I was on the brink of tears as I stayed glued to the television, watching the maiden media chat of our beloved President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed and “Non-armed” Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I was impressed by the calm disposition of the President and the confidence and brilliance he exuded as he answered a barrage of questions from journalists paraded at the event. Hidden behind this self-assured mien is a seemingly troubled conscience because he was aware his responses were at variance with the facts on the ground. His responses failed to address the undercurrents. Our man just kept applying the typical bravado to give the impression of being on top of the situation.
“I am not reducing my cabinet strength” was an emphatical statement. A solid proof of someone well prepared and positioned for the job. It was not the type of political gimmick employed earlier in the contest for the coveted seat of Emilokan (it’s my turn); rather, the chat was positioned to prove that everything was cut and dry – the task, indeed, was to demonstrate governance skills and stamp that into our subconsciousness. The political craftsman deftly defended his life – suffocating reforms on which he scored himself high. Undoubtedly, some reforms were well thought out, and the anchormen were adjudged as round pegs in round holes. But Mr President was far from blowing our minds when he gave his workmen a hundred per cent score as if everything was working fine. He cleverly downplayed the multiple impacts on the already overstretched populace beaten blue and black by the masses – unfriendly policy. It is apposite to argue that the political elite is insulated from the ‘sacrifice to survive’ proselytization of the President as they continue to enjoy the perks of office without batting an eyelid. However, the attendant results are emotional pains endured by defenceless citizens and an economic quagmire without immediate remedy. Our President gloated with ease when he disclosed that he saw one of his friends who had five limousine cars and abandoned the exotic rides for the Honda series. I am sure as he knows and acknowledged that it was a bad turn of events when he, as our leader, cruised around with multi-billion limos with a retinue of backup-up vehicles and long convoys being maintained with public funds. Could that be said to be leadership by example? Yet, people must bear, people must endure. They must sacrifice while those elected by their franchise move around publicly insulting sensibilities with calculated affronts, without recourse to decorum as public officers to demonstrate what they are forcing down the throat of the masses.
The media chat aimed, to a large extent, to demonstrate further that our leaders are a special breed created to enjoy the life of royalty while superintending pauperized subjects confined to misery in a supposed attempt to clean up the stable.
Just as if to prove the President wrong, video clips of the economic affliction in the country emerged on social media, showing a 2-kilometre queue in front of the “Aso-Villa extension” in Lagos – the Bourdillion House lined up with poverty-stricken, ‘well-dressed’ beggars angling for food handouts at the President’s home on the eve of Xmas. At the same time, our leader was busy lashing out at the organizers of the stampedes in Ibadan, Okija, and Abuja for failing to take adequate measures to secure and control the crowd. The Bourdillon clips reflected meticulous straight lines enforced by a retinue of law enforcement officials maintained by the public treasury over the years, and not because of astutely crafted ingenuity or organizational ability of officials, but the manipulation of state craft to massage personal ego.
One needs to ask an honest question. President – Are you not embarrassed with the long queues – two kilometres with more people begging at your gate? Or do you consider it a thing of pride that your home is under siege by able-bodied men and women, stripped of their dignity by an unjust political-economic system? A country whose prospective productive assets are daily enlisting as scavengers, fraudsters and nuisance to the society?
Hapless and hopeless Nigerians who live their days on earth as “accursed” citizens begging for food on Xmas Eve! Sir, I wish to submit that it is not normal. Rather, it is a national shame of immense magnitude! It is absurd as it is offensive against humanity! Palliatives have never been a remedy for instituted suffering or fertiliser to grow the economy. It is rather a depressant with down-scaling implications.
Therefore, when the cabinet foot soldiers were given a clean bill of health as performers, it left a sour taste in the mouth of an average right-thinking person. And that hangs on our commander’s neck as baggage of verifiable lies and narration of immense contestation. Mr. President, this write-up is not out to contest the validity of your submission but to point out the dark spots on government policies that require deliberate effort to reduce hardship and handouts dependency by “commoners”, on the elites in the society. These home truths can stand your “renewed hope” slogan in good stead. Of course, truth is usually a difficult medicine to swallow. As a team leader, failing to acknowledge your administration’s shortcomings is tantamount to grandiose self-adulation. Deliberately, sir, I avoided using the words Ministers, aides, and all of that. I preferred to encapsulate all as cabinet’s foot soldiers to extend my reach even to the intelligence community and other service sectors in my critiques. Adopting foot soldiers seemed suitable for this discourse, while some of your portfolio’s men and women must be re-assessed. Some are with abysmal scorecards. Sadly, our media men at the parley failed to interrogate issues as diligently as required and to situate them in the proper context. Instead, they allowed the window dressing to continue throughout the 60-minute parley. They missed the privilege thrown at them by the host.
