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Promise Adiele
Sometimes, men miss the opportunity to affect history. Sometimes too, men avail themselves the opportunity to make history. Perhaps, it is this reality that the British god of literature, William Shakespeare captures in his play, Julius Caesar by asserting that “there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Omitted all the voyage of their lives is bound in shallows and miseries”. Did President Buhari fail to take the tide at its flood by not giving a speech to calm frayed nerves and nodal tensions in the country during his inauguration for a second term on 29th May 2019? Certainly, many Nigerians expected him to deliver a speech given the enervating conditions in the country. Unfortunately, like Estragon and Vladimir in Samuel Becket’s play Waiting for Godot, Nigerians waited for that speech in vain. Such a speech would have assuaged the excruciating pains in the hearts of Nigerians, raised their morale and sooth the economic lacerations in their homes. Mr. President missed a golden opportunity to address briefly, most of the issues that have created unease in the land. He failed to massage the collectively bruised emotions and battered psychological state of mind of millions of Nigerians. It is this kind of opportunity that most world leaders crave for because, in it, they are able to connect with their people, identify with prevailing conditions in the country, making explanations, clarifying issues and pointing the way forward.
The 29th of May 2019 was a significant day on Nigeria’s political calendar in a lot of ways. Besides marking the inauguration for another term of four years for the Buhari administration, the day made it uninterrupted twenty years since Nigeria commenced its journey on the lane of democracy after many years of military misadventure. The journey has not been easy, with the path constantly laced with multilayered snares that threatened the existence of the motherland. In spite of all the challenges, Nigerians have marched on, some with genuine faith in the project, others with dogged indifference, many others with committed patriotism. Many famed countries of the world have made more tedious journey to greatness which has formed a part of their historical repertoire. Their eventual success gives one hope that one day, Nigeria will be celebrated as one of the most accomplished countries in the world
On the occasion of the inauguration, Mr. President ought to have demonstrated his awareness of the palpable anguish in the hearts of Nigerians and the harrowing poverty which have plunged many people into privation, despair, and despondency. Or is he not aware of these situations? I am sure he is aware. He ought to have empathized with Nigerians on the horror that life has become in our country. Although the Buhari administration cannot be totally exonerated from the prevailing malaise across the country, he ought to have explained to Nigerians that our circumstances today is a product of a long journey dating back more than twenty years ago but also taking responsibility for the present dispensation.
Nigerians expected Mr. President to use the opportunity of his inauguration to recount major achievements in the last four years of his administration. It is possible that many people are not aware of the modest achievements of this administration and were eagerly waiting to hear it from the first citizen. For many Nigerians, the first four years of this administration has witnessed a lot of motion without movement characterized by poverty, insecurity, ethnic and sectional polarization, and a very anaemic economy. For many others, the administration has done well in fighting corruption, a revival of the infrastructural sector, and a glaring commitment to the agricultural sector as well. Yet for some others, nothing has been achieved at all as long as it has not translated to better living conditions for Nigerians. As another four years mount the podium, what must be done to salvage this country from the current precarious reality?
Any conscious observer in this country will agree that the last four years of this administration not much was achieved in the education sector. Without further excuses, the next four years of this administration should tackle all the monstrosities that bedevil our educational system. Many universities and sundry higher institutions in the country are in sordid disrepair, crying for attention. The government must set an agenda for itself to transform our higher institutions of learning to make them rank among the best, even if in Africa. We have the potential to achieve this feat.
Nigeria’s health sector is in the doldrums. A visit to all the general hospitals and university teaching hospitals will bring to grim reality the inadequate material and human resources deployed to manage the health challenges in the country. Since President Buhari took over the government, I am not aware if he has embarked on any general visitation of some teaching hospitals in the country. This administration must set an agenda for itself to equip all the general and teaching hospitals across the country. It is purpose defeating that while our hospitals are in comatose, government officials heavily invest in medical tourism abroad.
Unemployment is a global phenomenon but the Nigerian condition seems to have risen to new heights in the last four years. Although the government cannot provide jobs for all the millions of youths, it should at least straighten existing labour apparatuses to absorb millions of job seekers in the country. The N-Power project is commendable and should be streamlined for effective results. Such other initiatives must be created to engage millions of our youths who are out of jobs. Unfortunately, it is the need for survival in the face of unemployment that has forced many youths to embrace such despicable means of survival like prostitution, internet fraud, banditry, and kidnapping. Provide jobs, provide training, provide initiatives that will engage the youths and locate their potential, and then, these vices will be reduced.
The government should as a matter of urgency, come up with a mechanism that will deal with insecurity in the country. It is hair raising, a pure nightmare to imagine what some Nigerians go through in the hands of kidnappers and bandits on a daily basis. It should be a major source of worry for this administration that kidnapping and banditry have increased under their watch. It is insensitive for government officials who have access to security architecture to ignore the dreadful security challenges that the ordinary man faces. On our highways, buses and cars are intercepted and cornered into bushes where men and women, children, and even the old are raped, assaulted and debased, yet they are made to pay ransom after the ordeal. Indeed, the government must come up with a response to security issues in the country before the cities become unsafe. All these must be seen to be done and not believed to be done. That is the responsibility of a responsive government.
Adiele writes from Lagos via [email protected]
