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By Oseloka H. Obaze
Nigeria’s democracy has advanced another year. Yet three years into
President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency, telling him and his team how
well or badly the administration has faired, remains a hot-button issue.
The opposition dwells on it. Nigerians regardless of social strata,
consider it topical at the coffee table or buka joint. The polls try to
stay neutral and reflective of the national consensus. Still as members
of the ruling party and Buhari aficionados underline the accomplishments,
they also upbraid anyone who says otherwise.
On the cusp of a general election year, what is required is unvarnished
assessments. Nigeria needs someone or persons who can tell the president
the truth, but not in President Obasanjo’s self-serving ways. Indeed,
PMB needs to know the state of play, as he seeks reelection, if indeed he
wants to correct past mistakes and move the nation forward.
To mark the president’s third anniversary in office, a public opinion poll
conducted by NOIPolls in partnerships with Gallup (USA), evaluated ten
critical governance and sectoral issues, and produced a cumulative result.
The president did not reach the fifty percentile mark in any specific
category.
The president’s highest score was 43% on security and his lowest 12% on
poverty alleviation. His other performance indicators ranged from 32% for
corruption; 34% for agriculture; 25% for healthcare; 21% for
infrastructure; 24% education; 16% for economy; and 15% for job creation.
Overall, the cumulative average is not-too-heartwarming. Bluntly, it
was non-stellar. For street voices in Nigeria there’s nothing to
celebrate. Then again, we must also consider that subjective core areas
like national cohesion, peace and stability, patriotism, dividends of
democracy and trust were not even ranked.
Looking forward, shall we tell the president he has not done so well
without encountering a hard push back? Who will tell the president that
our democracy, having arrived at the beyond nascent point, is experiencing
de-consolidation. In my recently published book, Prime Witness – Change
and Policy Challenges in Buhari’s Nigeria, policy performances relating to
these ten categories, amongst others, were similarly evaluated, albeit,
within the president’s first two years in office.
As I noted at a recent book presentation, my book, like every opinion
poll, and constructive assessment seeks to “analyze evolving policies from
the very onset of the Buhari administration; focusing on lessons learned,
missed opportunities and choices before Nigeria.” Undertaking such
assessment, more so, where it is non-partisan remains a national
imperative. Yet any foray into that realm is not for the faint-hearted.
On the balance, one must acknowledge on its face value, Minister Lai
Mohammed’s contention that “President Buhari’s administration had achieved
a lot in the delivery of dividends of democracy and campaign promises
despite the challenges it encountered in the last three years. We are
putting our nation on the path of sustainable growth an development,
diversifying our economy like never before, tackling corruption at its
very core and devising creative measures to secure life and property.” A
cogent assessment; but one with equally cogent flip-side.
As I observed recently, Nigeria’s democracy is foundering on the issue of
restructuring. The contending point; were Nigeria to be doing so well, the
clamor and clangor for transformation and restructuring would be at a
lower din and decibel. If our national debate and assessment of
government is dichotomous, reasons for such disposition abound.
Nigerians have become escapists in confronting critical national issues
collectively. Now, expediency and convenience decree compartmentalization
and sectionalism. Consequently, critical issues, “national questions, the
quest for parity in resources, and attachment to identity” suddenly and
conveniently become divisive, creating unwarranted dichotomy. Nonetheless,
the assessment of any leadership, more so in a democracy cannot be
avoided.
The observations and conclusions in my book are broad and the concluding
assessment pointed. Some who have read the book have chided my seeming
empathy towards President Buhari. One in particular, a revered “Silk”
hitherto a hard core Buhari supporter wrote, “It appears to me that the
marks…ought to be less charitable and patronizing than you awarded.” My
response is that my evaluation was of policies not personalities, even as
both often intertwine and are fungible.
Borrowing paragraph from my book might address and clarify the interface.
“Effective political leadership is generally perceived as one that
delivers on it’s promises. Statesmanship, on the other hand, entails
employing great tact in steering the affair of state and in better
management of unanticipated crisis that other leaders would have in
similar circumstances.” It’s pertinent to recall that even President
Buhari’s biographer, when confronted with a heady question on Buhari’s
presidency and leadership prospects, responded thus: “Whether he can
achieve further political change in Nigeria is hard to predict.”
So as we look back to President Buhari’s three years in office and look to
his next year or next five years, we must assess the state of play
forthrightly, and with hope. Yakubu Mohammed hit the bullseye with this
summation, “government usually gives hope that tomorrow would be better.”
His views dovetail well into my closing summation in Prime Witness:
“Buhari has the remaining part of his tenure to remediate his governance
style and redeem his already damaged leadership image. He can do so by
drastically altering his leadership style and running a much more
inclusive government, where a crop of bipartisan skilled personalities can
help him deliver his change agenda for Nigeria.”
Advisers around the president must accept that outside counsel or
criticism have their salient value and merit. They must also recognize
their unique role. They need to accept the ultimate public service dictum,
paraphrased thus; “I have one master, Mr. President. I have one mistress,
the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” They must serve both pari passu. That
considered, shall we all resolve to tell the president the truth. Things
ain’t as rosy as those in officialdom paint it. Nigeria and Nigerians can
do better. And Nigerians remain hopeful.
Here is the upshot of our present circumstances. As president, the buck
stops at President Buhari’s desk. He is the one Nigerians elected to lead
them. Not everyone who evaluates Buhari’s presidency constructively, or
even trenchantly is a traducer, detractor or opposition. Most speak truth
to power in order to better and save Nigeria. Many still believe in the
president as a change agent. Yet the realization persist that for
Nigeria, it is not yet eureka.
——–
Obaze is the author of a public policy book, Prime Witness- Change and
Policy Challenges in Buhari’s Nigeria, published recently by Safari Book
Ltd.