BEYOND PRESIDENT BUHARI’S ANTI-CORRUPTION TEMPLATE. Femi Ojo

Picture credit to www.elombah.com

Talk of any man in Nigeria today whose body language is crystal clear on zero tolerance to corruption and you do not have to search faraway before one finds such a disposition in President Buhari. President Buhari is a man who without doubt, has distinguished himself from a typical Nigerian dissolute politician.  I want to reason by now that no Nigerian is in doubt that Mr. President is very serious on his anti-corruption crusade though those who are not too pleased with his strategy may say he is serious about it but may accuse him of being selective. But hey! Please make no mistake, President Buhari is making sense right now fighting this menace.

But beyond the orotundity of the present anti-corruption crusade by the new government and everyday rancorous noise from APC and its supporters about the debauched deeds of Jonathan's administration, Mr. President needs a sense of urgency to tackle the flagging Nigeria’s economy that is fast giving aspirational frustrations to majority of Nigerians. Let no one misconcept my premise here, I have no issue with Mr. President’s approach on corruption though Mr. Buhari  may still need to convince those who  believe that his anti- corruption campaign is nothing but selective political vendetta against his political antagonists. I am one of those characters who will be elated if the present administration makes this anti-corruption war candidly holistic and convince all of us that there is no sacred cow anywhere. But nonetheless Mr. Buhari’s cheered anti-corruption template, the current derisory state of the economy and absence of clear economic road map for the country needs a focal sense of urgency by President Buhari’s team. The point I am pointing at is that despite Nigeria being Africa’s largest economy, about 67 percent of our population still lives in poverty, if not more. And between the period Mr. President assumed office and now, Nigerians can tell how more obscure the economy of the country has become. Though some Nigerians may applaud the President’s effort so far on tackling corruption but no one is oblivious that Mr. Buhari appears to be trifling on any clear economic strategy (s) to halt the ongoing hardship and lift vast majority of our people to economic prosperity. 

 While one may not totally put the blame on President Buhari’s led government based on many shady deals of the immediate government and in addition, one may incline to excuse the President from this blame because of the current climaxes in the international political economy which Nigeria is not in any position in control. But put the aforementioned excuses separately, great leaders are called leaders not because they ride on smooth political economy clime but because they provide clear cut economic strategy that lift people from their state of hopelessness to economic prosperity in a very difficult period. That is the responsibility of the President and the new political party in power that no excuse will be able to rationalize! That is also the urgent responsibility of APC as a party and President Buhari as the country’s leader!  The new government rode to power based on the conviction that the previous administration was ham-fisted in governing the country therefore, Nigerians expectations are very high with the belief that the new government will demonstrate an urgent sense of action in tackling the present severe state of our economy. Furthermore, the current high rate of inflation in our economy is bothersome, with common staple food prices as astronomical as ever.  Last night I was shocked when I was told a common bag of pure water sachet now sells at N140 from N80 and currently local prices of foodstuffs and other services have gone up lushly. 

 The call is that Mr. President should move with the same sense of urgency (if not more) with which he is dealing with corruption to bring back companies, institutions, organizations even his government that are struggling to keep afloat in the midst of our distressed economy and come out with a more bouncy economic road map for the country. In other words, the lack of apparent policy direction of the present government is making a lot of decisions hanging by investors and many business owners in the country. This is a big issue for the new administration to tackle, the waiting game many investors are currently playing is largely due to lack of any apparent economic policy direction.  Beyond partisan politics, Mr. Buhari should know that Nigeria is facing a national economic emergency and at stake is the promising future of many entrepreneurs even the generation yet unborn.  

 In conclusion, for the wailing wailers and those hypocrites of Mr. Buhari, this is a time to find a common purpose to help Mr. President more than double  his energy and prove that he is not flimsy on providing a clear economic agenda that this government will be known for.   And this is the period in our national history that presents a golden chance for the new government to prove that indeed it has all it takes to deliver many of its over hyped campaign promises.