Most Nigerians may not be happy with the way things are going now. Some are already disillusioned with the state of affairs in the country. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed its reservations over the appointment of the new acting chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari and Ahmed Idris as the Accountant General of the Federation on grounds that due process was not followed. Some critics have also picked holes with the appointment of the new helmsman of Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura, because he hailed from the same area as the president. We hope these appointments do not negate the federal character principles.
The South-East leaders have rejected the transfer of prison inmates reported to be members of the Boko Haram sect to Anambra State. Apart from the fact that the state does not have strong and secure prisons that can house such inmates, the leaking of the transfer to the public has security implication for the state that is battling rising cases of armed robbery and kidnapping in recent times. Moreover, military presence in the state is minimal and therefore not strong enough to withstand any jailbreak or attack. This is also one state whose citizens are major victims of insurgency in the North. That is why some citizens of the state demonstrated against the move recently. These are some of the issues that should not be overlooked by the presidency. They demand decisive responses and follow up actions. Government’s positions on these matters should be explicit and timely too to keep the citizenry informed of what government is doing to better their lot.
When the APC was voted into power, Nigerians did so believing that the new party will do something differently from the way the PDP was doing. That APC rode to power on the change theme means that they will not follow the PDP pattern of governance. But one month since power has changed hands, Nigerians are yet to be convinced that change has really come. We don’t even know the direction the government is pulling all of us to. The value of the naira is tumbling while members of the National Assembly, enmeshed in leadership tussle, are demonstrating on the floor of the House and on national televisions their karate abilities. The insecurity in the North-East is daily escalating with more bombings in Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Plateau and Kaduna states that led to loss of many lives and property, and others are seriously wounded. And the usual condemnations by those in power of these dastardly incidents show that there is still no change in the prosecution of the war against insurgency. Even the hitherto gains of some months ago are gradually being eroded.
That the government is considering the negotiation option with the sect shows the penchant of our policy makers to move in circles over the same security concerns. We know that the public outcry that greeted the way the PDP government handled the Boko Haram insurgency and the missing Chibok schoolgirls contributed largely to why former President Goodluck Jonathan lost re-election. The APC government came to power on the expectation that it will crush the insurgency and rescue the Chibok girls within a shorter timeframe. While Nigerians are still hopeful that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government will achieve these goals, the way it is going about them does not give much to cheer right now. The silence of the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners since the emergence of the new political dispensation is worrisome because they have not achieved their goal of having the girls rescued.
They should not relent. It should go beyond their Wednesday Aso Rock Villa outing. There is a palpable feeling that despondency is now the lot of some citizens on the general state of affairs in the country. The seeming inability of the APC government to form a cabinet and the inability of the president to make some remaining key appointments, over one month after inauguration, actually do not help matters. The power supply in the country is still very erratic with no hope in sight of near improvement. Let us not even talk of supply of petroleum products. We are unsure what the government wants to do with fuel subsidy issue whether it wants to remove it entirely and damn the consequences or continue to do what the previous government did. Before unpalatable epithets start being hauled at this administration, which we fervently pray to succeed, it is not too late for it to redeem the situation.
The way the APC is handling the National Assembly crisis does not really show that it has brought some change to the polity. It is not that what happened with the emergence of Dr Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as the Senate President and the Speaker, House of Representatives respectively, is novel in our politics. It has been a feature of how the federal lawmakers elect their officers since 1999.
The emergence of Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and Chief Emeka Ihedioha as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives in the previous dispensation serves as a classic example. Let the APC allow the National Assembly members run their affairs the way they deem fit. This is how to ensure that the three arms of government, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are truly independent. Any interference by any arm is unacceptable and may truncate our young democracy. The issue of party supremacy does not even arise here. If indeed there is any group that is supreme in our democratic arrangement, it is the Nigerian people who vote at elections and not a party, a vehicle through which politicians come to power.
The APC should learn very fast how to manage its success and understand that the country is running a multi-party democracy based on the presidential system of government. It is interesting that the PDP spokesman, Chief Olisa Metu is readily pointing the anomalies out to the APC whenever it misfires. Now that the APC spokesman, Lai Mohammed and his PDP counterpart, Metu, have swapped positions, Mohammed will appreciate what it means to be on the receiving end of criticisms. Now that APC is at the driving seat, let them drive it well by correcting the ills they have criticized and condemned.