NIGERIANS AND POLITICIANS; MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN? TIME TO ACT.

Nigeria’s democracy in all ramifications is still an evolving one, how the country intends to get it right and take it to a level which would present Nigeria as a serious and responsive form of government to its people remain abysmal. For eighteen years, Nigeria has experienced tremendous progress as far as democracy is concerned in terms of gains and dividend of democracy a lot of water has surely passed under the bridge. It has however been a tale of merry-go-round as we are still struggling to get it right. Our nascent democracy arguably, is nothing worthy to celebrate bearing in mind events and happenings around us. Like in every other democracy around the world, politicians come up with promises and mind boggling manifestos to entice the populace and sometimes sweet talk the electorates to vote for them and the party they represent.  Voters were left in bewilderment as promises are broken, voices changed and excuses flow from right to left after claiming victory in the elections in which they have promised heaven on earth.

During the last presidential election in Nigeria and the subsequent inauguration of the All Progressive Congress party APC, Nigerians saw a future in the party, a deviation from the way things are done. Change was beaming straight into everyone’s face. From all indications, Nigerians were tired of the 16 years rule of the incumbent party- the People Democratic Party PDP, a party formed in 1998 shortly after the demise of the ex military ruler General Sani Abacha when there were clear indications the military were ready to hand over to a civilian government having held on to power from 1983 when General Muhammadu Buhari the then head of state seized power from the last civilian president of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. PDP as a party was having it all good and even claimed they would rule for 100 years without any interruption from the opposition being the largest political party in Africa according to them. As fate would have it, PDP was kicked out by the newly formed APC which was little less than the merger of some major opposition parties to form a mega party in 2014 with the main aim of wrestling power from PDP under the then President Goodluck Jonathan, a former Vice President who became president after the demise of his boss Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’adua.

The purpose of this write up is not how APC got to power or the power plays that sprung up leading to the defeat of the PDP under Good luck Jonathan in 2015. This is primarily focused on the activities of politicians in which the electorate entrusted their future and that of their generations unborn. Shortly after the inauguration of the Buhari’s administration in May 2015, Nigeria’s expectations began to whither as days run into weeks and weeks into months with no immediate move by the president to form his government. The hitherto body language effect the president enjoyed shortly after winning the election in which things began to have a positive changes in power generation and sudden revival of Port Harcourt refinery which was completely left to decay for years started working. They were efforts put in by the GEJ administration in its quest to transform the sectors and started yielding fruitful results just after the election. The effect of not hitting the ground running will soon take its toll on the economy and other sectors as things became to take downward trends. Instead of pacifying and explaining what the government was doing underground or behind the scene, they came all out putting blames on the previous administration and often times compare the country to a defected building that needs to be demolished and a new structure put in place. How things will have to get very bad before they eventually becomes new. The armies of their online supporters never ceased to illustrate how the past government looted the treasury empty and how they made it seem nothing was left even the oils wells were taken away by the past administration.  Also, we were lectured on how the president was waiting to pick the best of the best ministerial appointees as the reason behind the delay in “the list” of the super ministers.  In the middle of this whole trade blame was Nigeria, her economy, and everything government suffering immeasurably. The pictures of frozen refrigerators and complaints of people having “too much” of electricity soon turned into general cry of total black out as total collapse of electricity grid resulted in power outages and national power generation failure rages on with no hope in sight for the common man.

Fast forward to several government that were inaugurated after 2015. We have seen how advanced democracy in the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom and recently in France where it never took more than a week or two before appointments were made and business of government commenced almost immediately after inauguration. How do one compares these countries handling of their democracy with that of Nigeria. Despite waiting for as long as 6 months to pick the best of the best candidates for the ministerial post what we were offered were the old brigades of politicians who have been in one government or the other since the 80’s. We also had instances of where an individual was made minister over three most sensitive and important ministries of Power, Works and Housing. As if that isn’t enough those who have little to nothing knowledge or experience to manage the economy were put in critical position to run the economy.  The result of that is not far fetched as we found ourselves in a deep recession which we are still battling to come out from.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Buhari administration came with goodwill and the feelers were Muhammadu Buhari as an upright and trusted individual that can cure the endemic called corruption which has eaten deep into the psyche and ways of Nigerians.  Having enmeshed in various corruption allegation levied against members of the Jonathan’s administration the electorate had no reason to doubt that only Buhari with integrity and moral uprightness had the capability and capacity to fight corruption to a standstill. This however has not been met with outright support from Nigerians as the people wake up each day to new revelations of corruption allegation at the presidency and with the levity with which the president handled the matter. It took the organized civil society groups and well meaning Nigerians before Aso Rock take the bull by the horn too investigate which eventually resulted in the suspension of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF Mr. David Babachir Lawal, and that of the Director of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency NIA Mr. Ayo Oke whose wife’s property were found foreign cash stashed running to billions of Naira.

