“What
we need to be doing is not just changing who holds power, but changing
the way we conceive of power. There is the power we’re all familiar with
— power over. But there is another kind of power — power from within.”
(Starhawk, 1979)
Buhari has already won the psychological
war on corruption – the fear of repercussion, at least, is palpable.
Everybody is now scared of stealing and everyone is talking about the
war even when not asked. The Nigerian atmosphere is evidently charged
with the new spirit of the times. The battle of the minds was won
without firing a shot. The next and the main battle front is not only in
government offices, but in all strands of the Nigerian tapestry; in
banks, churches, mosques, schools, taxis, fuel stations, market stalls,
hospitals, the media, sports, security system and even the internet. The
only sector of our national life that seemed to be immune from the
corruption plague was the morgue—indeed, apart from a few instances were
corpses were kidnapped from the Abuja National Hospital, Nigerians
don’t steal corpses- every corpse is accorded the dignity of claim by
its owners and some even enjoy the privilege of photo shots and
compliments while lying in state. Let’s not derail the discourse here;
Buhari has gotten all Nigerians to talk not only about, but publicly
against corruption. Nowadays it is fashionable for known corrupticians
to buy airtime and talk against corruption on television—to act holy and
to dissuade public angst and condemnation. But Buhari knows these
persons just like every other Nigerian does. To pretend not to know a
thief even when caught until the thief defends himself and proven guilty
is one of the funniest lies we`ve been forced to accept. But that is
the bullshit about the rule of law. But I’m not against the rule of
law—after-all bullshit can also be used to grow flowers. My point is
that the particular aspect of the Nigerian rule of law that protect
known corrupticians who looted our patrimony is bad bullshit. It is
painful to know that these corrupticians are everywhere, and like the
shrew, deviously poisonous and constantly spraying their odious stench.
One hopes the recently inaugurated Itsay Sagay committee will give the
needed teeth and close the loopholes in the Nigerian legal system before
these same bad eggs encircle the president. Delay is dangerous.
Buhari is a disciplinarian and everyone
knows he came to clean the Aegean stable. Few days after his swearing
in, his brother-in-law was forced to repent, a certain refinery
announced its readiness to start production, a certain former minister
publicly returned fleet of cars and certain amount of cash and others
are running to take refuge in foreign hospital on phantom medical
stories., and most recently, a self claimed whistle blower rattled EFCC,
the very ombudsman saddled with watching over our commonwealth, of
stealing over a trillion naira. The fear of Buhari has grip Nigerians
such that the Nigerian police was begging applicants not to pay bribe
for the upcoming recruitment. These are the same applicants who were
scammed blue during the immigrations and civil defence `Oga-at-the-top`
recruitment saga. I think Buhari has successfully mobilized the nation
against corruption the war is half won!.
The first challenge that stared at Buhari`s
administration were the renewed severity of terror attacks, long queues
at filling stations due to round-tripping and other sleazy deals that
surrounded the management of fuel subsidy, and the perennial power
outages. Buhari`s responses were swift and surgical; he immediately
engaged the stakeholders of the power and the petroleum sector and
extracted an understanding that restored normalcy to those critical
sectors. Today, no Nigerian can deny noticing improvements in the
service deliveries of those sectors. On Boko Haram, Buhari briskly
rallied countries of the Lake Chad basin to put a multilateral force to
confront the terrorists. After relocating the military command centre to
Maiduguri and appointing new service chiefs. The military started
recording success. From Borno to Adamawa, territories after territories
are being recaptured from the terrorists; the plights of the internally
displaced persons are being ameliorated. Apart from several official
visits to the IDP camps by Osibanjo and the First Lady, President Buhari
ensured the released of the monies earmarked for the welfare of IDPs
but kept away by the past administration for reasons yet to be
explained. Such intervention was not only enjoyed by the mostly northern
IDPs, in the Niger delta, apart from the recent exploits of the
Nigerian navy pulling down bunkering sites even the ones behind rivers
government house, the story of Ogoniland was the saddest of all. This
was a community that produced the wealth that the nation survives with
but its land cannot breathe life due to the sludge through years of oil
exploration. Again Buhari came to the rescue by making ensuring the
clean-up of that forgotten community in the very heart of the Niger
delta. He followed it up by appointing a brand new coordinator to
articulate the amnesty programme to its true intention. In the south
eastern part of the country, Buhari`s attention was immediately drawn to
the overly politicised 2nd Niger bridge commission by the Goodluck
administration. Initially Buhari`s order for a review of the contract
was misunderstood by the those who felt they are about to be deprived of
that strategic infrastructure. But the fact remains that the president
was not only nosing for probity, but to ensure its completion and never
to be abandoned again. To Buhari, ignoring such a project will amount to
abandoning the fabled `bridge across the Niger`, a dream he fought for
even as a soldier.
Within this period also the Buhari
administration has released funds for the sport sector to enhance their
preparation for the next Olympics and sundry competitions. The recent
mauling of the Angolans in the finals of Afrobasket competition by
D`Tigers cannot be unconnected with the Buhari push. The president knows
that aside being a tool for providing youth employment, nothing
conjures national integration than sports; not even religion. Thus every
investment in sport is as strategic as economy and defence.
On the diplomatic scene, Buhari has been at
the top of the game. His trips to the Chatham house and the white house
were not show trips, these were deft engagements at its best given the
calibre of those two countries in global affairs and the attendant
benefits Nigeria stands to reap. His earlier invitation as an observer
to the 2015 G20 summit, the Lake Chad region engagement against
terrorism, the recent visitation by the UN Secretary General is a
pointer to Nigeria’s blistering arrival at the international stage.
While I will not encourage praise singing
Buhari to start playing god in office, it is unfair to brush aside his
efforts especially at this take-off stage. Our knowledge of the aviation
comes to mind: ask any pilot, take-offs are always itchy, and they
require steady hands and deep concentration and calculations if the
plane must manoeuvre the clouds. That is when it is compulsory to wear
seat belts. Nigerians must buckle their seat belts and pray for Buhari
to dominate this fog of a cloud.
I sincerely salute those criticising
Buhari. He needs more of criticisms if he must remain focus. Criticism
is a major ingredient of civil rule, it draws leaders attention to the
other opinion, especially to how followers perceive governance. It helps
the leaders in formulation of balanced policies. But criticism can also
be negative; geared not towards redress but to poison the system and
pull down the leader. Recent tirades on Buhari`s appointments is
gradually becoming poisonous. Yet again we are relapsing to our
different ethnic choirs while still singing the change song. Buhari is
not oblivious of the Federal Character principle. But he should make
haste to fix his entire team so that his policies, actions and body
language can easily be explained to the masses to avoid being constantly
misunderstood by the governed. The whole idea of APC machinery acting
as government mouthpiece is not politically correct. There should be a
line between podium tirades and articulating government policies and
actions for public acceptance. Public engagement is different from
campaign oratory. The masses too should learn to trust their leaders and
first flush their minds of seeing government as the oppressor and
always playing the victim, weeping parochial tears instead of standing
up for collective good. The `we` versus `them` mentality is what weakens
people’s strength to achieve popular goals. Let’s watch Buhari`s next
moves. I stand to be corrected.
Dr. Philip Afaha is a lecturer of History
and Diplomatic Studies at the University of Abuja. He can be reached
through: afaha2k4@yahoo.com
Ref: http://www.peoplesdailyng.com/100-days-of-buhari-i-stand-to-be-corrected/
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