Recently, President Buhari quietly turned down an offer of five armored Mercedes Benz S-600 (V 222) cars for his use, at a planned cost of N400 million, maintaining that the ones he inherited from former President Jonathan were enough for him. Surely, President Buhari is making haste slowly. An eloquent testimony here is from the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who pleasantly acknowledged that Nigeria’s foreign reserves have risen from $29.1 billion left by the Jonathan administration to $31.89 billion, as a result of Buhari’s tight fiscal policy, anchored on the blocking of leakages. What more can anyone expect in just five weeks? We see dry bones rising again. We hear our refineries are returning to full production in the next few days!
By Josef Omorotionmwan
The profound British humanist, Sir Thomas More, may have lived four centuries before his time. This is when he should have been around to give full expression to the Utopian desire of some Nigerians for the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
To such Nigerians, since President Buhari was sworn into office on Friday May 29, 2015, his ministerial list should have been submitted to the Senate on May 30, 2015 for confirmation on the 31st.
Since they were racing against time, it would have made no difference that at that particular time the nominees would have been confirmed by the Seventh Senate.
The President would have proceeded to Daura to switch on the light so that thenceforth, light failure throughout the country would have been put at bay forever. And by Monday, June 1 2015, Boko Haram would have been totally exterminated.
This is the Utopia that would have been satisfactory to the critics. Otherwise, Buhari has been cleverly dubbed “Baba Go-Slow.”
Perhaps unknown to these critics, no matter how fast a man wants to run, he can never run away from himself. Neither can he run faster than his shadow.
Much as we do not accept that Buhari deserves the appellation of Baba Go-Slow, it is still necessary to quickly affirm our belief in the aphorism, “Slow and steady wins the race.”
It is too early in the day to see Buhari as trying to lead the nation into what experts call “diagnostic paralysis” – a medical condition in which a patient dies because much time was spent diagnosing his ailment.
Admittedly, pace is important, particularly given the fact that the immediate past administration left Nigeria prostrate.
But in our current situation, haste just for the sake of appearing busy has dubious benefits. What is more important in a race is not how fast you take-off but how well you end.
Going by the lessons of history, some past leaders who hit the ground running ended up running the country aground. There were also others who hit the ground running in the opposite direction.
Buhari’s delay in constituting a team may indeed convey a sense of ennui, but one cannot easily forget that the bungled National Assembly leadership selection process also added a picture of dismay very early in the life of the administration.
We wonder how the critics expected the President to submit his ministerial list into a vacuum or worse still, into a Senate that has been at war with itself.
If Buhari received a change mandate, he certainly deserves a breathing space to do things differently. True, he may have been forced to calibrate his speed based on the rot he met on ground, but he is also aware that his stock of goodwill with an impatient population is not inexhaustible. Most importantly, he knows that rots in society never end.
See how we have apparently stampeded Buhari into receiving his initial baptism: In our usual way of putting the cart before the horse, we may have pushed him into inaugurating the National Economic Council, NEC, headed by the Vice President, without the relevant Minister-members, like the Finance and National Planning Ministers who are expected to provide the Council with appropriate materials and expert advice.
Evidently, Buhari remains focused. He is already walking his talk; but he is not noisy about his achievements. Let’s look at a few instances: He meant business when he asserted at his inauguration, “I am for everyone and I am not for anybody.” Morning shows the day.
Today, Nigeria proudly occupies the highest seat in the African Development Bank. On assumption of office, President Buhari met on his table, the application of an impeccably qualified Nigerian, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.
It did not matter to Buhari that the young man was of the opposition extraction, having served the immediate past administration as Minister of Agriculture.
He immediately dispatched a high-powered delegation led by a former Vice-President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, to go and lobby all the stakeholders that would decide the issue.
Buhari’s role here, though largely unsung, is the moral equivalent of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s unconditional surrender at the middle of the announcement of the last presidential election results.
Buhari did not require a large team to do what he did. Neither did he need a jet plane so as to be seen as fast – even where he moved at the speed of sound.
Recently, President Buhari quietly turned down an offer of five armored Mercedes Benz S-600 (V 222) cars for his use, at a planned cost of N400 million, maintaining that the ones he inherited from former President Jonathan were enough for him.
Surely, President Buhari is making haste slowly. An eloquent testimony here is from the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who pleasantly acknowledged that Nigeria’s foreign reserves have risen from $29.1 billion left by the Jonathan administration to $31.89 billion, as a result of Buhari’s tight fiscal policy, anchored on the blocking of leakages. What more can anyone expect in just five weeks?
We see dry bones rising again. We hear our refineries are returning to full production in the next few days!
Is it by accident that the thief catchers have suddenly woken up from their deep slumber? Right now, no fewer than five ex-governors – in a particular case, joined by two of his children – as well as one-time Head of the Federal Civil Service; are all getting their day in court.
And more old files are being dusted up! What can anyone say about a man, who while he is yet to speak, his body language alone is sending shivers across the world, to the admiration of most world leaders, who are now falling head-long to host him?
What is now left is for the National Assembly to assemble itself, sink individual differences and jump into this moving train so that, like the old Spirituals, we shall soon proclaim together, “Yes, they said it couldn’t be done; but thank God Almighty, we did it!”
Hon. Josef Omorotionmwan is a public affairs analyst and Chairman, Board of Directors, Edo Broadcasting Service. He can be reached at: joligien@yahoo.com
