By Aliyu Nuhu
If there is anything the new APC government used in fighting its way into the psyche of Nigerians, it is the political slogan (change). APC has made it clear that it was not PDP and did not want to do things the PDP way. Never mind that it was the same people in PDP that dropped their umbrellas and carried brooms to form the APC for their political convenience. Halfway into APC’s first term in power, change remains more of a political tool than a vehicle for progress . Nigeria and Nigerians essentially remain the same, just as before.
The ordinary Nigerian has not changed in his ways of doing things. He is the same dishonest, ruthless, corrupt, violent,unpatriotic,lawless and ungodly human being. He worships the same Nigerian god. It doesn’t matter the faith, Nigerian god wants to be involved and consulted while inflating contracts, rigging election or planning to cheat in exams.
The Nigerian man puts god in prayers while planning evil. Nothing has changed in the persona of the Nigerian man. The same goes with Nigerian leadership. Muhammadu Buhari remains a good man. But Nigerians never gave him the second chance to lead the country when he still had his dynamism,chauvinism and exuberance as a younger person until he reached the ripe age of 72. The Buhari of 80s and 90s is not the same Buhari of 2000s. It was like we had a Ferrari parked in the garage for decades and only decided to use it after it was overtaken by age and modernity. That is the Nigerian tragedy. Today Buhari is easier to bend. Old men are more agreeable and malleable. We never wanted a soft and nice leader. Nigeria is too inordinate lawless for that kind of man.
Back to the core subject, Change. From the president down to local government workers,change is only there by name. The Nigerian leader still lives outside his reality. As an emperor he lives in luxury,owns 11 luxury planes,rides in motorcade made up of 13- 25 luxury and expensive cars and changes clothes like a butterfly. While cocooned behind high walls of Aso Rock surrounded by luxury, the Nigerian leader has all the insulation he needs to forget the kind of heat outside where his subjects reside. These days the president hoped into chopper from Aso Villa to the airport. He ignores the fact that there is poverty, unemployment and hunger everywhere. The leader is detached from reality. Nothing has changed.
The economy
One irrefutable fact about Nigeria is that it ran a commodity economy since it’s birth in 1914. After independence in 1960,oil took the center stage as the sustainer of all Nigerian governments. Nothing has changed. The nation had gone through a vicious circle of oil boom and bursts all through its history. Those having fears about Nigeria’s economic recession should know that commodities bursts are not always there to stay. Very soon prices of oil will go up and the country will be back on track. But that does not mean the present leadership should not explore ways of changing the structure of the economy. No one wants a wait- and -see economy dependent on the vagaries of volatile commodities markets. Talking about change,the Nigerian government should ideally start with the economy. The country should be a net exporter of manufactured goods and services,growing enough food to feed itself as well as having surplus to export abroad. This has not changed.
Change at federal level ,the good,bad and ugly
The new government has restored peace in the Northern part of the country that was ravaged and colonized by Boko Haram. The government has also proven to be a better and wiser spender than the previous government. For instance so much has been spent on capital projects than in the past 6 years. The government has blocked most financial leakages through introduction of TSA and elimination of ghost workers in the civil service. It is also fighting corruption with some measure of sincerity if not success. Stealing in MDAs has been reduced since the coming of the government. The government is also trying to reduce inflation,fight corruption and trim down the civil service.
To move Nigeria forward the government must adjust the nation’s unfavorable term of trade and allow the national currency to fall. I commended the government’s handling of the currency crisis. While It did not officially devalue the Naira ,it wisely allowed market forces to force it’s value down. The government has broadened it’s revenue base and is getting more serious with tax collection . In the past taxes are just about 3% of GDP. The government is targeting 5-7 %, but should also be mindful of avoiding multiple taxation that will emasculate the SMEs out of existence. It is bad enough for business not to get any loans from banks.
The government must make loans available and accessible to the real sector. It is one area the banks are failing woefully in stimulating the economy to provide employment to the youth. Out of 56 million Nigerian youth,98% are unemployed. The government has made so much noise about agriculture while in reality it did nothing to assist the sector. It changed nothing. Production is basically subsistence out of the sheer effort and determination of individual farmers. It did not make tractors available, it did not make fertilizers available nor build new dams,canals or irrigation infrastructure. Again the government must improve the basics by building roads,railways,electricity.
