President Buhari and the Challenges of the Finish Line
GUEST COLUMNIST BY DANIEL BWALA
A year ago, I wrote an article entitled President Buhari and the challenges of 2021 and beyond. In the article, I observed that given the existing challenges confronting Nigeria at the time, such as increased insecurity, the economy and corruption of government officials, coupled with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, I called on Mr President to take the bull by the horns and to amongst other things, demonstrate that he is the presiding President, engage with citizens more, double-check the counsel of his advisers, change the security apparatus etc. I am glad that Mr President changed the security apparatus early in the year and became more and more active in the discharge of his office to the full extent of public perception. Strangely though, one year later, we are still grappling with insecurity, corruption in high places and hunger in the land. It is no doubt that this is a significant challenge and one that cannot be stopped overnight given how we found ourselves where we were as a country when we missed the opportunity since independence to maximise human and natural resources for the common good of our people.
This new year 2022, I will address President Buhari’s subject and the Challenges of the finish line. The finish line is always a challenge the world over. The devotion and dedication required to ensure one finishes well is always a daunting task. That is why it is widely believed that most presidents worldwide lose their popularity both in the opinion polls and in public trust. The reason is that the second term’s end provides the opportunity to score and assess presidents as against their campaign promises. Time is vital, and often leaders ask their citizenries to give them time after they have given them mandates. It is said that when a president retains a 50 per cent approval rating in his second term, it is a success. Although in this part of the world, we do not have the data or infrastructure to assess the performance of our leaders, we almost always can readily weigh it against the evidence of public perception. This, to a large extent, is assisted or undermined by the media. When an agenda is pursued to de-market a leader by the mainstream media, the onus is on him to use democratic media, otherwise known as social media, to counter or change the narrative.
No doubt President Buhari has his job cut out for him. It is a trying time in the nation’s history, albeit not one that cannot be surmounted. The problems are hydra-headed and multifaceted, ranging from insecurity virtually in every part of the country all happening simultaneously, economic recovery problems, and public accountability. Challenges are part of life and a necessary element in proving leadership mettle. If there are no problems or challenges, there is no need for leadership; leadership is galvanising support, mobilising efforts to confront challenges and providing solutions and answers to the Nigerian people. The challenges the President faces come 2022 and beyond are thus;
1. Navigating around the economy of politics and the politics of the economy
2. Providing the vision and direction for the party and government
3. The Legacy, legacy, legacy
4. Dealing with the crisis economy
1. Navigating around the economy of politics and the politics of the economy
How do you deliver on your mandate without politics standing in the way? What indeed would preoccupy the mind of the President is how to finish well and finish strong. How to consolidate on the gains of the first term; how to complete the projects of the first term while dealing with insecurities; How to ensure that while dealing with the issues, unnecessary problems are not created that would undermine the efforts towards the finish line. As commander in chief, he must undoubtedly have at his fingers tips the daunting challenges of this country and how to navigate around it. This must be what keeps him awake long after everyone has gone to bed. His biggest asset would be a good sense of judgment, But you need the information to process and arrive at a sound decision’. How do you source this information? Do the established channels of bureaucracy limit you, or do you go beyond that to get opinions on bureaucracy. If you are limited by the thought of established channels of bureaucracy, you can easily be trapped and manipulated by your appointees. The biggest challenge of leadership is to be a step ahead of your established channels. To think through the way they are thinking and challenge the premise of their opinions or judgment calls. Because as a leader, you can only go as far as your associates can carry you.
How to navigate the economy of politics and the politics of the economy is what the President must deal with. The President would have to take a bold decision to rejig the cabinet and relieve cabinet members of 2023 political ambition. He would have to make a massive decision because they would be a liability to the effort to finish well. They would use their offices for personal and political advantage, which if care is not taken would impede on the project of consolidating on the gains made so far. It is apparent and evident today that virtually every ministry department or agency of government whose head is nursing a 2023 ambition their respective organisations are somewhat cumbered with mundane things. This is a BIG TEST for Mr president if he cares about his legacy and wants to finish well. The second term is usually a decisive one that gives no room for margin of errors. The President has made several promises whose dates are in this second term. The President needs technocrats to finish this term.
2. Providing the vision and direction for the party and government
The President is the chief executive officer of the federation mandated by the constitution to govern the country and execute the constitution’s provisions. The President is also the leader of APC, who should give direction to the party. The constitution of the party recognises the elected national chairman of the party as the the party’s chief executive officer runs the secretariat and the day to day activities of the party, but the President is the unofficial leader of the party. Every political party that is privileged to head that nation’s government takes the country’s President as that party’s moral and political compass.
He is the rallying point of the party. Where there is a crisis, his role is to ensure fair play in the dispute resolution of the problem. He must also do that with care to prevent matter affairs from interfering with his primary duty of governance as enshrined by the constitution. He is also to ensure that as he administers the government, he does not put the party’s interest above national interest. It is worthy to note that this President (Buhari) has proven to be the President who never allows his party interests to interfere with the national interest or treat executives of the federating units disproportionately. He has never withheld a state’s due because it is not an APC led state. He has resisted every temptation to interfere with the outcome of elections and has always taken the lead to congratulate the winner of an election irrespective of their party affiliations. That is indeed a legacy for anyone that will come behind him.
