Various attacks have dogged President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign since its launch on September 8. Despite the conviction of the Buhari administration that the programme would re-establish time-tested virtues of honesty, integrity, hard work, abhorrence of corruption, patriotism and other malaise plaguing the land, most Nigerians feel strongly, writes Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s new national orientation programme, ‘Change Begins with Me’, launched on Thursday, September 8, 2016 might not have bargained for what it met on the ground: deep-seated controversy.At the moment, the project seems to be battling with crisis of originality. Aside earlier claims by some young Nigerians that they originated the idea, though not with the same caption, there is the allegation of plagiarism as well as disagreements that may blight the government’s perceived noble idea.
The campaign has earned the Buhari administration widespread criticism, with many Nigerians accusing him of shifting blames to them and wondering why they gave him their mandate if he would ultimately saddle them with the duty of effecting the needed change.
The idea
For the Buhari government, the idea behind the programme was, perhaps, a sincere determination to carry all Nigerians along on the journey to a better and greater society that everybody would be proud of. But the unpleasant developments trailing the project have continued to raise dust.
Few days to the official launch of the project, there was a precursor press briefing by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Garba Abari, who gave insight on the concept.
The duo had explained that the campaign became imperative in a bid to entrench the values of integrity, accountability as well as inculcate positive attitudinal change in Nigerians by the current ‘change’ government.They added that the campaign was aimed at enlightening Nigerians to appreciate these values, which, they noted, are critical to achieving national development.
According to them, the campaign was expected to trigger positive change that would boost Nigeria’s image, enable the country gain acceptability and command respect among other nations of the world.
“About three to five years back now, the role models in the society were people of doubtful character. Money was worshipped; nobody cared where and how one got the money; these are the misplaced values that we are tackling now,” the minister said.
The campaign, Mohammed noted,would involve every Nigerian and address the shortcomings of every profession and job.
“We believe that what is wrong with Nigeria is not limited to the elite, the political class and the civil service; if we want that change, therefore, it must address all the issues and target every strata of the society,” he said.
He, however, pointed out that the campaign was not a replica of the War Against Indiscipline, otherwise known as WAI, which the Buhari-led military junta initiated in 1983, adding that the ‘Change Begins With Me’ campaign would achieve the same goal as WAI using a different means other than coercion and brutality witnessed under WAI.
Project unveiled
Buhari was a special guest at the launching, which took place at the Conference Hall in the Presidential Villa.
As the expected vision-carrier, the President said the programme was the best way to sustain the effort his administration has made in the fight against corruption.
In the view of Buhari, Nigeria is at the edge of the precipice because previous administrations in the countryhave not been leading by example. He decried the alleged erosion of the long-cherished and time-tested virtues of honesty, integrity, hard work and patriotism. He also called on all Nigerians, especially those in the private sector, to change their old ways of doing things and support the campaign.
Buhari’sstatement reads in part: “We must resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our country for so long. Let us summon a new spirit of responsibility, spirit of service, of patriotism and sacrifice. Let us all resolve to pitch in and work hard and look after, not only ourselves but one another.
“What the current problem has taught us is that we cannot have a thriving army of rent-seekers and vested interests, while the majority suffers.”
In sum, the programme remains government’s strategy to make Nigerians eschew “dishonesty, indolence, unbridled corruption and widespread impunity” and embrace daily introspection over their “immoral” conducts.
The Change twist
The project, no doubt, has recorded spiral upsets. Most Nigerians say they are dissatisfied on what the project actually entails. Some see the campaign as a decoy and accuse the government of living a lie.
While those who are sympathetic to the All Progressives Congress (APC) government applaud the new campaign, saying change should begin with citizens as demanded by Buhari, many others think otherwise.
Infact, not a few Nigerians were shocked that change must actually begin with them before they could experience a change from their leaders.
Critics are of the opinion that Buhari’s party, the APC, seems to be short of fresh ideas, insisting that what is at play appears to be a distraction.In their view, APC, which rode to power on the back of the ‘change’ mantra, only promised citizens institutional change and not attitudinal change.