Nothing better describe the nepotism that’s going on in various government agencies and parastatals as many of them were involved in shady, secret and illegal hiring of children of their top government officials and associates into Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, Federal Inland Revenue Service FIRS, The Department of State Securities Service DSS etc. With the entire allegation against these agencies the government has never deemed it fit to investigate the allegations of illegal recruitment into these government establishments particularly as it negates the principle of federal character commission.  Helpless and disadvantaged Nigerians wallow in unemployment and job losses but the privileged and advantaged ones gets juicy and lucrative jobs through back doors with no regard to their plight.

There are countries facing the same challenge as that of Nigeria as far as democracy is concerned but their leaders find a better way to speak to the minds of its citizenry. In Nigeria the reverse is the case, we have presidential media aide telling Nigerians on National radio those suffering in Nigeria are the opposition apologists those who didn’t vote for the present government. A situation where such spokesperson saying Nigerians should be grateful they could still afford to buy a bag of rice for N18,500 in the midst of the recession brought upon us by the same government in power. One minister was quoted as saying Nigerians eat too much of rice hence the reason why price of the commodity went up as far as N25,000 at some point. These are wicked and insensitive way of addressing issues especially when it concerns every citizen of the country. Politicians should find a better way to express themselves in times like this not divide the country along party, religion and ethnic lines. It will not do the government any good as they are midway to their tenure already. More is expected from our elected leaders and their appointees; they should learn how to pacify aggrieved sides of the divides not heat up the polity with their unguarded statements.

Sometimes last year, the  president Buhari government came up  with the slogan ‘Change Begins With Me” an ideology to make us change the way things are done, the way we see things and our general attitude to everything around us vis-a-vis what is expected of Nigerians. One would thought there will be a change coming from our leaders which in turn wash down to the followers, but in actual fact, emphasis were laid upon citizens changing themselves more than those elected to propagate change , those who preached change and are expected to practice change. The idea as far as Nigerians are concerned is dead, in- fact, assumed dead on arrival by Nigerians. Not only that nothing changed at the top, from the budget passed which was characterized with budget padding and addition of multiple items with different figures in some ministries and even at Aso Rock budget., but with same body language of waste and unnecessary spending going on at the top. Today Change Begins with Me is not only dead but buried going by what is obtainable today.

Our politicians need to start taking us seriously especially knowing that the world is a global village. Other countries practice of democracy can be easily studied and followed thanks to internet and online news. We are no longer unaware of happenings around us, democracies around us are evolving daily. Things should be done in accordance with the principle guiding democratic order.  Both the national assembly and the executive need to know they are being watched and the time will definitely come when they will be demanded of their stewardship to us and the country. The government of the day stil have ample opportunity to make things right as 2019 is drawing closer. The journey to another election has begun and Nigerians are wiser than they were in 2015. Propaganda will no longer work. People now know better. Democracy as defined by the great Abraham Lincoln is the government of the people by the people and for the people. It is not a government of the few for the few as we currently have. Every Nigerian deserves better. Only time will tell, if things are done differently between now and first quarter of 2019 when another round of election shall take place. Either we decide to stick with this government that has done nothing but subject Nigerians to abject poverty and sufferings all round or embrace a real change- a deviation from the normal, from the old order to a new one for all.

Resource Control; In Whose Interest.

Over the time, Nigeria has been in a state of big fish eats the small fish and the big fish takes care of the remaining small fish with the hope of eating them up at a later stage. It is without a doubt that over concentration of power at the centre is the bedrock of the challenges Nigeria is faced with. After the indepence, the Nigerian nation comprises of  three geopolitical regions; the Western region, Eastern region, and Northern region. The Northern People’s Party which represented the interests of the predominantly Hausa and Fulani Northern region, the national council of Nigeria citizens represented the predominantly Igbo Eastern Nigeria, and the Action Group which dominated the Yoruba western region were the major parties and controlling their respective regions. The NPC took control of the federal parliament, and formed a coalition government with the NCNC. Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, leader of the NPP, was believed to be favourite to become the Prime Minister, but instead he chose to become the Premier of the Northern Region, and instead supported his deputy Alhaji Tafawa Balewa candidacy for Prime Minister. Despite some resentment from the West and Eastern region with this choice, Tafawa Balewa of NPC was named Prime Minister and Head of Government, and Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe of NCNC was named president of Nigeria.

