Two weeks to the inauguration of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, expectations of his administration changing the course of activities in the country remain high, Assistant Editor (North), CHUKS EHIRIM, reports.
Informed analysts argue that Nigeria is, today, almost prostrate. This, they say, is on account of the grinding poverty, which has been made worse by the chaotic power (electricity) and fuel situation in the land. For almost two months now, the people of Nigeria have been groaning under acute shortage of petroleum products.
Most petrol stations in major cities such as Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Uyo, Calabar and Benin City no longer perform their duty of selling fuel to consumers. In most of these cities, street urchins have taken over this important sector of the economy. At every filling station, it is common to find them, armed with containers, PVC hoses and funnels, hawking (sometimes adulterated) premium motor spirit (PMS) at cut-throat prices. Motorists have no choice but to patronise the illegal business. The only option
left to them is to pull their vehicles over and do their journeys on foot.
At every part of the country, the supply of electricity has equally become epileptic. Whether it was at the time of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and currently the Electricity Generating Companies (GENCOs) or Distributing Companies (DISCOs), the fact remains that the power sector in the country is almost dead. It is as if the business of governance in the country has gone on sabbatical, especially since after the March 28 presidential election which did not favour incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but the candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC, Muhammadu Buhari. Those currently in office appear to have abandoned the people to their fate.
Buhari to the rescue?
There is therefore very high expectation among Nigerians that the incoming administration will perform magic within the shortest possible time. From his public utterances in the last few days, Buhari does not seem to be unaware of this high expectation from the citizenry, concerning his government. In fact, he has pleaded with the people to be patient with him when he assumes office, as the Augean Stable awaiting him will take some time to clear.
But from his body language so far, it is becoming very clear that Buhari will unleash a bloodless revolutionary regime on Nigeria, on assumption of office. This revolution will be witnessed more in the area of anti-graft war, discipline, orderliness, electoral reform and better management of the country’s resources through the enthronement of austerity measures.
Those who may not be comfortable with what is coming are already jittery and are complaining loudly and plotting to see how the revolution will be whittled down or totally avoided. These people are not only found among those who are currently lording it over Nigerians in the guise of being their rulers, but could as well be found among APC bigwigs who are currently working very hard to ensure that the status quo is maintained.
Scramble for juicy positions
One area this has manifested itself is in the way people are jostling for political appointments in the incoming regime. For instance, there has been intense battle within the APC leadership with regard to who gets what in the leadership of the eighth National Assembly. The battle for Senate President, his deputy, House of Representatives Speaker and other principal officers of the National Assembly has been raging, simply because some political godfathers are insisting on imposing their cronies on the rest of the lawmakers.
But Buhari has shown that he would not want to be involved in the business of cronyism. In a statement last Wednesday, the president-elect distanced himself from this game of imposition. Buhari stated that he was not backing anybody for the position of Senate President or House of Representatives Speaker , adding that he was willing to work with any leader of the Senate, irrespective of what part of the country he or she originates from.
He described as false, insinuations in the media that he was in support of any particular senator to emerge as leader or that he belonged to any camp pushing for the emergence of a leader from a particular part of the country.
“I am prepared to work with any leader that the House or Senate selects,” Buhari said, noting that, “It doesn’t matter who the person is or where he or she is from.”
He added that these insinuations were probably borne out of people’s expectations based on the way things had happened in the past, but reminded Nigerians that ‘change’ has truly come.
“There is due process for the selection of leaders of the National Assembly,” Buhari said, “and I will not interfere in that process.”
The retired General added that the media and the public should begin to unlearn business-as-usual syndrome.
His words: “Nigeria has indeed entered a new dispensation. My administration does not intend to repeat the same mistakes made by previous administrations.”
Sources within the party disclosed to TheNiche that Buhari had to come out with this statement because he was not comfortable with the character of those who want to pocket the regime by placing their candidates in all strategic positions. There is the insinuation that the plan of such people is to encircle Buhari by having control of major actors in his government, so that at the appropriate time, if they don’t get what they want, they will strike, using such cronies to blackmail the regime.
This move also points to Buhari’s anti-corruption stance which will play out clearly when he assumes office on May 29.
Recovering looted funds
Close associates of the president-elect have been speaking on how he intends to recover funds looted from public treasuries. One such persons is the Kaduna State governor-elect, Nasir el-Rufai.
Speaking in Kaduna last week, el-Rufai, who lamented the huge debt burden the Buhari administration would be inheriting, stressed that people must be called to refund what they stole.
He said the looters who will be asked to refund money include those in the state and federal levels.
“We will politely ask those who stole government money to return the funds. This is because the APC government is made up of people who are ready to work for the masses and the betterment of the country,” the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) said.
