Recent pronouncements by President Muhammadu Buhari are strong indications that the realities of governance are beginning to dawn on him, writes Iyobosa Uwugiaren
President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on the strength of the slogan – “change”. He promised to change the way things are done – from bad to good – in Nigerian, and he won the hearts of many battered Nigerians. He was elected in the last general election. But six months after, many hapless Nigerians appeared to have been left guessing as they seem not know his economic agenda.
And like a political analyst, Tony Ademiluyi recently said, “Nigerians battered by poor and inept leadership need both a combination of soothing words and matching action but Buhari has failed to provide any. He sold himself to abhor any form of corruption. We are inundated with statements like ‘we will fight corruption to a standstill’ but no identifiable policy document has been churned out on the matter.
“His frequent foreign trips have brought about no anti-corruption treaties and there is no policy thrust of a documented anti-corruption agenda, which defines the direction of his government. All we are made to know is that his body language hates it. Did we vote for body language?”
Aside the economic policy, even the Boko Haram evil missionary the president had vowed to crush within two months, is now worse under his administration.
For example, those who should know – high military sources – said the recent sad news that enveloped the Nigerian military – the alleged killing of 105 soldiers by terrorist group marked the lowest point in the war against the evil missionary group, Boko Haram.
The bodies of the soldiers allegedly killed by Boko Haram in Borno State were said to have been secretly buried by the Nigerian Army at the military cemetery in Maiduguri during the week. The decomposed bodies of the soldiers, who were killed in an encounter with the terrorists were brought to Maiduguri recently and secretly buried. The military authorities in an attempt to keep the news away from members of the public had denied any soldier was killed or missing, describing the earlier report “a fabrication from the imagination of those sympathetic to Boko Haram ways of life.”
The army spokesman, Colonel Tukur Ismail Gusau, had said Boko Haram attacked the location of 157 Battalion, but they were “subsequently repelled by the gallant troops of the Unit stating that the unit’s commanding officer remained in contact with his Brigade Commander.”
But an online news portal had reported that 105 soldiers attached to the 157 battalion were killed after they came under a penetrating attack from Boko Haram in Gudunbali, Borno State. The terrorists were reported to have captured a T-72 Tank in the attack as well as several artillery weapons from the unit.
The source who confirmed the latest happening to THISDAY recently said about 34 men of the 118 battalion were also killed by the terrorist recently. “This deaths mark the lowest point in the war against the terrorists,” our source had stated.
The burial of the killed soldiers came at a time the Defence Spokesman, Col. Sani Usman, described the report of the missing soldiers as a smear campaign against the Nigerian military. But there is strong evidence that the military authorities might have lied over the issue. The soldiers were believed to have been killed and secretly buried as military sources had hinted.
Apparently with good objective, former President Goodluck Jonathan had contracted mercenaries – call them private soldiers if you like, with far superior military tactics in the war. Military sources said the mercenaries had dealt a powerful blow to the terrorists at the conclusion of the last administration.
But the Buhari government in a fit of unjustifiable boasting allegedly sent the mercenaries packing, and vowed that the terrorists could be crushed by the Nigerian Army. A Defence Headquarters source said the Army had suffered severe losses since then.
With over 1,700 innocent Nigerians killed since Buhari assumed office – in fresh terror attacks – not many security experts doubt that the Buhari administration needs to wake up from its “sluggishness” to save the nation from the blood-thirsty Boko Haram because the “sad events” in the last six months might have dashed the hope that President Buhari could give it back to the terrorists who had sent thousands of Nigerians to their early graves since they declared war on the land years back.
To be sure, the murderous group has since returned to its original technique of attacking “soft targets” with disproportionate attacks almost on daily basis. Earlier, they had taken over some parts of Northeast of the country and declared them extension of the caliphate. Ironically, Buhari had talked tough during his May 29 inauguration, giving his word to crush the terrorists.
The reality today, however, is that Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks gradually and is fast eroding whatever victories the military and other regional armies had achieved before Buhari assumed office, riding on the mantra of a guardian-angel-war-general, who has all the military strategies to out-smoke members of Boko Haram from their hiding.
Enter the controversial fuel subsidy issue. Before his victory in the last general election, Buhari’s belief was that corruption was the sole problem of the oil sector. The President neither believed the issue goes beyond corruption nor believed there were payments of subsidy for petrol. He thought it was a big scam.
However, from his recent pronouncements, many observers said the President might have changed his rather “weak position” on fuel subsidy, especially since he assumed office, and his “body language” appears to be suggesting that he no longer supports the removal of the subsidy, apparently for political reasons. He wants to continue with the “scam”.
A legal practitioner and former member of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Friday Osakponmwan Ogeriakhi, said, “No matter his (Buhari) fear – whether real or imaginary – he needs to urgently deal with those systemic issues of fuel subsidy that are threatening the sector once and for all, otherwise the teething troubles will continue to repeat themselves.”
Recently, the federal government’s deferment in paying N423.363 billion to oil marketers as subsidy for petroleum instigated the customary scarcity of petrol in service stations across the nation. As a result, a litre of the product was sold last week for as much as N500 in many states. The damaging economic effect can be imagined as business activities were crippled for days.