The purpose of this article is not entirely centered on how Nigeria government operates in the pre and post Independence political arrangement of the country. But one cannot but revisit the history of the country to know how and when it all began and the need for Nigeria to refocus and change from the present form of government which seems to benefit the government at the centre at the expense of the states and local government- the closest government to the people. The regional governments which heralded the Nigeria republic in the 60’s was and still regarded as the best for the people in that at that time there seem to be competitions among the constituent regions. The west, the Eastern and the Northern region were all out to outclass the other in terms of developmental and grassroots politics.
Before Oil was discovered in commercial quantity in Oloibiri in the present Rivers state in 1967, it was first discovered in the 50s in the West in Agbabu in the present Ondo state although its constituents and economic viability wasn’t encouraging and is what is today’s advancement discovered as bitumen deposit. In fact, its regarded as the second largest bitumen deposit in the world behind Canada. The west was predominantly known for its agricultural produce, Cocoa, Kola, Oil Palm etc were the basic source of revenue in the western region then. The premier Chief Obafemi Awolowo practically did all the infrastructural developments in the old western region then from Cocoa and made Nigeria the largest producer of Cocoa in the world at that time.

In the East Rubber and oil palm were mostly their source of revenue and major provider of the funds used in developing the area. Most of the infrastructural development of the region was mainly from agricultural produce. The same could be said about the Northern region the pyramid, cotton and other crops were used in developing the areas by the Ahmadu Bello administration as the premier of the region in the early 60’s. This was a Nigeria the british colonial masters handed over to us and was managed by our ideological and resourceful Chef Obafemi Awolowo, Ahaji Ahmadu Bello, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and others who fought for the independent Nigeria.

Today, the Nigeria we have is the one who rely on oil and oil alone. The moment oil was discovered in commercial quantity everything changed oil money blind out leaders the military government that forcefully took over government in 1966 and held on to it till 1979 had so much wealth to throw around. Money was coming from left and right from the sale of crude oil in the Niger Delta region- the old Eastern region the present day South South part of Nigeria. The Nigeria of today with 36 states and a Federal Capital in Abuja depend solely on oil from one part the south-south. The remaining states forgot the resources they have. They could not think of what else to do in generating revenues for themselves. Apart from basically, Lagos, Delta, Rivers and Ogun states. Most of the states are barely able to sustain the running of government. They are struggling to even pay civil servant salaries with some owing up to 6-7 months with the global fall in crude prices reducing in monthly Federal allocations to state and inability of the country to produce the quantity of crude production like before due to the Niger Delta militancy activities.

There has never been a better time for Nigeria’s government to think of changing the perspective of a Presidential form of government or at least allow states to handle their individual resources for the betterment of its people. Most countries around the world no longer operates the kind of government that gives so much to centre while depriving the regions or states in Nigeria’s case of major treasures. The United States of America which Nigeria is kind of emulate in terms of government style Presidential government with bicameral legislature has 50 states and each of the states has its own way of making money for its people and still remit some of the earnings to Washington to run the country.
Why do we have an education minister who doesn’t have any school to supervise, why do we have an Agriculture minister who don’t know how an Osun state government handles its agriculture or in Ondo state to know how cocoa plantation farmers gets what they want to improve on its production. There are basic things the federal government can handle like currency, power, Immigration etc and the rest given to states to handle. The federal government will have less to worry about and have enough to pay its work force and be able to handle more, less cabinet, reduction in cost of running the government at the centre.

 During President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure there were several court cases instituted by states as regards resource control and Lagos state being an advocate of this and state policing made the agitation very intense by its attorney general and commissioner for justice Prof. Yemi Osinabjo the present Vice president of Nigeria made very popular back then. We now begin to wonder why the Vice President would not at least make that an agenda to be considered as they are now in power at the center. Based on this, the issue of state policing should be of paramount interest of the vice president. It doesn’t really make sense for someone to be sent from Kano to come and adequately police a River state a terrain or environment he is never used to.

A country of over 170 million inhabitants cannot rely solely on the center seems weak and burdened with the challenges of  following up on every issues from Power to education, Mineral resources to sports with basically Ministers who knows next to nothing about the ministries they are supervising.  A great philosopher once said you cannot keep doing same thing over and over again and expect a different result. We need to deviate from the normal which has hitherto brought us nowhere. Things have to be done differently to expect different result from the status quo. Decentralisation, regional governments, resource control or more power to the States whichever way the decision on the nomenclature will be, it is okay as long as it gives owner of resources the opportunity to have reasonable control on natural resources given them by nature. The APC led Federal government owes us a lot as to why they have suddenly gone silent on this topic. It was at the forefront of this agitation during their campaign and as opposition in Nigeria. The south-south and south west governors need to explain to us why they are suddenly satisfied with the status quo.

Questions need answers. And the answers are required now than ever before.


God bless Nigeria. God bless Nigerians.

Nigerias 2017 Democracy Day, What Are We Really Celebrating?

President Buhari

Every May 29th of the year is observed in Nigeria as the democracy day, historically, its the last Military junta headed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar handed over the mantle of power to the first democratically elected civilian government after over three and half decades of successive military rules that spanned from December 1983 when the current President, Muhammadu Buhari took over from erstwhile civilian president Alhaji Shehu Shagari in a military coup which ushered in series of events from then on till May 29th 1999 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in as Commander In Chief of the Armed forces of Nigeria.

