Nigeria From Buhari’s Lens
INFOMEDIA In an era where Nigeria found itself in a tight spot, possibility as unlikely as it its opposite. The nation having been ushered into the aegis of independence for well over five decades, but still grappling with itself and against external forces. Since after the floating of democratic system of administration, four years into it, a man took it upon itself to salvage the country from the intricacies of bad governance. Muhammadu Buhari came in to the political landscape, critical of the then sitting government he was, which soon bought him the hearts of the masses. Everyone saw a Messiah in him, who once served as a military head of state, though his regime was short-lived.
The masses he represented bought his idea of changing the tides of leadership and direction the country was pacing at, good governance was paramount in his preaching. The task then he continuously emboldened himself he would shoulder, regardless of external forces. After trying three times and failing to emerge winner at the polls, and concede defeat in none.
Still he was unable to convince the court, then the grounds finally shifted in his favour, truncating the incumbency of Goodluck Jonathan. An election he won after tortuously campaigning in all the 36 states of the federation. President Buhari was regarded as the beacon of hope, the Nelson Mandela of Nigeria. Revered as one of the best leaders Nigeria ever had, until the narrative recently shifted against him.
The mantra, Change Begins With Me took the whole country to attention the day President Muhammadu Buhari took to the podium to unveil his stance on the way forward.Regardless of his bluntness, Nigerians took it to heart to readjust when it was still freshly cooked and served to them. Soon afterwards, the narrative changed and once again, everything became business as usual. The reset button was too farfetched. Things are better said than done.
The talebearers of the man steering the affairs of the country couldn’t change themselves, save for the word of the mouth which Nigerians have since outgrown. The flagrant bastardization of the system has continued to desensitize and endanger the lives of the populace—puny with the burning desire for change.
Nowhere in this world can a leader change his people without enshrining the need for it among his cohorts. The political will to turn things around has yielded a result that is below average, rendering the presidential lens bleak.
The closure of land borders by the Buhari-led administration having earlier taken a toll on the economic activities within and beyond the territory, took them time to rethink and re-evaluate their misstep. Rather, I’ll call it ill-timed, when the country’s economy was battling to stay afloat, for the purpose it was meant for couldn’t shift the grounds. Whatever the purpose, be it to revamp the ravaging effects of insecurity or boosting agricultural production.
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The former hasn’t laid a major dent on the unruly activities of bloodthirsty bandits and insurgents, while the former further decimated the nation’s food security. Many are still struggling to feed themselves due to the skyrocketing in the price of food products.
With well strategized government policies, beyond paperwork and endless meetings, would not only change the narratives, but reinstate the people’s confidence through good governance as earlier promised. The sadly lacking national ideology and patriotic leaders have been on a relentless bandwagon ride. If the neglect doesn’t cease, then the things we identify and hold dare as a country would continue to nosedive.
A bolstering confidence was put on the current administration to remove the cancer of corruption which is still festering, and in a speed-of-light pace. The steroid and armour currently used in anti-graft war is waning, direly in need of strategic changes.
Creating employment for the teeming youths has always been a tasking job for every government.
The unveiling of the NSIP programme by the Buhari-led administration through the NPOWER proved fairly successful, for it was able to engage half a million youths where they received monthly stipends. Until recently, the beneficiaries were disengaged, with the plan to engage more. If this disengaged youths are not given something to fall back to, it would be like giving with the right hand and taking back with the left hand.
This administration having exhausted almost three-quarter of its time on the helms of the country’s affairs, and majority of the populace still yet to make sense of its direction, a lot is amiss. It may be save to say that President Buhari’s lens from the onset had set out to solve droves of problems, giving attention to a lot at the same time, risking many loopholes and leaks in his offering. For the remainder of the tenure, the government would continue to be a subject of discussion.
The remaining juggernauts in the almighty APC fraternity and their cohorts, their repertoire blame games on their predecessors having recently waned, laying the claim that they dexterously curated the rot we found ourselves in.
The mantra of change couldn’t be any better than the feet the government have achieved in terms of capital projects. Infrastructure being one of the key campaign promises to Nigerians, visible to naked eyes in various parts of the country. There have not been a time Nigerians enjoyed the dividends of democracy like they had in the last six years, some Buharists would say, almost taking the bully position while slice and dicing the ineptitude of the first sixteen years into the inception of democracy. Regardless of his weakening public approval, President Buhari have been fortunate enough, for his diehard supporters still hold him to great reverence.
By now Nigerians have learned to take not politicians seeking public positions for their sugar-coated words, but their ability to deliver them from the darkness of political effrontery. Nigerian beyond doubt knows that leadership qualities are better shown by practice, rather than by a well-practised speech.
