Opinion
By Emmanuel Onwubiko
“THE day-to-day flow of business rarely provides for the Monumental Act or the Grand Gesture. Just as you can gain some of the greatest insights into people by the little things they say and do, it is the little things you say and do that often make the most enduring impression.
How people relate to you in business is based on the conscious and unconscious statements you make about yourself. The way you dress, your phone manner, your efficiency, the way you phrase a letter, the way you greet people, all affect the impression you make on others – their ‘reading’ of you – making people perceive you in the way that you want to be perceived.
It is an artful form of manipulation. One of life’s big frustrations is that people don’t do what you want them to do. But if you can control their impressions of you, you can make them want to do what you want them to do”. (WHAT THEY DON’T TEACH YOU AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL BY MARK H. MC CORMACK).”
For me, I believe that Nigeria is one of the resource rich nations of the World.
The only issue derailing Nigeria’s recognition in reality as a rich Country in the comity of nations is the fact that Nigeria currently and has always paraded the largest number of thieves who run the government Institutions and have succeeded in ruining the national economy of Nigeria. I believe wholeheartedly what Professor Chinua Achebe of the blessed memory wrote.
“The leadership crisis in Nigerian politics:- In the early years of the 21st century, we must take a hard look at ourselves and ask why the intellectual leadership which the Nigerian nation deserves to get from the university has not been forthcoming”, Chinua Achebe wrote and stated further: “There is a story about Bernard Shaw arriving at the New York harbour, and being immediately surrounded by journalists as he stepped off the ship. But before even the quickest of them could open his mouth, the celebrated playwright stopped them cold as he fired off: ‘Don’t ask me what you should do to be saved; the last time I was here I told you and you haven’t done it!’
Achebe then said: “I feel very much the same way about what is happening in Nigeria. We know what we should do, yet we refuse to do it. Instead we have been “blowing grammar” all over the country as if our problem stems from insufficient argument. So I have turned down or simply ignored all previous invitations to join the talking. My little book The Trouble with Nigeria published twenty seven years ago on the eve of Shagari’s second term opens with these words: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigeria character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which is the hallmark of true leadership…”
So the question of leadership was and is, pre-eminent, in my view, among Nigeria’s numerous problems. The little book does go on to identify other perennial issues such as tribalism, corruption, indiscipline, social injustice, preference for mediocrity over excellence, etcetera. But my thesis is that without good leadership, none of the other problems stands a chance of being tackled, let alone solved”.
Apart from Achebe, many foreign born authors have also written profound opinions on why Nigeria as a Country is so rich, yet the majority of the citizens are so poor.
“The manner in which governance was conducted also changed during the Babangida era. Gone was the low-profile style of the Murtala-Obasanjo regime. For all the talk of an “enlightened” or benevolent” military dictatorship, Nigerians understood that they were being ruled, not governed, by the military. Kleptocratic self-importance crept into the Federal Military Government’s conduct. Government became associated with opulence and splendour.
The ostentatious, majestic ceremony that sometimes accompanied Babangida was a case in point. He often travelled to official engagements accompanied by long motorcades with blaring sirens, mounted cavalry, police stuntmen on motorcycles, marching bands, immaculately dressed guards of honour and armoured personnel Carriers.
This ceremonial extravagance, and the importance it implied, prompted military governors, government officials and other “Big Men” to follow suit, flaunting their wealth and the paraphernalia of Self-importance. They too rode through the streets at breakneck speed with their own police escorts and sirens, and sought ostentatious lifestyles in order to demonstrate their importance. (Soldiers of fortune: Nigerian Politics from Buhari to Babangida, by Max Siollun)”.
Now, we know a bit about Nigeria and her kind of leadership and from the benefits of intellectual hind sights, we know that Nigeria as a geographic entity is resource rich, but Nigeria suffers a curse of leadership because most if not all of her politicians are thieves.
The next thing is to say without fear of contradiction that in addition to the ethical baggage about the species of leaders we have in Nigeria, the present president introduced another dimension which shows the lazy side of a sitting president and the consequences of such.
After he was sworn in, in the year 2015, it took him nearly one year to select his cabinet.
It took him seven years to appoint a chief economic adviser. Then he spent about 4 months in a London Hospital at public expenses. Then the public of Nigeria who own the money did not know how much of their money was frittered to medical return him to good health.
