Penultimate week, the Nigeria’s democratic
system elatedly clocked nineteen. Though the country had from the outset been
experiencing – at intervals – democratic leadership, it’s emergence in 1999
which marked the fourth republic hasn’t been interrupted till date.
This
signifies that we’ve thus far, since 1999, enjoyed an uninterruptible
democracy. It suffices to say that the style of leadership in question has
consecutively lasted for 19 years without interruption, hence has apparently
come to stay.
In spite of the countless challenges so far
witnessed in the country’s civil rule, there’s one big reason for the citizenry
to celebrate the aforementioned milestone. The reason remains that, the worst
democratic sphere is far better than the best autocratic rule or any other.
This implies that as we groan over the devastating
pattern of democracy being harboured in the most populous and popular black
nation, we ought to be consoled by the fact that democracy can never in any way
be equated with autocracy, hence are not unlike two parallel lines that have no
meeting point.
It would be recalled that the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) premiered the leadership of the ongoing republic. Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo was at the helm of affairs at the time. Nigerians were of the
view that soonest the country would be ushered into the long awaited Promised
Land. But pathetically, eight years after, no tangible development was
recorded.
The show
of uncertainty continued unabated till 2015 when a merger party branded as the
All Progressives Congress (APC) surprisingly unseated the ruling PDP via the
mandate of the people’s votes. The defeat was not unconnected with the fact
that the citizens yearned for a change having ostensibly gotten weary of the
PDP’s administration.
President Muhammadu Buhari who came on board
in 2015 under the auspices of the APC, celebrated his 3 years in office last
Tuesday. It’s worthy of note that prior to his victory at the polls, his party
was able to attract the attention of the teeming Nigerians with the aid of its
change mantra.
In his acceptance nationwide speech
after the election, Pres. Buhari pledged that, under his watch, the lingered
societal plights such as insecurity, corruption and epileptic economy shall be
addressed headlong.
Ironically, as the journey progressed
in the course of tackling the Boko Haram menace which was mainly occurring in
the North Eastern part of Nigeria, other security challenges abruptly sprang up
in virtually all the parts of the country.
In the area of corruption fight, he has succeeded
in minimizing some ugly situations that used to be the order of the day in the
public service through the fierce implementation of the Treasury Single Account
(TSA) and the Bank Verification Number (BVN).
However, the people are baffled that
despite the various ongoing court proceedings, no single conviction had been
recorded, perhaps owing to the notion that “corruption is fighting back” as
recently alleged by the government, not until barely last week when an
erstwhile governor of Taraba State Jolly Nyame was served a verdict.
The economy cannot be left out while
dissecting the overall leadership stride of the present administration. Recession
came into place the moment the Buhari-led government took over the mantle of
leadership reportedly as a result of the drastic decline in the oil price.
In view of the recessionary era,
several firms operating across the country became bankrupt thereby leading to
redundancy. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that even if the PDP was still in
charge, the recession wouldn’t have been avoided.
Although the president disclosed in his
Democracy Day speech that the country’s foreign reserve had “improved
significantly” to $47.5bn as of May, 2018 as against $29.6bn in 2015, it’s
difficult to believe considering that importation isn’t yet curtailed because
foreign products still abound in the country.
The address equally told us that
inflationary rate had “consistently reduced every month since January 2017”,
but currently, the prices of goods and services in our numerous markets still endlessly
skyrocket.
On
agriculture, Mr. President categorically informed that rice importation had
been “cut down by 90%”, but till date, our various markets are engulfed in
foreign-made rice. As I write, you would hardly see a home in the country that mainly
consumes locally-made grains.
The president further boasted about the
effectiveness of the ongoing Social Investment Programmes (SIP). It’s
mind-boggling that the various initiatives embedded in the said programmes are
yet to meaningfully solve the problems of unemployment and hunger that informed
their implementation.
It was saddening that the Mr. President’s
35-paragraph address didn’t address issues concerning the inevitable health
sector, especially taking into cognizance that the Joint Health Sector Union
(JOHESU) was still on strike during the period in review. Similarly, the
proposal for workers’ minimum wage increment was tactically, or perhaps
mistakenly, omitted.
Pres.
Buhari concluded by promising that the ‘Not too young to run’ bill would
soonest be signed into law, and consequently fulfilled the pledge barely 48
hours after. The gesture shows that he truly means well for the youth. But,
doesn’t his quest for re-election come 2019 indicate a paradox as regards the
newest law? Think about it!
Comrade Fred Nwaozor
- Policy analyst & Rights activist -
National Coordinator,
Right Thinkers Movement
__________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056
Twitter: @mediambassador
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