- PMB
By Bolanle Bolawole, turnpot@gmail.com; 0705 263 1058
SHARE THIS
Except for the calendar which says this is Easter and the Federal Government which declared Friday the 7th and Monday the 10th of April as Easter holiday, there are no celebrations in the air in the real sense of the word. Not many people are celebrating not because they do not want to but because they cannot. As they say, money has decreed that whenever it is not available, no one should make any plan whatsoever. Poverty ravages the land; the majority of the people can barely eke out a living. It is not for fun that Nigeria is today the poverty capital of the world. And poverty in Nigeria is no longer limited to the traditionally poor; poverty has climbed the ladder and now embraces even the hitherto comfortable middle class which, to all intents and purposes, has been virtually wiped out. So, the Nigerian society is today stratified into two broad classes of the rich and the poor. The once thriving middle class now perches gingerly atop the poor, either struggling to break into the class of the rich upstairs or keep its head above the shark-infested waters of the desperately poor below. With inflation running at 22 percent, those who earn wages earn them to put them in leaking baskets. You would think Prophet Haggai had the poor people of Nigeria in mind when he prophesied thousands of years ago in Haggai 1: 5 – 6: “You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes” This is not a question of people being lazy or of lazy youths a la Muhammadu Buhari but of people working like elephants but eating like ants. Even the diligent, conscientious worker now looks like an indolent. The cause of the suffering and misery in the land is poor management of our bountiful resources by clueless, incompetent, corrupt, inept and insensitive leaders. Leadership is at the base of the poverty ravaging the land. With good leadership, there is no reason why Nigerians should suffer what they have been put through since the rains started beating the country in January 1960. I used to think that Shehu Shagari was the worst government this country ever had but with Muhammadu Buhari’s inept, nepotistic and corrupt government, I changed my mind! Shagari did not afflict us half as much as Buhari has done. What with the blood-letting under Buhari’s very nose! That alone will in perpetuity stand against him and whatever his spin doctors may chronicle his “achievements” to be.
Easter is here but it is devoid of the usual celebrations. Cost of living has shot through the roof and only a few can, these days, afford to eat what they like or want. The vast majority, if they eat at all, eat what they find. As they say, “I have eaten” does not differentiate between those who ate fried rice and those who soaked garri. This is one reason why the next dispensation is very important; nay, critical, for the survival of this country on two critical levels. The first is whether the in-coming government has a sufficient understanding of the problems and a blueprint to tackle them. Can the government tackle corruption? Buhari pledged to tackle corruption – and everyone thought he could and would – but, in the end, it was corruption that tackled and floored Buhari, such that his government has now gone down in history as the most corrupt that this country has ever had. As I put this piece to bed, a post on social media raised an alarm about the frenetic pace at which agencies headed by people from a section of the country were pulling through last-minute billion-Naira contracts for this and that project in what looks like parting gifts or last minute looting to further complicate problems for the in-coming administration. Will the in-coming government look into this? Will it stop oil theft? Will it remove fuel subsidies? I read a post in which someone called out the NLC bureaucrats for its duplicitous position on the issue of removal of fuel subsidies. When the Labour bourgeoisie creaming off the check-offs of workers were rooting for the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, they kept mute when Obi said he would remove fuel subsidies if elected president; but the moment he lost the election, the Labour aristocrats returned to their usual but hypocritical and unhelpful battle cry of “No to subsidy removal”! Will the in-coming government call their bluff and do the needful ? Tons and lorry-loads of hard decisions await the in-coming administration if it must take the Nigerian economy out of the doldrums but will it muster the needed courage to act decisively and stay the course?
Next, and perhaps even more critical than the first, is whether the Nigerian people will be supportive as well as be patient enough as the in-coming government tries its hands at solving the myriad of problems that confront the country today. It appears to me that Nigerians lack the understanding that to destroy is faster and easier than to repair or build. That is why we hardly raise an eyebrow when things are being destroyed. We appear to think we can as quickly and rapidly and effortlessly put things back again. Nigerians also like the fire-brigade approach and hate to take their time to plan and strenuously and methodically execute things. We love magic or miracles, if I may put it that way. We love to cut corners. Therefore, expect Nigerians to begin to expect a dramatic change the moment Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is sworn in as president. If people do not see results as quickly as they may irrationally (?) expect, there could be problems. History teaches that in societies that have experienced the kind of difficulties that Nigerians have been put through down the ages, with Buhari capping it all, it is the reformer intent on saving the situation that usually bears the brunt. That was the unfortunate experience of the Bourbon King Louis the XVI in France. The antidote: Right policies and speed handled by competent and committed hands.
As tough as winning an election is, running an efficient and effective government is tougher. We have seen a tough Tinubu surmount all manner of obstacles to win the presidential election; it remains to be seen if he is tough enough to exorcise the ghosts that have tormented Nigeria down the ages. Will he succeed where others have failed? Time, as they say, will tell! My prayer is for him to succeed so that celebrations during festive periods can return to this land again! Happy Easter celebrations!/ SHARE THIS
* Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of THE WESTERNER newsmagazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.
ADVERTISEMENTS
*Resourcing our various platforms targeted at emerging sectors – renewable energy, sustainability, innovation, and healthcare – aimed at ensuring the Authority achieves its dual objectives of delivering financial returns and impactful social outcomes.**************************************