But did the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, express Buhari’s view, when he recently said Nigeria would have to find a long term solution to the problem, saying the country could not continue on the same path?
Kachikwu, who also doubles as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), stated that there are perilous systemic issues, which pose challenges to unbroken supply and distribution of petrol in the country that must be dealt with once and for all. Even some rigid critics of deregulation of the nation’s downstream sector, including Buhari, who once said the deregulation policy was to the “fulfilment of the Western neoliberal ideals” are now approving that the nation’s scrawny and feeble economy could no longer sustain the huge payment of subsidy for petrol.
Their swansong may be that a total deregulation of the sector would fix the issues: it will bring about good organisation in the sector, and signal an end to the persistent fuel scarcity. With full deregulation, the once-upon-a-time critics of deregulation said oil marketers would no longer complain about disagreements in subsidy payment.
Amidst policy flip-flop on payment of fuel subsidy, is it right to say that Buhari, a former Minister of Petroleum, was before now ignorant of the global stifling issue of oil; that deregulation policy has been incorporated by many countries to reduce public sector domination while making sure sufficient supply of products is achieved? It is debatable.
However, analysts believe that the story of some countries like, Philippine, Thailand, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Pakistan, Venezuela, Japan, USA and others are shining examples on the global direction on issues concerning management of oil sector. These countries have steadily opened to shreds their state-owned oil companies for a very important turning point in their story of oil sector transformation efforts. Nigeria could also do same by following the similar narrow path, experts insisted.
In his days, former President Jonathan openly stated that deregulation policy was the resilient measure to tackle the challenge of corruption and thief once and for all in the sector as well as transform the nation’s economy. But he could not fully implement it as a result of the huge protest instigated by “a vocal minority group” largely based in urban areas like Lagos and Abuja.
As many people have observed, it is largely in Abuja and Lagos that petrol is being sold for N87 per litre today. In other words, the subsidy regime is only helpful to a few people, especially the elite in urban areas, because majority of the poor live in remote areas, where the product is sold higher above the official price of N87 per a litre.
In the last few days, the issue has attracted harsh criticism from many quarters. While moving a motion on fuel scarcity supported by 23 other senators, Senator Jibrin Barau, noted that the scarcity of petroleum products in major cities and towns of in the country in recent times had inflicted untold hardship on Nigerians.
The untold hardship, he said, is worrisome more so that Nigerians have been compelled to pay higher prices amid their struggles to purchase the product. The senator said the recurring problem in the country was antithetical "to the change mantra of the Buhari administration" adding that "it is time to put a final stop to the trend."
On his part, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe said the current scarcity was in contrast with the promise of change that the APC promised Nigerians. Abaribe recalled how APC assured Nigerians that once it is elected, everything wrong with Nigeria would change.
"They are letting us know that this is not the change we voted for. Before they came to power, they promised that they would change everything. They said there would no longer be queues but now we have queues everywhere,” Abaribe stated.
He added, "They said what Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was spending on subsidy was too much; now they are seeking N413 billion to pay for subsidy, if you add that with the N200 billion they had paid before at the end of the day, they would have paid over N600 billion for subsidy.
"The government of change has come but we have not seen change anywhere because we are still seeing the same thing. We still see fuel scarcity here and there and there is no hope of its end. I commiserate with Nigerians, who suffer under this government."
In the power, electricity sector, the reality may also have dawned on President Buhari, when he confessed of late in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, that sabotage and theft of gas were undermining the efforts of the government to increase power supply in the country.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said the president spoke during a question and answer interaction with the Nigerian community in the country.
To tackle the problem, the president who once linked his predecessor’s inability to fix the sector to lack of political will, said the existing Military Task-Forces would be reorganised to ensure a successful protection of the network of gas pipelines.
"Although some improvement in power had been recorded in the recent period, sabotage of pipeline installations continued to be a problem,” Buhari told his audience.
"Power is a running battle because the saboteurs are still there. We have the potential. We have gas, we have qualified people but we are contending with a lot of saboteurs, who go and blow up installations. When gas is pumped to Egbin and such other power stations, thieves and saboteurs such as the militants cut those supplies."
While Buhari continues to heap his seeming confusion on former President Jonathan’s administration, political monitors said the constant blame of Jonathan for the nation’s woes even up to the lack of funds to run his cabinet is offensive.
To be sure, for how long will the blame game continue? Like somebody stated recently, Nigerians went to the polls to give their mandate to a ''solution provider and not a wailing whiner''. And now that the realities are beginning to confront President Buhari, it is high time he got to work. Like the popular saying, time waits for no man and the president is not an exception.
Quote
While Buhari continues to heap his seeming confusion on former President Jonathan’s administration, political monitors said the constant blame of Jonathan for the nation’s woes even up to the lack of funds to run his cabinet is offensive…To be sure, for how long will the blame game continue? Like somebody stated recently, Nigerians went to the polls to give their mandate to a ‘solution provider and not a wailing whiner'’
Source: ThisDay
