Can Buhari do it alone?

In all honesty and good reasoning, the wind of change is blowing in Nigeria. From the outset when political gladiators grappled with the ominous task of renewing or perpetuating themselves in power, change was their impediment. The slogan of the party with an umbrella is power to the people but that is not true. The […]

In all honesty and good reasoning, the wind of change is blowing in Nigeria. From the outset when political gladiators grappled with the ominous task of renewing or perpetuating themselves in power, change was their impediment.
The slogan of the party with an umbrella is power to the people but that is not true. The slogan for the broom-wielding party is change, and before it could have a firm footing on the political firmament, it had generated a lot of frenzy that is still very visible.
In my effort to highlight some issues in this change period, I want to make it clear that I am only touching a few of the issues at this time because they are too numerous to mention.
Political judgments have been very resounding, to the extent that doubts from high quarters were cast on Supreme Court judgments, especially Rivers and Akwa-Ibom states gubernatorial elections among others.
The issue of the Treasury Single Account has been pushed around like a Ping-Pong ball, with the usually complacent Nigerians, trying to make sense out of the phrase. Whether they are satisfied with the explanation made to them by their opinion leaders I leave to your conjecture. One thing I know for sure is that Systemspecs the consultant is a recurring decimal in the TSA debate at the National Assembly and in other public circles.
Another amazing process in the offing is the reworking and re-allocation of funds to underfunded and over funded agencies as the case may be, of the earlier budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly. In times past it would have scaled through with all its incongruence. This time around, the Valentine Day celebration turned out to be the last one for heads of some ministries, departments and agencies, as by the 15th of February 2016 they were relieved of their positions. The head of the Budget Office taking the fall in this case.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in a recent interview with journalists in Abuja, described the situation we are facing as the rebuilding of a cracked foundation by the President. He also responded to the question why more PDP members were affected by the anti-corruption war rhetoric, which I couldn’t help but notice. He said he does not know how to explain it again, since this is the first time in 16 years that a progressively active anti-corruption government is in place. He went on to ask why we should see different results; he said “Corruption has crippled this nation and if you are cutting down a tree, wherever it falls, so be it.”
Undoubtedly, the sands are shifting and change is the only constant thing in life according to Heraclitus, an ancient Greek Philosopher. Power in itself is transient and subject to change and our political gladiators forget history. They refused to take a cue from Napoleon Bonaparte of France, the axis powers of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Benito Mussolini of Italy, and Adolf Hitler of Germany and their failed attempts at subjugating mankind, by almost bringing down the allied powers in Western Europe and practically the whole world down to its knees.
The political will to re-engineer Nigeria is no doubt on President Buhari’s desk, the buck stops on his table. There is no doubt of his intellect, but can he do it alone? Can Buhari’s will alone, propel Nigerians to change? All hands must be on deck to surmount the challenges facing us. The Niger Delta Avengers and their co-travelers in the pipeline menace, are a twist added to our myriad of problems. The President’s supporters expect him to collapse various ideas together for the rebuilding of the country.
I recall in the mid-1980s at the height of Soviet stagnation, the Soviet system did not see anything new beyond Brezhnev’s idea of leadership which led to Gorbachev’s Perestroika(Economic and Political Reforms) and Glasnost (Openness, accountability and disclosure of information). At the long run, it led to the total collapse of the Soviet system. It should be noted that change must be regulated for it to work. Such an error as committed by the Soviets cannot be allowed to thrive in our system today. I, therefore, call for the support of everyone in this process of repositioning the country that our forefathers lived and died for, and we are living and dying for today, for future generations to thrive. As we turn over a new leaf and live lives of sacrifice for our country, Nigeria shall be great again.
On an equally sad note I wish to pay tribute to Muhammad Ali, the Greatest, who died last Friday and our own Stephen Okechukwu Keshi.  I pray that God will grant their souls repose and their families the fortitude to bear the great loss.
Yerima is the member representing Misau/Dambam constituency of Bauchi State in the House of Representatives