It was the psychologist, Albert Ellis, who said that “the best years of your life are the ones in which you decide that your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realise that you control your own destiny.”
On Thursday last week, the respected Punch newspaper which I have had the joy and fulfillment of reporting for, surfaced with a necessary editorial titled: Buhari, Move Faster, Please. The previous week, some of the national newspapers had also written editorials asking President Muhammadu Buhari to stop giving excuses and hit the ground running.
The reason for such editorial comments is not basically that Nigerians expect magical performance from the president; but that the president should leave the past behind and focus on the now and the future. What the media are saying is: enough of the blame game; enough of the excuses. Let the game begin.
I got really disturbed when Buhari used the opportunity of the visit by the politically-motivated BringBackOurGirls group on Wednesday to again trade blames with the immediate past administration. He was cited as saying that “he could not rationalise the past government’s incompetence in dealing with the (insurgence) issue…”
Incompetence is a comparative word. What it implies in this context is that one administration (the present) is more competent to deal with this issue than the previous ones. If that be the case, how come the girls are still missing?
The president also mentioned that “within a week of being sworn in, I visited Niger, Chad and would have visited Cameroon but for the invitation of the G-7 to go to Germany.” Yes, he is correct.
My worry is that even with the visits and the actualisation of the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram, followed by the release of $20 billion from the Jonathan’s depleted treasury to the body, the bombs are booming louder, more blood is spilling daily and death toll is rising.
Unfortunately, this is happening in July when the president was quoted as promising, during the campaigns, to end the insurgency. My immediate concern here however, is that whenever the president and the APC are faced with a problem, they look for excuses in Jonathan who has since handed over power to them.
My advice to the President is simple: be presidential: find a solution to Nigeria’s problem because that’s what you were elected to do. You were not elected to occupy a problem-free office and govern a problem-free country. You were elected because Nigerians assumed you could solve their problems quicker and better than your predecessors.
One writer has been quoted as saying that excuses are the tools of the incompetent; and those who specialise in them hardly go far. Sir, it was your tested competence that got you the phenomenal support of Nigerians in the last election. It’s time to prove us right.
Be presidential: stop blaming the past leaders for the problems of today; because as Don Wilder has said: excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure. Look ahead; think big, plan big and keep going. Election is over. Campaigns have ended. The votes have been counted. You are our president and commander-in-chief. Be presidential!
It was good enough to blame Jonathan and his team during the campaigns because you wanted him voted out. It happened as you desired. Nigerians want to see you initiate the change that formed the foothold of your campaign and was the anchor that ensured your victory.
Be presidential: stop bickering; stop looking back at problems and searching for excuses—you’ve done that long enough. Mistakes have been made. Errors have been committed. So many things went wrong before you assumed office. Your job is to fix these blunders and put us back on track.
The treasury is empty; that’s what we’ve been told. Corruption walks tall in the corridors of power. Tribalism and nepotism have destroyed our sense of unity. The last administration was clueless—lacking in vision and mission. Nigerians were on the lookout for Mr. Perfect; and you surfaced. Let’s roll.
The tales of incompetence are old tales known to all of us. What is most needed now is the solution. There is a saying that by shifting the focus to who made the mistake which led to the problem, the blame game distracts people from why the problem occurred in the first place. It’s time to move on, sir.
Be presidential: bring the change you promised. Surely, giving excuses and engaging in blame games do not in any way reflect the change. I agree with Anthony Roberts that when you blame others, you give up the power of change. Mr. President, please don’t give up the power of the change you promised.
As observed last week, I did not and still do not expect an overnight miraculous rescue of Nigeria from its all problems. It will take time. It will require planning and diligent execution of the plan. What worries most Nigerians is that whenever we expect policy statements, what we hear are excuses and blames.
It was General Dwight Eisenhower, the man who later became one of the most respected American Presidents, who once said that the search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions. Nigerians did not vote APC so that it could hunt for scapegoats. We need solutions.
Let the bombs be silenced. Let the blood stop spilling. Let the girls be rescued. Let change begin!