Today, May 29, 2016 marks President
Muhammadu Buhari’s first year in office. It has indeed been an all-round
exhilarating year, not only for the government but also for the generality of
Nigerians. There is nobody in Nigeria today who does not agree that the current
challenges that the government face stems from deep seated rot in the system
which pervaded the entire nation prior to President Buhari’s assumption of
power.
Precisely one year ago, President Buhari
took over the mantle of office to wide acclaim from Nigerians. Before that
fateful day, Nigerians had watched aghast and rather helplessly as the country
continued a fast downward spiral, as if racing to join the ignoble category of
failed nations. A year ago, though the sorry state of the economy was partly
due to the falling prices of oil, Nigeria’s biggest foreign exchange earner, a
bigger part of the problem, however, was unbridled corruption, mindless
depletion of our foreign reserves and gross mismanagement of the country’s
dwindling resources.
To compound our people’s woes, Nigerians
lived in fear. In the Northern parts of the country, especially in the North
East, it was the fear of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram. In the
southern parts of the country, the fear of being kidnapped was rife, while
armed robbery completed the pathetic picture of insecurity in the land. As if
that was not enough misery in people’s lives, the perpetual darkness the
country was plunged into due to the ever present power failure made living in
Nigeria almost unbearable.
In the knowledge of the truth that
Nigerians deserve better, President Muhammadu Buhari campaigned vigorously
round the country using the slogan “Change”. Nigerians embraced that change by
voting massively for President Buhari. One year after, the President is not
unmindful of the fact that “change” which he is midwifing has come with some
necessary pain. Changing a system that has decayed beyond the widest
imagination of even the most fertile minds comes with some pain. It is this
pain that Nigerians now face. However, this fleeting pain shall pass.
President
Buhari has stated repeatedly that he feels the pain that we feel. He is
assiduously working to mitigate and calm our pains with the proverbial ‘balm of
Gilead’.
It requires great courage for a leader to
tell his people an inconvenient truth. The truth is that the reality of the
times demands some measure of sacrifice from every citizen, if the country is
to be returned to the glorious path to prosperity. President Buhari,
characteristically, has shown his mettle as a courageous leader even as he
tackles the numerous challenges that confront the country. When the history of
Nigerian Presidency is written, President Buhari will be remembered as the most
consequential President in Nigeria who stepped in at a critical time to change
the unfortunate trajectory of a nation that was on a downward spiral.
Taking stock of the past 365 days; while it
cannot be said that the country is out of the woods, there is no denying the
fact that the hemorrhaging in the system has been stopped. On the day President
Buhari mounted the saddle of office as the President and Commander-in-Chief of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he promised to deal decisively with the
godless terrorist group, Boko Haram. That promise which he put into action
immediately by relocating the military high command to Maiduguri is almost a
“fait accompli”. There is no doubting the fact that the Nigerian military with
the coalition of neighboring countries which President Buhari forged, have
routed Boko Haram. What remains is to clean out the fleeing remnants of the
group. President Buhari has been able to achieve this feat by restoring the
dignity of the Nigerian Armed Forces and equipping them properly to combat this
unprecedented and unconventional warfare. The rescue of one of the Chibok girls
from the den of terrorists is a flicker of hope that the rest of the girls
would be returned safely to their parents and loved ones.
Another battle which the President promised
to wage on his inauguration day is the war against corruption that has
permeated and eaten so deeply into the Nigerian socio-economic and political
fabric. President Buhari has also kept faith on this. Since his assumption in power,
he has relentlessly waged this “non-negotiable” war against corruption. It is
the President’s belief that the battle against corruption holds the key to the
reconstruction of Nigeria’s economic and social systems destroyed by past
governments. The Billions of Naira of Nigeria’s stolen money that has so far
been recorded bears eloquent testimony to the huge successes recorded in this
area. Gone is the era of looting the country’s treasury with impunity.
In line with his promise to cleanse the
system, President Buhari’s searchlight has beamed brightly on the Nigerian
National petroleum Corporation (NNPC), cleaning in the process the national
scam that was the fuel subsidy regime. In the fullness of time, Nigerians would
start reaping the benefits of the deregulation of the Oil industry. Without a
shadow of doubt, this is an area that past Nigerian governments refused to
touch, even with a ten foot pole. President Buhari has shown tremendous courage
by dealing with this issue once and for all.
Critiques of President Buhari’s
administration harp on his foreign trips as costing the country money. What
they fail to point out are the huge benefits that have continued to accrue to
the nation as a result of these trips. Close watchers of President Buhari’s government
will readily admit that Nigeria’s leadership position in the world stage and at
the Sub-Saharan Africa level has been restored. The frosty relationship between
Nigeria and many world powers no longer exist. In the recent past, the
country’s near pariah position in the world stage made it impossible for a
country of Nigeria’s stature to purchase even the most rudimentary armaments
for its military that was prosecuting a war against terrorism.
One of the greatest achievements of
President Buhari’s first year in office is that of reducing the size and cost
of governance. No longer is Nigeria running an over bloated political system
that bogs down the economy. The President has reduced the number of Ministries,
Departments and Agencies, thereby saving the country billions of Naira now
being channeled towards other developmental projects and infrastructure. In
addition, the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has helped
block many leakages in the system through which the country’s funds were siphoned
into private pockets. Reportedly, about 2 Trillion Naira has been saved as a
result.
As Presidents Buhari’s government enters
its second year, Nigerians will begin to see the positive impact of various
policies measures that the government has put in place to restore the country’s
economy and strengthen our democracy. While his first year in office has been
spent cleaning the Augean stable, the coming years will see Nigerians
benefitting from the government’s programmes to create employment for the teeming
youths; strengthen the institutions of government; revitalize the economy by
encouraging indigenous and foreign investments and improve the energy situation
in the country. With the current passage of the budget and other measures so
far put in place by the government, Nigerians will have cause to smile again.
The best is yet to come.
Senator Babafemi Ojudu is the Special
Adviser to the President on Political Matters
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Opinion