For instance, a popular Nigerian social media activist, columnist and lecturer at the Kennesaw State University in Georgia, United States, Farook Kperogi, described the APC-led government as some kind of scam, which has engaged Nigerians in confidence tricks.
“The new ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign has provided the most definitive evidentiary proof yet that the Buhari government is one giant bait-and-switch scam. Bait-and-switch scams are kinds of confidence tricks where unsuspecting customers are lured into (or ‘baited’ to) an attractive, often too-good-to-be-true, offers. Once the customer’s interest is sufficiently piqued, sustained, and won over, the terms of the offer change (or ‘switch’).
“Buhari and APC baited Nigerians with a promise to ‘change’ the country. After Nigerians swallowed the bait and voted them into power, Buhari and APC have ‘switched’ and now say the “change” begins with everyday Nigerians who voted them into power, not they who promised it. That’s straight-up dupery,” Kperogi wrote on his Facebook page.
Also, social commentator, Reno Omokri, said when an incompetent government has run out of ways to blame its predecessors, it turns around and blames the masses.
Understanding the plagiarism snag
In thisinternet age where any information can be accessed at the click of a button, the project, as soon as it was launched, was faulted for plagiarism.Emerging facts show that the President did not author some of those quotes.
A report had detailed how Buhari allegedly lifted quotes from a 2008 speech by United President Barack Obama. This came on the heels of another damaging allegation that the ‘Change Begins With Me’ campaign contained elements belonging to another anti-corruption effort, ‘Not in My Country’.
For some critics, the project is dead on arrival as they described the development as a deception by the APC government.
Adeola Akinremi, a columnist with THISDAY Newspaper, was said to be the first to spot possible instances of plagiarism between Buhari’s speech andthat of Obama.In a speech delivered after his victory on November 4, 2008, Obama said to a crowd of enthusiastic supporters:
“Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
“So, let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.”
After highlighting the seeming plagiarism, Akinremi said the act was “unethical”, as he lampooned Buhari for allegedly indulging in it.
“It is immoral to plagiarise other people’s work, but even worse to use dishonesty to launch a campaign about honesty,” he noted.
According to Akinremi, “When you use another person’s work without acknowledgement, you have plagiarised. You simply pretend as if it is your own. It is unethical. It makes a mess of the campaign from the start. That is what Buhari has done.Nobody will believe in the ‘Change Begins With Me’ campaign, because it was built on lies.”
Beside the morality question of the campaign is the allegation of intellectual property theft on the Information Minister.
Akinremi’s column was published a week after associates of Akin Fadeyi, creator of ‘Not in My Country’, also accused the Buhari administration of stealing his concept to launch ‘Change Begins with Me’.
The associates said Fadeyi, a creative artist and former Head of Communications at Airtel Nigeria, met with the Information and CultureMinister in December 2015 to intimate him of ‘Not in My Country,’ an episodic narrative that deploys humour to underscore societal ills and appeal to Nigerians to shun sharp practices.They said Mohammed declined interest in the concept, only to turn around to adapt it for ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign.
Although Mohammed denied the allegations, saying he started ‘Change Begins With Me’ even before he was appointed minister, critics disagree, saying he has remained economical with the truth.
People’s verdict
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Waba, said the initiative is worth commending.He is of the opinion that Buhari needs support from Nigerians, if he must succeed, insisting that change must begin with the individual.
But President, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Shettima Yerima, disagrees. He asked government to concentrate on fixing the economy rather than bringing up bogus projects that are anchored on deception.
“Nobody is happy with the way corruption has relegated the country to its present situation. But government must lead in that change. The irony is that corruption is even worse now. What I see is a government of deception that lacks the capacity to fix the country. If care is not taken, we will soon enter depression. Buhari needs to throw out most of the cabinet ministers. Nigerians are hungry; let them tackle that first and stop this show of shame,” he said.
