When Tanzanian president John Magufuli got down on stage to do push-ups to
\nwoo voters, few appreciated how serious he was about getting down running.
\nElected into office last October, Mr. Magufuli quickly earned the nickname,
\n“Bulldozer” for sweeping reforms of the chronically corrupt system and for
\nhis personal and administrative sacrifices. Upon assumption of office,
\nMagufuli quickly began personally vetting and banned all unnecessary
\nforeign trips. He cancelled the independence day celebrations which he
\nconverted to a day of cleaning in which he personally participated. His
\nbody language forced corrupt government hospitals that used to divert
\npatients, to instantly turn on functioning hitherto abandoned machines and
\nresume proper services.<\/p>\n
The Bulldozer has been so bent on cutting government expenditure and
\n“waste,” he even slashed government extras like the serving of tea and
\ncoffee. A one in a kind leader, Mr. Magufuli has been said to sneak around
\nincognito to personally discover infractions.<\/p>\n
Tanzania’s Bulldozer was so enigmatic that within his first months he
\ninspired a viral citizen social media campaign
\n<http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/dwayne-wong-omowale\/what-would-magufuli-do-ho_b_8950422.html>:
\n“*What will Magufuli Do*?” Tanzanians decided to straighten-up, tighten
\ntheir belts and be more disciplined, orderly and prudent in cognizance of
\nthe example of Magufuli the Bulldozer.<\/p>\n
While Nigeria has a new president who is radically different
\nfrom his predecessor, unlike Tanzania where a public change campaign was
\ninspired by example, the Nigerian government decided to launch its tailored
\ncampaign to force “reform” of the people.<\/p>\n
*Change Begins With Who? Which Me?*<\/p>\n
Last week Thursday president Muhammadu Buhari, PMB came out to launch
\nthe “*Change
\nBegins With Me*” campaign. People quickly remarked that the “me” appeared
\nto mean “you.”Counter campaigns like, “Change Begins With PMB” immediately
\nsprung up. While Buhari and his vice slashed their salaries upon assuming
\noffice and like Magufuli, slightly trimmed his ministerial cabinet, the
\npeople appear not to be convinced the president has done enough.<\/p>\n
With the launch of the self-change campaign in a nation in frank recession
\nwith untold deadly hardship permeating the land, the frustrated
\npeople appeared to be encouraged to shut up and fix something in their
\nvicinity or about themselves rather than look to the Buhari administration
\nto rain down the “change” promised.<\/p>\n
It’s really hard times in Nigeria. 4.6 million citizens have lost their jobs
\n<https:\/\/www.informationng.com\/2016\/08\/4-6-million-nigerians-have-lost-their-jobs-under-buhari-nbs.html>
\nunder the first year and half of the Buhari new government. This loss of
\nincome comes at a time when the pump price of fuel has been hiked almost
\n70% and the “Naira” state currency value has dropped to somewhere around
\n400 to a dollar, a 260% depreciation in value. There is no social welfare
\nsystem in Nigeria. Food is scarce as is hope.<\/p>\n
But what is more frustrating is that while the current Buhari government is
\nnot alone in mismanaging the economy into its current collapse, the
\npresident has not been seen doing enough to curb waste in his cabinet and
\nthe siphoning of government billions by the corrupt cabal behind Nigeria’s
\ncurrent woes.<\/p>\n
Not selling off 10 presidential jets inherited from his predecessor has not
\nmade Nigerians happy with president Buhari. The cost for maintenance of
\nthis exorbitant air fleet; the most elaborate in Africa and indeed many
\nnations across the entire world, runs into the millions of dollars
\nyearly… several millions would be recovered if most of these jets were
\nsold off. The Punch put the cost
\n<http:\/\/punchng.com\/fg-spends-n5bn-presidential-fleet-15-months\/> over the
\npast 15 months at 5 billion naira; that’s about 16 million dollars at the
\ncurrent bank exchange rate. It was expected that upon entering office, one
\nof the first actions of “Mr. Integrity” as Buhari was called, would be to
\nsell off the opulent fleet. It did not happen.<\/p>\n
*Oligopolies Cemented, Cabal Gifted Billions of Dollars By Buhari
\nGovernment*<\/p>\n
While Buhari’s policies appear to put Nigerians in chains, stripping the
\npoor masses and small businesses of equal opportunity while taxing them
\nfurther on every utility \u2013 with fuel price hikes, bank stamp duty and other
\ncentral bank racket charges, road use and phone data charges being
\nprepared \u2013 the cabal have not been asked to change, as they continue to
\nbenefit from the chronically embedded oligopolistic system.<\/p>\n
The strongly criticized
\n<http:\/\/www.marxist.com\/nigeria-buharinomics-halfway-measures-cant-solve-the-crisis.htm>
\nsudden
\nimport bans to allegedly “restrict Forex” continue a historic trend of
\nmasses-enslaving and impoverishing, politics-based promotion of
\ncabal-industry over small businesses.<\/p>\n
As was the case during the Obasanjo and other PDP regimes, the bans of
\nitems were typically those cabal like Dangote manufacture. Former U.S.
