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Buhari’s Inaugural Speech indicates he should belong to the right people 03 Jun 2015

President Muhammadu Buhari definitely needs to work with well-meaning Nigerians. In doing this, he must place emphasis on ideas that are conducive for nation-building. A major obstacle he has to overcome is exaggeration of his need for self-independence. This dilemma reflected in the most memorable statement in his inaugural speech: “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.” He needs to jettison this fallacious quotable quote.

A number of things are accomplished with a presidential inaugural speech. Suggestions of ill-preparedness is not one of them. Yet, President Buhari’s speech is replete with self-avowal of the need for him to fill some knowledge gaps in addressing some of the challenges that await him in office. I made four counts of such instances.

In the first case in point, he said, “relations between Abuja and the states have to be clarified …” This part of the speech highlights the adjustments that Mr. President has to make within the framework of the Nigerian federalism. He, ostensibly, is looking for a leeway to exercise control over the state governors for the purpose of fostering accountability and anti-corruption. But under our constitutional democracy, the latitude does not exist.

President Buhari can accomplish a lot in accountability and anticorruption at the federal level. After all, the federal government is allocated the highest chunk of funds accruing into the Federation Account. He doesn’t even need to weigh in personally to achieve his avowed objectives. What he needs to do is allow relevant institutions to work without fear or favour, while holding as liable federal functionaries who fail to do their jobs. This would include those mandated to curb and prosecute money laundering. If he does this, it will rub off on governance at the state and local government levels as well as curtail the avenue for utilising the proceeds of corruption. But if President Buhari insists on finding the ways and means of subjugating the governors, four years will roll by and he would be left breathless from boxing shadows. Besides, he also needs to jettison this mistaken notion that he was elected as an anti-corruption tough cop. There is so much to his mandate than being his own anti-corruption czar.

The second point entails the plan to commission a “sociological study” to determine the origins, causes, sponsors and international connections of Boko Haram to ensure the insurgency never rises again. The study would be done “at the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued by the government.” But Boko Haram is a local franchise of global terrorism which arose in the Islamic world as a result of Western hegemony and bigotry. A set of local conditions, namely privation, economic injustice, lack of education by the populace, sectarian divisions and solidarity with the victimised population, more or less, encourage extreme radicalisation which enables local franchises to thrive or inspire lone wolf attacks.

Ironically, the motivations for terrorism have transcended heavenly promises. They include lust for territories in order to exercise economic controls and supremacist decimation of other people’s values and faith. But the most ingrained motivation is ideological justification for intolerance. With these, we are not likely to see the end of “the hostilities” for a very long time, whether in Nigeria or other jurisdictions. But the government can subdue the insurgents. To permanently weaken the insurgency and discourage people from being recruited into Boko Haram, the administration of President Buhari needs to prioritise investment in civic enlightenment of the adult population and education of school-age children, particularly in the North and more especially in the Northeast.

From what one sees in the North these days, adherents of the talakawas culture are seemingly disillusioned. Government must now race ahead of them to provide opportunities for dignified livelihood before they recourse to insidious self-determination.

The third case in point is where Mr. President said: “Careful studies are underway during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.” This slip is egregious. The transition period ended as President Buhari took his oath of office after winning the presidential election in March, and definitely before his inaugural speech. What is expected now is a substantive government and not a transitional one.

No quick solutions will light up Nigeria. Long-term lack of investment in grid electricity and absence of reform in the power sector are the reasons why we lack power supply. To fix the problem, we have to continue to mobilise public and private investments into power. Rather than reverse recent reforms in the sector, the reform process must continue. In fact, some of the experienced hands in implementing the reforms under the past administration should be called back to hasten progress. One weak link in the past efforts, though, was dealing with divergent entrenched interests, apart from labour. Some of them are the opportunistic acquirers of sold PHCN generation and distribution assets. Others are the masquerades commonly identified as saboteurs; and, of course, conniving government officials. These have to be addressed without rolling back the reforms which will discourage new private investments. Also, by setting realistic performance benchmarks in the sector, we can realise incremental improvement in power supply.

The fourth and final case in point was where President Buhari said his administration needs to “quickly examine the best way to revive major industries.” But the policymaking and regulatory institutions, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), did not disappear with the past administration. It is these institutions and the civil service that make the government a continuum. The President needs to take advantage of existing positive realities and not try to reinvent the wheel in all cases.

To inspire industrial development, the President needs his party to agree to a set of economic programmes in the states. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has a wide canvass to implement a change programme in the 24 states it controls. Some of the states are the foremost in terms of industrial activities and opportunities in Nigeria. Common investment plans in infrastructure that will span contiguous APC states can help cut down on project cost and help industrial value chain development in which each state makes contributions and shares project benefits. Industrial development of Nigeria is not an exclusive federal responsibility. The states and local governments have a lot to do about it.

The inaugural speech of President Buhari struck some good notes. His recognition of the importance of our democracy was as good as his compliments to his predecessor. He also affirmed our ability to solve our problems. But a few absentminded statements in the speech need to be highlighted to prevent the trivialisation of governance and nation-building. One is the compliments to the efforts of foreign military in fighting Boko Haram ahead of the mention of the Nigerian military. That is a strong demotivation for the Nigerian military. The second, and the last, I would like to point out is the mention of our national “economy of 180 million” which omitted the mention of “people.” How could that be when the popular definition of democracy mentions “the people” three times, and Buhari is a democratically elected president? The omission indicates that for President Buhari to remember the people, we must ensure he doesn’t forget us.