How can it be a good day for any sensible official to say he feels good about borrowing to invest in the capital market from our excess production? It has never been that bad as a nation for a government to celebrate foreign loans to finance a project that should be financed from within. I am trying to understand the logic. Though I’m not an economist, elementary arithmetic tells me that when developed countries borrow, they often do so from within. I was made to understand that they borrow from their currency. Though, I’m not averse to our nation borrowing from the currency they issued. I am unsettled with the tendency to borrow foreign currency to feed. This malevolent practice portends great danger to our economy and is an ominous sign of future crisis. Yes, it can be secretly done, but you don’t gleefully announce such a deal. That runs counter to good sense, if any. If someone is sick and needs blood infusion, and friends rally around to help, you do well to appreciate them without eulogizing it as the best day of your life.
Herein is my submission. This administration needs to run an economy so that we can generate capital for ourselves. There are visible steps in this direction. Unfortunately, I think the finance anchorman looks uncoordinated. Even though he is supposed to be the coordinator of the economy, he does not seem coordinated, according to my assessment. I believe if they coordinate well and work with the human and material resources in the country, we should be able to generate wealth from within. This is the defect I observe in this government, which they may find difficult to accept. They feel they are in a vintage position to understand the nuances of the economic policies.
On average, the shift from Presidential aloof-ment to Nigerians in the last one and half years to friendly chat is a good sign that we are being engaged as joint stakeholders. Mr. President was on track when he confirmed that the fight against corruption is a difficult task. The refrain from this is the euphoric phrase adapted from the civil war slogan of General Yakubu Gowon- “it is a task that must be done”. In his words: “Corruption cannot be eradicated, but shall be reduced to the barest minimum”. This submission is commendably forthright, as corruption is wiped out completely nowhere. The best in any circumstance is to tame it. Please give it to BAT; he brought on board men committed to the anti-corruption war, as the helmsmen of the two anti-graft agencies have shown they are committed to the work. Still, the big question is, is the environment conducive to battling economic criminals in all shades and forms? Besides these two anti-corruption czars, is there any indication that government leaders at every level, including the President himself, are genuinely committed to leading the war by unreserved support for the anti-corruption war and personal example? How about the underhand dealings still witnessed at the legislature and other critical institutions of the state?
A genuine anti-corruption war should harbour no sacred cow at the executive, legislature, or judiciary. Corruption enablers in Nigeria must be incapacitated, and obsolete laws must be obliterated and expunged from our law books. Presidential control of anti-graft agencies constitutes an anomaly. It should be relinquished. The legal profession should be sanitised, and sanctions should be served to erring lawyers seen as circumventing justice for corruption offenders in the public or private sector. Plea bargaining is a major energizer of corruption. It needs to stop. The civil service must be told unambiguously that it’s no longer business as usual.
Capital punishment must be defined as “Ghana and China’s” punitive measures. This will send jitters down the spine of those who consider the anti-corruption war a child’s play.
The energy sector is another area that deserves attention, especially the incessant collapse of our national grid. I often wonder how my country survives on the epileptic power supply. The generalised comments by the President that the government is cruising fine is not only a mockery of our situation but a grossly dishonest statement. How could that be related to the several industries relocating from Nigeria because of the unbearably high cost of operations while small-scale businesses are winding up daily? And yet things are okay and well, says our leader and President. It is in our best interest to speak well of our country but as it were, we are yet to see the green light.
On security, I’m sure no one is interested in chasing shadows or probing any of the security chiefs. We look forward to a secure architecture that protects lives and properties in the country. A situation where our defence budget has no significant impact on improving our security situation is highly concerning. Our dear President, we deserve and demand a more honest and transparent governance than you have given since the assumption of office. These should be our take-home from the chat; my sincere apologies, sir.
*Lanre Ogundipe, Public Affairs Analyst, Former President of Nigeria and African Union of Journalists, writes from Abuja.