\nConsul General in Lagos, Brian Browne stated as cited in a Wikileaks cable
\n<http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-nigeria-dangote-idUSBRE88913U20120911>:
\n“It
\nis no coincidence that many products Nigeria’s import ban lists are items
\nin which Dangote has major interests. He has had success in blocking trade
\nand investment that might compete with his enterprises.” Concluding that
\nDangote is “harmful to Nigeria’s interests”<\/p>\n
As continues today, the Obasanjo government gave
\n<http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-nigeria-dangote-idUSBRE88913U20120911>
\n“Dangote
\nexclusive import rights to cement, sugar and rice, the cable suggests, in
\nreturn for Dangote’s support, including funding Obasanjo’s re-election
\ncampaign in 2003.”<\/p>\n
Obasanjo and Dangote are back in power through the APC, dishing out
\npolicies that will help the many cabal reported to be secret investors in
\nDangote’s business to continue to amass billions while cementing Nigerians
\nin poverty
\n<http:\/\/ends.ng\/cementing-dangotes-oligopoly-and-nigerians-in-poverty-cbn-bans-importation-of-cement\/>
\n.<\/p>\n
A recent report by Reuters
\n<http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-nigeria-forex-dangote-insight-idUSKCN0Z90G5>
\naccused
\nthe Buhari government of literally gifting Africa’s richest man and the
\nking Cabal, Aliko Dangote $100 million in just three months reviewed in
\nreleased central bank reports. That would equal as much as a whopping half
\na billion dollars that Dangote alone could have received in foreign
\ncurrency advantages given by the Buhari regime in a 12 month period. Small
\nbusinesses, Nigeria’s largest employers (employing 75% labor) were treated
\nthe opposite. They were put in chains.<\/p>\n
Change certainly does not begin with Dangote who is known to receive such
\ndelicious perks from all parties in government and to return favor by
\nsponsoring
\nthe political campaigns of all sides
\n<http:\/\/saharareporters.com\/2014\/12\/21\/govs-businessmen-others-donate-n2127bn-jonathan>
\n.<\/p>\n
The remaining disbursement of half-price government subsidized dollars
\nthrough Buhari’s first year in office has not been completely scrutinized
\nbut it can easily be extrapolated that other cabal likewise got juicy
\nallocations running into billions of dollars in free cash gifts from the
\nGodwin Emefiele-led Nigerian central bank while tens of thousands of small
\nbusinesses were abandoned to collapse and Nigerians were forced to chain
\ntheir pots.<\/p>\n
Nigerians are dying of hunger. And that’s literally. Hundreds of Nigerians
\nare dying of hunger daily not just in the war-torn famished northeast but
\nacross the nation. While the people are ready to change, the chorus on the
\nstreets and in the social media sphere has been, “not until Buhari and the
\ncabal are first made to change.”<\/p>\n
Dr. Peregrino Brimah; @EveryNigerian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Tanzanian president John Magufuli got down on stage to do push-ups to woo voters, few appreciated how serious he was about getting down running. Elected into office last October,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n