On Friday, May 29, Muhammadu Buhari, a retired Army General and former Head of State, was sworn in as Nigeria’s democratically elected President, taking over from Goodluck Jonathan.
Buhari stepped into Aso Rock as the sixth elected number one citizen after Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua, and Jonathan.
His predecessors did their best to hold the country together irrespective of our cultural, religious and social differences as a people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Reason: There are areas the citizens would look back at and remember past civilian leaders regardless of what critics say.
Buhari’s inauguration brought to Abuja the high and the mighty from across the land as well as leaders of countries from different parts of the world.
Some came to wish him well as he takes up once again the task of paddling the ship of the Nigerian state which seems to be sailing in stormy waters while others were there to find loopholes to do mischief.
There were also those who went to the inauguration to draw inspiration from Buhari’s strength of character, discipline and zero tolerance for corruption, and other positive attributes of the 72 year-old.
But one thing is clear in Buhari’s second coming. He will see a different Nigeria from inside Aso Rock where everything seems to be in order but quite at variance with the country all of us see from the outside.
The Nigeria he ruled between December 1983 and August 1985 when he struck in khaki uniform with a gang of other young, ambitious and power hungry military officers is not the same.
Events of the past few weeks paint a painful picture of what Buhari’s early days in office would not shy away from.
I am talking about the lingering fuel shortage that made all homes, offices and organisations to shut down in agony. The situation has not completely abated despite the deal the Jonathan administration and the Senate Committee on Downstream and Upstream had with oil marketers.
Bismarck Rewane, an economist, said in a recent Channels Television interview that the loss incurred by the country from the shutting down of offices as a result of the fuel shortage was as much as N7 billion daily.
As Buhari already knows, May 29 was the day he inherited a Nigeria with dwindling revenue in addition to problems ranging from fuel scarcity, unstable power supply, unemployment, non-payment of workers’ salary, strike actions, and poverty.
This is a country where affluence is measured by the level of criminality associated with those running the affairs of state and the private sector. Where impunity, lawlessness at all levels, deceit, cheating, sloppiness, rudderlessness, man-know-man, are adored like a religion. You either key into them or you are alone.
A country where the agencies of the justice system – the police, judiciary and prisons – inflict rather than help to solve daunting social problems. Where purveyors and harbingers of the Constitution turn themselves into abusers of the statutes.
A nation where anti-corruption institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission (ICPC) are mere extensions of the civil service where obeying court injunction is a taboo.
It is still not uhuru as regards security. I don’t envy Buhari, and many Nigerians don’t, going by the magnitude of challenges before him.
However, in all these, Buhari must see a Nigeria of possibilities. The country is endowed with huge human and material resources that can propel it to the height it deserves and desires.
Having identified the issues holding the country captive, such as corruption fuelled by bad leadership, Nigerians are not under any illusion that the Buhari administration expected to parade the face of new leadership at the centre would see the possibilities Nigeria is, rather than the failure it is perceived to be.
If what we read in the newspapers and in the social media regarding Buhari’s insistence on choosing his cabinet with little interference is anything to go by, then we would have started getting it right ab initio.
Political patronage in form of appointment into key government offices must take the back seat. That is why Buhari should be allowed to constitute his team based on his conviction that those assembled have the capacity to deliver.
Hiring and firing should be his prerogative as far as his cabinet members are concerned, and regardless of those who surround him as party leaders and friends. To compromise means compromising the numerous problems this administration needs to deal with.
Buhari can bring on board some of the presidential candidates whose ideas can help realise the change he represents.
Each time I reflect on the presidential campaign, some of the candidates (particularly those of the smaller and relatively known parties) and their manifestoes, my mind goes to KOWA party’s Remi Sonaiya, and Godson Okoye of the United Democratic Party (UDP).
In my view, Sonaiya and Okoye represent what an administration like that of Buhari that craves change can adopt.
Both of them parade academic credentials needed to function in any society where the people desire meaningful service, and their electioneering appealed to many Nigerians.
Sonaiya would serve Buhari’s needs in women affairs and youth development, and Okoye would in ethical revolution and social reengineering and development.
Besides, there were some appointments Jonathan made in a hurry, but when you review them critically you would realise they will serve the greater interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.
One was the appointment of former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, as the Chairman of Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) board.
Anybody familiar with Obi’s record in Anambra in terms of fiscal responsibility, accountability as well as creating an enabling environment that made the festering of development partners and funders inevitable will not reverse his appointment.
Obi comes handy at this moment when the government needs to restore discipline in the capital market, compel operators to function in line with international best practices; and more importantly, boost the chances of local firms in competing with blue chip companies.
He has played successfully in the corporate world as Chairman of Fidelity Bank and several other companies that are doing well.
The last thing Buhari should do is open his ears to hearsay, particularly if it comes from interested parties and politically exposed persons.
Many politicians would want to foist their ears and eyes on Buhari’s cabinet using all sorts of strategies. But he must see Nigeria the way it is today, full of challenges but needs all hands on deck to salvage it.
This is a country with possibilities where the we-can-do spirit is entrenched. Buhari will be ignoring all that at his own risk.