As it stands today, APC is heading for the 2023 elections, and for the first time, its legitimacy, strength, unity and capacity will be tested. Unless the party provides a clear future direction, it stands to lose at the poll, and I mean the presidential election. How the party chats a course and prepare would determine how well they would do at the poll. President Bill Clinton undoubtedly had a more successful eight-year term as far as the economy was concerned. His second term was characterised by a historic approval rating of a US president in modern terms because he led a strong economy. Yet, his Vice President lost the presidential election, albeit under controversial circumstances.
George Bush led the US in the war on terrorism and had an eight-year presidential term, yet the Republican candidate, the late John McCain, lost to barracks Obama of the Democratic Party. Obama brought enthusiasm among the millennials and revived political participation in the US, yet Hilary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. All of this illustration shows that a party can lose election after a successful second term of its candidate if the party does not take care.
In Nigeria, there are discontent, disillusionment and despair amongst the country’s citizens.
Despite the efforts of Mr President, the challenges that confront us as a nation is so much that our successes are like a drop in the ocean. To win in 2023, we must provide a clear path, direction and leadership. This is where the President must be involved. Even if it’s not his nature to be involved, he has no choice if he cares about his legacy. The decision and hunt for who would succeed Mr president should be to Mr president as important as infrastructural development, as important as fighting corruption, as important as fighting insecurity. This is necessary because the choice of the wrong successor can shatter the gains of his administration. Granted, he cannot impose a candidate, neither can he coarse the party into choosing a candidate, but he must be involved in providing a direction for the right choice of a candidate. Mr President must decide in galvanising the base to choose a sellable candidate, unifying and legacy-driven candidate. He must start (if he has not already started) to collect intelligence about his possible successor; this he can do through various means he has at his disposal. He must avoid sentiment, patronage, or impression; this is not about all those; it is about his legacy and national interest, unity, and cohesion.
These are times when all sorts of information will bombard him, both necessary and unnecessary. These are those times when politicians would be in their top-most zones to impress or persuade their sense of judgement. It is also a time when those who influence heads on security agencies exert it to their advantage and the disadvantage of their natural and perceived opponents. A time when politicians who influence the media would use it to the fullest to create or change narratives to their advantage. The Nigerian mainstream media is as vulnerable as can be, and those who influence them would be prey on it. Thanks to social media that democratise information and sort of break the monopolistic tendencies of the mainstream media. The President would be mindful of all these tendencies and be guided by his convictions and legacy.
3. The Legacy, legacy, legacy
The passion drives the President to leave behind a good legacy for the future of Nigeria. No doubt he has laid a good foundation, a foundation for progress and development in the short term, midterm and long term. Therefore, the President must vigorously pursue the policies that would strengthen the economy. The President’s resolve to focus on infrastructural development has been commended nationally and internationally. Infrastructural development is the baseline for the progress and prosperity of humankind, and for us in Nigeria, the need is so dire that we are where we are because of the lack of it.
The Rail Projects
Take a look at what the President is championing in the rail; the 156km Lagos- Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail nearing completion, the groundbreaking done for the construction of Kano-Maradi Standard Gauge Rail, the revamp of the Portharcourt- Maiduguri Narrow Gauge Rail. As for the Abuja Light Rail, it has been completed since 2018. The financing negotiations for the Ibadan Kano Standard Gauge Rail project is already ongoing.
The Road Projects
On roads, the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) plan is investing over a billion US Dollars in three flagship projects; Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kaduna-Zari-Kano expressway. In addition, executive order seven is already mobilising private investment to develop critical roads and bridges like the Bodo-Bonny in Rivers and Apapa-Oshodi-Owaranshoki-Ojota in Lagos. There is also the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI), a public-private partnership program to mobilise in its first phase, over a trillion Naira in private investment into the development and maintenance of 12 roads amounting to 1.963km in length. Recall also the Sukuk Bonds raised since 2017 for multiple critical road projects across six geo-political zones.
The Ports Projects
The President has completed the new terminals for international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Portharcourt. There is also the construction of the two runways for Abuja and Enugu international airports. In addition, Mr President has approved establishing four international airports at special economic zones; Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Portharcourt. In the same vein, he has given approvals to develop four new ports under the private sector funded deep seaports, i.e. Lekki Deep Sea Port, Bonny Deep Sea Port, Ibom Deep Sea Port and Warri Deep Sea Port.
The Power Projects
In a bid to power all sectors of the economy, beginning with education, there has already been ongoing projects for a clean and reliable supply of solar and gas to federal universities and teaching hospitals across the country, four of which has already been completed and commissioned BUK Kano, Funai Ebonyi, ATBU Bauchi, and FUPRE Delta, while others are ongoing at the moment. This initiative for clean solar and gas supply has been extended to markets such as Sabon Garri Market, Kano, Ariaria Market in Aba, and Sura Shopping Complex in Lagos. The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) also involved government to government between Nigeria and Germany via Siemens AG of Germany to upgrade and modernise Nigeria’s electricity grid. The contract was signed in February 2021.