Buhari’s anti-corruption posture is not strange to most Nigerians. As military head of state between January 1, 1984 and August 27, 1985, Buhari waged a ruthless war against the political class of the Second Republic who plundered the resources of the country.
On the wings of integrity
In the current dispensation, his election on March 28 is said to be predicated on his promise to rid Nigeria of the endemic corruption that has brought her to her knees in the last 16 years, if not more. He won a number of supporters in this regard, even from his fellow presidential candidates in the race. One of them, Chekwas Okorie, has equally declared his support for the anti-graft war that is to take off in the country.
Okorie, who is the national chairman as well as presidential candidate of the United Progressive Party (UPP) in the last general elections, expressed willingness to partner with the incoming APC administration in its quest to tackle corruption in the polity.
Okorie made the declaration on Wednesday, May 13 in Abuja when he paid a courtesy visit to the national secretariat of the APC, Ibrahim Bala Gubi pointing out that he is in support of the posture by the APC-led administration to recover monies pilfered from the country’s coffers.
Saying those who have clear conscience should fear no accusations, he urged officials of the outgoing PDP administration who have no skeleton in their cupboard not to nurse the fear that they could be persecuted under Buhari.
He said: “In the course of the elections, we had good affinity in the contentious issues of the use of card-readers and the Permanent Voters Cards (PVC). We stood our ground as progressives. We are also on the same page with the APC in the area of anti-corruption crusade. Just as they say “bring back our girls”, we also join you in saying “bring back our stolen money”. It should not be misunderstood for witch-hunting. I recall that when we were growing up, we were told that a man with clear conscience fears no accusation. We are partners in progress. If, for any reason, you need our support, we would do it in the most democratic manner.”
Okorie, who led members of UPP National Working Committee (NWC) to the parley, ruled out the possibility of collapsing the UPP into the APC. Recalling how the UPP took sides with the APC on the usage of the card-readers and PVC in the build-up to the general elections, he reiterated the desire of his party to join all progressive forces to strengthen democracy in the polity.
While extending a hand of fellowship to the APC as partners in progress, he remarked that but for the purposeful leadership under the leadership of John Odigie-Oyegun, the APC would not have achieved victory at the poll.
War against electoral malfeasance
Buhari has also not hidden his intention to wage war against electoral brigandage in the country. In his three previous attempts to rule the country through the democratic process, Buhari was reportedly a victim of election rigging. Having succeeded in the fourth attempt, it will be surprising if he does not go after those who made it the norm to give the Nigerian electoral system a bad name within the comity of nations.
He gave a hint of what he intends to do in this direction when he played host to leaders of the APC from Delta State, last week. Welcoming the delegation led by O’tega Emerhor, the party’s governorship candidate in the April 11 governorship poll in the state, the president-elect vowed that he would not spare electoral brigands, no matter how highly-placed they may appear.
“I thank you for mobilising yourselves to come and congratulate me for emerging as the winner of the presidential election this year. I am very much in touch with your governor and he has kept me abreast of the running battle and I express my condolence to you for the people murdered.
“I assure you that my objective of remaining consistent in partisan politics is to make sure that Nigerians are given their inherent right as citizens of the country, to choose whoever they want to lead them. It is not a favour for them as Nigerians, but a constitutional right as citizens of this country. I will not support anybody who will undermine that right of Nigerians by whatever means. To use the military and other law enforcement agencies and, worse still, to give drugs and weapons to unemployed youths and send them to kill their own people is the worst thing anybody aspiring to leadership can do to his country.
“I assure you that in this first term, we have got four years, what I will concentrate on is making sure that Nigerians will be proud to be Nigerians; wherever they are, they will be respected,” he said.
All eyes on Nigeria
Somehow, Buhari’s victory at the poll and the way he has carried on since then has given Nigeria’s image a major push within the international community. Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, alluded to this when he visited the president-elect last week.
During the visit, Blair stressed: “In the last few weeks, Nigeria has earned respect throughout the whole world. There is enormous support for Nigeria now in the international community. The support takes into consideration the challenges that lie ahead and there is great confidence in the country.
“This is an election which took place in a way the country showed majority of democracies the spirit and character of its people and in the president-elect and vice president-elect. It is a leadership that I know is determined to do its best for the country.
“Obviously, the future and destiny of Nigeria lies in the hand of its people. I just want to say to the president-elect that there is tremendous support for you and the country at this moment, and all of us, in whatever way we can, stand ready to support you and help you. It is a moment of great challenges which borders on the life of the people as well as their security and so on. If the same spirit and character that define the election can be taken through these coming years to address the challenges, I think we can all have great confidence in the times ahead.”
Nigerians, thus, look forward to the revolution that is ahead.
