“He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has arrived” Chinese proverb.
During Nigeria’s 2015 election which President Muhammad Buhari won and became the president of Nigeria, the massive votes he got from his supporters were in anticipation that he being on the helm of affairs will change how Nigeria was governed as perceived by many to be bedridden by corruption, nepotism and insincere fight against insurgents. To many Buhari was the messiah that will save them from their problems but what many didn’t took into account was the party that sponsored him and what forces brought the APC party bulwark together and gave it the chance of winning the election against the incumbent.
Every well-meaning Nigerian was optimistic that President Muhammadu Buhari at the start of his tenure will take Nigeria to the dream land, insurgency and ethno-religious tension would all be tackled, considering his track record and integrity when he was in the army. It took Buhari almost six months to propose a cabinet for which he asked for patience from Nigerians as to why it took that long, his justification was he is refining the best hands to take mantle of ministries, only after, it appeared that it was the same old brigade elements that were nominated as ministers and as a result itdegraded a lot of confidence from Nigerians in the government, as some media outlets reported it as “putting round pegs in a square hole”.
Moreover, what the present administration lacks is not accommodating professionals/ technocrats to take helm of various activities of the government, with their too much reliant on goodwill they did some blunders, Examples are: the treasury single account (TSA) and the sacking of university vice chancellors which shows a clear indication of lack of experience in dealing with such matters, where, a well experienced administrator would have calculated the ramifications. It hasn’t been clear yet, but signs are showing that the mindset of this administration is to rubbish whatever the former PDP administration did either good or bad policies, with no articulate solution to what to do next after ditching the former status quo, an example to reckon with is the bickering oil scarcity that has not been experienced for years in the present extent.
Hopes where that Buhari will nurse a fragile Nigeria into a nationalistic and strong nation devoid of the Biafra secessionist, Boko Haram, Militants of the Niger Delta and ethnic tensions to a nation of law and order, but to our great dismay a lot of atrocities happened under the present administration ranging from the avoidable Zaria Shia massacre, Agatu Fulani clash, and the recent Enugu attacks by the Fulani herdsmen. With all these happening some Nigerians are in doubt as to whether Buhari possesses the leadership qualities Nigeria needs at this critical moment.
During the formation of the APC, four blocks of political interest made it strong and viable to go against the ruling PDP, they were: CPC, ACN, ANPP, and new PDP. These political parties have different interest at heart but what unite them was the eagerness to form a viable political party capable of challenging the PDP nation-wide, and after the General election which the APC won, political appointment where distributed to please the various interest blocks that form the APC especially if one considers the arrangement of the president, the kitchen cabinet and his ministers down to the national assembly. For PDP to be branded a corrupt party and the nemesis to Nigeria’s problem seems fictitious and delusive considering how most of the APC members were bed fellows to those in the PDP in looting Nigeria’s wealth. A right thinking fellow knows that Nigeria’s problem is systematic and the best way to get rid of it is to plug the bad holes allowing such atrocities. One might say that from the way the president is bluntly blaming the PDP, the APC is on a mission to obliterate PDP or to settle a personal score. It is known that some of the politicians that joined the APC were did not based on the interest of the nation rather it was to settle personal grievances and to satisfy their political appetite.
A saying goes as” it is not the wedding ceremony that is hard but the union afterwards” with the embattled senate president standing trail at the code of conduct tribunal CCT, it is a known fact that the APC house is not in order and the anti-corruption fight of the ruling party seems a child play and vindictiveness to satisfy their thirst. Former activists like Shehu Sani and Dino Melaye that had a semblance of justice above all have now keep quiet to the administration’s flouting of court orders and are solidly behind Saraki on his present trail at the CCT, be it witch hunt or what so ever justice should not be denied at all instance. Dino Melaye even boasted of pledging loyally to Saraki at all instance.
“Narcissists are quick to point out the flaws of other people. They also try to blame others for what they do” source: not known. Nigeria after amalgamation was made up of three autonomous regions with veto powers reporting to the central government in Lagos, after that governance has evolved to what we have now as a nation with 36 federating units, meaning that power is delegated to this federating units and each federating unit is expected to be viable for the economic and welfare of its’ citizens. I believe that providing incentives to make each federating unit viable is what is best for the nation at large contrary to what is practiced now of monthly ritual of federal allocation. The present administration has bailed state governments twice in one year, the first which provided soft loans to various states to clear their backlog of salaries and the second being the moratorium of not to pay any debt for the month of march, one would be skeptical if the main source of our revenue which is oil continue to crash in price, will the federal government keep bailing out states? I believe the best solution to the lingering low oil prices is for the various state governments to be creative and come up with a way to survive this economic hardship and the federal government on the other hand should formulate policies that will reduce dependence on oil and encourage individual development of states across the nation.
Succinctly, to achieve good governance Nigeria is too fragile to adopt the communist way or any revolution by the barrel of the gun considering our ethic-religious animosities, yet, we can achieve a better nation through democratic processes, good authorities together and people oriented policies. More so appointments and developmental opportunities should be given based on merit not affiliation to region or political influence. We need a leader ready to forgive all and be mentally equipped to take the nation to our dream land also, parallel imposition of respect for law and order and promoting societal pluralism. When there is too much animosity in the polity then nothing gets done, we can learn from the civil war that for things to work every side of the divide agreed to come together for the betterment of Nigeria. Nelson Mandela stood against his people and party when their yearnings was political and racial turmoil. As a great leader he fostered a new South Africa that is still flourishing in the face of the world through love, forgiveness and peaceful co-existence.
Prosperity for Nigeria!
Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Thebreakingtimes
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