By Emma Agu
Not too long ago, a friend who is aware of my close relationship with Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State had sought to know the reason for what he considered to be the Governor’s rather pliant and conciliatory attitude towards President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Before I could respond to that question, he doubled down on his allegation by asking if it was a ploy by the Governor to avert an unfavourable judicial outcome, given that his case had yet to run through the unpredictable electoral process in which the judiciary, and not the electorate, had the final say.
Not done, he wondered if it could be a confirmation of the two-year long speculation that Bala Mohammed was planning to dump the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), the platform on which he was elected as governor, for the All Progressive Congress (APC) that controls the centre.
But why would he think that Bala Mohammed was not hitting as hard as he should, I asked? And why would he, for crying out loud, conclude that Bala Mohammed was staving off defeat in the courts when his victory at the polls was so overwhelming and hardly impeachable? Moreover, should opposition translate to high decibel vituperations instead of constructive engagement?
It is against the background of the misconceived public perception of Bala Mohammed as rather too accommodative of the Tinubu Administration that the response of the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, to a recent press briefing by Governor Bala Mohammed should be considered as an undeserved below the belt punch to a patriot. Bala Mohammed’s ‘crime’ was to drawn attention to the untold hardship that Nigerians were facing and called on President Tinubu to stave off the impending national implosion through effective policies and programmes.
Why such a patriotic call should elicit finger-pointing and obscurantism beats the imagination. Rather than face the substance of the press briefing by the PDP governors, the information minister who, in my view, should be applauded for his recent effort in drawing up an ethical code for the country, focused on the messenger and not the message. And without substantiating his claim, he accused the PDP governors of being responsible for the country’s predicament. But the message by the PDP Governors’ Forum was unambiguous, beyond dispute: Nigerians are suffering. Unprecedented inflation, fuelled by the removal of subsidy on petroleum products and the huge devaluation of the Naira, is squeezing the life out of Nigerians.
It is no longer a parody: Nigerians can no longer ‘breathe’ despite the magnanimity of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio who, in apparent concurrence with the PDP Governors’ Forum, had pleaded with Nigerians to be patient with the President. Akpabio was simply being realistic. Because a situation that has forced people in about two thirds of the country, to not only protest openly but resort to snatching food stuff indiscriminately calls for sober reflection and purposive action, not convenient divide-and-rule tactics as the minister seems to be employing.
The Governors are not alone in calling on President Tinubu to redouble his effort towards redressing the hardship being experienced by the people. Some examples, taken from two of Nigeria’s prominent newspapers, will suffice here.
Hardship: We can’t pacify the people anymore – Northen Traditional Rulers Tell FG, screamed the Lagos-based Vanguard newspaper in its edition of 14 February 2024. According to the newspaper, and I quote: “Monarchs from the North under the aegis of the Northern traditional Council led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar have told the Federal Government that unless necessary action is taken, insecurity, poverty and unemployment in Nigeria and the North in particular, have made Nigeria sit on a keg of gunpowder, ready to explode.
The Sultan whom the paper said was speaking at the Arewa House, Kaduna, during the 6th executive Northern Traditional Council committee meeting, and again I quote: “told the Federal Government that the traditional rulers, religious leaders as well as State governors have been pacifying the masses and the jobless youth from revolting against political leaders at the helm of affairs.
Now, what should worry the minister most: “It is getting to a level that traditional leaders could no longer pacify the people from revolting against government and political leaders that are supposed to find solutions to their lingering socio-economic plight,” he said.
The highly revered traditional ruler who has acquired a reputation for being unequivocal and candid reportedly queried: “What are the real issues bringing about poverty and rising cases of insecurity? I don’t think it is the issue of new government. To me, this government is a continuation of the former government; it is the same party. So, what really is the problem…?”
Now, I ask: What will the minister tell the Northern traditional rulers?
If that alarm by the Northern leaders was not significant enough, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria joined the outcry, as reported by the Abuja-based Daily Trust newspaper in its edition of 18 February 2024, under the headline: Hardship: FG’s Reform Agenda Worsening Situation – Catholic Bishops.
