Nigeria @60: Buhari’s disappointing speech

GERMANY – After many years of colonial administration, Nigeria eventually succeeded in attaining independence on October 1, 1960. This could not have happened without the tireless struggle of our great nationalists who made innumerable sacrifices for the country to be liberated from the clutches of colonialism.

With that feat achieved by our nationalists, Nigerians at that time saw a brighter future for the country as an independent nation. Unfortunately, we are not in any way close to where we should be after 60 years of self-determination, considering the huge human and natural resources at our disposal. We have failed to effectively apply our God-given resources to lift Nigeria to a greater height of development for the betterment of the people.   

Today, Nigerians are not happy because our resources have been heavily mismanaged to the detriment of the poor masses and advantage of the political class. The ordinary man in the street appears not to be keen about the celebration of Nigeria’s independence. It is generally believed that there is virtually nothing much to celebrate amidst high level of poverty, starvation and underdevelopment in the land. Only those who have benefited from our dysfunctional system would think we have every reason to celebrate.

After 60 years of independence, most Nigerians are still living in pain and agony made worse by the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. So, you won’t expect the people to roll out the drums for any kind of celebration. As a matter of fact, Buhari’s uninspiring and disappointing speech was a big slap on the faces of Nigerians. It was indeed an affront to the sensibilities of the populace. 

How can Buhari continue to play the blame game over five years of being an elected president of this great country? Why should he continue to make needless and baseless comparisons, rather waking up from his slumber to do the needful to place the country on the path of development?

Buhari should accept responsibility for his failure to fulfill the promises he made to Nigerians upon which he was elected as president. In the words of Dr. Steve Maraboli, a behavioural Scientist, “The reason your life stays the same is because you think everyone else is the problem. Stop pointing fingers and placing blame on others. Your life can only change to the degree that you accept responsibility for it.”

Nigerians believed Buhari was capable of making a difference, hence, he was voted for in 2015 and 2019. If he continues to blame past leaders, it clearly shows that he is either confused or he is deliberately passing the buck. Nigerians cannot be deceived! Is he not part of the sorry past of Nigeria he is talking about? Was he not the one that truncated democracy in 1983 when he and his cohorts aborted the second republic by overthrowing the government of a democratically elected President, the late Shehu Shagari?

Today, Nigerians are not happy because our resources have been heavily mismanaged to the detriment of the poor masses and advantage of the political class. The ordinary man in the street appears not to be keen about the celebration of Nigeria’s independence. It is generally believed that there is virtually nothing much to celebrate amidst high level of poverty, starvation and underdevelopment in the land

It’s rather unfortunate that President Buhari is making comparison between Nigeria and countries like Saudi Arabia on the issue of fuel price. The average family in Saudi Arabia has at least six cars. Is the level of poverty in Nigeria comparable with what obtains in Saudi Arabia or Egypt that he is comparing us with? Does he not know the minimum wage in these countries?

Sadly, Nigerians cannot boast of a secured country in the 60 years of being an independent nation. The country has a lot of security challenges. Our security sector, just like every other sector, is not properly funded. In Nigeria, we have less than 350,000 policemen of which about 150,000 are attached to VIPs and 200,000 are used to intimidate the masses.

Security in every developed nation is not hand-driven, it is technologically driven. That means we need money to buy the needed equipment to secure the country. But corruption within the President Buhari government is not helping matters in the fight against insurgency.

It is important to note that crime is getting more sophisticated. Terrorism is a global war; it is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is in addition to our peculiar security challenges like kidnapping, robbery, and Internet fraud, among others. Some of these challenges cannot be fought with 1984 strategies. The Buhari government must adopt a more modern approach to guarantee the security of the Nigerian people.

Other sectors of the economy are equally poorly funded and not properly managed to better the lots of Nigerians. But we are worried about security because that is the primary responsibility of the government as enshrined in the constitution. When there is no adequate security, there won’t be any development.

Well, I am not saying that we have not made any progress in some sectors in 60 years. We have made some progress but we must put in more efforts and continue to do the right thing to improve the nation’s security and ameliorate the suffering of the people.

In tackling the nation’s security challenges the President should stop the politicisation of security issues. It is annoying, for instance, for our security chiefs and some top government officials to keep saying Boko Haram has been decimated when the deadly terrorists continue to unleash attack on Nigerians almost every day. How can you say Boko Haram has been defeated when within a space of days or so, the convoy of a sitting governor, Babagana Zulum of Borno State was attacked about three times with over 30 people killed by the insurgents? For us to truly conquer the Boko Haram fundamentalists, we must stop the politicization of the war against insurgency. 

Also, there is urgent need for more concerted efforts on the part of the Buhari-led federal government to improve the fortunes of Nigeria’s health sector. I don’t think we have fared so well. All indices have not shown any improvement in our health sector. We need to reposition the health sector. The Federal government should do the needful to improve healthcare generally by strengthening the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). We need to inject more funding into the health sector. Those paltry three per cent or four per cent are small with the global pandemic of COVID-19.

Workers in the health sector should also understand one another and work together to provide quality service for their people now. We need to redirect our efforts to ensure that the primary healthcare level is functioning appropriately. We were told that some 40 to 50 years ago, Nigeria was a medical tourism ground that many people were coming from outside the country to seek medical attention. But today, we are the ones exporting ourselves to seek medical tourism including our President, his wife and ranking officials of his government.

What the president should do in the last three years of his administration is to make Nigerians happy again. He should make policies that will make Nigerians comfortable and proud of their country. A government that increased the price of fuel and increased electricity tariff same day can’t be said to be for the people. Democracy is supposed to be a government of the people by the people and for the people. Can we say by the way the Buhari government is configured, coupled with its insensitivity to the plights of the people, it’s a government of the people? No, it’s not! And this is because all the policies of the government under him appear to be anti-people.

Buhari should stop the blame game and take advantage of the few years left for him in power to write his name in gold by putting smile on the faces of Nigerians. He should address the security problem and create an enabling environment to make the economy grow. Electricity has become a big problem. And this government promised to solve the electricity problem within six months of the administration in 2015. But the problem is getting worse by the day with the government looking helpless and bereaved of ideas.

Segelu, the CEO of YSEG Hotels and a one-time PDP aspirant for Lagelu/Akinyele Federal Constituency in Oyo State writes from Germany