Sharing Buhari’s passion, pain and expectations

In his May 29th nationwide broadcast marking the first anniversary of the present administration, President Buhari described his first year in office as a period of “triumph, consolidation, pain and achievements”. Given the track record of the administration during the period, hardly can he be faulted, as significant mileage was recorded in each of these areas. For instance as far as triumphs are  considered, successes were recorded in several areas such as in the fight against the insurgents in the Northeast of the country by the gallant men and women of the armed forces. Today the Boko Haram menace has been significantly degraded, to the point that no single territory of the country is under open control by the insurgents.
Next in this regard is the caging of treasury looters. The second one has thrown up some bizzare angles with the mention of ordinarily mind boggling sums of money reportedly diverted into private pockets by the men and women of power in times past. Another area of triumph especially in consolidating of the nation’s common weal, is the Treasury Single Account (TSA) dispensation which not only has consolidated the management of public funds, but has also effectively blocked areas of leakage and waste in that area. Indeed the TSA has earned for itself such an image as to be likened to the fabled ‘Big Brother’- a fictional character that was created by the Irish George Orwell in his classic novel ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. The character was depicted in the novel as a leader of the fictional state of Oceania, who uses a network of communication facilities to keep a tab on all citizens of his country, thus keeping them in check.
Many Nigerians may not be aware that some of the most favoured beneficiaries of that era of mass looting of public funds were dealers in safes and locker rooms who smiled to the banks with bumper sales of their wares to kleptomaniacs who stashed away looted cash in depositories hidden in farms, other unseemly locations. Little wonder that not a few Nigerians were wondering aloud if Buhari will muster the courage to effect a change in the features of the country’s currency, even if it is a swap of colours between the various denominations. Such a dramatic action will unleash a most effective impetus for the return of all naira notes outside the banking system to the banks.
Yet all of these did not come without a price, which often manifests in such dimensions as pains for the citizenry as is being felt presently. Needless to state that life for the typical Nigerian today is a journey through hell. And that is what matters most in the engagement of any government with the people. Hardly does a new day pass without one heart wrenching privation looming out of the horizon to confront him or her. At the last count, the litany of woes has come to feature among others the following – public sector workers owed with impunity by state and federal government for months on end, massive and open looting of the public till by public officers, high wave of crime featuring kidnappings, armed robberies, cybercrimes of various hues, murders and rape.
It needs to be recalled that President Buhari was elected on the perception that he had the antecedents and strength of character to confront the legion of demons that had infested the nation’s public space. It must also be to his credit that at no time during his presidential campaign for office did he hide the fact that if elected his tenure will be with a difference. Now that the country is living with a Buhari presidency and all that go with it in the name of change, the play-out has not been a picnic for the citizens leading many to start doubting what is going on. Clearly many did not properly appreciate the fuller implications of the promised change by Buhari. So far it has been a tale of sadness and joy depending on which side an observer stands.  For those on the side of the law it is joy, and vice versa for those against the law. Simpilcita!
So far for the first year of Buhari and the cadences of its fortunes and otherwise. The issue now is where does he take Nigeria from here to, as the country rolls into the future? This is an area which should engage not only the attention of Nigerians but their collective active participation in shaping. There is the saying that the game of politics is too sensitive to be confined to the exclusive control of politicians. This is because when they make mistakes everybody else suffers. It is therefore with respect to the connections of politics with the common destiny of all in a polity that democracy upholds the control of any democratic government by all the citizens within the jurisdiction of that power.
For Buhari in the days and years ahead, the main challenge will be how to ensure that the administration finds itself on the same page with the people all the time. Granted that the first year has demonstrated the passion with which he drove the administration towards actualizing his expectations the message for him is that governance is not just about the leader alone. It is more about the people he or she is leading. It is not about what the leader wants but how the leader goes about internalizing and actualising what the people want.
This condition requires more than a passing acquaintance by the Buhari administration given some developments during the first year. For instance the first year played out a significant disconnect between the executive arm and the National Assembly even as both arms are simply components of the same government. Several events indicated the need for closer rapport between these arms of government. The situation is not helped when many legislators often refer to the executive arm as the ‘government’ whereas they are as part of it as the president himself, and the presidency sees the legislators as outsiders in the business of governance.
Another area of adjustment in the expectations of the presidency is in balancing the treatment of issues pertaining to the sensitivities of the various sections of the country. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander.
In the light of the foregoing it is the expectation of Nigerians that the subsequent years should not necessarily be extensions or replicas of the first year. Such a future is realizable only if and when the presidency works towards making all Nigerians, share in its expectations.