Others
There also other numerous projects of `Mr President in the area of mass housing scheme, oil and gas projects and initiatives, agriculture, social investment and poverty alleviation, education and health, creative industry and sports, fiscal, trade, monetary and investment reforms; presidential assent to legislative bills, support to states, Niger Delta etc.
These are legacies of Mr President in just a little over six years with minimal resources. I dare say no president in Nigeria’s modern history has accomplished those. Previous administration only focused on projects in the short term for political and perceived personal reasons, because projects in the long term are not sellable items for elections. Therefore it takes patriotism, heart, courage and national interest to dare them. Still, Mr President has taken the bull by the horn and embarked on all those to leave a legacy behind for posterity and future generation of Nigerians to compete favourably in the quest for the pursuit of happiness. For these, Mr President must be mindful of who succeeds him.
4. Addressing the “crisis economy.”
No doubt Nigeria is on the path to being a failed state unless a drastic action
is taken. The insecurities have nothing to do with political party ideology or governance; it has more to do with how we got here since gaining our independence from Britain; how we failed to harness our human and natural resources to take care of our teeming population, create jobs, provide good education and create opportunities for the Nigerian people. 2021 has seen the worse case of insecurity in Nigeria’s history, threats for secession, amongst other things. The evidence is there to visit from the massive issues of rising insecurity in the country; insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, kidnappings in the North Central, armed robbery and cyber-crime in the South East and South West and cultism in the South-South.
These problems are increasingly worsening by the day, and no doubt, the capacity and resources of the security architectures of the country are overstretched.
We are in a crisis economy in Nigeria. Violence and crisis have now become veritable means of livelihood and economic empowerment. Criminals create a situation for pay and sustain problems to fight the crisis. It seems people have revolved around this to the point that the insecurity is becoming out of control. Banditry has created an economy of ransom. Book Haram and armed robbers have also taken advantage of the crisis economy. It is alleged that even established law enforcement agents collude with criminal elements to perpetrate crimes such as kidnapping for ransom. Recently arrests were made in Zamfara on criminal elements suspected to have kidnapped victims for ransom. It was reported that village heads, police officers and even army officers were involved in the criminal enterprise.
Need I mention their sponsors? Because it has been reported that big men and politicians have joined the foray of this criminal economy. Mr President must make it a top priority to address this crisis economy in 2022. There is virtually no part of the country that is safe at the moment. Even resident of the chief of staff to Mr president was once reported vandalised. This resident is closer to the seat of power of the country. Do you recall when terrorists kidnapped military men in their barrack? No part of the country is safe. The President must address this frontally without fear or favour. We have no doubt recorded massive achievements in this regard.
Boko Haram has been primarily degraded and limited to pockets of attack on soft targets. The intensity of the challenge now shifts to the North West. The collaboration between Boko Haram and Bandits has created a challenging situation in the North West, one that must give Mr President a sleepless night. It is primarily contended that the inability of the government to name, shame and prosecute sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria may be a motivating factor for these criminal elements.
The government of the United Arab Emirates shared intelligence with Nigeria on the sponsors of Boko Haram, yet the government has not named and prosecuted these criminal elements. The arrest in Zamfara of sponsors of banditry, which implicated police officers, soldiers, and traditional heads of localities, has not yielded the promise by the government that these individuals would be named, shamed and prosecuted. Naming, parading and prosecuting of sponsors of terrorism is vital in reducing terrorist activities in the country. Mr President in 2022 would need to vigorously demonstrate his willingness to fight terrorism by taking steps in dealing with any head of law enforcement who is reluctant to expose and prosecute sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria. We are doing well in chasing the terrorists but not enough in telling their sponsors.
The success of America in its war against terrorism since 2001 was mainly in blocking the ability to block terrorism financing. Unless we expose, name, shame, and prosecute financiers of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping etc., we may not stop this crisis economy. Terrorists and criminal elements have now discovered that they can make more money in kidnapping and banditry than executing government contracts. Those who finance them are growing that crisis economy by recruiting bandits, kidnappers and killers.
The security and law enforcement agencies must create a joint task force to combat insecurity in cyberspace, hinterland, government institutions, security infiltrations, foreign agent surveillance etc.
Finally, it is highly recommended that Mr President send an executive bill for passage. into law of foreign intelligence surveillance Act of Nigeria which will create
The foreign intelligence surveillance court to determine in a speedy manner acts of espionage, terrorism financing etc., cyber terrorism, while given critical intelligence agencies of the government powers to secure ex-parte orders from the same court to place surveillance on any person Nigerian or Foreigner who is suspected to be involved in the act of terrorism financing, espionage and economic sabotage. This is because recent events in Nigeria suggest that the insecurity in Nigeria must be fuelled if not initiated by foreign agents either in cyberspace by themselves or in collaboration with Nigerian citizens.
•Dr. Daniel Bwala,
Notary Public and Barrister of Lincoln’s Inn (NP)
dbwala2002@yahoo.com
