Governance and the management of the affairs of men has caused enormous
\nconcern across time and space. In Nigeria, for the past twenty-five years,
\nat least from the Second Republic, I have studied the anatomy of
\ngovernance and why some succeed and others fail. No leader is born,
\nalthough there are some characteristics that enhance leadership
\neffectiveness. Such characteristics may involve communication, ability to
\nunderstand the psychology of followers, inter-personal relationship, and
\nbeing humane. Other environmental factors that contribute to leadership
\ninclude: clear policy direction, well-articulated mission statement,
\nclearly defined goals, targets and more importantly transparent men to
\nmanage resources to achieve goals. All these can only operate within the
\ncontext of the rule of law.
\nDemocratic government, although necessary, is not sufficient to facilitate
\ndemocratization of power in the society; the latter requires political
\nstruggles and deliberate crafting of new institutions within the frame of
\na democratic government. Democracy also has no direct and necessary
\nbearing on a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and status in
\nsociety. Thus, democracy as a form of government, democratization of power
\nas a political process, and socio-economic democracy as a possible goal,
\nare analytically and empirically distinguishable. A democratic government,
\nhowever, may be seen as an improvement over the authoritarian governments
\nbecause people in most countries prefer a predictable to an arbitrary
\ngovernment, value the freedom of expression and association as ends in
\nthemselves, and increasingly hold that they have a right to have some say
\nin the selection of their political leaders.
\nIn every political economy, the solar plexus is the Economic Team, which
\nprovides a policy direction for the economy, manages it and points out
\npossible challenges in advance with a view to proffering solutions to
\nthem. While the Minister of Finance and the Economic team handles the
\nMacroeconomic policies of the State, the CBN takes care of the monetary
\npolicy of the Government. President Buhari is too busy with his lopsided
\nanti-corruption was that he has not spared a thought to this very critical
\nnexus between the technocracy and the health of the economy. President
\nBuhari may not have been told this sordid truth. That more than one years
\nafter assuming office, Nigeria has no economic team bespeaks his
\ninsensitivity on matters concerning the economy.<\/p>\n
It does appear that Buhari is incapable of providing leadership, he has
\nmade several promises which cannot be fulfilled. At some point, one would
\nsay President Buhari\u2019s thought processes have been beclouded by lunar
\namnesia, much the same way he is being consumed by the feeling of
\nself\u2026.Aribisala. Prototypical of a failing leader, President Buhari has
\ndenied all the promises made during his campaigns\u2026\u2026.NANS. The promises
\nverging on the FOREX regime, the Chibok saga, job creation and power
\nsupply among others. He said he would hold the rule of law sacrosanct but
\nthe body language of the President shows that he tramples on the rule of
\nlaw with impunity, violates court orders, and denigrates the judiciary and
\nother apparatus of State. The recent imbroglio in Abia State is a good
\nexample. It is trite and in line with the constitution that if a court of
\nlaw disqualifies a sitting Governor, he has 21 days within which to
\nappeal. In all the years I have sojourned on earth this is the first time
\nI see a judgment with the \u201cimmediate effect\u201d clause\u201d which smacks of a
\ntotalitarian regime dragging the judiciary into the murky waters of
\npolitics.<\/p>\n
Economic analysts are agreed that APC operates the worst economy in 43
\nyears; they have wrecked the Economy. Another innate tendency, which for
\nme is a hubris is the unedifying the practice of blaming Jonthan for all
\nthe woes of his ineptitude. The Nobel Laureate lamented \u201cNigeria\u2019s economy
\nis Bad, We need an Economic Summit—Wole Soyinka Another seasoned
\nbureaucrat Prof. Pat Utomi averred that Buhari does not understand the
\nworkings of the Economy. This perhaps explains why Buhari has spent $5.8
\nbillion on meaningless Foreign Trips while not punishing the APC members
\nwho passed a nudget that was padded to the point of overkill. For
\nPresident Buhari, his Fulani killer herdsmen are always right even if they
\ncommit crimes of genocidal proportion. A clergy man Cardinal John Onayekan
\ndescribed President Buhari is a liability to the Nigerian State.<\/p>\n
Under Buhari\u2019s watch, Nigeria is now a tale of unmitigated disaster such
\nthat a colonizing power \u2013 Britain could describe Nigeria as \u201cfantastically
\ncorrupt\u201d. But why not? Buhari\u2019s anti-corruption was is a political
\nvendetta, as only PDP people are being prosecuted. Buhari can unashamedly
\ninvestigate the campaign funds of PDP but has said nothing about the APC.
\nCrooks in APC are now being beatified while everybody of worth in PDP is
\npersecuted. Under X-President Jonathan, PMS sold for N86.50 per litre and
\nnow the President has officially announced that PMS is N145.00 per litre.
\nDuring the foreign exchange palaver, the CBN Governor Emefiele admitted
\nthat President Buhari and wife bought dollars directly from the CBN at the
\nrate of N197.00 Naira and re-sold the dollar for N374.00. Initially so
\nmany people regarded it as wretched piece of propaganda. We were wrong
\nwhen the President himself was quoted as saying that his children could
\nschool abroad because he could afford the foreign exchange, and that those
\nwho could not afford it should keep their children in Nigeria. Then it
\noccurred to me that the broom revolution had collapsed. If the President
\nof Nigeria could make a statement like that then Nigeria is finished. That
\nwas when the broom revolution was about nine months old.
