Dear PMB, let’s let it right

Somebody should whisper in President Muhammadu Buhari’s ears that information management is the key to success in governance. You cannot keep the people guessing on what you are doing or not doing. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, any government hoping to be taken seriously must ingest a dose of perestroika and glasnost in […]

Somebody should whisper in President Muhammadu Buhari’s ears that information management is the key to success in governance. You cannot keep the people guessing on what you are doing or not doing. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, any government hoping to be taken seriously must ingest a dose of perestroika and glasnost in its dealings with the public.
From all indications, President Muhammadu Buhari has two powerful media aides who either hardly see him or know what’s on the president’s mind. They do not speak convincingly on any issue. Policy issues are read on rumour mills and denied or issued by government and retracted. This is dangerous for democracy, especially one in which mainstream information is competing with social media on the one hand and opposition mischief on the other. This president’s massive support came from the disillusionment with the way things have run for sixteen years: to keep the candle of hope and trust burning, government must always act rather than react.
Thus far, government has been reacting instead of acting. When would the public lay their hands on President Muhammadu Buhari’s declared assets and those of his aides as he promised? It is not permissible to hide under the red tape of the Freedom of Information act; he made a promise, he should redeem his image by fulfilling his promise.
In governance, where there is no information, the critical world fills the existing vacuum with rumour; rumour kills incentive, causes disaffection and breed ill will. Mr President would have to break down the barrier of silence and secrecy to make a difference from the morass he inherited. Thus far, his government is playing catch up with what the late Tayo Olafioye calls the ‘Institute of Rumours’. Who leaked the story that the president has ordered nine of the alleged sixteen planes on the presidential air fleet? Is the president going to keep an airline for his personal perusal when it is evident he is frugal both in the use of the planes and in the number of those who fly with him on his many trips? It is not just enough to say the story is untrue, that it hit headlines and received critical reviews shows that it is critical to the discerning public. He should get back to us on what he is doing with these planes.
From his campaign promise to end Boko Haram within a month to his inaugural address to move the operational base of the military assault against the insurgency, people are dying. That is not the story; the news is that in most cases, the presidency is silent on what action his government is taking to end the insurgency. This has to change. Information is power, and in the age of the internet, the command headquarters must put journalists on its mailing list and update through a dedicated website accessible to all. Then, the presidency must empathise. It does not matter how many times it has to do it in a day, it must show that every citizen’s life matters even in war.
There must be explanations for the gaffs on military and police checkpoints. The lacuna created by these policy reversals allowed Boko Haram to gain additional ground. Where government makes a wrong move, it is manly to admit and correct it promptly. It is called accountability in governance. Biafra is rearing its ugly head in the east, the president must tackle this before it becomes another hot spot. He should go to the east and meet its governors and elders.
If this government must prosecute anybody, it must do so with facts in its hands and ensure that those who are guilty do not escape on technicalities in court. The ordeal of Sambo Dasuki and the president’s former security aide are two cases in point. There should be no trial by media. Was Dasuki guilty of an offense that can send him to jail? Let him be arraigned under proper charges, not embarrassed? It is inexcusable that a man of the status of a national security adviser could be locked down in his own house for almost 48 hours on mere suspicion. A similar saga played itself out with the drug baron Buruji Kashamu who now sits pretty in the Red Chamber. Government motto on these issues should be that it is better to let the innocent go free than to embarrass an innocent man, even if such a man is a known or perceived enemy. Our presidency should be bigger than used as a tool for vendetta.
How could we not get the difference between acting and substantive appointments in re-head of the Directorate of State Security and INEC? How could our senate president not know that his confirmation is needed to have substantive service chiefs? Who mismanaged this information? Were they punished or cautioned? Who ordered ambassadors withdrawn and recanted? Government cannot afford any more goofs and gaffs. Let’s get it right and keep it straight.
mischief of the sort in the long run, the roots of the problem, we must accept, need socio-economic programs to soften them before we have them removed once and for all and for good. This is in the collective interests of us all regardless of the region we come from!
Salihu is of Department of Economics, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom<[email protected]>