metal
or the will to make the far-reaching changes required to tackle
corruption. Most agree that the fight against corruption in Nigeria
effectively ended when Nuhu Ribadu left the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission. Not many individuals in the world would have turned
down a $15m bribe from an ex-State Governor as he allegedly did, for
love of country. These are the kinds of individuals the President needs
in his cabinet to lead the shakeup of the entire justice system and the
fight against corruption.
The frustration Nigerians have with government is
borne more out of the lack of progress in the security, social and
economic well-being of citizens. There is a deficit of trust between the
government and the governed. The people do not trust the government
because they have not delivered in the past, nor punished those who have
stolen from the public purse. In the same vein the government is
nervous of all criticism, be it constructive, and sees critics as
enemies of the President. We are constantly being told by ministers that
Nigeria has one of the fastest growing economies in the world,
recording GDP growth of around seven per cent per annum. This may be so
on paper, but ask the man on the street what he thinks; ask him if he is
better off this year than five years ago or indeed last year and the
answer is most likely to be an emphatic No! The truth is that most
Nigerians are not seeing that change in their economic well-being that
is commensurate with a GDP growth of zero per cent let alone seven per
cent; unless of course you are one of the oil marketers that shared half
the country’s entire annual budget in subsidy claims, or one of the
Directors-General and permanent secretaries in the public sector, or one
of the retired generals and their cohorts who own the country. Sadly,
for the majority of Nigerians, the talk of a GDP growth of seven per
cent is simply hogwash.
Nigerians do not expect the President to be at the
trenches doing the work himself but we expect him to appoint the right
people to positions and hold them accountable when they fail. We expect
him to start making an example of corrupt and failing ministers by
publicly sacking them. The President did not need any other evidence to
tell him, for instance, that his minister for sport was failing when he
visited the National Stadium in Abuja, but instead of holding the
minister to account for incompetence, he appointed yet another
commission, led by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to investigate the matter.
This poor woman must feel the weight of government on her shoulders. She
is called in everywhere and is fast becoming Jonathan’s abracadabra.
Ironically, the President needs many more of her and the likes of the
Agriculture Minister, Akinwumi Adesina, in the cabinet. One is convinced
that a critical mass of the likes of these individuals in the cabinet
will transform Nigeria in just one term of government.
It appears at last that we have a tough
Inspector-General of Police who knows where he wants to take the Nigeria
Police. We urge the President to implement without further delay the
Parry Osayande report on the reorganisation of the Nigeria Police,
including the abolition of the Police Commission. The President must not
place the interest of powerful individuals, who obviously have a vested
interest in the status quo, before the interest of the nation.
These are indeed challenging times for Nigeria. At
periods like this a nation needs a strong leader that is plugged into
the mood of the nation. A leader that will deliver on the root causes of
our current discord – a leader that will deliver on the nation’s
current challenges of corruption and lack of opportunity. The President
to his credit has started delivering on power for the first time in our
history. He has allowed democracy to flourish by allowing free
elections. He has listened to protestations from Nigerians, not least
the recent debate on the introduction of the N5,000 note. For these
achievements he deserves our commendation. However, corruption continues
to undermine every effort to move the country forward. Surely, if this
is not addressed with the vigour and urgency it deserves, it will
eventually consume all of us, and who knows, even the oppressors
themselves may not be lucky to get out fast enough.
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