The President's 'missing ears'
By Reuben Abati

MEN Without Ears is the title of a 1984 novel by Nigerian writer, Ifeoma Okoye. With due respect, President Umaru Yar'Adua is beginning to behave like a man without ears. Being without ears refers to a certain obduracy, a peculiar inability to appreciate the truth. I see the same problem in the Yar'Adua presidency, seven months down the line. The President either needs the services of an ear doctor (I am sorry sir) or he needs to listen a bit more attentively. There are issues in this country which need to be addressed urgently, which the government is treating with kid gloves. I offer to draw the attention of the President, to a few of these without seeking to run the country for him. I confess that I know my place.

But if the President had been listening hard enough, he would have realized that there is a certain disquiet in this country today. The people are happy, very happy indeed, and they are willing to shout it from the rooftops if they are so allowed, that former President Obasanjo is already out of the way. That fellow made life so difficult for Nigerians in spite of the protestations of his promoters to the contrary. Yar'Adua's coming gave the ordinary Nigerian some hope. Our people thought that with a mild mannered man in power, the country would be able to make some progress.

Unfortunately, seven months after President Umar Adua took over government, there is some nostalgia in some places for the Obasanjo presidency. Obasanjo may have been a problematic President, brusque and rude, but he at least gave Nigerians some drama. He was a colourful man who had tasted power and who had a little idea about what to do with it. In comparison, President Yar'Adua is like a bucket of cold, iced water. Behind his back, he is known as President do-nothing. Baba Go slow. The emerging folklore is that he closes from work every day at 4 pm, and that on weekends, the Presidential Villa is ghost town because the President does not work on weekends. The difference between Obasanjo and Yar'Adua is like the difference between fire and water.

Nigeria is a 24-hour assignment all through the year. Nigerians want a President who can make things happen. They want a leader who knows what he is doing. For more than eight years, Nigerians have been looking for the so-called democracy dividends. They are nowhere nearer it today than they were eight years ago. Power supply is a major problem that needs to be solved without further ado. More than half of Nigerians live in houses that are perpetually in darkness. Even in the two cities: Lagos and Abuja, that have been declared liveable by international standards, life is "short, nasty and brutish."

The President of Nigeria cannot run a 9 am to 4 pm schedule like a civil servant waiting for a salary at the end of the month. It is bad that there are some Nigerians who are now saying that whatever may have been Obasanjo's shortcomings, he at least gave the impression of hardwork. This may be a Nigerian pattern: every new government always appears better than the preceding one, but in this case, the challenge is that of the need for the new government to begin to perform and to be seen to be making an effort to make a contribution. To be compared to the Obasanjo government and to be rated lower, this early, is a sign of misfortune.

I have mentioned power, but let us put the matter more directly. Nigeria suffers from a crisis of infrastructure. Nothing seems to be working here. The roads are bad. The country is full of unfinished projects. The hospitals are no longer mere consulting clinics as they were once described; they are no more than cemeteries. With a new President in office, Nigerians want to see a difference in their lives in these areas. Excuses have been given about why the Federal Government cannot tackle the problem of power supply, for example, but why do Nigerian leaders always give excuses? They have been put in office or they have smuggled themselves into power long enough for them to be able to govern the people and develop their lives. Excuses such as we have been having, lately, point not to a democratic instinct, but a failure of ability. When the Yar"adua government first came to power, there was some activity in the Ministry of Transportation with Diezani Madueke making some noise and shedding tears. I think Adenike Grange, the Minister of Health also made some useful statements. Then there was some activity in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministry, but at this moment all promises have died down.

The spot price of crude oil is now $100 per barrel. Ordinarily this should be cause for joy, but we cannot jubilate because Nigeria's fortune is dependent on oil and the associated forces of demand and supply. With the international price of oil now $100 per barrel, Nigeria as an oil producing company will make more money. But because it is dependent on refined product from Europe, due to the collapse of local refineries, the country will be at the mercy of importers of refined products, who will seek a premium on their investments. It is already being said that the pump price of petroleum products will be increased. This now looks like a question of time. But it will also be an invitation to chaos. How does President Yar'Adua hope to handle the challenge? If anything, Nigerians speaking through the Nigeria Labour Congress, do not want any further disruption to their lives.

