A former Minister of Health, Prof. ABC Nwosu, says Nigerians have been experiencing “ghost leadership” under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
He stated this while reacting to the presidency’s claim during the June 12 celebrations that Buhari’s five years in office have been better than the previous 16 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Nwosu said that the present administration has failed and was only using the advent of COVID-19 pandemic to excuse its failure.
According to him, insecurity, corruption and other anomalies that Buhari promised to tackle have worsened under his administration.
He said the President’s “invisible” style of leadership has left Nigerians at the mercy of hunger and criminals.
Read Also: Bagudu defends Buhari over APC NEC meeting in Aso Villa
Reacting to the presidency’s claim, Nwosu said, “What do you expect them to say? We have had five years of ghost leadership; invisible leadership, a leadership that is a spirit, which you can’t touch, see or hear.”
He added, “You heard what Borno governor said, that there are five local governments being occupied fully by Boko Haram, and he is an APC governor? You can see demonstrations in Katsina, the president’s own state. When they were demonstrating some years ago against the PDP, did anybody stop them, but now, they are stopping people in the North from trying to see the situation , which is terrible; they are even trying to stop people’s inalienable right to protest.
“The same government is completing the railways started by PDP; the same government is taunting TSA, as a major achievement, which is an idea that came from the same PDP; whistleblower is also an idea that came from the same PDP; EFCC, an idea that came from the same PDP. The same PDP brought the country debt relief. By 2007, Nigeria had zero debt, but now the money we use in servicing debt is more than the one for capital development. In just five years, this government has borrowed more than any government in the history of Nigeria.”
Nwosu explained that the Buhari administration was encouraging wastage of the nation’s resources.
He berated the president for allegedly insulating himself in the Aso Rock Villa and leaving himself at the mercy of unpatriotic aides.
Nwosu said, “When this president came in 1984, what was his official car? It was Peugeot 504, which was the official car of all the governors, which was also the official car of the ministers and commissioners. I was a commissioner in a state; I served four governors, all had 504 as official cars. What are the cars they drive now, SUVs, and this is a government that said it came to change filthy opulence and wasteful spending, and it has continued.
When I came as Political Adviser to Obasanjo, it was Peugeot 406, and two persons whose parastatals bought 607 were asked to return them. Now, they don’t need these cars, but higher and more beautiful ones. Do you see the difference it will make if the president, ministers, service chiefs, etc drive the type of cars we used? Now, service chiefs drive armoured SUVs. How can you be doing that and you are telling me in 16 years of PDP, nothing was added. Every day, watch them, they are on their phones tweeting, clicking, browsing, etc, who brought the mobile phone to Nigeria, was there any before 1999. When a person who is eating rice and turkey prepared by somebody, says that person didn’t do anything, what then can you say of that person?
“The most dangerous leaders are those who believe their own lies. Don’t you know how Abuja was in 1999; coming from airport, look at how it is now. There is nobody with any sense – common, uncommon, useless, who will deny that Obasanjo worked a minimum of 18 hours every day; there is nobody who will deny that Obasanjo could read a 500-page document overnight and distill what is important there, there is nobody who will deny that Obasanjo would take decisions promptly and he delegated. I didn’t need to go through Maj. Gen Abdullahi Mohammed (retd), Obasanjo’s chief of staff (a very thoroughly efficient human being) and absolutely incredible servant, Chief Ufot Ekaite, as secretary to government, before seeing the president. I could see the president immediately and tell him that we can’t continue with HIV at this level, we got to do this and that. They talk of African Plan of Action; anything you say on Health now, they go to African Plan of Action, it was Obasanjo, and it was my first assignment two months as minister of Health, and Nigeria got over $600 million grant as dash, not loan, not borrow. How can I start enumerating what PDP did? They moved the country from $33 billion debt profile to zero, it is nothing. You had no mobile phone, which you have now, it is nothing; they started the railway projects, it is nothing.”