2016: Battle for the soul of Nigeria

“These are trying times for our country. Just when we seem to be climbing out of the pit, something pulls us back… The only change that is urgently needed now is a clearly defined agenda for genuine reconciliation among our people. We do not have any other options.” – Excerpt of Bishop Matthew Kukah’s 2015 […]

“These are trying times for our country. Just when we seem to be climbing out of the pit, something pulls us back… The only change that is urgently needed now is a clearly defined agenda for genuine reconciliation among our people. We do not have any other options.” – Excerpt of Bishop Matthew Kukah’s 2015 Christmas Message.
During one of the meetings of the National Peace Committee with leaders of the business sector of the economy, ahead of the 2015 presidential election, Chairman of Dangote Group and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, stated that with the benefit of his vast knowledge of the state of the Nigerian economy, whoever would be President of Nigeria from May 29, 2015 will not have an easy ride. He presented interesting facts and figures about how volatile the Nigerian economy has become with its almost total dependence on oil. Today, oil price in the international market has crashed drastically and we are paying the price of our failure to secure a non-oil future. The battle against endemic corruption rages on, with mind-boggling cases of malfeasance and betrayal of trust by those in whose hands we had entrusted the affairs of our nation. We are yet to bring a closure to the Boko Haram insurgency, and the huge work of reconciliation, reconstruction, and rehabilitation that lie ahead of us. The romanticisation of the 1967-1970 Biafra struggle has found new strength in the mass movement of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), pursued by young men who have failed to learn the bitter lessons of the Civil War from their fathers.
In some of his public disquisitions, President Muhammadu Buhari has said that these are not the best of times to be President of Nigeria. All astute observers of the goings-on in the country know this. Many States of the Federation are currently unable to pay workers’ salaries. With the crash of oil, the feeding-bottle federalism has collapsed. The cap-in-hand system of fiscal dependence on the Federal Government by the States has hit the rocks. States that depend on the cash cow in Abuja to survive will be forced to now dig into the ingenuity and creativity of their people to thrive. How to handle the issue of rebuilding the North East is still anyone guess. We might well need another full decade to bring the entire region to life in the aftermath of the insurgency.
What about unemployment? Millions of Nigerians are waiting for the government to spin the magic wand that will make joblessness a thing of the past; and many of them are beginning to run out of patience. How to handle the lingering issues of fuel subsidy, power supply and the free fall of the Naira is still a subject of speculation. The politics of divisiveness still exists within the rank and file of the ruling party, and we are yet to see a comprehensive policy thrust that will resuscitate the economy from suffocation. For the leading opposition party, leaking the bitter wounds of its defeat at the presidential poll of April 2015 is not enough. It is not hiding its determination to match the ruling party word-for-word on every national issue, from the fight against corruption to the comatose state of the economy. A bold, united, visionary and progressive citizenry determined to repair the nation and restore its fortunes is yet to be seen as the politics of ethnicity, religion, and political affiliation continue to dog every effort at building national consensus and cohesion.
Some people have said that the ‘body language’ of the President is sending the right signals across the nation that the era of impunity is now over. There are even claims that the same ‘body language’ has upped the megawatts of electricity being generated across the nation. But for how long will this mythical ‘body language’ last?
As a new year dawns, the question of how to reclaim the lost soul of Nigeria should be uppermost on everyone’s mind. For the discerning mind, we are headed for tough times. There is no gainsaying the fact that every Nigerian will need to buckle his boots and fasten his seat belt. I have kept several cuttings of major speeches and addresses delivered by President Muhammadu Buhari right before he won the presidential election till the present moment. I hope he is aware of all the promises he has made. In the days and weeks ahead he must show demonstrable commitment to move with the tide of the time. If he is currently crawling as he himself has accepted the title given to him as “Baba Go Slow,” he must stand up and start walking. If he is currently walking, he must be on his marks and start running. If he is currently running, he has the burden of stretching his wings to fly.
So much has been heard of the failures of the last democratic dispensation. Nigerians will not forgive this government if it continues to prevaricate, looking for an alibi for its inability to reposition the country. We have since passed the blame-game era. Perhaps, at no other time in the history of this nation do we have citizens who have invested high hopes in the government. Still, there is no other government in the past that has enjoyed the massive goodwill that President Buhari’s government currently enjoys, both at home and abroad. How the president will manage this goodwill will be the deciding dice in 2016.
Ojeifo is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Abuja    [email protected]