President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the last week sent signals to Nigerians and those who felt that his government will only be a continuation of the lacklustre and uninspiring reign of the Muhammadu Buhari government, that he is not only the head of the government but is also in control. A quality that was completely lacking in the tenure of his predecessor.
For those who think former President Buhari should be exonerated from the recklessness and abysmal performance of that government, they have to always remember that the president it was that the people elected and he takes full responsibility for the performance of his appointees.
Since the return of democracy in 1999, Buhari’s appointments remain the worst and that explains why he failed in office. He failed because he simply allowed cronyism, clannish and religious bigotry to get the better of him while making his appointments. The result being that, he outsourced his mandate to hawks who simply helped themselves to our common patrimony and operated without let or hindrance.
And when the then First Lady, Aisha Buhari, cried out that these hawks had hijacked the presidency from her husband, she was insulted and made to look like a nagging wife, who was just crying wolf where none existed.
When the people questioned his fixation about making appointments from one part of the country, his media minders told us that should not be an issue so long as he believed that was where he could get the trusted hands he needed to deliver the goods. How sad! However, as it panned out, Buhari stuck to the same floundering team for eight years, in spite of clear and apparent cases of non-performance and corruption allegations against many of them. How do you stick to a team that is not performing for eight years? That above anything else defined the era of President Muhammadu Buhari.
So, when Tinubu became President, we prayed that at least he would do things differently. Appoint whoever he likes, that after all, is the prerogative of the president, but for God’s sake, if these appointees are found wanting and fall short of his expectations, why protect and allow them remain in office?
It is therefore to be expected that the generality of Nigerians were getting fed up with the raging story of alleged fraud that had been going on for some time in the office of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. This ministry was also seen by not a few Nigerians as a conduit pipe all through the reign of Buhari, but as usual, he was not least bothered by the public outcry.
In fact, the most scandalous in the ministry at the time, was the claim that they spent billions of naira feeding Nigerian school children who were out of school for the duration owing to the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with such spurious claims, Buhari remained nonplussed and indifferent.
Perhaps, taking a cue from the unrestricted bazaars that went on under Buhari, Betta Edu who was appointed into that ministry by President Tinubu, sadly, seem to have toed that same line, but unfortunately, this time Tinubu wielded the big stick and with that singular action has shown his intent not to follow the same trajectory of his predecessor. What this action means is that, whereas it may not have been Betta alone who is guilty of this kind of malfeasance, others would be better advised.
The president suspended Edu last Monday and her subsequent invitation by the EFCC over a controversial N585.189 million payment to a private bank account and other infractions within the ministry since her appointment.
Certainly, allegations in themselves cannot immediately translate to guilt until it’s so proven, but the promptness with which the president, perhaps owing to public outcry, approved her suspension was the only remedy to free his administration from avoidable distraction and to concentrate on other matters of state importance.
What the experience of Edu has shown is that she is clearly immature and severally displayed that with her utterances and displays on social media before and after her appointment. It goes a long way to question her choice for that responsibility, in the first place.
Same last week, Tuesday precisely, the presidency delighted Nigerians with the news of the cut in the size of official delegations that accompany the president, his vice and the first lady. Before now, not a few Nigerians had complained for a very long time about the over bloated size of the official entourage on foreign trips.
To be sure, this did not start with Tinubu’s presidency, it has remained a drain on the ever-dwindling state resources, but cried as many Nigerians have, nothing was done until last Tuesday by Tinubu. But as they say, it is not yet uhuru. There are still several avenues through which the nation bleeds. The ever increasing cost of governance, the duplication of agencies and ministries with similar functions, cut in the number of foreign trips by public office holders and of course, reckless spending by the National Assembly, etc.
Meanwhile, the presidency must go a step further and spell it out to Nigerians how they intend to enforce this policy on official trips.
Recall that Nigerians had complained about the over-bloated delegation of about 1,411 individuals to the Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last year.
Although, the presidency had explained it sponsored only 422 delegates, reports, however, had it that the trip cost the nation around N2.78 billion on airfares and estacodes. But, from all indications, and with the president’s subsequent reaction on Tuesday, this was a problem that needed to be addressed and that he did again. Another kudos to him, but we must see this happen to believe.
The president approved a slash by 60% of the official entourage on local and international travels.
The president, with his recent actions has given Nigerians hope that his is a presidency that listens. There is nothing as frustrating as talking to a person that does not listen. As Nigerians, we all have a stake in seeing to the success of this nation. It’s sad and disappointing to know that rather than seeing us as partners in progress, the Buhari administration simply saw those with contrary positions as saboteurs.
They derided critics, alienated those whose opinions they are not comfortable with and embraced praise singers, hypocrites and sycophants.
It should be clear to the Tinubu team that it is a lot easier to lead the people through persuasion, moral suasion and superior arguments rather than coercion, brute force and arrogance borne out of ignorance.
President Tinubu must lead his team along this trajectory if he wants to succeed. He must get all to realise that these are trying times for the nation and so politicians must reflect on and live with this reality. He must realise that Nigerians want the best for this nation and a government that wants to succeed must be prepared to listen and welcome criticisms.
