Re: Yar’adua Vs Militants and other matters

I had expected you Malam Garba to come up with a follow-up to that article when ,as a result of that amnesty, about 32 members under the leadership of a very prominent militant leader called Boy Loaf accepted the president’s kind gesture by embracing the amnesty he offered to them. In fact, apart from you, […]

I had expected you Malam Garba to come up with a follow-up to that article when ,as a result of that amnesty, about 32 members under the leadership of a very prominent militant leader called Boy Loaf accepted the president’s kind gesture by embracing the amnesty he offered to them. In fact, apart from you, I expected your other colleagues in the media to have done their patriotic duty by examining that positive development in depth and as Nigerians highlight its positive sides.

Instead most of you opinion writers in our newspapers decided not only to be silent about that major development,  but in some cases, you even contributed to it in a negative way by being skeptical about it. I think that is most unfair, not only to the country in which we are all stakeholders, but most unfair to the president, Malam Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

My major problem with most of you writers is that you have allowed yourselves to be imprisoned by pessimism; it has become the norm to viciously criticize President Umaru Musa Yar’adua to the extent that saying anything positive about him becomes almost a crime. And yet, if we could, but pause, and suspend our sentiments we will find that the President has made remarkable progress in very strategic way.

I will give you one or two examples. When Yar’adua came to power, did the media and especially those who write critical articles about him bother to make a research and find out what was the state of affairs as at May 29/2007? For example, what was the level of unemployment; what was the rate of crime; what was the level of political disaffection; how many megawatts of electricity was being generated then; to what extent was the rule of law observed; what was the level of the independence of our judiciary; what was the level of the independence of our legislature; what was the level of the independence of the state governors; what was the approval limit of ministers; what was the rate of the implementation of budget? This is what the media does in other places.

If our own media had done this and then find out the facts; they can then go ahead and make comparison in those indices between what obtained then and what is obtainable now. This is what constructive criticism is all about, by my own understanding. The media then would have found out that in very strategic areas, the Yar’adua regime had recorded significant successes.

For example, at no time was the Nigerian judiciary more independent than under this regime. The judges themselves have openly admitted as much, their finances are released to them unconditionally and their personal welfare was boosted. The same goes for the National Assembly; nobody can deny that the NASS is enjoying its greatest freedom from executive interference for the first time since the inception of this dispensation ten years ago. The significance of this should be very obvious. When you released the Judiciary and the Legislature to perform its constitutional roles unhindered then you are in effect releasing the most potent forces in any democratic system. If these two principal arms of government do their jobs right, there is no way that a country cannot make progress. I therefore suggest that you people should focus more on the other components of the system which appropriate more than 50 per cent of the nation’s resources rather concentrating all your attention on the executive.

Again, with respect to the power sector, I happen to know because I have been involved in some of the operations of (NEPA) long before this administration came into office that is at May 29 2007, the country was generating 700 to 1200 megawatts; but today that capacity has nearly doubled to about 3000 megawatts. This is responsible for some of the improvements in power supply in areas where the redistribution system has not been vandalized by consumers through illegal and dangerous connections.

Finally, on the issue of the militants; no matter what President Yar’adua or anybody ruling this country for that matter does with respect to the Niger Delta crisis, he or she is likely to offend one party or the other. In a situation like this, it is always more advisable to take the option that is guaranteed to reduce the amount of bloodshed in the land. This to my mind is the guiding principle behind the strategy that this regime has decided to adopt in dealing with the Niger Delta crisis. If we are to be fair, we cannot deny that what happened last week when the president received Boy Loaf and 32 of his colleagues was a major milestone in the history of the crisis in the Niger Delta region. Why don’t we ask ourselves, did killing Saro Wiwa solved any problem?

I sincerely hope that Malam Garba, people like you and your other colleagues whose writings and views are enjoyed by a lot of people should have the courage to admit where the government has made improvements and broadcast it, not to just be on the lookout all the time for what is going wrong. Some of the things I pointed out above are just a few of the improvements that have been recorded; the opposition parties if they will be sincere know that they have gained more from the judicial process than the government in power, is that not an achievement in itself? This country belongs to all of us. If we descend on the current leadership mercilessly, the outcome would not affect them alone, it would affect everybody. As for President Yar’adua those of us who know him well and are familiar with his methods and his achievements as the Governor of Katsina state have very reason to be confident that by the Grace of God Nigerians would have reasons to celebrate his tenure at whatever time it comes to an end.

I remain your regular reader,

Honourable Abdul-Azeez Mukhtari, Kofar Soro, Katsina.