Mr. President, Where’s our Money and the State of our Union?

Chido Nwangwu compares the recent State of the Union address of US President Joe Biden with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s on going campaign for APC’s presidential flag bearer, Bola Tinubu, saying the Buhari administration has not really performed to expectation

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023, the 46th president of the United States,  Joe Biden, delivered with admirable erudition and vitality, his message about the State of the Union.

He addressed the joint session of senators and congressmen inside the historic chamber of the United States Congress. Like his predecessors had done.

The core message from the man who served as Vice President to Barack Obama (the first African-American President of the United States, is that the State of the Union of the United States) is very well and in good standing despite the massive, institutional disruptions and uncertainties and economic problems and setbacks imposed by the pandemic specifically COVID-19. Many jobs are back. More folks are creating new opportunities in their quest for the American Dream! 

He presented to Americans the facts of the socio-economic and human capacity turnaround. He made the factual documentation and credible presentation that America is on its way back, as the most powerful and resourceful country in the world.

Remarkably, Biden said: “The story of America is a story of progress and resilience… We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it. That is what we are doing again. Two years ago our economy was reeling. As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs – more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years. Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much. Today, COVID no longer controls our lives. And two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.”

On the other hand, several hours before Biden’s speech, Nigeria’s President, retired army general  Muhammadu Buhari, was asking Nigerians to “forgive us” for what has been, evidently, a frying-pan-to-fire story….

Buhari, in an unusual approach seemed and sounded remorseful. The man who had ruled Nigeria as a military dictator from December 31, 1983 to  August 27, 1985, uncharateristically, said at his party’s campaign event, early this February 2023:  “Please in the name of God, be patient with us and forgive us. Tell your friends, brothers, sisters and children to continue to vote for APC, Tinubu will continue from where we stop…. We will not be deterred by security threats to our people. We will deal with the terrorists. They are evil and we will defeat them and they will not win. Whether they derive joy and satisfaction from their wicked acts we are stronger and better than them. Only Allah can heal our pains, the children, widows and the bereaved shall be catered for. Also, men in uniform who paid the supreme price shall not be forgotten.”

Nigerians are tired of unfullfilled promises. 

Nigerians gave Buhari their trust, their sacred votes and their last drip of hope but he has disappointed them. The bitter truth remains that despite the Goebbelian propaganda, Nigerians have endured eight long and difficult years of insecurities, conflicts and the latest banking fiasco and palaver.

Some of these challenges are complicated by the seemingly endless incompetence of the Buhari presidency — a presidency of small things, of petty malice and ancient grudges, of crass nepotism and clannishness, of moral corruption and assorted inequities, of impunity and incapacity!

Sadly and curiously, Buhari is still asking Nigerians to reward his political party of the incompetents with another presidential opportunity.

Interestingly, his party goes by the countervailing name: All Progressives Congress!

Buhari is now asking Nigerians to entrust the ship of state of Africa’s largest economy to the hands of Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT), a man whose educational background, factual records of his business and transactional entanglements remain opaque.

To date, many aspects of Tinubu remain very unclear to millions of Nigerians.

Some current personnel and retired members of the American security and diplomatic establishment could be wondering but not surprised by the twists and awkward kabuki dances of Buhari and Tinubu regarding the battle for Nigeria’s next President, all things being equal, scheduled for February 25, 2023.

Before the elections, respectfully, let me remind President Buhari of the words of the embattled Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, in October 2022, specifically: “The integrity of a local legal tender, the efficiency of its supply, as well as its efficacy in the conduct of monetary policy are some of the hallmarks of a great central bank.”

Where’s my money?

-Dr Nwangwu is Founder of the first African-owned, U.S-based newspaper on the internet, USAfricaonline.com