...Evidently, APC over-marketed itself and has become a victim of its own exaggerated competence.
With electioneering poetry long done and
dusted, prose has set in. All the signs that this government could fail
are there: team co-ordination is a shambles; economic strategy is an
unacknowledged recycling of what the PDP did or tried to do; and the
political front — by which I refer to national cohesion, rule of law and
credible elections — is in a downward spiral. Things have to change.
Buhari CANNOT afford to fail. His name will be ruined forever. It is not
too late for him to retrace his steps and refocus. As an ardent admirer
of Buhari, therefore, I have chosen to offer him advice on how he
should proceed in his mission to repair Nigeria. The Hausa call my
unsolicited effort “karambani”.
Get a sense of urgency. Buhari seems to
think he has 30 years to do this job. He spent all the time in the world
to pick a cabinet, and we still ended up with most of the people we
knew he was going to appoint. It has taken forever to pick chief
executives of some critical agencies. Up till now, the board of the
National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has not been inaugurated in a
country direly in need of private capital to revive failing public
companies. The minister from Kogi state, Mr. James Ocholi, died nearly a
year ago and he is yet to be replaced. I just don’t get it. Buhari has
only two years left to make his mark; at most six if he gets another
term. Speed.
Re-jig the cabinet. The first cabinet is
usually a repayment of political IOUs. That done, it is now time for
Buhari say “thank you and goodbye — it was nice knowing you” to the
liabilities and noisemakers in his team. Now is the time to change gear.
Time is far spent. You must work while it is yet day. It is clear that
some people in his team are not helping his cause or may be too
constrained to offer any value. Buhari is going nowhere if he doesn’t
have a competent team around him. Not just a competent team but a team
that can deliver the prose with precision. Some are still talking poetry
as if the 2015 election is yet to hold. Overhaul.
Design an economic recovery blueprint. I
have listened patiently to senior officials of this administration on
the economic crisis. All I can hear is “in the long run”. There is no
discernible plan on how Nigerians will survive the short run. As John
Maynard Keynes would say, “In the long run we are all dead.” Economy is
the biggest issue now and there is no sign yet that the government has a
grip on it. We are all affected by the economic crisis, but the worst
hit is Buhari’s primary constituency: the poor. In the next 12 months,
how will the jobs come back? How will inflation be contained? We needed
an emergency plan as far back as 2015, but here we are. Limbo.
Develop a winning anti-graft strategy.
Impunity has reduced (at federal level, I would say) and we now know
there is something called “budget padding” that went undetected for
years. This is good news. But we are also getting mixed messages on
“invasive plant species” and grass-cutting buccaneers. More so, while
naming and shaming may excite the lynch mob, an anti-graft war built
solely on this approach will not work. A winning strategy must go beyond
public lynching — it must address systemic failures, administrative
lapses, entrenched mindsets and other endemic pathologies. Buhari must
deal with more than the symptoms. Comprehensive.
Broaden security. That Boko Haram no
longer holds a chunk of territory is great news. To be honest, I don’t
envy Buhari. He inherited a myriad of security problems. Herdsmen had
been terrorising communities for decades without media coverage.
Ethno-religious conflicts were a national staple. The Niger Delta was
always going to explode. Kidnapping became a huge industry 10 years ago.
While Buhari’s eyes were on Boko Haram, the latent conflicts across the
country erupted. And, sadly, the murderous herders appear to be getting
only a slap on the wrist. Buhari must step up his watch. He must first
stop the infighting in his security team. Alarming.
Some flexibility, please. When a policy
is killing the economy, you must review it. The idea of TSA was first
implemented by President Obasanjo in 2004. He moved public funds to CBN
to checkmate “lazy bankers”. As a meltdown threatened, he swiftly
reversed it. (I remember writing an article then, “For the fear of
death, we committed suicide”). Obasanjo was flexible. Buhari’s TSA has
starved the economy of “working capital”. You move all funds into one
account at CBN “to fight corruption” and start borrowing to pay salaries
and do projects. What’s that? With ICT, you can track public funds
wherever they may be in banks without TSA. Fact.
Focus on the future. Asked in the 1993
televised presidential debate if he would probe the military, Chief MKO
Abiola replied: “You cannot be running forward and looking backward.” It
would appear the core strategy of this government is to keep blaming
former President Jonathan from 2015 till 2019 or 2023. There is
certainly nothing wrong with reminding us that Nigeria would have been
better off if Jonathan had done the right thing in the time of plenty,
but, come on, Jonathan left power since May 29, 2015! He lost an
election because the majority of voters thought he was not doing a good
job, and they don’t need to be reminded about that everyday of their
lives. Focus.
Change style. Personally, I respect and
like Buhari a lot (my worst-kept secret). However, I really expected
more action from him. It is very frustrating. He is too distant from the
public and governance. He needs to engage more. He needs to communicate
more, and better. He needs to put his party, APC, in order. The party
exists only on paper. More importantly, he needs to foster political
stability, peace and progress. He needs to consciously re-build Nigeria.
Every part of Nigeria must have a sense of belonging. No part should
feel ostracised. He must respect the rule of law. This government is
full of lawyers but hardly obeys court orders. This is wrong. Change.
Culled from THISDAY
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