Two Years after, How Does the Change Feel?
Have you bought your Aso Ebi?
Aso Ebi for what?
Need you ask? Everybody is warming up for the second year anniversary of this administration. Have you not seen the anniversary Ankara with the picture of our able President emblazoned on it?
Ehn? Which president is able? The same one battling with doctors in London? And what will you be celebrating anyway with the chief celebrant out of town?
It is an ideological celebration. A celebration of ideas and values. The values of a national rebirth. The values of a new socio-economic orientation. The values of a greater….
(cuts in) Please, spare me! Stop saying things that are not real. You are talking to a fellow Nigerian. I am not Diaspora-based. I live here in Nigeria. So what national rebirth are you talking about that has to be celebrated? Have our plagues ended? Are we not yet bedraggled by corruption and nepotism? Did you not hear of the scandal that trailed the recruitment exercise into the Department of State Service (DSS), where the number of people recruited from Katsina alone is more than the number of the entire people from the south-east, all because the Director of DSS, Mallam Daura is from Katsina State? Are those not the same plagues of nepotism that have troubled us from independence? Or did you not hear of the grass-cutting scandal where over N500 million was allegedly netted by the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal? Do you know right now, a lot of politics is being introduced into the report of the Osinbajo-led investigative panel that probed the grass-cutting contract award? Do you know many Nigerians believe that the man (Lawal) will wriggle out of the noose because of the “we-we” syndrome of those in government?
So my dear brother, what national rebirth are you talking about? Are people stealing government money less? Did you not hear that the nation’s lawmakers beefed up the nation’s budget with over N143 billion? Is that the national rebirth you want to celebrate?
You talk as if you do not know that the journey of a thousand miles begins with just a step.You talk as if you do not know that it is easier to destroy than to repair. This administration is doing reparative works.You do not expect that the transformation will be automatic. Sure, fixing Nigeria will not be an overnight job. No such miracle happens in governance. What is crucial and important is that the government is headed in the right direction of self-recovery. And it is even more reassuring that the will to do what is right is not lacking at all.
You are a witness to the fact that this government is in an unyielding war against corruption.You can see how busy and even overworked our EFCC is. It is all sign of the battle to reclaim Nigeria from the hands of ancient prey masters.
Yes, we are not there, but we are headed there, that, I can assure you.
You talk as if you are still campaigning. Two years after, it’s been all talk and more talk, no action. No visible action. Even in the so-called fight against corruption, no significant conviction of a Big Thief. Only the hapless crooks are in prison. The big thieves are still driving their bulletproof Range Rover SUVs all over the place. Yes, we are seeing flickers of the fire, but the flame has never been strong enough to burn down the bad guys. We have not seen this.
This government promised Change. This is gradual. Blame non-convictions on the crooks in the judiciary. And they are being hounded too.
So our belief in the government should have been as gradual too.
You don’t get it. This is just half-time in the game. There is yet another full half left. A lot can yet be achieved. The groundwork of change has been laid.You can see the mileage covered on the agric sector.You can see the huge moves being made on the rail sector. You are a witness to the recovery of the Chibok girls and the overall degrading of the Boko Haram insurgents.You can see the huge …..
I cannot see anything. You are merely parroting the mantra of Change. I want to feel it, not hear it. Let our breakfast table experience the change. Let our bank accounts experience change. Let those who work be paid their salaries. Let the pensioners be paid their gratuities. Let the contractors owed by government be paid. Let those who do private business have the enabling environment to do so. Let there be light. We have suffered enough in darkness, choked further by too much grammar and needless technicalities. Those who enjoy steady light never had to pay the price of this volume of governmental explanations. The more we appear nearer the mark, the further we really are. The change is not visible. Go to Apapa in Lagos, when it rains and you will know what type of Change we have. The French will say Rien Change. Let the purchasing power of the people be restored. Those are the things that will reflate the economy. Let the millions of unemployed youths experience change by getting jobs. That is what will make sense, and that’s the change we want to feel, not these “ideological” abstracts you are talking about.
Awwww. What you describe as “ideological abstracts” are the fundamentals of change. I can tell you that the nation was at its lowest ebb in many areas before this government took over.You know this government literally inherited the economic recession. But it is to its credit that we are getting out of it. The indices are all there. If you cannot yet see them, then you need Tinubu’s glasses.
So, go get your aso-ebi. Get ready for the beat of the drums. The drums of hope. The hope of a better tomorrow. The tomorrow of our dream.
Rather than involve the drums, let’s turn it to a prayer conference. A prayer to heal both our president and our land. A prayer to reset Nigeria. No need for any celebration!