This year's democracy day which comes up in few days has left Nigerians wondering whats in it to celebrate bearing in mind it will mark the second year anniversary since the present government was inaugurated after a keenly contested election between the immediate former president Goodluck Jonathan and the current ruler Muhammadu Buhari in March 2015. it was a precendeted election in the history of Nigeria and indeed in Africa bearing in mind the series of events and anxiety leading to the elections that saw the incumbent of the People Democractic Party PDP defeated by a newly registered party after a merger of several political parties mainly from Action Congress Of Nigeria ACN, All Progressive Party and several others formed a mega party christened The All Progressive Congress APC.

The election victory was received with all hopes and promises of better days ahead for Nigerians who at that time were tired of the status quo being given to them by the PDP who by then has ruled for 16 years and nothing positive to show for it at least according to the several publications and campaign promises put up by the then major opposition party APC. Wide jubilation erupted in almost every part of the country with so many referred to the candidate of the APC as the Messiah sent from above to change things for better. The change slogan was well accepted in every nook and crannies of the country with shouts of "Sai Baba" the preferred choice over a young and dynamic Goodluck Jonathan though seen as clueless and unable to run the affairs of the country with several accusation and counter accusation of corruption flying around his government.

As soon as the government was inaugurated on 29th May 2015 there was a huge sigh of relief across the country and Nigerians who could not wait to start seeing the dividends of all the promises the party offered during the campaign period. A lot of people were however shocked to see the government dragging its feet for over 5 months as the President couldnt even form his cabinet team thereby sending a lot of wrong signals to the people that things are not coming out the way they had expected. Things began to nosedive negatively in all spheres, economy was taking a down turn the erratic electricity supply that seemed a bit stable after the election which was quickly ascribed to Buhari's body language setting things in place quickly became worse in a short period. 

Its been 24 months now, and all the promises made for Nigerians are gradually vanishing right in front of them. The economy is its lowest with a current GDP of -0.52% for the first quarter of 2017 despite several assurances by the Buhari economic team that Nigeria will be out of recession by last December. Unfortunately, the current figures critically shows Nigeria is still deeply enmeshed in recession which it entered in the first quarter of 2016 and which was largely blamed on the past administration by the supporters and aides of the president. Things doesnt seem to be looking up in any way especially in terms of the economy bearing in mind the party promised a "real" GDP of 10% in its first year in power.

The president Buhari's government despite its failures in handling the economy and complementing on the gains of the past administration drive towards making Nigeria one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the first in Africa has been able to do so much in terms of security even though there are still pockets of internal security challenges especially in the North East by the Herdsmen and the challenges faced by militants in the Niger Delta region. More still needs to be done to assure the people of Nigeria of adequate security and safety of lives and properties in every corner of the country. The partial release of the abducted Chibok girls by Boko haram especially the 82 of them recently released in exchange for some top Boko Haram commanders is a good sign and a welcome development even though there are still several grey areas as regards the release and the inability of the government to allow the children back to their parents is still raising enough dust.

Top of the reasons why this year's democracy day celebration may not be well accepted by Nigerians is the well being of the president who is presently receiving treatments in an undisclosed location in United Kingdom. President Buhari has been sick for a while, although this is unexpected bearing in mind he is well above 70 years, but the handling of the whole sickness and the responses of the president's aides whenever questions come up as regards his state of health brings more to ponder on than answer. Some opponents of the President's policies are of the opinion that with the government consistent insistence of patronising the local products and utilising our own medical facilities instead of flying abroad for treatments that could be handled here at home believe that the president is really not practicing what he preaches. based on the" Change begins with me" programme launched recently by the government, it is imperative the president should have remain here while he is treated like every other Nigerian if the programme is anything to be taken seriously.

This year's democracy day will in doubt be a real test of popularity for the incumbent president to take stock, Nigerians are watching and taking note of every step and policies that has seen them going from frying pan to fire. Instead of trying to put more efforts in making the present dispensation work for all and putting smiles on the faces of the people, the president's aides and supporters are busy dishing out how the president will win another run of presidential election comes 2019 even when the president is presently incapacitated and seriously sick. His health should come first in whatever game plan or permutations they are throwing up at this decisive period of the administration. Celebrations of whatever form should be put on hold and efforts placed on alleviating the sufferings and hardship Nigerians are going through. Aso Rock needs to reassure Nigerians that they mean business.  Two years is enough to change the we things are done, two years is enough to have a directional economic policy which will guarantee a better future for the youths. Its not unexpected that there are agitations here and there as to what next after the change promised Nigerians. The time is now to place the country on the right path to glory which will make life meaningful for the people and make Nigeria a country we can all be proud of.