President Yar'Adua runs one of the most colourless cabinets in recent Nigerian history. Give it to Obasanjo, whatever may have been his shortcomings, he had a Federal cabinet of names and personalities. Even during his first term. But President Yar'Adua is running a cabinet of sleep-walking giants. With the exception of about six of the Ministers, the rest are comfortably bearing the title without making any impact in the public arena. When is the President going to disband the present team and offer Nigerians a team of performers? He should do so now. He even behaves and sounds as if he does not know his own lieutenants. Few of them can speak confidently for government because they do not exactly know what their mandate is. They are in office because they have been put there by some of the powerful people who made Yar'Adua President.

Who are the President's handlers? He has been behaving as if he has no handlers. Every President needs to be managed. A country leader is as good as his managers. The job of the President's handlers is simple. They tell him what to do and what not to do. They are men of experience who have been in and out of the system and who have an idea of what it means to run a country. They bring the President into the mainstream of existing tradition while allowing him enough room to assert himself. This ensures creativity and continuity at the same time. But our new President has been behaving as a novice in the Presidency without any guides. The Presidency is too important an office to be handed over to learners. The effect is the kind of bungling and reversals that we have been witnessing. The impression we get at this end is that the President is being managed by the wrong set of people who are taking advantage of his seeming lack of experience and who seem to be pushing his Presidency in the wrong direction. Can President Yar'Adua please wake up? I think if anybody needs to go for a one year study leave at the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, it should be President Yar'Adua.

How bad the situation is can be measured in terms of the clumsiness of some of the recent events in the country. We have had a lot of motion being generated around what the previous administration did. But there is very little to hold on to coming from the present government. President Yar'Adua must begin to create his own history. His salary has just been increased. Good for him. But let him begin to earn that salary. If he does not know what to do at all, may be he should marry a new wife and have a loud wedding at Aso Villa. He has removed the EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu and we are all talking and writing, but after Ribadu, what next on the anti-corruption campaign?

Let him give Nigerians something meaningful to talk about while he is trying to figure out how to solve national problems. He promised a seven-point agenda. Where are we seven months later? Nigerians like him. No doubt about that. He comes across as a gentleman in comparison to the Owu man. But let him not make the Owu man look like a genius with his refusal to run a government that walks and talks like a government. And he must resist the temptation to turn the Presidency into an all-knowing temple and oracle.

If the President does not yet have a new year resolution, it should be this: this year. I shall run a government that functions, a government that is pro-active and not reactive, a government that can be judged by its results and not its complaints. The primary duty of a government is to ensure the welfare and happiness of a people.

Robot  # 1 | 05.01.2008 02:18

Being without ears refers to a certain obduracy, a peculiar inability to appreciate the truth. I see...Read the full article.

NWANZA  # 2 | 05.01.2008 03:19

Thank you for telling us what kind of President you like for Nigeria, but I beg to differ from your assertions. Prodding a Nigerian President with enormous responsibility is not what I recommend at this point. The wait and see attitude may be connected with the fact that his legitimacy has not been approved at the election tribunals. As soon as we know who won the 2007 presidential elections, then we can prod him wantonly for moving slow. Nigeria desperately needs electricity, water, security, and infrastructure to grow our economy. Which will translate to more job creation for our teeming college graduates, and young professional men and women. We need to build and grow our economy now before the oil wells dry up. They will not last forever at $100 a barrel. The cost of building our road, railway, and airport infrastructures will only escalate if they are put off again. First thing first, and then the loud noise you requested will be given to you.