All these lazy tendencies made Nigerians poorer and in 2018, the icing on the cake was the notorious identity of Nigeria as the largest poor Country Worldwide.
We then got over 100 million absolutely poor households with millions of people finding it difficult to survive as normal human beings in the 21st Century. There is hardly any streets you will go and not see hundreds of malnourished children but the few political elites running government are enjoying themselves stealing from the public till.
But, Buhari gave his excuse for being slow. For me, the excuse exposed him as the laziest president Nigeria has ever had.
President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday January 19th 2018 that his experience as a military dictator is one of the major reasons he is not “in a hurry to do anything.”
The president said he prefers to seriously reflect on issues placed before him and ensure that his conscience had been satisfied prior to granting approval.
“I decided to drop the uniform and come back here (to be President of Nigeria), so I have gone through it over and over again. This is why I am not in a hurry to do anything. I will sit and reflect, and continue to (operate) with my clear conscience,” Mr. Buhari said during a Thursday afternoon meeting with his party leaders and supporters which was covered by Channels TV in Abuja.
“I had to invite you to let us eat together and I tell you that I am sitting here very much aware of the problem in this country. I will always reflect on historical antecedents,” the president added.
Mr. Buhari regularly draws criticism for his snail-speed approach to national matters, including issues that may be deemed urgent by many, like reacting to tragic incidents or updating citizens about his government’s activities.
Mr. Buhari delayed setting up a cabinet for about six months after he assumed office, an outcome that analysts partly blamed for plunging Nigeria’s economy into recession in August 2016.
The country had since emerged from recession after posting growth for two consecutive quarters in a row.
Lawmakers alarmed by the historic delay immediately moved to curb such occurrences in future by passing an amendment to the Nigerian constitution.
The amendment, passed last year, gave a newly-elected president a maximum of 30 days to appoint ministers and get the federal cabinet running.
The amendment was part of the more than 30 areas of alterations that the National Assembly entered into the constitution as part of its ongoing measures to rework the governing document and make it more acceptable to the citizens.
The amendments have been pushed to the 36 states of the federation where at least two-thirds are required to concur with each amendment before pushing it to the executive for presidential assent.
A political analyst, Eluma Asogwa, said the president’s comments were laughable in the face of his activities within the last two years.
“A president that promised to hit the ground running took more than six months to set up a cabinet, saying he wanted get the best hands,” Mr. Asogwa said. “But when he eventually announced his ministers, we discovered that the majority were those that had long polluted our political space in this country.”
Mr. Asogwa said the president’s failings emanated largely from his inability to critically analyse issues and take prompt actions in line with the requirements of the modern age.
“Nigeria’s problems under President Buhari are largely about inactions than actions that were taken in earnest but wrongly,” added Mr. Asogwa, an Abuja-based legal practitioner.
As Nigeria slides into the pricipis of mass poverty, President Buhari sought tooth and nail to absolve himself of any blame.
Perhaps, he would blame my late Dad as the cause of the economic adversities afflicting Nigerians today after 8 unproductive years of his government.
So with less than six months to his May 29, 2023 exit date, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that he has done his best in the last seven and a half years, noting that Nigeria is a big country confronted with numerous challenges.
Buhari spoke in Washington DC, where he is attending the US-Africa leaders’ summit, when he received the secretary-general of the Abu Dhabi Forum, Al-Mahfoudh Bin Bayyah and his deputy, Bob Roberts of the US, who visited him on the sidelines of the summit, according to a statement by Garba Shehu, his spokesman.
Recall that the President Buhari had in July; this year stated that being in charge of the country’s affairs has been tough and that he was eager to leave office.
in the remaining months I will do my best,” the president said.
“I wish the person who is coming after me the very best. I am eager to go. I can tell you it has been tough. I am grateful to God that people appreciate the personal sacrifices we have been making.
Buhari also labelled Nigerians as “a lucky people, adding that “we need to reflect more on where we are coming from.”
The president described the insecurity in the northwest, as “a serious challenge, ” adding “but some successes have been recorded in the south-south and northeast.” These are shocking admission of laziness and failure of a government that led over 100 million citizens into mass abd absolute poverty and Nigeria under Muhammadu Buhari has become unsafe.
