Between Their Furious Lane And Buhari‘s Slowly Lane

You don‘t rush development, you plan it; When President Muhammadu Buhari whimsically asked sometime in 2018 what happens to those who were in hurry to provide governance? The answer of course was the stagnation we found ourselves 16 years of PDP‘s rule. The party was in needless rush to share money without planning through. The reason billions went into road infrastructure with nothing to show for it, more billions in dollars went into power infrastructure with no commensurate impact.

Buhari came and slowly embarked on silent rejuvenation of our governance template; in fact, he didn‘t come up with anything novel, he harnessed the policies and initiatives on ground to achieve results. First was the implementation of the Single Treasury Account (TSA), the Biometric Verification Number(BVN) two masterstrokes that streamlined government income and spending and tamed the vicious incidence of corruption in public service to the barest level.

Just yesterday, the abandoned Ajaokuta steel roared back to life with the extrication of the legal shackles that hold that giant steel village by the jugular when the FG finally secured a deal that makes the steel complex solely a Nigerian ownership.

And this morning, we are greeted with this pleasurable development that FG has signed a contract with Siemens to take over generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Nigeria.

Yes, you heard me right! Brace up for the dividends of Buhari‘s slow pace and taciturn governance. He refused to use the fast lane that others used and didn‘t fetch us much progress. His snail-like pace is yielding results in rail infrastructure, roads, housing, agriculture etc. I completely agree with you on PMB‘s style! His taciturn nature is what makes it hard for many to know his administration is performing in many ways! He isn‘t far from his agelong dispositions to life‘s vanity, to him, there is absolutely no need to make praise of what is natural; for governance is the people‘s right and must be provided without mounting trumpeters and chariots to mouth it.

Many of Nigeria‘s problems are systemic and require focused- in-depth sustainable solutions! Instant cosmetic solutions may appeal to the populist fantasies of some – something that is costing president Muhammadu Buhari the deserved accolades. But if successive governments had kept fine-tuning the same planned path the rewards of progress in all sectors would have been everywhere.

Like presidential spokesperson Femi Adeshina succinctly put it;

„some Nigerians have afflicted themselves with willful blindness, deafness and amnesia just to erase the footprints of President Buhari.

He said, “Unless you are the discerning type, listening to public discourse today, you would think the only thing happening in the country is insecurity. Yes, Nigeria has battled and is still battling grave security issues. But it will win. As sure as night follows the day. In fact, insurgents and bandits are being put on the back foot already. Nigeria shall win.

“However, the footprints of President Muhammadu Buhari are visible in many areas of our national life and will remain indelible. At least for those who are fair, and open-minded, not those who have afflicted themselves with willful blindness, deafness and amnesia. One area where President Buhari will never be forgotten is in diaspora matters. How the country relates with its nationals abroad, taps into their skills and capacities, takes care of their needs, and generally gives them a sense of inclusion in national affairs.

“In 2017, Buhari saw to the enactment of the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (Establishment) Act, which provides for the engagement of Nigerians in diaspora in the policies, projects and participation in the development of Nigeria, and for the purpose of utilizing the human capital and material resources of Nigerians in diaspora towards the overall socio-economic, cultural and political development of the country.”

Relatedly, public relations guru, Mustapha Chonoko threw unfriendlily missiles at some northern elites whose conspiracies he said have affected Buhari‘s administration as almost every opinion of theirs carries unfair and unfavourable slants.

“if not for the unsupportive spirit of some northern elites, including those appointed by Buhari but unfortunately unknown to him they‘re the representatives of the dark northern elements who collaborate with other detractors from the other parts of the country and beyond to infest all manners of crisis in the north, particularly the north west where Baba comes from to prove a point, which they hope to use during the next round of campaigns to ascends to power. Sadly, Innocent persons are falling victims and these elements seem to be having an upper hand but certainly, the law of karma would come after them, and they may end up being consumed by the fires they set themselves or their loved ones. Allah is watching and surely the unjust, the makirun will surely face the consequences of their misdeeds.

While President Muhammadu Buhari is getting it right in all these areas, it is expected that he quickly gets it right in SECURITY- otherwise, his modest strides would be stained by the embarrassing situation of insecurity. Baba Buhari, you can do it, don‘t let us down.

Optimistically musing.