Frisky Larr  # 3 | 05.01.2008 04:46

Interesting indeed that I am these days, clearly singing from the same hymnbook with Reuben Abati. The similarity in our vocabularies strikes me with awe. Many thanks indeed for buttressing this general picture of inertia inherent in the current status quo. Yar'Adua reminds me today of a misguided Mikhail Gorbachov, who thought the solution to the problem of the USSR was simple: "Glasnost and Perestroika and the USSR would be revamped" But he was in for a dreadful surprise. UMYA seems to think that handling Nigeria is simple: "Only be the opposite of OBJ and you are through". But he is seeing now that he needs far more imagination and charisma and not meaningless policy reversals. @ Nwanza Precisely the uncertainty over presidential legitimacy should have been the ultimate catalyst to spur any reasonable leader to action for as long as it lasts!

i-go-better  # 4 | 05.01.2008 06:08

Please Dr Abati allow the still mesmerised, dazed and hungry Nigerian citizens a little more time for some semblance of recovery from Obj's 8yrs of mayhem before you start this insidious attempt at rehabilitating his "draculaic" nightmarish image that still hunts them. Those you claim are nostalgic of Obj's presidency shouldn't have affected your hard earned journalistic integrity because they leave obvious trail of dubious antecedence despite hiding behind pseudonym of several Damilolas. And, curiously you seem to have failed to undersatnd the inextricable link between Obj and any Yaradua's inadquacy! Let me explain; 1. if Yaradua performs averagely well, then the failure of Obj would become DOUBLELY obvious even to his diehard supporters; 2. if Yaradua performs badly, then the failure of Obj would become QUADRUPLELY obvious even to his diehard supporters for 8yrs of waste and corruption and installing an unwilling president whose consequent failure was foretold. I always cringe at the realisation that I used to be one of his diehard supporters until 2003 elections! Dr Abati, you are much better than this, however, my admiration for you is not affected by this mis-step. Happy New Year.

Dapxin  # 5 | 05.01.2008 07:00

=i-go-better;4294977552>Please Dr Abati allow the still mesmerised, dazed and hungry Nigerian citizens a little more time for some semblance of recovery from Obj's 8yrs of mayhem before you start this insidious attempt at rehabilitating his "draculaic" nightmarish image that still hunts them. Those you claim are nostalgic of Obj's presidency shouldn't have affected your hard earned journalistic integrity because they leave obvious trail of dubious antecedence despite hiding behind pseudonym of several Damilolas. And, curiously you seem to have failed to undersatnd the inextricable link between Obj and any Yaradua's inadquacy! Let me explain; 1. if Yaradua performs averagely well, then the failure of Obj would become DOUBLELY obvious even to his diehard supporters; 2. if Yaradua performs badly, then the failure of Obj would become QUADRUPLELY obvious even to his diehard supporters for 8yrs of waste and corruption and installing an unwilling president whose consequent failure was foretold. I always cringe at the realisation that I used to be one of his diehard supporters until 2003 elections! Dr Abati, you are much better than this, however, my admiration for you is not affected by this mis-step. Happy New Year. Your excellency, When I read this, I certainly had the same feelings as you wrote above. Whatever oga Yaradua turns out to be - rubbish as it stands - OBJ will never be any good for it, and thus does it not become futile, if not premature, to attempt a comparative analysis ? I think I can excuse, forgive me, Abati's seeming u-turn on gen. Obj here as resulting from the attempts of a frustrated writer to make sense of the travesty, or shall we say farce, of a president, government and countryman in that order that oga Yaradua typifies. I mean, for a moment, I am prepared to envisage myself having to critique this administration, and I cannot but agree to the salient issues Abati highlighted here, the worst being the suggestion that the president of a country, so energyless, so roadless, so healthless, so policingless, so classless, goes to work 9-4pm minus weekends! It is grotesque, its unbelievable, I mean its shocking not just to the bone marrows, but right to the red blood cells! And we have 4 more years of this abi ? (apologies to that villager, you know yourself)

