Buhari: Change or ‘same-same’? “

If it takes two years to fully develop raving madness, how many years would the lunatic have to flaunt his insanity before the society?” That was a question that our forebears used to ask when confronted with perceived lethargy. Their philosophy seemed to be based on “what you have to do, do quick!” So, even if you were an exponent of insanity, get on with the madness and stop beating about the bush.

We have had two years of President Muhammadu Buhari, halfway through his term. It is fair to access the journey so far now. He came riding the crest of popularity. His predecessor was so weak and inept that he threw money at every challenge and allowed corruption to take up residence in the presidency. Many things were wrong and Buhari, the clean, spartan, incorruptible leader assisted by Yemi Osinbajo, was the man to fix them.

I think it is fair to say that Buhari hit the ground crawling instead of running. The first six months which could have signalled a marked departure from the business-as-usual way of the past were wasted as the president failed to name his cabinet. By contrast, France’s new president, 39-year-old Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron named Édouard Philippe as Prime Minister on his first day in office and then went on to name a gender-balanced cabinet from across the political spectrum. The signal being sent to the rest of the world is that there is a government firmly in place.

Nearer home, in Ghana, President Akufo-Addo named his cabinet a couple of days after being sworn in. When there is plenty of work to be done, the earlier the team to tackle the problem is constituted the better. Some have argued that the delay was caused by the fact that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was an amalgam of various political tendencies. But we have seen that Buhari has always insisted on being his own man without much regard for party input in appointments. The result is that two years on, there are still thousands of critical positions (including important boards) waiting to be filled. If the ousted government was no use, how come the new government left its appointees in place for two years and counting? What accounts for this stasis?

In a previous piece, I had scored the Buhari government high in the fight against the twin evils of terrorism and corruption. Say what you will, Nigeria is better off in those areas than before. Buhari has overhauled the military to position it for greater professionalism. Among his achievements, too, are the introduction of the Treasury Single Account and the enforcement of the Bank Verification Number, BVN. There are pockets of movements hinting at possible motion in some critical sectors (e.g., Agriculture) but nothing so significant as to describe them as great strides.

Because we had been living a lie in the past and the new government seemed unprepared for the level of decay it inherited, there is large scale suffering in the land. The devaluation of the Naira has also added to the suffering as pay packets are now worth only a third of their value three years ago.

If Buhari is to leave a good legacy, he must win the economic war confronting the nation and run a truly pan-Nigerian administration. The Buy Nigeria campaign launched by the government is a very good move but, as with many other areas of governance, it is crying for buy-in from all government agencies and parastatals who still have their sights firmly fixed on importation from abroad. For example, a lot of printing is still being done in foreign lands while Nigerian printers languish in idleness; makes one wonder who enforces government’s policy in this administration.

Those who were expecting the president to provide leadership for his party are roundly disappointed. In the last two years he has failed to weld the disparate tendencies in his party together and the lack of cohesion is taking its toll on the quality of policies announced and appointments already made.

That same dissonance is noticeable in the larger society where the president has been isolated through layers and layers of bureaucracy from the people. More than ever before, these lean times require that the president regularly communicates with the people, holding their hands metaphorically to assure them that all will be well. His health challenges have compounded the problem but even at the best of times he had been decidedly distant and taciturn. That was why all of us who want him to succeed for the sake of our children have been clamouring for him to change gear long before his health problems became public knowledge.

The single most urgent task I expect Buhari and Osinbajo to tackle in the remaining half of their tenure is the issue of national cohesion and the reinvention of our dear country. Obviously the nature of our federalism has to be re-examined and relevant resolutions passed by previous national conferences have to be put back on the table so that we can together chart a future. It is futile pretending that national unity can be enforced without national consensus involving ALL ethnic nationalities.

Am I now wistfully wishing we were back where we were before Buhari came on the scene? Not on your life!