Its been exactly 9 months and 15 days since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed the mantle of leadership as a duly elected President of the world’s most populous black nation. The wind of ‘change” some 12 months ago had engulfed the land like a behemoth. So pronounced was the pontification of “change’ that even the road side suya seller abandoned his fervent filing/sharpening of his knife to join in the chorus of either “SAI BABA” OR “CHANGE” to underscore the desire of every well meaning Nigerian to have a change of guard at the centre. Not even the screeching sounds of the hastily applied brakes of impatient drivers in the thronging city traffic particularly Lagos nor the blaring horns of commuters muttering gibberish and raining curses on other road users in the desperate bid to outsmart one another could diminish this clear message of ”change” being preached all over the land. I couldn’t forget that fateful day, March 16th, 2015 after the postponement of the elections as a result of perceived security fears, when supporters of the two major political gladiators stood toe to toe with each other and came up with different slogans & jingles in a bid to project their preferred candidates. Two of those slogans stuck to my memory namely; FEBUHARI & MARCH4BUHARI.
I had at about 8:45 pm on that fateful day left the office & gone to the popular Glover Court in Ikoyi to buy suya with a friend and wind down the escalating traffic at a nearby bar since the entire Awolowo road axis was blocked. In the course of getting our suya, I decided to feel the political pulse of the suya seller by teasing him with “SAI BABA’ and I immediately struck a chord in him as he lit up and responded in like manner. Not only did I have a hearty banter with him, I went home with extra suya to go with my chilled favourite Heineken beer. It wasn’t the volume of the decibel in the suya seller’s response, it was the unbridled emotion that went with his cheerful response laced with earnest anticipation and belief. Belief of good governance, probity and accountability; the missing tripod in successive governments.
The rancid campaign jingles of the then ruling party, PDP that was more focused on casting aspersions on the person of the Daura born soldier turned politician than to sell their own candidate, clearly endeared the latter to most Nigerians who felt slighted by the strange practice
Indeed and in truth, President Buhari’s looming persona more than any convoluted and I dare say, overrated whiff of popularity of the APC ensured President Jonathan did not get back to Aso Rock. Many Nigerians believed him to be a man of his words whether that would be translated to his style of leadership is left to be seen. Political parties the world over sell their party manifesto to the electorate during electioneering. For a party in the opposition, the APC was like the sought after bride. What with the decamping tsunami that hit the then PDP-led Government where politicians dumped the ruling party in droves to seek pastures anew in the APC. Political parties the world over, articulate their policies and programmes in their manifestoes which they sell to the electorates during electioneering. Given the myriad of socio-economic woes that has engulfed the country in recent years, it was very convenient for the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari to sell socio-economic policies to Nigerians. Whether it was just to curry votes of the citizens and no more is left to be seen. Policy directives such as the ones from the APC are usually well thought out and articulated with a clear road map for implementation and execution. Therefore such socio-economic blue prints like Feeding programme for school children, #5,000 stipend to the unemployed and job creation are articulated after taking certain factors into consideration particularly the demographic spread. It does not end in making a policy in vacuum just to curry votes.
The reality is gradually dawning on both Nigerians and the APC. Both the Vice President and the Minister of Information have glibly and blatantly denied, if not repudiated the manifesto of their party less than one year into the driving seat.
The fact that the President has about 5 media aides without an economic think-tank shows the said policies were not well-thought out. It shows for example that proper demographic analysis of those policies and due diligence were not carried out before the APC came on board with their change mantra. The wily Hon Minister for Information has in his characteristically rambunctious and combative self stated that the party would have to “down-size its promises”. As confident and bullish as this statement may sound, it sounds defeatist and an admission of gross incapacity coupled with a betrayal of the party’s glaring un-preparedness to govern. For a country whose economic fortunes are in doldrums, yet, whose number one citizen has developed a new-found hobby of globe-trotting, it is hard to see how the current tide of economic down turn could be stemmed. The President has boldly refused to devalue the currency but it is hard to see how he can steer the tempestuous economic ship of the country to safety without a competent economic team. His frequent peripatetic past-time would never afford him the time and opportunity to appreciate the economic issues facing the country.
One would feel some sort of sympathy for the present government given the blatant and unbridled sleeze that went down during the last administration some of which the nation is still reeling from but a government that pontificates “change’ needs to walk its talk. It doesn’t just end in wresting power from a sitting government under a democratic process, a well articulated thought process is needed to effect that much needed change. The body language of the government unfortunately betrays a glaring disconnect from the shared socio-economic anguish of the masses occasioned by dwindling business fortunes, loss of jobs, a floundering foreign exchange market and insecurity occasioned by unemployment. So, what has happened to the 2 million job promise? When will our unemployed population get their #5,000 stipend? When will our kids in school start getting their free lunch packs? Top ranking members of the administration have already denied, if not entirely repudiated the manifesto of the APC. So when are we getting a new manifesto from the ruling party?
Time is ticking….
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