WHAT’S HAPPENING?
The government should implement policies that will improve the living condition of the people, writes Sonnie Ekwowusi
HOW WAS YOUR FINAL EXAM? IT WAS BUHARIFIC. OF COURSE THIS IS A JOKE
What is really happening in Nigeria? If you extend this question to the person beside you at the moment, he is not unlikely to respond thus: “Nigeria is sick: No money, no light, no water, no food, no security, no job”. And if you seek further clarifications, he might add, “Unemployed youths milling around everywhere. Companies are firing their staff. Workers with supposedly steady jobs are now living in fear, the fear of losing their jobs. Household incomes are diminishing. Many parents can no longer pay school fees let alone pay their house rents. To worsen matters, our president is also sick.”
This is the popular state of the nation at the moment. Having successfully dismantled the pre-existing Jonathan order, the Buhari government is yet to put an alternative order in place. Consequently, people’s lives are still ruled by uncertainty and confusion. Nature abhors a vacuum but we seem to be experiencing a vacuum in Nigeria at the moment. Apart from the flexible forex policy announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week, nobody knows where we are headed. The ministers are not talking or have been warned not to talk. So, there is an information blackout amid the increasing economic hardship in the land. Last week I received a WhatsApp message that a new word called Buhari which means hardship (synonyms: strenuous, onerous, arduous, gruelling, painful, hellish) has been added into the dictionary. How was your final exam? It was Buharific. Of course this is a joke. I can tolerate this joke but I can’t tolerate anybody joking with the president’s ill-health. Nobody should joke with a person’s ill-health. I wish President Mohammadu Buhari a speedy recovery.
In any case, the president returned last Sunday to Abuja from his medical vacation. Upon arrival, he told journalists at the airport that he was hale and hearty and fit to rule the country. But the picture of a frail-looking Buhari published on the front page of The Guardian newspaper of last Friday spoke otherwise. Therefore the logical questions are: Is the president really strong and fit to resume his official duty? Is his frequent absent from office and his frequent visit to hospitals abroad an indication that he might not have the powers to continue to perform his duty in the future?
Another disturbing development at the moment is the systematic imposition of a state religion on Nigerians through government actions and policies. Whereas section 10 of the 1999 Constitution stipulates that “The Government of the Federation or a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion” some well-articulated government policies and actions state the contrary. For example, Osun State Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola makes no pretext both in word and action that he wants to Islamise Osun State. Apparently acting on a questionable court judgment last week, the governor ordered the female Muslim students in public secondary schools in the state to start attending classes in their Hijab. Peeved by this directive, the State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) ordered the Christians students in the state to start wearing their different church garment and robes to classes. Even students who are pagans and juju worshipers did not hesitate to wear their masquerade and juju attires to school. It was a real drama. Prior to the Osun State school uniform drama, Mrs. Bridget Agbahime was reportedly beheaded in Kano for alleged religious blasphemy. Till date her real murderers are yet to be apprehended and brought to justice. Other killings and burning of Christian churches in the name of religion have been recorded in different parts of the country.
This is sad, isn’t it? Therefore, beyond condemnation, Governor Aregbesola and others who are violating the secularity of the Nigerian state should be properly enlightened to understand the real meaning of secularity (in contrast to secularism) as enshrined in our 1999 Constitution. Religious intolerance can be very sticky and deadly too. That is why it is advisable to stay away from it. More importantly, Nigeria is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multireligious society with no state religion as clearly stated in section 10 of the 1999 Constitution. Therefore we should learn to tolerate one another. Nobody is a single verse. Christians and Muslims live on the faith of Abraham, and, on one almighty and merciful God.
All said, now that President Buhari is back and says he is fit to rule, he should implement specific policies that will improve the living conditions of the people. We are tired of excuses. If the new flexible forex policy of the CBN is what will bring about the much-vaunted transformation, let it be effectively implemented. Let us sell and buy forex only through the official windows, and under a transparent and easily verifiable system, with available amount of dollar at each outlet and rates published and displayed in a secured manner daily. The naira should be made the only currency for transactions in the country. In a country like China every dollar that enters or leaves the country is accounted for. Violation of the rules regulating management and use of dollar is heavily punished. It is high time we tried the Chinese option.