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Yar’Adua and a worried nation
By Levi Obijiofor
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is a man encircled by natural and unnatural forces. Everywhere he looks for cheery news about his government’s achievements one year after he was declared the winner of an election that is yet to be concluded, he sees problems and a long line of grumpy people. Should we pity or mock him? Many people are beginning to feel that Yar’Adua, the miracle man bequeathed to the nation by Olusegun Obasanjo, is yet to get off the mark in many areas of social and economic accomplishment.
When Nigerians weigh up Yar’Adua’s performance on their kitchen weighing scales, they find it hard to link what the man says with what he has achieved. The man may be talking but his policies and programmes have not yet registered on the people’s consciousness radar. The economy is still behaving like a groggy old man. Everyday, people go to the market with their bags stuffed with naira notes but they return home with empty shopping bags. When political leaders make promises and they fail to deliver within 12 months of assuming office, expectations turn into frustration. Nigerians have no patience for the future. They want to live in the present.
It might seem unfair to write off Yar’Adua’s performance since he became president one year ago essentially because most of the problems he inherited have been with us long before Yar’Adua’s presidential convoy arrived in Abuja. But, hey, Yar’Adua was elected to solve problems, not to aggravate or ignore the problems. During his presidential election campaign, Yar’Adua promised that if he was elected president, he would transform the nation (whatever that meant), that he would improve our living standards and that he would ensure that we went to sleep every night with our two eyes shut. But look how things have remained the same (or even deteriorated) since he became president.
Rather than go to sleep with our two eyes shut, we are compelled to keep our eyes wide open because law and order has collapsed. Armed robbery and other forms of violent crimes have increased significantly in the past one year. Many police men and women have been killed by criminal elements while on official duty. If the police, the symbol of law and order, are not safe, who else is safe in Nigeria?
Let’s get this clear: there are certain problems that require a long time to overhaul and Nigerians are willing to grant Yar’Adua extra time to fix those problems. But there are also certain problems that could be confronted instantaneously. Yar’Adua can start by tackling the “softer” problems.
First on the list must be the worsening law and order situation in the country. Nigerians are not safe in their own country. And the diplomatic community in Abuja is also complaining. The police must be highly equipped to defend themselves and the rest of our society. The police must also be remunerated properly, in line with the risks associated with their job. The festering crisis in the Niger Delta remains the single most serious problem that threatens national unity.
If growing crime is too difficult to check, how about the public hospital system or the state of basic infrastructure. As I argued in this column last year, our public hospitals have become warehouses where the sick and the frail go to die rather than to receive treatment. The situation remains the same today. The new word in town is, if you are sick, go overseas for diagnosis and treatment of your health problem if you can afford it.
Like the health system, problems in the electricity sector have overwhelmed many governments. And there is no indication that Yar’Adua’s government would succeed where previous governments failed. The last time a presidential assistant spoke about electricity problems, we were informed that Yar’Adua was waiting to understand the magnitude of the problem before mapping out his government’s solutions. Someone also said the president was waiting for the report of the parliamentary committee investigating the power sector.
When we read the lips of Yar’Adua and his assistants in regard to electricity problems, we see nothing but déjà vu. Yar’Adua and his ministers are simply serving the nation old wine in new bottles. Electricity is the engine that drives every nation’s economy and health system. We ignore this basic fact to our detriment. The government must fix electricity problem as a matter of national emergency.
Beyond electricity problems, the state of federal roads provides a damning statement on how slowly Yar’Adua and his ministers are moving to provide basic infrastructure. We have not seen any improvements in the condition of major roads across the nation. Federal roads are, in anyone’s fair assessment, no better than they were more than 12 months ago.
It is true that Yar’Adua did not create bad roads across the country but roads – good or bad – ought to be repaired and reconstructed regularly . Late last year, a federal minister inspected the dreadful Benin-Shagamu expressway and shed colourless tears that were performed for television cameras only. In full view of the public, the minister promised “urgent” reconstruction work to improve the road. Six months later, no significant upgrade has been sighted. With the onset of rains, the condition of the road has deteriorated.
When public health officials complain about the damage done to our environment and our health by plastic water containers that litter our streets and suburbs, they seem to forget that the boom in the marketing of “pure water” in plastic containers and polythene bags constitutes the direct consequences of lack of clean drinking water. There would be no market for “pure water” if public water supply was readily available. Politicians are elected to serve the people. And governments are expected to provide basic services to the people.
Yar’Adua may be justified if he complains that we are judging him harshly. Perhaps he has valid reasons for failing to perform. Let’s hear him. In the past 12 months, he has been gripped by health problems that led to two quick trips to his doctors in Germany, although Yar’Adua and his assistants insist he is in good health. Yar’Adua can also claim, rightly or wrongly, that his concentration has been severely distracted by legal challenges to his presidency, particularly constant snapping on his heels by Atiku Abubakar and Muhammadu Buhari. If Yar’Adua knew that the political jacket given to him illegally by decadent Maurice Iwu and Obasanjo last year was a poisoned prize of no value, he should never have accepted that prize.
Even in the face of the enormous problems that confront his government, Yar’Adua deserves some credit in certain areas. His determination to enforce a culture of accountability and transparency in public service must be acknowledged. In June 2007, Yar’Adua led the way by listing his assets for public access. It was a unique decision, indeed a landmark achievement by a Nigerian president – civilian or military, elected or unelected.
Yar’Adua has also shown zero tolerance for corruption by enforcing an existing but redundant law that required all federal ministries and government departments to return to the national treasury any unused money by the end of December 31 of each year. To prove that he meant business, he promptly sacked Federal Health Minister Adenike Grange and her deputy. The two, along with other indicted officials of the Health Ministry, are now facing prosecution for corrupt embezzlement of public funds.
As part of his anti-corruption creed, Yar’Adua promptly cancelled questionable contracts awarded hurriedly by Obasanjo in the last hours of Obasanjo’s second term. Soon after assuming office, he revoked the sale of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries. In light of the unethical manner in which the contracts were awarded, Yar’Adua’s revocation order was hailed as a right decision.
Politicians can be capricious and this cardinal sin can be forgiven. But political sophistry does not fill an empty stomach. Are we too impatient with our political leaders? Are we too difficult to be governed? Do we expect too much within too short a time? We will return to these questions this time next year when Yar’Adua marks his second year as president but that is if the Supreme Court accepts his argument that he won the presidential election.
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Levi Obijiofor 
Posted by Robot| 30.05.2008 11:16