APC, its four years not sixteen!

Former Biafran warlord Ikemba Odimegwu Ojukwu was definitely not everybody’s cup of tea. However admire him or not, there was no disputing that he spoke impeccable English and made several memorable observations about the Nigerian character. When asked why we cannot come to terms with our past, the Ikemba famously observed that despite having excellent […]

Former Biafran warlord Ikemba Odimegwu Ojukwu was definitely not everybody’s cup of tea. However admire him or not, there was no disputing that he spoke impeccable English and made several memorable observations about the Nigerian character. When asked why we cannot come to terms with our past, the Ikemba famously observed that despite having excellent memories, Nigerians suffer from “selective amnesia”.
In other words we deliberately choose what to remember and what to forget! This is ever so relevant today when there is increasing impatience, dissatisfaction, and discontent with President Muhammad Buhari (PMB) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) national government.
The likes of the self-promoting Senator Ben Murray Bruce; inconsistent Pastor Tunde Bakare; and ever erratic Fani-Kayode, have joined other critics in trying to spread disaffection with the government of the day as if an alternative currently exists. True to Ikemba’s observation PMB’s critics have chosen to forget the extent to which their People’s Democratic Party (PDP) mismanaged and ruined our economy between 1999 and 2015.
In those 16 years a bag of rice which originally sold for N2,500 increased to N11,000; the Naira which exchanged for N20 to a dollar in 1999 crashed to N220; petrol pump price increased by 800% from N11 per litre N87; and the price of a bag of cement increased from under N500 to N2,000. In addition to mismanaging the economy, the PDP also exacerbated our socio-political problems.
In 1999 the nation only had to contend with the activities of OPC, but by 2015 Niger Delta Militancy, MASSOB, IPOB, BAKASSI and Boko Haram had all flourished to the extent where they could disrupt public order. Most disastrously for the nation PDP also retarded our democratic progress. In 1999 they won a free and fair election but by 2015 they had institutionalized election rigging, ballot snatching, political assassinations, do or die politics together with rice and money sharing elections.
In truth the only thing the PDP managed to reduce in 16 years was life expectancy which was 59 years in 1999 but fell to 42 years by 2015! No reasonable person would expect that all these problems can be solved within eight months and in response to the critics the Governor of Bauchi State Barrister Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, said, “it is unfair to judge the APC government so far…People should give us at least 16 years and see..”
Although Governor Abubakar is correct that it’s too early to judge, he and other members of the APC must be cautioned that they have four years, not sixteen, in which to convince the electorate that they have changed things for the better.
By 2019 the stock excuse that they met a ruined economy will not be good enough to win an election. The APC ran on a promise of change and while that change was not really defined, Nigerians believe it meant improvement in their personal circumstances. 
However there is no disputing that as a result of unending fuel scarcities, deterioration of both power supply and the value of our currency, and increasing insecurity occasioned by highway robbers, herdsmen, and Boko Haram things have changed for the worse. PMB is inexplicably opening himself up for criticism that he is insensitive preferring to embark on foreign trips and address the world press, while saying nothing to reassure the rest of us that the situation is temporary.
Indeed a major failing of his government is that other than the anti-corruption war they have not articulated any concrete plans or policies that patriotic Nigerians would buy into even if they belong to opposition parties.
Chief John Odigie Oyegun National Chairman of the APC says although nobody can give a date, he is sure Nigerians will see the results of a new government “very soon”. He had better be right for the sake of his Party because the APC should not expect to automatically rule for 16 years.
The reason PDP managed it was due to monumental election rigging in which the likes of Maurice Iwu sold their souls and wrote their names in the national hall of infamy.
Although the Supreme Court quite retrogressively rubbished the use of card readers Professor Jega’s tenure as Chairman ensured that such large scale election rigging is no longer possible and removing an incumbent government is very possible. It’s important that PMB and the APC realize that judgment of their administration will come in 2019 not 2031, and a quarter of that time has almost gone.
Unfortunately for PMB his party will have a difficult time effecting meaningful change within four years when so many APC leading lights are former PDP members who actively participated on the retarding the nation’s progress. However the PDP in its current state cannot provide an alternative government. If they don’t get their act together quickly it may just be that APC will get their sixteen years by default.