Though the entire story drips with lamentations of the despicable situation under which Nigerians live presently, again, a few paragraphs will suffice. In the words of the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, the Most reverend Lucius Ugorji, “as a result of the government’s reform agenda, millions of Nigerians have been reduced to a life of grinding poverty, wanton suffering, and untold hardship as never before in our national history.
“On the contrary”, he said, “it is worrisome to watch top government functionaries live by the sweat, toil, and tears of the poor. They continue to spend huge public funds on ostentatious and luxurious lifestyles and seem incapable of feeling compassion for the outcry of the poor”.
Continuing, the Daily Trust said: “On insecurity, Ugorji said despite the huge sums of money appropriated monthly as security votes, communities have continued to experience persistent insecurity.
“Unarmed citizens are brutally slaughtered on our highways, in their homes, and even in the sacred precincts of places of worship. Killer herdsmen, bandits, and unknown gunmen seem to be on the rampage.
“Many communities across the nation have been taken over completely by criminals. Families have lost their ancestral lands to armed invaders and land-grabbers. The social and economic lives of communities have been paralysed due to insecurity.
“Schools have been shut down, and children can no longer continue their education. Farmers are unable to access their farms out of fear of either losing their lives or being kidnapped,” he said.
What will the minister tell the Bishops?
The above is the sorry state of affairs in Nigeria today. It should be noted that the bishops made no distinction when they accused politicians of ostentatious living. From the above, one is at a loss as to why the Minister singled out the PDP Governors for condemnation when the outcry against the unprecedented hardship is nationwide.
Moreover, in a case of grotesque somersault, the APC, a party that prior to taking over the reins of government in 2015 had, through its foul-mouthed former spokesmen thrown decency out the window while demonizing the President Goodluck Jonathan PDP-led federal government, is now averse to being held accountable for the nightmare Nigerians are facing due to what some critics regard as its cluelessness and patently ill-digested policies. We ask: must everything be reduced to partisan politics, even when the people are hurting and the country bleeding?
Without attempting to drag our highly revered traditional rulers into partisan politics, it is instructive to note that they have unequivocally put the problem at the doorsteps of the APC, a party that is about completing an unbroken thread of nine years at the helm of affairs in the country. I would think that by now, whatever role that the PDP played at the Federal level should have receded into the wombs of time, that a serious government would have solved the power problem after over 100 months and not the six months touted by the party’s spin doctors.
During this period, the President has always been the minister of petroleum to whom the governor of the Central bank also reported. Should we be drawn into any argument over where the buck stops, as to who should be held accountable for the poor showing of the economy?
That the APC is resorting to buck-passing after nearly nine years in power is perhaps the greatest insult that a political party has inflicted on Nigerians. It is akin to rubbing salt on an open wound. Nigerians have not forgotten statements such as ‘a serious government will fix the problem of power in six months’ or the 2012 fuel protests that paralysed the country when a liter of the product was less that N200 naira. Today, Nigerians must subject themselves to long wait on queues before they can be served the product at a minimum of N600 per litre. How did we get it so wrong? As some skit makers would ask: APC, how market?
Lest we forget, this will not be the first time that an administration is inheriting a less than favourable situation. The PDP-led administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo did inherit a crippling debt overhang. It never looked for scapegoats. Instead, by deploying deft management of resources, unquestionable patriotism and syndication of expertise (not ministers who threaten to drag the United Nations to court!), the government achieved the milestone of a historical debt relief.
Sadly, under the APC-led government, not only has the debt relief been squandered, but the country has also been sucked deeper into such debt peonage that has savagely mortgaged the future of unborn generations of Nigerians. If this means nothing to the APC spokespersons, nothing else would and the country is doomed. Beyond sanctimonious posturing, the question that a responsible Government should be asking is: how do we get out of this mess? That is the challenge of the moment.
