President Muhammadu Buhari
SATURDAY marked
the 100th day since President Muhammadu Buhari took over the mantle of
leadership in the country. For a journey of four years, the taking of
stock in just 100 days may seem too hasty. But it is the right time to
renew faith between the government and the governed; to redefine the
focus of government and make it sharper; to nudge it on where it is
considered to be going in the right direction and to call for caution
where the perception is that it is heading for the precipice. It
provides an insight into where the country is headed and how it can get
there.
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It
was always going to be a challenging journey for Buhari, given the
deep-seated rot left behind by previous administrations. What with
corruption, the perennial scourge of the country, reaching an all-time
high; insecurity, as exemplified by Boko Haram terrorism threatening the
country with dismemberment; the economy in a complete shambles
following unmitigated and crass mismanagement, an unprecedented
plundering of public treasury and the tumbling in crude oil prices,
crowned with the general mood of the nation, which has been that of
gloom and hopelessness.
Buhari’s emergence has not really
turned the country into an instant Eldorado but there are good signs of
things being done differently, a situation that has brought about a
change in perception, especially from the international community. The
country is now viewed with respect, instead of disdain. This is most
noticeable in the fight against terror, where the global community that
had earlier scorned the country, is beginning to court her friendship.
Promises of lending a helping hand are pouring in from Israel, the
United States of America, France and Britain, among others. Not only has
the US played host to the President but it has also donated $5m to the
campaign against Boko Haram, with further promises of access to weapons
that should help in putting Boko Haram to rout.
These are certainly
unquantifiable dividends that are a direct consequence of Buhari’s
sincerity of purpose. One of the first actions he took upon taking the
helm was to pay visits to the country’s immediate neighbours. These
visits did not only reawaken the interest of Cameroon, Chad, Benin and
Niger Republic, some of which have also suffered from Boko Haram’s
sanguinary escapades, but have actually engendered a new level of
commitment evident in recent battles against the terrorists. Having
failed in their bid to hold down territories and declare a caliphate,
the embattled terrorists have now resorted to suicide bombing.
In line with his avowed promise
to end the Boko Haram threat, Buhari did not waste time in ordering the
release of $21m, part payment of the $100m promised to the Multinational
Joint Task Force by former President Goodluck Jonathan, which was never
fulfilled. The money is expected to go a long way in equipping the
forces to be able to withstand the assault of the heavily-armed and
well-motivated terrorists.
His decision to relocate the
headquarters of the military command and control centre to Maiduguri,
the hotbed of the insurgency, has further reinforced government’s
commitment to the cause. Apart from replacing the hitherto ineffective
military chiefs, Buhari has also set a target of three months to end the
insurgency. These are the obvious things that were lacking before that
emboldened the terrorists and turned a rag-tag group into a veritable
fighting force.
On the economic front, the
President’s order that government ministries, departments and agencies
should operate a Treasury Single Account, domiciled in the Central Bank
of Nigeria, has made it easier to track government revenues and
eliminate corruption and opacity in the accounting system. This plugging
of loopholes for stealing government revenues has resulted in increased
remittances to the Federation Account and the allocations to state
governments.
Buhari’s searchlight on the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has exposed the stench of
corruption that had been denying the country the benefits of her oil
wealth. With the appointment of a new Group Managing Director, Ibe
Kachikwu, there has been a gradual restructuring of the NNPC to
streamline the oil business in the country. What has been obvious since
his appointment is the fact that, even with fallen oil prices, Nigeria
can still successfully weather the storm if public treasury thieves are
restrained. Buhari, even without a cabinet, has made strides in other
areas as well. After its criminal abandonment for four years, Buhari has
taken action on the United Nations Environmental Programme on the
remediation of Ogoniland, degraded by decades of oil pollution.
But we cannot be complacent about
Nigeria’s future. Nigerians are disappointed that the President appears
to be in no hurry to put his cabinet together, despite the urgency of
fixing the broken down economy. Many would-be investors are undecided
about what to do with their money since there is no policy direction
forthcoming from the government.
In the area of corruption, there
is no doubt that Buhari’s body language is already creating panic in the
polity. Many corrupt people are jittery and the hitherto dormant
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt
Practices and other related Offences Commission have suddenly woken up
from their slumber, chasing everybody at the same time, yet catching
nobody in particular.
Yet, what the country needs are
strong institutions and not strongmen. Rather than the seeming media
trial witnessed so far, Buhari has to strengthen the anti-graft
agencies, deliberately underfunded in the past, to be more effective.
Other constitutional bodies, especially the Code of Conduct Bureau and
Tribunal, should be overhauled for effectiveness. Nigerians want to hear
less of how much has been stolen; they want to see people being put to
trial and convicted in a court of law after their alleged corrupt acts
had been properly investigated. There must be a departure from the
tradition which has seen no big fish clamped into jail in the past
decade despite the enormity of corruption in the country and the empty
clattering surrounding it. Buhari’s government will surely lose so much
credibility if crooked politicians, shady business people and corrupt
public servants are allowed to escape justice.
As the country moves on after the
first 100 days, there must be concrete signs that Nigeria is in safe
hands. Buhari’s personal integrity is important, but it is not enough.
It is critical for the Buhari administration to strengthen institutions
that promote accountable and transparent governance, to support enduring
rule of law, good governance, and enduring peace. Governance should
have a national outlook based on merit, equity and balanced
representation. Based on his inaugural pledge of “I belong to everybody
and I belong to nobody,” Buhari must sufficiently guard against being
“captured” by any religious, ethnic or political group.
The government has to come out
with a clear blueprint on how to reinvigorate the economy for job
creation and poverty reduction. The oil sector has to be properly
streamlined, while the fight against corruption and waste should begin
properly. There should also be proper focus in the power sector without
which the economy would only be moving in fits and starts. Buhari’s
government must get a handle on insecurity and end the insurgency,
without which very little can be achieved.