Change at state and local governments level
The APC states never made pretense to be part of the change train. State governments are changing gear for the worse. The mindless,unchecked looting of treasury is everywhere even with so little resources for development. The governors are not adjusting their appetite for sleaze. Contracts have remained the same conduit pipe for stealing. In every state, everywhere, governments are competing to build drainage, roads,bridges at 100 times the actual contract price. The governors are not pretending to adjust their ostentatious lifestyles. They charter planes, ride the same if not more expensive cars,dress like Kings and travel frequently on shopping spree abroad. Nothing has changed in terms of revenue generation and service delivery to the people.
Africa and change: the bitter truth
Africa has been a poor, perhaps the poorest continent throughout history. Nothing has changed and nothing will change with the kind of African leadership in place. The present economic crisis is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. Angola is far worse off than Nigeria as oil contributed near 96% of its GDP and 99% of its foreign earning. By contrast, oil accounts for 64% of Nigeria’s GDP and 90% of its foreign earning. At continental and regional levels, Africa has not changed,not that other African Nations ever pretended to want change.
Nigeria is the symbol of African failure and is dragging the continent to perdition. The truth is that if Nigeria does not succeed, the African continent will never make any headway. The country has been lucky with its population,manufacturing,agriculture and services industry. Nigeria should give thanks for the relative ease it finds itself with the current global recession. Things could have been worse. With regards to Africa, there are about 14 nations that are making change and progress as a result of cheaper energy presented by falling oil price, amongst them Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Some states are virtually in a state of war, the South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi and Central African Republic. Lesotho and Swaziland are the two African states that made it to the top ten most violent nations on earth. Meanwhile we still have more countries that are a disgrace to Africa and black-man. Even at the ripe age of 93,Robert Mugabe wants to stand election for another 8 years term, after being in power since 1976 in Zimbabwe. Other leaders are amending constitution to remain in power after exhausting their constitutional term limit.
DRC,Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Cameroon are bad examples to the continent. South Africa has become a one party state and is keeping a corrupt president in power. Only in Africa you will see a serving president appointing his wife as deputy and successor. The blackman is the problem of the world and his continent, Africa, remains the sore point of global progress. No African,black nation has made any meaningful progress in terms of development. Africa is hugely endowed continent in terms of resources and manpower. With over 1.5 billion people and GDP of $2.7 trillion and growth average at 7%,Africa should lead the way in economic rebirth and development and should by 2050 have a nominal GDP of $30 Trillion. But that will never be. The economy of Africa is just the size of the economy of Argentina.
The typical blackman will always ensure that Africa stays in war,poverty,disease and backwardness. Africans need change more than Nigerians. When the blackman wants to copy white,he copies his lifestyle of excessive freedom and vanity. Today black male couples are fighting for freedom to get married as husband and wife of the same sex. When African man wants to copy Arab, he copies his religious extremism and violence.
Today Somalia is a carbon copy of Yemen. Boko Haram is a copy cat of ISIS and is sitting down in Borno to be appointed viceroy of one twisted ideology to destroy it’s own land. Blackman is treated with disdain everywhere because of the way he treats himself. In US police kill blacks because blacks among all races in America is the one that commits more crimes,is the one that will resist arrest,is the one that can kill a police without provocation. Statistics showed that more police in US die in the hands of blacks than vice versa. It is very much the same in Europe,Australia and Asia. Blacks are rejected everywhere. When people are facing firing squad in far east Asia,blacks will make up 90% of the list.
Back to Nigeria
I wrote before on the fight against corruption. Nothing has changed so far because the government is using same approach used in the past to prosecute individuals but essentially leaving the structure of corruption intact. Judicial and legal reforms are still not rooted to make the fight against corruption sustainable. Now we are in bigger trouble. The new APC government has shown it’s willingness to side with corruption and is abusing state apparatus of power to subvert the course of justice. The DSS has been used to harass opposition and those against APC.
The case of Zamfara is truly a sad episode. The presidency has also rubbished efforts by the House of Representatives to clean itself of corruption. The presidency took side with Yakubu Dogara by exonerating him of any wrongdoing in budget padding. Today the hunter is becoming the hunted. Abdulmumini Jibrin is becoming a sacrificial lamb for coming out to expose corruption in the House of Representatives. We always know there is massive looting in the chambers of National Assembly and that one day someone will be cheated into exposing the whole scheme.
Now that we have opportunity to get to the bottom of the matter, the president of all people is the one to take side with thieves. Looking at the previous government, there is no change at all. Jonathan has stood firmly to defend thieves, from Diezeni to Stella, Jonathan stood firmly as defender of corruption. It is the same thing we are seeing today. I have strong feelings that things will get much worse as this government settles down a bit. The worse is yet to come.