It is a challenge that can only be confronted through high-minded elite unity, not escapist posturing or the hardly useful finger-pointing that leads to nowhere. If the APC and its spokespersons care to hear, the country is bleeding. And the people: their leaders, themselves are saying so loud and clear.
Obviously, President Tinubu no doubt appreciates the enormity of the challenge. If he did not, he would not have convoked the meeting of all 36 governors and the FCT minister to hammer out a non-partisan solution. That is leadership. But he needs to do more. Nor would he have reeled out the palliative measures, among other steps that are yet to achieve the desired results. While he re-strategizes, the onus rests on his lieutenants to bridge rather the widen the trust deficit as they are doing.
As Bala Mohammed had pointed out during his recent seminal presentation at the Nigeria Defence College on 8 February 2024, the leadership must pursue fundamental changes to the governance environment. Though, out of courtesy, participants at the National Defence College would applaud any presentation, the resounding applause he received coupled with the brilliant review of the lecture by the highly cerebral Commandant of the College, Rear Admiral Olumuyiwa Morakinyo Olotu, speak to the profundity of thought and accustomed statesmanship of Governor Bala Mohammed. Given that some of his recommendations, such as the state police (he is by no means the only person to have advocated this) are already being given serious consideration, it will not be out of place to reproduce them here. They include:
– Regular peer review meetings among ALL state governors to sharpen the thrust of strategic leadership.
– Formation of alumni of FORMER LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS to periodically (quarterly or half-yearly) review the state of the nation and propose the way forward. This could FACILITATE communication and robust stakeholder engagement.
– The recall and constitution of all former military and security chiefs into a committee to participate in proffering lasting solutions to the alarming state of insecurity before the country is ‘Somali-sed’. There is no reason why the nation should not continue to benefit from its best trained sector – the military – many of whom are still able, fecund and willing to help.
– A deliberate effort to END THE WINNER-TAKES-ALL nature of Nigerian politics that creates permanent enmity and thwarts every effort at national consensus.
– The establishment of a NATIONAL TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION where every component group would vent, remonstrate and reconcile with each other, and start the process of true healing…This nation is bleeding, I doubt that we can suppress it for too long.
– The convocation of a NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE to deliberate on and produce a new constitution for the country or in the alternative, dust up the report of the 2014 Constitutional Conference and subject it to appropriate review taking cognizance of the passage of time. Granted that the success of a constitution depends on the operators, the misgivings associated with the 1999 Constitution, (and this is without prejudice to the best intentions of the patriotic framers) cannot guarantee the stability, national cohesion and strategic leap into a new world of seamless development that we envisage.
Postscript
Bala Mohammed’s lecture was delivered on 8 February 2024, seven clear days before President Bola Tinubu, the 36 state governors and the Minister of the FCT agreed on the setting up of the state police as a panacea to the protracted insecurity that both the Northern Leaders and the Catholic Bishops complained about. That is the hallmark of visionary leadership and the kind of support that President Tinubu needs as he takes the hard but honest decisions needed to pull the country back from the brink.
To conclude, as warned by the Northern Traditional Rulers (and not the PDP), the country is sitting precariously on a keg of gunpowder. If my personal interaction with Governor Bala Mohammed is anything to go by, I have no doubt that the PDP Governors are ready, in fact eager, to set aside partisan politics and to work hand-in-hand with the President Tinubu APC-led Federal Government and all compatriots, in an honest effort to avert the explosion the Northern Traditional Rulers warned against.
However, the task ahead requires more than mere intentions. It calls for seriousness, for enormous sacrifice on the path of all stakeholders. If the truth must be told, solving the myriad of problems confronting the country calls for humility, not arrogance; honesty, not mischief; patriotism, not selfishness; governance, not politics; true federalism not sectional impunity; equity not partiality; compassion, not entitlement and inclusivity not exclusion.
Above all, the task is so urgent that the luxury of time has evaporated. Whatever needs to be done must be done today; tomorrow may be too late.