Buhari, more costs to cut

It was reported on Friday, June 19 that President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the sale of nine aircraft in the presidential fleet. We do not need any one to tell us that he did as part of cost saving measures.

That was not the only good news. The Ahmed Joda-led Transition Advisory Committee also told Buhari in its report to appoint only 19 senior ministers and another 17 as ministers of state, making it 36, as another cost saving measure.

The Constitution provides for the appointment of one minister from each of the 36 states. Because previous administrations did not consider the financial implications of an over bloated cabinet, Joda and his team are sounding a note of warning to Buhari not to fall into the same trap or else he would have his fingers burnt.

Information from the president’s quarters point to the fact that Nigerians would be having one of the leanest cabinet ever since the return of democracy, courtesy of advice from Joda and his team.

The aircraft earmarked for disposal are supposed to be among the numerous serviceable and unserviceable VIP transport planes under which previous administrations were spending so much tax payers’ money to maintain.

A good number of them were simply conduit pipes for top ranking government officials masquerading as Presidency workers to corruptly enrich themselves.

“Nine, which still have market value, are to be sold immediately to reduce costs,” said a report in a national newspaper which quoted an aviation industry source.

According to reports, for years the federal government has spent over N12 billion annually for the maintenance of the presidential fleet, some of which were even subjected to causes by very senior government officials that never added any value to the country, but instead, all manner of frivolous activities, including running errand for their girlfriends.

The joy that greeted the news that most of the aircraft would be sold therefore did not know any bounds, going by reactions gleaned from social media.

Why Buhari is being commended for this show of patriotism by some commentators, others think he must be encouraged to go further, if we must get things right.

Of what use are 16 planes under the presidential fleet of a president who does not have the commonest idea of how to solve the problems of unemployment, poverty, diseases, and other myriad problems bedeviling his country?

Of what use will the planes be when the president has fellow citizens who are either not in school because their parents cannot afford the fees or cannot even afford one good meal a day?

How comfortable can a president be on a presidential plane when his country is ravaged by insecurity, poor road network, erosion menace and other national challenges that ought to bring out the best in their leader?

Why should we retain in the presidential fleet, aircraft that are not being put to use? What manner of economics is that?

Past leaders of Nigeria were too detached from the people with the number of planes at their disposal, hence such should not be allowed to happen again.

Take the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Despite how buoyant their economies are and how invincible the countries are in other spheres of human endeavour, their leaders are still highly committed to responsible leadership and take accountability to the highest level whenever matters of common interest are involved.

What matters to them more often than not are things that affect those they are leading and not their own personal comfort. But the reverse is the case here. And that is why our politicians go into government as relatively old people and come out younger, unlike in Europe and America where their own politicians go into government very young and come out very old.

British Airways is like the official carrier of the UK. The British Prime Minister feels proud to fly on the BA fleet like any other Britons and non-Britons. That has not lowered the place of Britain in the global comity of world powers.

The status of the British Prime Minister has also not been diminished because he flies BA.

One of the things breeding corruption and laxity in government circles is the prevalence of VIP aircraft deployed at the whims and caprices of every Dick, Tom and Harry, without checks and balances.

How do we talk of the embarrassment those who have the opportunity of flying on the planes cause fellow Nigerians either through closure of airspace or traffic gridlock that takes hours?

That Buhari has asked for the sale of some of the planes is welcome, but he should go further to reduce the number of planes in the presidential fleet, to perhaps three, if at all we must retain them.

Otherwise, I expect that Buhari should adopt the UK model if he is not thinking of scrapping it. If that is done, Nigerians will no longer be under any illusion that the future of this country will look good under Buhari.

However, the expectations of Nigerians in other sectors of the economy should be dealt with as quickly as possible.

One of the things Buhari must pay urgent attention to is the turn around maintenance (TAM) that is like a chorus at the oil sector, and which is also another drain pipe through which some crooks undermine the common interest of fellow Nigerians.

The billions of naira which the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) claims it uses for TAM under the watch of the Presidency cannot be sustainable under this regime that is facing a biting economic crunch.

Like the people who see to the maintenance of the aircraft in the presidential fleet, the characters who award the contracts for the TAM of the non performing refineries are common criminals who do not give a hoot about what happens to the ordinary Nigerian as long as they get approval for the project year in and out.

If not that over the years we have had leaders who themselves are complicit, the amount of money Nigeria has expended to maintain aircraft in the presidential fleet and refineries they know were more or less moribund would have been used to build more rewarding and sustainable infrastructure under strict financial management. That is part of what we expect from Buhari’s change going forward.