The Challenges Of The Present

As a public affairs analyst, one needs to sit back and take stock of the nation once in a while before emerging with a clear picture of the way forward. Indeed that's been my brooding these past few weeks.

The three key events that have ended my period of introspection include:

1. The recent comments of Femi Adesina that Nigerians aren't suffering.

2. The comments of the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefile on the monoeconomy of Nigeria where crude oil exports account for 90% of earnings with the threat posed by the Niger Delta Avengers.

3. The Lopsided appointments of President Buhari and the Mamman Daura led nepotistic kitchen Cabinet.

Indeed to discuss these three incidents in depth will lead to a very long essay but in trying times to be silent on issues of pungent National Importance will be criminal. As the nation descends into a broad divide of the hailing hailers and the wailing wailers one must remember that the common good of Nigerians is paramount. The days of Don Fortunato have ended and it is time for the Presidency of Muhammadu Buhari to chart its own course.

The honeymoon period is over and it is worrying to see mistakes of the past rearing its head once again. Buhari is heading down the road to failure once again hence it is time to implore him to put the breaks on his current course of action. If Femi Adesina is one of those that has the President's ear then all Nigerians need to be worried.

Walking down the same path of his predecessor, the once referred but now vilified Reuben Abati, Femi Adesina is indeed enjoying the fresh air of Aso Rock which has made him oblivious to the situation outside the villa.

To come on air and say Nigerians are not suffering and that only the wailing wailers are complaining, is a sign that the man has made a clean break from reality. Well it is time for a stark reality check for Femi Adesina and his principal, President Buhari. Inflation is up by 15% but salaries and wages have either remained stagnant, fallen or disappeared totally as States cut workers salaries, refuse to pay salaries or slash allowances like leave grants amongst other cost saving measures like placing an embargo on employment or promotions.

The economy has recorded negative growth in two consecutive quarters pushing the nation into recession for the first time in 10 years. The Unemployment rate has soared as banks lay off workers, factories close and importers and exporters of finished goods go broke as the harsh realities of the current FOREX squeeze strangulates the real sector of the economy.

These are facts and not conjecture. Meanwhile the poor are hit hard as the price of kerosene hits the roof without any explanation, diesel the fuel of industries experiences a sudden unexplained increase despite enjoying price stability for over five years. This is not the sign of a booming economy especially with the news of people exchanging their children for bags of rice as the nation's staple becomes priced out of the reach of the common man.

Femi Adesina may not be suffering enjoying the perks of office but I ask him to review the video of soldiers and policemen turning their arms against each other over bags of rice as the scramble for the food donated to IDPs took a shameful lethal tone while thousands lay like bleached bones in the sun dying of starvation and malnutrition.

Pictures don't lie as one wonders if an Ethiopian styled famine and plague has not visited Nigeria, a land of plenty, as the skeletal silhouette of starving children has been made vivid by the visits of notable philanthropists like TY Bello and Modupe Ozolua to the camps of IDPs. This is not the time to laugh and indulge in backslapping congratulations amidst the fictional claim that Nigerians are not suffering. Hence I make bold to say Nigerians are suffering and Femi Adesina should be sensitive to this fact and stop wasting the little goodwill PMB still has on such frivolous talk.

That is the message he should take back to Aso Rock and end his current sojourn in fool's paradise. Next comes the comments of the Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefile. His comments on the dim outlook for the Nigerian Economy prejudiced by its 90% dependence on oil threatened by the menace of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) makes for grim reading.

President Muhammadu Buhari should shoulder the blame for this current predicament as he failed to listen to the warnings of stakeholders in the South-South preferring to indulge in the jaded advise of his nepotistic kitchen Cabinet. Now the perennial beast has been reawakened the rumour mill is ripe with speculations that Foreign Mercenaries are to be contracted to tackle the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) menace for the Nigerian Military is stretched up to their elastic limit by fighting on two fronts: Boko Haram in the North East and Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) in the South South.

Hence one wonders if we aren't going full circle from the days of Don Fortunato and his South African Mercs to PMB and his Blackwater XE Mercs. What really has changed? The Central Bank Governor is rightly perplexed hence his warnings are timely and distressing. The need to diversify the economy becomes more urgent as current realities dictate such a tune. But has the Government of the day risen to this challenge?

A budget that is still stuttering in implementation does not generate confidence. The second quarter of the year has whisked by and no tangible project or direction has been laid down. Unemployment figures still maintain a rugby score appearance as Nigerians grapple with a faltering economy. Private companies are diverting from Nigeria and investing in neighbouring countries like Ghana.

This is the dooms day scenario Emefile has predicted which has come to pass. To halt an economy in free fall seems to be of little concern of all members of the President's kitchen cabinet hence the lackadaisical approach to this pressing problem is not encouraging. At the heart of President Buhari's failing Presidency are the two Dauras.

How funny that two years after I predicted that two Sambos (Sambo Dasuki and Namadi Sambo) will be instrumental to the down fall of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, I am now sounding a word of caution about the two Dauras. Maman Daura, the President's nephew, Head of the Kitchen Cabinet and defectors Vice President and Lawan Daura the Current head of the Department of State Security (DSS). These two men have risen to become the most powerful men in the land trumping the once powerful duo of NSA Mungono and General Dambazzau.

Most of the lopsided appointments of the President can be traced to the duo of the Dauras with one making the recommendations while the other excluding others on the basis of security reports. It is totally laughable to assume that every one in the South South and South East has an adverse security report in their kitty hence are ineligible to serve at the top echelons of the Nation's security dragnet.

This is the kind of nepotistic thinking that made Buhari fail thrice as a Presidential candidate until he attained a national appeal which was the principal reason he was propelled to the Aso Rock Villa besides the frustration of most Nigerians with the corrupt regime of Ex-President Jonathan.

Corruption will destroy Nigeria but Nepotism will end Democratic rule in Nigeria. The President must be commended for his war against corruption but his nihilistic approach to governance as telly-guided by the two Dauras will not end well. Inability to run an all inclusive government has led to the unrest in the South South and South East. Rumours of a coup and unrest in the military are also born from these sentiments.

Democracy has survived since 1999 on the premise of devolution of powers amongst all sections of the country. Hence to see a sudden appearance of favouritism towards the Northern axis of the country should not be taken lightly. All the commotion with the NDA would have been avoided if a sane mind from the region had the President's ear.

The deliberate sabotage of this regime is fuelled by this belief of non-inclusion of the South south and South East in the inner sanctum of governance held by the two Dauras and their kin. The President must take stock of his Presidency and what legacy he wishes to leave behind?

Already Cross River State has been over run by Militants who have captured some key local Governments and spread lawlessness and kidnappings in their wake as every vestigial remnant of the apparatus of Government has taken flight. Niger delta Militants are spreading violence and unrest to the South West Sacking communities in Lagos and Ogun State amidst a blunted Federal Response and extreme silence from the Presidency.

Again, another picture reminiscent of Boko Haram over running the North East in the time of Don Fortunato is playing out again. Nigeria has gone full circle and we are back to where we started in 2009. Buhari has to wake and realise that even though Nigerians support his war against corruption there is a definite disconnect between the government and the governed. Only a radical change in the approach of Governance can steady this sinking ship of Nigeria.

But will the Dauras let the President hear the truth or continue to feed him the untruths of Femi Adesina? That is the million dollar question all Nigerians are waiting for an answer as they groaned under the harsh economic tensions of another Buhari Regime.

Usman Mohammed
President,
Lapai Emirate Student's Association,
IBB University, Lapai-Niger State. 07060815443