akuluouno  # 6 | 05.01.2008 07:03

I totally support UMYA for restoring decorum at Aso Rock. The place has had some quiet and dignity in recent times and I believe that this is good for the country. What remains is for UMYA to translate that peace and decorum to the entire country just as he did in Katsina State. For power we need less megawatts in the pages of newspapers and more light in peoples homes. I believe that we will get there once the legal obstacles I believe earlier mentioned by Nwanza are overcome. Give it to the Fulani man to be cool, calm and calculating. Behind that veneer of Umar go slow is a powerful man who understands the calculus of power. It is not by being theatrical, flamboyant, garroulous and generating heat in the polity that good govenance is done. Yes I agree he needs to build his own team of eminient Nigerians to tackle the challenges which have been identified. But Nigeria is a complex state and it is better to waltz through the minefields of governance than to do hip pop dance around them like the former regime to the detriment of the whole polity.:idea::idea::idea: Some go slow are surely needed at these times. UMYA should continue to make haste but less speed.:idea::idea:

giafaleye  # 7 | 05.01.2008 07:57

Honestly I’m really, really disappointed in Mr. Abati’s write up. Singing OBJ praises so soon and comparing him to Yardua is like comparing Night and Day. Abati is one of those I respect and enjoy reading but this particular write up made me sad. I believe Mr. Abati is not in touch with the masses any longer. This is the only Christmas without price increase in fuel and other commodities. Here in Port Harcourt and Rivers State in general people I have had the privilege of interacting with many people who are really happy with this government and are constantly praying for the leadership. However my prayer is that the Tribunal nullifies Yardua’s election and hopefully he’ll keep to his promise not to recontest so that we can have someone that would throw party in Aso Rock and go against all known rules and probably uses another Ribadu to intimidate and close down government of states to the joy of the likes of Abati. We still have a long way to go in this country what a pity!

