THIS IS NOT THE CHANGE NIGERIANS EXPECTED
Dr Fredrick Fasehun, Founder, Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC
What has Buhari done? Nothing. What has he done differently to make positive impacts on the lives of Nigerians? Nothing.
Buhari has been a disappointment. However, I’m not surprised because I was one of those Nigerians that urged voters not to vote for him.
I don’t bear personal grudge against Buhari; I have nothing personal against him. I opposed Buhari on the basis of principle because I believed that he can’t do it. He can’t provide Nigeria with right leadership.
Buhari, right from his military dictatorship days, has always been mired in controversy and till today he has not changed. Controversies and Buhari are inseparable. How do you now expect Nigerians to get the best out of him?
But Buhari’s supporters are saying that things are now working in Nigeria, that era of change has finally arrived …
Things are working? What is working now that has not been working before. Some Nigerians are hypocrites, and one of their trademarks is to singpraise any government that is in power. But at my age, if I can’t say the truth, say it the way it is, what do I stand to gain?
The truth is that the first 100 days of Buhari have been generated more controversy than performance. I can’t see any performance, rather in the first 100 days of Buhari, it has been a tale of controversies. Buhari has turned himself into sole administrator of Nigeria. He has proved that he can never change from being a dictator.
Some of us saw this danger, and that was why we warned Nigerians not to vote for him. But Nigerians said they wanted a change and that Buhari personified that change.
While I sympathise with Nigerians over the pains and agony being inflicted on them through some of the president’s actions, I will say Nigerians should not complain, they said they wanted a change, and that change is now with them and they have to endure Buhari for the next four years.
Those who say we are practising democracy under Buhari now are deceiving themselves. Nigeria, for now, I will say, is on an auto-pilot and Buhari is the sole driver. He is the emperor of Nigeria.
But people have been saying that the impact of the administration is being felt in different spheres of our national life …
(Cuts in) I asked where? Where is it being felt? Is it in area of appointments where everything is tilted in favour of the North to the detriment of the South. We call ourselves citizens of the same country, but see what Buhari is doing portraying himself as President of the North.
Even some northerners are not comfortable with some of Buhari’s actions especially on issue of appointments.
If Buhari is not checkmated or retrace his step, his actions so far are capable of stoking ethnicity flames – I believe that at this point of our national history, our leaders should be taking actions that will unite rather than divide us.
Look at the uproar that greeted Buhari’s latest appointments. Is Buhari saying that he can’t find honest and capable persons from the South to merit some of those appointments? Forget all the media rebuttals or pleadings on behalf of Buhari, the man himself is stubborn and rigid to a fault.
What about his stance on corruption? How would you score him because some are saying that he is on the right track, that he is adopting the right approach?
Nobody supports corruption. Corruption is evil, and we all collectively agreed on the need to tackle the vice.
However, what we are saying is that war against corruption should not be selective. It must not be seen as if some people are being persecuted while others are walking the streets free. You can’t use propaganda or media hype to fight corruption. Again, an accused person is presumed innocent until proved guilty by a court of law. Nigerians can’t be hoodwinked.
Everything being done must be transparently done. We can’t afford Nigeria being turned into an Animal’s Farm where all animals are supposed to be equal, but surprisingly some are more equal than the others.
BUHARI HAS DONE WELL
Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu, Former President, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC
Buhari has done well in my view. Wwhen you look at few things that he has done, you will know that he has performed very well.
Why do I say that he has done well?
Unlike before, things are now working – look at every sector including power, things seems to be working now.
The International Community now also has a lot of confidence in the government of Buhari. This is not something you can quantify in terms of naira.
Then when you talk about security, Buhari has succeeded in forging an alliance with other African nations through the Multi-National Task Force to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency.
Before he was voted into office, Buhari vowed to tackle corruption, and he has kept to that promise. Looters are now being exposed and Nigerians are shocked by the revelations relating to the looting of public funds. Buhari has proved to be a man of his words.
His performance in the last 100 days has been sterling, I urge Nigerians to cooperate with him so as to facilitate the task of sanitizing the nation.
But in the view of some people, nothing tangible has been achieved by Buhari, and not only that, the administration has been accused of being slow in taking decisions?
Everybody is entitled to his opinion. Don’t forget that Buhari inherited a lot of mess and these can’t be cleared overnight. The damage of six years or more than that should not be expected to be repaired or mended within three days.
There are many issues that Buhari has to attend to, and these have to be meticulously done. It is not a tea party. Buhari doesn’t want to fail Nigerians and this is why he is taking his time in getting things done. I expect Nigerians to exercise patience with him. We should not be in a hurry to pass judgement on this man.
What about the issue of appointments which many said are lopsided in favour of the North?
Buhari means well for Nigeria and Nigerians. He is a detribalized Nigerian and both he and his aides have told the nation that the appointments were based on merit. They also told the nation that there are still several appointments yet to be made, and that ultimately these appointments will go round.
Non-appointment of ministers is also one of the issues some people have taken up with Buhari
I don’t see anything unusual about that. Even the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, it took him three months to appoint ministers – don’t forget again that Buhari met an empty treasury, and being a prudent leader, he is trying to conserve public funds.
But even at that Buhari has told the nation that he will appoint ministers in September, and September has just started, we should wait for the ministers, they are coming.
What about the allegations that Buhari has been favouring the North over the South in his actions?
Those saying that are not being fair to him. Buhari is the president of the whole nation. It is unfair to tag him President of the North.
During the elections, he secured votes across the country. He scored 2/3 of the votes in over 25 states. We should not inflame passions. It is too early in the day to draw conclusions about the man and his intentions. But my assessment of Buhari in the last 100 days is that he has performed creditably well. My advice for him is that he should sustain the present tempo of governance.
Nigerians should also not forget one thing, Buhari told Nigerians from the outset that he is not for anybody but for everybody. I have not seen Buhari derailing, but nothing stops Nigerians from giving him advice or expressing their minds on any action he takes but this must be without malice.
Nigerians should learn to exercise patience. We should give the man some time to work before jumping to conclusions. We should not expect the mess of 16 years to be cleared overnight. –TUNDE THOMAS