And then his current song is that he is in a hurry to leave the government even after his incompetence multiplied Nigeria’s existential crises.
For over three times, he had said he wanted to leave but wouldn’t resigned since the Constitution allows a tired President to resign but he wants to stay on till May 29th 2023, apparently to unleash maximum damage to the economy of Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari on March 21st 2023 once again expressed his desire to leave power.
On several occasions in the past, Buhari had said he was counting down to the May 29 handover date.
While speaking at a farewell meeting with the outgoing United States Ambassador, Mary Beth Leonard, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday, the Nigerian leader said, “I am eager to go,”.
He was responding to a question posed by Leonard, He added that he planned to be “a big landlord” working on his farms and tending his more than 300 animals in Daura, his hometown in Katsina State.
Buhari, who expressed satisfaction with the passion towards democracy exhibited by Nigerians through the choices they made in the just concluded presidential, National Assembly, governorship, and Houses of Assembly elections, said Nigeria’s democracy has truly matured.
“People are realising their power. Given the chance of a free and fair vote, nobody can tell them what to do. I am unhappy that some candidates lost in the election. But I am inspired by the fact that voters were able to make their own decision, to decide who won and who lost.”
“With the currency change, there was no money to spread around but even then, I told voters to take the money and vote according to their consciences,” the President said.
President Buhari stated that he was satisfied with his role in the election process without meddlesomeness or any form of interference.
Last year, he made a similar statement as reported by a media house. With about 10 months to the end of his second term tenure, President Muhammadu Buhari said he was eager to leave office and retire to his home town, Daura in Katsina State.
This was just as the president called on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to reconsider their position on the prolonged strike, expressing worry that the hiatus would have generational consequences on families, the educational system and future development of the country.
The president, who received some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), legislators and political leaders at his residence in Daura, said the strike by the university lecturers had already taken a toll on the psychology of parents, students and other stakeholders, throwing up many moral issues that already beg for attention. Under President Muhammadu Millions of public Universities stayed at their homes for a year because President Muhammadu Buhari was too incompetent to resolve the industrial action with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
But an insensitive and lazy Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said: “I am eager to go. I can tell you it has been tough. I am grateful to God that people appreciate the personal sacrifices we have been making.”
“By this time next year, I would have made the most out of the two terms, and the remaining months I will do my best,” the president noted.
Buhari urged those in political positions and places of privilege to be mindful in helping the many Nigerians that were looking for opportunities.
“If you are greedy, you won’t look around to see what is happening with those who are less endowed,’’ he said.
The president told the governors and political leaders that he had not been to his house in Daura for close to a year due to the demands of office.
President Buhari needs to be told that it is due to his apparent laziness that Nigeria’s poverty rate has skyrocketed, making it world poverty headquarters in 2018, according to report. Since its independence in 1960, Nigeria has faced several social and financial changes ranging from recession in economic activities, inflation, civil unrest, and displacements of significant population size to deterioration of publicly provided services,” as stated in an editorial of a certain medium.
That editorial argued also that: “In addition, natural disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic further strained the already poverty stinking country. Like other countries, Nigeria experienced several waves of COVID-19, which affected various economic activities. This, in effect, has implications not only on health but also on economic and social impact, increasing the food insecurity issues in the country and raising the poverty rate”.
“Nigeria’s poverty rate has thus grown into a giant monster despite the wealth of resources in the country. Despite impressive economic growth and stabilisation witnessed in the decades preceding 2016, with an annual economic growth rate of 12.8 percent in 1990, 7.61 percent in 1996, 10.35 percent in 2003, 7.84 percent in 2010, and 6.31 percent in 2014, though 2016 growth rate was -1.62 percent accompanied by weak recovery of 0.8 percent growth rate in 2017. Nigeria was classified as one of the world’s poorest countries, with a GDP per capita of $2,175.67 in 2016, which is low compared with other developing countries”.
As President Muhammadu Buhari becomes too lazy to work and stop terrorists, he should be told that he has a very toxic legacy- a legacy of laziness and incompetence.
*EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO is head of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and was NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF NIGERIA.
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Tags: Academic Staff Union of Universities Al-Mahfoudh Bin Bayyah Emmanuel Onwubiko President Muhammadu Buhari