ajimoh  # 8 | 05.01.2008 08:29

No amount of huffing and puffing by the image launderers for this government will save it from the inevitable. How could a government composed largely of people not chosen on merit be expected to perform? When this government starts performing, or ever performs, let its apologists direct as much vituperations as possible my path. This government is founded on dishonesty and fraud, it is beholden to too many disreputable people in the ‘House of Thieves’ and that is why many clueless people have been put forward for ministerial appointments. Amongst thieves, there are NO honours; so palpably it is with the thieves ruling Nigeria and stripping it to the bones and fighting amongst themselves in the process, with token scape goats here and there! A house not built with a solid foundation never last long and it is a matter of time for this government to pack it in via the Tribunal or the people. How difficult can it be to provide the basic necessities of life to ones people? I take it the increment in the President’s salary had been premised on performance; is it? That is Nigeria for you! The other day, it was reported that new cars were approved for ministers and that the Secretary to the Federal Government (WHO ELSE?) had defended the decision before the legislators! Yes, new cars for ministers, salary increases for the Executives and what else? All these no doubt predicated on the sterling jobs they have been doing! There is now abundance of food, habitable shelter, quality education, quality and affordable health services, motorable roads, confidence in the security of life and property. The masses are all smiling and thanking their good fortunes. Nigeria has suddenly been blessed with leaders who place the electorates before their own pockets, who meet to address matters of concern to their constituents! Outside, the international community have no qualms doing business with us at all and foreign investors, at least the honest ones, are queuing up to come and do business in Nigeria because of our enabling environment: we do not ask for kickbacks here; children of government functionaries (who may even have their hands in the commonwealth pie themselves) do not go around the globe signing documents using pseudonyms; we award contract here based purely on competitive tendering. We do not apply sanctions selectively and have recently reawakened our consciousness to root out corruption: most of the erstwhile corrupt public officials have been tried, convicted and jailed: we refused to succumb to the temptation of doing deals with criminals in return for lesser sentences because to do so would have sent the wrong signal to the coming generation that there are two sets of laws in Nigeria – the one for the high & mighty and the other for lesser mortals! What has been most astonishing about us, to the chagrin of our detractors, is that we were meticulous about choosing a man of unquestionable poise, intellect and integrity, not smeared by the tar of ‘conflict of interest’ as our chief law officer: we chose a man who had never been compromised by his antecedents, utterances and actions as our Attorney General, a man who is honest and down-to-earth, who is not beholden to any corrupt ex-government official. Our choice has been the envy of the British legal system in particular, who remain befuddled by how intelligible our Attorney General is about their system: it was a surprise to them that our AG knew, and understood, that it was sufficient for an official of the Home Official to sign request on behalf of the British Home Secretary. Above all, the pro-activeness of our AG in assisting the international community in rooting out corruption is still being marvelled at. In one case involving an ex-con, who later metamorphosed into a State Chief Executive, all the available evidence have been placed at the disposal of the British authorities with such alarming alacrity that they, the British, are now contemplating naming our AG the man of the decade for his stance against corruption. There is such a buzz about governance in Nigeria, that some British parliamentarians are coming to learn from our legislators the art of purchasing properties all over the globe, junketing around the world, renovation of official quarters at an ‘undervalue’, allocation of houses to elected officials (in a country that cannot feed its citizens, educate children, quench the thirst of its people for water and decent living). Whilst in the country, they are scheduled to visit Chief Lamidi ‘Amala’ Adedibu to learn about political tolerance; visit ‘Dr’ Andy Uba to learn about how to assist in laundering and pilferage of state resources; the triumvirate of General Olusegun Obasanjo, Senator Iyiola Omisore & Atiku Abubakar will grant them audience on the subtleties of handling how one former Attorney General got murdered and his wife indirectly murdered by the intrigues surrounding the trial. They are bound to be astounded by the abundance in our society, so much that our leaders are so popular with the masses that they go around mixing among the teeming masses, using the same excellent public transportation systems, sending their children to the same public schools that they have adequately provisioned and equipped to the same, if not better, standards as obtain abroad. There is so much to learn here; the Kenyans have just left to put into practice what they came to learn. Postscript Nigeria will continue to go down the drain for the obvious reason that we have a nation largely founded on dishonesty and led by hugely corrupt, selfish and greedy people. It does not take a year to start making an immediate impact, when you have no skeletons in your cupboard, e.g. the ghost of a singing Ibori! A situation where the first act done was to appoint the same old guard, a man of questionable integrity, as Secretary, gave me the first inkling that it is going to be business as usual. I invite Mr Olusegun Adeniyi to tell us what exactly has been the achievement of this government so far. After all, he went to the US the other day to learn about information management. I envy him and wish him good luck in his endeavours with this government. The day for Nigeria has not come. The present president is a hostage, just like Shehu Shagari was a hostage, and we all know what happen to hostages in the end: they are either killed, die, escape or freed from bondage. I hope that the present president is freed from bondage by the Election Tribunal.

giafaleye  # 9 | 05.01.2008 08:35

Honestly I’m really, really disappointed in Mr. Abati’s write up. Singing OBJ praises so soon and comparing him to Yardua is like comparing Night and Day. Abati is one of those I respect and enjoy reading but this particular write up made me sad. I believe Mr. Abati is not in touch with the masses any longer. This is the only Christmas without price increase in fuel and other commodities. Here in Port Harcourt and Rivers State in general people I have had the privilege of interacting with are really happy with this government and are constantly praying for the leadership. However my prayer is that the Tribunal nullifies Yardua’s election and hopefully he’ll keep to his promise not to recontest so that we can have someone that would throw party in Aso Rock and go against all known rules and probably uses another Ribadu to intimidate and close down government of states to the joy of the likes of Abati. We still have a long way to go in this country what a pity!

bob  # 10 | 05.01.2008 10:10

the change of baton has really made some people unhappy. they cannot even wait for morning before they start grumbling. perhaps, the writer wants an ignorant and overzealous security man to pay him a visit so we can start another witch hunting round. i had a boss who said 'if u work hard from 7 to 4, then u can put your feet up the table'.

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