[ad_1]
It is only fair that we should formally welcome President Bora Ahmed Tinnub and the 18 new governors who took office on Democracy Day, 29 May. They have become our advocates. They are not our saviors, but ordinary Nigerians who, as President Ibrahim Babangida once told me, might do something extraordinary for their country. On the campaign trail, none of them claim to be messiahs, so let’s not elevate the secular to the clergy.
Their podium of political power is a fair sign that despite the contentious nature of the last election, we are doing a lot better than simply voting for our chosen candidates at the national and local levels. We strengthened our democracy and demonstrated our commitment to it. Our transition from Buhari to Tinubu has been a long trek for the nation through a jungle of fear, doubt and threat. Hope has replaced those fears, doubts and threats.
The fate of us and our country has become the individual and collective responsibility of the new men of the moment. Whatever they do or don’t do, right or wrong, will place Nigeria at a higher or lower stage of our human progress and national development. They could take us out of our comfort zone as a potentially great nation, or at the end of the day, perpetually trap us as a potentially great nation in a country where sport is seen as an immortal sport.
It is in our nature as human beings to hope and expect that our new batch of rulers or leaders at the national and local levels will drink less from the pool of arrogance, impunity, disrespect for the rule of law and selfishness and more from Service and humility, and elevating our common humanity from mediocrity to the higher realms of our common humanity as citizens and human beings. New brooms don’t necessarily sweep better, but their ability to do better than old brooms is rooted in the concept of human development. New things update and make progress possible.
Their performance has already made some contributions to the country. It lowered the temperature of the pressure cooker we had lived under Buhari for eight years. As President Goodluck Jonathan said, a breath of fresh air is blowing across the country right now. I say this cautiously because it is easy to cross the line and turn hopes into reality.
As new presidents and new governors begin to tackle the daunting tasks ahead of them, we need to reach out to them and remind them that there are at least four key challenges that may be hurdles that need to be overcome with some degree of agility. Or climbing a mountain has some inherent difficulty.
One, they inherited a post-Buhari Nigeria, which is practically a foreign country to most of us. Before they say or do anything, they should look at what the current state is; what its problems and challenges are; ask why we are where we are and why. Looking in from the outside is not the same as looking in from the inside. You can’t solve a problem if you don’t know what the problem you’re trying to solve is. This is often the case with our new leaders, who believe their new faces are omnipotent forces.
To borrow the words of Solon, gentlemen, understand our country at the national and sub-national level. Our national psyche has suffered some serious injuries. If the newcomers of fortune ignore these injuries, they will pile up with impunity, and new political misery will enter our blood under Buhari’s watchful eye.
Second, the new president and new governor face a mountain of rubbish that cannot be ignored if post-Buhari Nigeria is to make sense for them and its people. Eight years in office of a President who ignores our diversity and panders to narrow provincial interests has stripped us of our brotherhood and widened racial and religious divides.
Mutual suspicion has become a must for all Nigerians. We hate, therefore, we are. We are no longer our brothers’ guardians; we are our brothers’ enemies. We have been divided into small islands that are hostile to each other. It bears repeating that Nigeria is a broken country. Changing federal and state governments alone won’t heal the wounds instantly.
We need the will to heal our wounds. Now is the time under the new arrangement. Of course, the burden fell on Jagaban’s shoulders. He recognizes the task he has undertaken as our President at this moment in our nation’s history. “We are here to further mend and heal this country, not to tear or harm it,” Tinubu said in his inaugural address.
He also recognizes that mending and healing the country is a burden we must all be prepared to shoulder with him. He underscores this fact with these words in the quoted speech: “The question we ask ourselves now is whether to remain true to the work inherent in building a better society, or to retreat into the shadows of our unfulfilled potential.”
Third, public expectations for the new government are high. They are often in a country betrayed by miracles rather than carefully planned according to a tangible road map drawn up by experts.
Tomorrow can’t come soon enough. When our leaders are hardly ready to do so, we tend to push them to be seen performing to the tin drum of public adulation. So they were forced to make a commitment that would allow them to ride the wave of public applause. It is detrimental to our national progress because it clings to our shortcut kia mentality.
I know this is a temptation that many people, including the President, cannot resist all the time. But turning a dreary morning into a bright afternoon isn’t magic; it’s a process. Democratic governance relies on promises, no matter how unrealistic they may be. But newcomers must be wary of this temptation. No new commitments. All promises have been made time and time again. We still find the promise of a refurb appealing, showing just how slow human progress really is.
Fourth, the basic principle of democratic governance is a constant dialogue between the leader and the led. It is not news that Buhari has abandoned this time-honored principle for his apparent contempt for the very people he claims to rule. Under this new system, dialogue must be restored so that Nigerians can truly realize the true meaning of democracy, a government of the people, by the people for themselves.
Five, this country is larger than the sum of its public officials. If we continue to increase the comfort level of our public servants at the expense of growth, then we certainly cannot, in the words of the President, “remain loyal to the inherent job of building a better society…” Newcomers and returnees, under the new system, must commit to A paradigm shift in favor of capital projects, so that roads can be built, schools can be repaired, and drinking water can be made available to ordinary people.
While Buhari has ostensibly taken huge loans to fix our infrastructure, the challenge of fixing them is now greater than ever. At a campaign rally, Tinnub taunted Buhari: “They can’t even generate enough electricity to toast popcorn.”
We, the people, harassed and disappointed by government after government, have only one humble plea to Jagaban: take urgent steps to open up the economy and business space so that Nigerians can unleash their creativity and Be resourceful and rebuild the economy as a formal or informal sector.
[ad_2]
Source link