The anguished expressions of a forlorn-looking population ensconced in the economic dialectics of demand and supply bedeviled by a rapacious horde of marketers intent on stamping their authority and leaving indelible imprints of suffering occasioned by consistent arm-twisting of the government of the day in this internecine power play between government and the private sector whose only unwilling victim is the masses all leave a sour taste in the mouth.
Within the penultimate week, Mr President had embarked on yet, another unjustified columbic exercise. This time; to attend the Nuclear energy summit. What is most baffling is the timing of the latest visit. A time Nigerians are groaning from avoidable economic woes exacerbated by the apparent total collapse of the power apparatti in the country and excruciating fuel scarcity. The least that is expected of Mr. President at the moment is at least some sort of empathy for the citizens who he was elected to lead. Unfortunately, the new found junketing hobby of Mr. President makes this totally impossible.
Within a week, three of President Buhari’s aides dropped alarming clangers in their response to sensitive issues in the country. First, was Mr. Ibe Kachikwu who glibly exclaimed that he is no magician and that Nigerians should endure the lingering fuel scarcity till May. This rather reactive statement from a very accomplished professional like Mr Kachikwu is symptomatic of a man under immense pressure. Being the Minister of State for Petroleum simply means that he takes direct orders from the President who is the substantive Minister. It is therefore curious to see how he brings his wealth of experience to bear under the present situation. He must have felt riled by the barrage of criticisms he gets daily as a result of ineptitude of the beleaguered down -stream sector. His comment must have therefore been made in the light of the President’s firm grip on policies in the sector.
Within the same period, the Presidential aide on the Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa also made baffling comments in response to a tweeter user on her handle that suggests that the government does not give a care in the world about whether its citizens in the diaspora return. Coming at a time when the nation is clamouring for foreign Direct Investment from anywhere to address the niggling unemployment in the country, more is desired.
The Presidential aide on Media, Mr. Femi Adesina had also within the same period, in a widely televised interview, in a brash and rude manner, told Nigerians complaining about the power sector to go after the vandals. Mr. Adesina’s latest rant is not surprising given his penchant to argue ad hominem whenever a sensitive discourse requiring tact and wisdom is placed on his table as the President’s image maker. Both Kachikwu and Dabiri-Erewa have “apologized” for their un-warranted outburst while Mr. Adesina is still preparing the next rant to dish out to his master’s traducers in the wake of the nation’s lingering crises. One is yet to see a sincere appreciation of the suffering of Nigerians by this administration. The aides have taken it upon themselves to be reactive rather than proactive in their approach to sensitive issues.
President Buhari in his very short stint so far has travelled to 21 Countries with an average flight time of approximately 199 hours and has spent about 64 days outside the shores of this country and covered a distance of 160, 760.72km. The strain of this development on tax payers’ money is better imagined. Mr President has within this short period travelled to France, USA, Germany (even if he called it West Germany), UK, Iran, Qarta, UAE, Saudi Arabia , Egypt, Ghana, Niger, Ethiopia, Kenya, Chad, Benin Republic, Malta, South Africa amongst others. These visits have been rationalized on so many high-falluting and colourful fronts ranging from anti-corruption , economic pacts, investment drives among others. Whether they have been justified in the wake of the glaring crises in the country at the moment is yet to be seen. Mr. President’s latest globe-trotting spree respectfully betrays a man out of his depth and smacks of incapacity in addressing the teething problems of this country. Mr. President chose to attend a Nuclear energy summit. I would not even bother to dwell on the ludicrousness of the timing of such travel since it is obvious. However, the fact that Presidents in the comity of Nations attend summits in which their respective countries have some form of utilitarian value to gain from such exercise.
Summits are not attended for the fun of it. Nigeria has no repository of Nuclear elements nor a Nuclear energy super power to have had such an honour extended to it. Secondly, what utilitarian value would the country reap from Mr. President’s jamboree to justify this brazen and flagrant expenditure of tax payers’ money? Is it electricity or railway system? None has been given, none is suggested. Attendance at such summits is usually concluded with the signing of pacts among the attendees. Mr. President is yet to brandish any as a trophy so far to justify his latest convenient junketing.
So, on what premise did the President attend? Nigeria is not the Super Power whose input into such a sensitive summit would be required by the G8. Little wonder then that no one saw Mr. President active in the deliberations. A picture of the summit showing the American President, German Kanzler, UK Prime Minister , French President among others went viral and I did not see my darling President. Mr. President only appeared in the group photographs of the attendees and a personal Photograph exchanging warm hand-shakes with President Obama. So, what exactly did my President go to do at the Nuclear Summit? To solicit for investors? Mr President was not one of the key note speakers at the event, so it is a hard sell to even suggest he had gone to lobby for Foreign Direct Investments since it would be extremely ridiculous to bring up such discussion at a Nuclear Energy Summit. The President could have been more than ably represented by either his Vice President who is an astute lawyer and more informed about the dynamics of international politics than the President himself. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is also there to be nominated for such assignments.
Given the President’s very enviable record of globe-trotting so far, it is difficult, if not outrighlty impossible for the President to appreciate the excruciating suffering faced by Nigerians.
How does the President appreciate the man hours lost by Nigerians daily in search of fuel? How does he appreciate the fact that a litre of PMS now sells for between 300-400 naira depending on your location? How does the President understand that prices of goods, grains and groceries have risen in astronomical proportions when he remains intent on beating the records of Christopher Columbus? One wonders whether the coziness of the exotic Presidential jets Mr. President flies in, in his numerous travels would make him appreciate just a scintilla of what the average Nigerian faces daily in the herculean quest for survival.
The President has been embroiled in a power tussle with the legislature over his assent to the 2016 budget which has been passed at last by the Upper Chamber and has vowed to withhold his assent to the Bill if details of the Bill are not sent alongside the Bill. While one commends this quest for transparency particularly regarding the macabre dance of chicanery and subterfuge that has attended the passage of the controversial bill, one can hardly defend a President that has literally left his subjects in the lurch since any vociferous agitation in favour of the President’s rather hard-line stance over the issue would be defeated by his globe-trotting itinerary. The President has in his infinite wisdom refused to convene an economic summit to forge a path-way for economic development. The much bandied Economic Town hall meeting appears to have been swept under the rug.
Mr. President upon his return from his latest jamboree, repeated what is fast becoming a mantra for his party to wit; blaming the past government for Nigeria’s economic woes. This was repeated by both Senator Bola Tinubu and the party almost simultaneously at a public function. How long the present government would continue to blame its predecessors for their brazen ineptitude is unclear. Suffice it to say then that the present government is overwhelmed, incapacitated and hamstrung to perform their constitutionally assigned duties as a result of their own pre-conceived and pre-contrived excuse to abdicate their responsibility. If the rot in the power sector and the down stream sector right now is not enough to convince any one of the glaring un-preparedness of this government to govern, then nothing else can.
Mr President must realize that the enormous task of governance before him is not a cake walk. Manifestoes not backed by a rigorous action plan are nothing but mere flatus vocis (empty words). The present government is already equivocating on its manifestoes less than one year into its perch at the helm. The earlier President Buhari realized that his “honey moon’ period is over, the better. Time is ticking…..
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