\nBritain also alleged that under President Buhari\u2019s watch as President, $42
\nbillion had been fleeced away from NNPC. The Presidency and the massive
\nmedia apparatus in Aso Rock could not honour Nigeria with a paragraph of
\nrebuttal, tacitly confirming that the allegation is true, especially with
\nBuhari as the Petroleum Minister. Here and there we could notice visible
\ncracks of division in APC already, and a faction of APC has vehemently
\ncalled for the resignation of President Buhari because according to them,
\nhe lacks the capacity to govern. When ill-health is added to lack of
\ncapacity, the result can only be disastrous.
\nBuhari is the accredited inventor of the NIGER DELTA AVENGERS because he
\ncould not caution his Northern kinsmen to refrain from unguarded
\nutterances. The North claimed that the Niger Delta Oil belongs to them.
\nSurely, Nigeria\u2019s crude oil deposited in the Nigeria Delta belongs to all
\nNigerians but the solid mineral resources we find in all parts of Nigeria
\nbelong to where they are situated. It is injustice but we are watching.
\nNow the Nigerians know that if the production of crude oil stops, we shall
\nhave no budget and invariable the concept of ONE NIGERIA will be called to
\nquestion. Our economy is certainly not based on revenues from carrots,
\ncows, onions and beans.
\nThe South-South produces the budget of the Country but the North has
\ncontributed so much by sponsoring Boko Haram, a human hyena that has
\nsucked the blood of innocent men, women and Children. I see reasons with
\nBuhari for over-compensating the North. What is more, he has declared
\nAmnesty for Boko Haram yet Boko Haram has not stopped killing. The reason
\nis simple: Boko Haram \u2013 is like the donation of Northern Nigeria to the
\nnation. What a horrible donation my Countrymen?<\/p>\n
Buhari is still obsessed with the ills of the Jonathan administration and
\nby so doing, he is making Jonathan\u2019s image loom larger. Boko Haram is
\nriding roughshod and the bombs are dropping more frequently. More and more
\ninnocent Nigerians are abbreviated. The APC Apostle of change appears not
\nto be bothered. Indeed we have entered the era of change in the negative
\nretrogressive direction. Sometimes, one begins to ask; what manner of
\nchange is APC bringing to Nigeria? Is it the Zaria massacre that is the
\nchange or the Shiite Sunni division leading to killings in parts of the
\nNorth? Is it the change in the price of Petrol kerosene from N50.00 to
\nN85.00 which Nigerians buy in pains? Under the nose of APC, almost all
\nMNCs are sacking their workers, the few investors the past administration
\nbrought in are on the run; the banking industry is embarking on massive
\ndownsizing, even private companies are sacking because they cannot afford
\nto pay workers, yet electricity tariffs are jacked-up and this is likely
\nto precipitate a nationwide protest. That is APC\u2019s model of creating jobs.
\nLaughable!<\/p>\n
Nigerians are seeing a daylight dictatorial and tyrannical style of
\nleadership wearing the tattered garb of democracy. Most of his decisions
\nare unilateral, with little or no consultation and often titrated to
\nfavour sectional interest. The interesting thing is that Buhari has not
\nbothered about laying the foundations of the administration that would
\nchange Nigeria. Nigeria is basking in the euphoria of a brand new APC
\nPresident Muhammad Buhari has been sworn-in at the Centre and many
\nGovernors who are newly elected was sworn in more than two months ago. For
\nnow, the dominant Party is the APC. President Jonathan handed over power
\nto Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, and Nigerians will certainly hold the new
\nadministration to its campaign promises. In sharp contrast to the
\nPresident\u2019s inaugural speech, the appointments made so far show that
\nBuhari is implementing a policy of Northernization as change mantra. The
\nPresident said he he would appoint more notherners in government because
\nhe understands them and can work better with them.<\/p>\n
For now, the most knotty challenge to Nigerian\u2019s is the chaotic state of
\nour economy. Without recourse to the experience of professional
\neconomists, Nigerians are aware that Nigeria\u2019s over-dependency on crude
\noil is one of the age-long challenges we must overcome. The responsibility
\nof the APC government is to diversify the economy. Our over-reliance on
\ncrude oil has led to wide spread peculation. It has also turned Nigeria
\ninto a perpetual consumer nation, with a no-grow index in almost all other
\nsectors of the economy. True, the President Jonathan administration made
\nenormous progress in Agriculture and power, but the economic fifth
\ncolumnists daily wreak havoc to the economy.
\nAmidst this inequality, the North has produced about 98% of those who have
\nmessed up the coffers of the nation. Some of them now wear the toga of
\nstatesmen, but why not, with the huge monies they rack in to their
\noffshore accounts through their oil blocks. I must acknowledge that some
\nof these leaders are benevolent enough to use part of their loots to
\nsponsor politically-induced insurgency. Today, not even Buhari and the new
\nadministration can stop the menace. The Boko Haram they invented may
\neventually consume them. For the six years President Jonathan was in power
\nhe ran a war economy- an economy that bought more arms than built more
\nhospitals, rehabilitated more orphans than built more schools for the
\nalmajiris.
