Round up the outlaws before …

Emboldened by their overdose of excesses,some prominent politicians have turned the change mantra into a laughing stock, probably because there is yet to be a gruesome public clampdown on any sector. But sources, too dependable to doubt, say Nigerians  don’t have to wait too long. In the next ninety days, the government will acquire speed. […]

Emboldened by their overdose of excesses,some prominent politicians have turned the change mantra into a laughing stock, probably because there is yet to be a gruesome public clampdown on any sector. But sources, too dependable to doubt, say Nigerians  don’t have to wait too long. In the next ninety days, the government will acquire speed. President Muhammadu Buhari is planning to rein in the impunity market, but is looking at the faces that are most likely to stop people from urinating on his agenda.
This, when it eventually happens, is a step in the right direction. Tired of watching politicians get away with blue murder, Nigerians, who elected Buhari overwhelmingly, demand the authorities to pass this legislation quickly so enforcement can begin. Afterall, Buhari was elected to fight corruption, not to nourish it.I have been watching the proceedings in the National Assembly, not with popcorn in my cup, as is done in the movies, but with emotional trepidation, the type that can result in a heart attack. Overtime, our government fears firing even one politician, because politicians need people to like them. But here is the trouble: fate has just put a voice in the affairs of Nigeria by bringing Buharito power.
The plain effect of the Buhari syndrome on Nigerians is sobering.Since May 29th when he was sworn-in, his supporters and critics alike, have been urging him to step on the gas. In their infantile wisdom,anyone who seeks an office for twelve years should know what to do from day one. Some even argue that since all along, he has not been fighting this battle alone, he should invite his longest serving foot soldiers into his cabinet.
But President Buhari has been stabbed in the back before. In 1984, as a military Head of State with full command, it took him seventeen days until January 17th to form his cabinet. He seized power from Shehu Shagari on December 31 1983. But he spent only twenty months in power. And now that his nominees have to go through senators who are known to be influenced by personal agenda rather than the overall national interest, he is careful.
However, careful is not one of the desirable attributes of Nigerians. That’s where we’ve been for some time, but there has, to date, never really been much of an honest public debate about it. Why? We have only a few good men in power in Nigeria and the seductive thing about most of them is that they can’t handle the truth! Imagine the meeting a fortnight ago with the governors which resulted in a fiasco.
Instead of engaging in peer reviews, governors had formed a pressure group forarm-twisting presidents. They had tormented President Obasanjo and haunted Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to fail arithmetic, by insisting that sixteen is greater than nineteen. But Buhari had rendered the governors’ forum a toothless bulldog when he sat like the headmaster, governors, pupils. He rebuked some for flying in private jets to Abuja to beg for a bailout and scolded others for embezzlement and primitive acquisition. They quickly beat a retreat to demand compensationfor FG work done instead of a dubious bail-out. Buhari refused to yield. Russians have an expression: “The wise man learnsfrom someone else’s mistakes; the smart man learns from his own, and the stupid one never learns.” Applying that to Nigeria, since there’s no chance of ourgovernors being counted among the ‘wise’, the only question is whether they will be ‘smart’ or ‘stupid’ in dealing with Buhari.
Sincerity and integrity are part of the legend Buhari has carefully cultivated for many years, with startling success. He is described as “aloof” and “strict,” with a charisma that his political opponents just cannot match. He is usually known for saying what’s onhis mind. However, his opponents argue thatit is all fundamental nonsense. They see the fine lines between slapdash and cantankerous, between open and obnoxious, and, most importantly, between “saying it as it is”and self-centered, all in his person.
Don’t misunderstand me. Politicians all lie, sometimes but, Buhari personifies integrity in politics, if you want my candid opinion. Sometimes, Buhari portrays himself as a strong, reliable leader; a paragon of political virtue, but for Nigerians to believe that change is truly here he would have to wield the big stick and punish errant politicians now.
Buhari wants to run a fiscally responsible enterprise, but the public pensions are a mess; governors refuse to cut back the outrageous waste in states and local governments and the nation’s unemployment rate is probably the highest in Africa. Public roads and bridges are dilapidated, the educational system is spent, hospitals are undertakers and life generally is short and brutish.
It is in a country like this that Buhari promised to provide growth and opportunity for every Nigerian. Is he doing it? On the positiveside, Buhari is directing energy to fighting Boko Haram. He is tackling the cabals in the oil and gas sector and has rendered the governors’ forum a toothless bulldog. He has also reversed the choice of a successor by Professor Attahiru Jega of INEC within eight hours, to send a signal to all, that impunity will not be tolerated under this watch. If you say he is slow, somesay he is also swift and steady.
But the PDP which apparently has not completely lost its voice says it’s all a smoke screen. And this is all because Buhari has still not started rounding up the outlaws who looted Nigeria. And that he must do before they surround him and pull down his government.