\nThe frustration is such that youths in the North are reported to be
\nburning down the houses of Senators. In the colony of leaders, we have
\nthose who are visionary but cannot work hard enough to actualize their
\nvisions. There are those who fly on the wings of courage, vision and
\ninspiration and being audacious, they fulfill even higher goals. The Niger
\nDelta Youths \u201cAvengers\u201d have been tempted to go back to the trenches
\nbecause of Buhari\u2019s inability to fulfil his promises.
\nThe Amnesty Programme is poorly funded. The Maritime University at
\nOkerenkoko is at the point of being scrapped. Most of the people-oriented
\nprojects initiated by the Jonathan administration are being abandoned.
\nNinety (90%) of oil blocks have been cornered by Northerners. I trust that
\nif these conditions are violated, Buhari\u2019s administration may be running a
\nwar economy on two fronts: from the dry arid sahel region to the oil-rich
\nNiger Delta on another. We can avoid this war economy by keeping the
\nMinistry of Niger Delta Affairs, NDDC and allow the Amnesty Programme to
\nrun. All these palliatives are to douse the potentially explosive
\nsituation in the Niger Delta, which of course will not stop a more
\ncomprehensive vehement agitation for total resource control or fiscal
\nfederalism. It\u2019s 25% derivation or nothing as recommended by the NATIONAL
\nCONFAB. Sadly, Buhari has not given even a casual attention to the
\naforementioned issues. He dreams corruption, talks corruption, chases
\ncorruption but there is a list of most Corrupt Nigerians given to him but
\nhe has done nothing with the G-7 list. Most of them are in Buhari\u2019s
\nCabinet. Sadly, Buhari\u2019s cabinet is inundated with corrupt people and he
\nis very happy working with them.
\nWhile Buhari is hounding the OBOTE MEN, the mistakes of ex-President
\nJonathan are becoming more conspicuous. The South-South is mourning as
\ntheir sons take turns to visit Kuje prisons on allegations of corruption.
\nThe most buffeting is the fact that Boko Haram killings have increased,
\ninsecurity is becoming more and more intense, the famed #chibokgirls
\nmystery is yet to be unraveled, the Cabinet has not been constituted and
\nhope appears to be fading even among the stubbornly optimistic. Buhari\u2019s
\nonly wisdom is to appoint Northerners and he does not think of Nigeria,
\nlet alone moving the country forward. It appears the PDP was right when
\nthey said the APC just needed power for its own sake; the members do not
\nknow what it takes to entrench good governance. Senator Tinubu just
\nconfirmed that when he said APC was just formed to take power from
\nPresident Jonathan. Nigerians are compelled to watch President Buhari as
\nhe implements a pro-North and anti-Niger Delta agenda.
\nAbout a year into the Buhari administration, the judiciary has been turned
\nup-side-down. All election petitions must favour the APC even though
\nevidences are to the contrary.
\nNot even one of the 81 promises made by Buhari during his campaign has
\nbeen fulfilled. In politics, promises are like debts and when they are not
\nfulfilled then one can say that it is fraud. Most Nigerians may be praying
\nthat the price of crude oil should diminish to $10 p\/b for that is the
\nonly way Nigeria can think of investment in Agriculture and embrace
\nindustrialization. By any known standard, Buhari as a primitive
\nfeudalistic hegemon, bereft of ideas and who is intent on taking Nigeria
\nback to the Stone Age.
\nI disagree because he addresses the United Nations and promises to fight
\ncorruption but the fight against corruption is not only lopsided but
\ncriminally conducted. If it were not so why will Buhari not declare how
\nmuch he has recovered from corrupt Nigerians? Why will he not probe the
\nApc Campaign funds while he is probing that of PDP? Why is President
\nBuhari running away from the Halliburton scandal? Why has Buhari-the
\nanti-corruption hero not probed some known cases of corrupt enrichment in
\nhis Cabinet even when the amount of monies stolen are mentioned?
\nPresident Buhari is killing the whole nation because a few corrupt
\nindividuals, like a demented farmer who sets the farmhouse ablaze because
\nhe has to kill a mosquito. Let no one be deceived that Nigeria is a
\ndemocracy. We are gradually taking a catastrophic dive into tyranny \u2013 like
\nAugusto Pinochet of Chile, Mussolini of Italy; Pol Pot of Indonesia and
\nother rulers who rode on democratic platforms to become full time
\ndictators. The President rules the nation with the rule of the thumb. To
\nhell with that wretched broom of infamy! How the hell has the broom
\ntransformed Nigeria into a \u201cfantastically corrupt nation in so short a
\nperiod? Many tongues are wagging! It is insane to burn the farmhouse
\nbecause of a mosquito.<\/p>\n
John Idumange is a public intellectual
\nJuly 1, 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Governance and the management of the affairs of men has caused enormous concern across time and space. In Nigeria, for the past twenty-five years, at least from the Second Republic,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n