Taking inventory of the present situation in
Nigeria and the capacity of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to
deliver the country from economic, social and political quagmire, in the face
of the recent happenings within federal government circles, Shehu Sani, the
Senator representing Kaduna Central, and former governor of Kaduna State,
Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said there are clear indications that the government has
been hijacked by a cabal and holding the President hostage.
Both Sani and Musa also lamented that even
the federal government’s anti-corruption crusade and the capacity to revive the
country’s economy have not been properly articulated by the President,
following the inability to address the fundamental problems undermining
government’s policies.
Besides, Sani urged Buhari to reconsider the
calls from some quarters to run for a second term in office, considering his
age, health status and the complexity to drive the nation’s economy, adding,
however, that the decision is his whether to contest again in 2019.
After reviewing the performance of the President and the state of the country’s
economy and polity today, the senator said in an interview with The Guardian,
yesterday: “First and foremost, in 2015, the Buhari administration came with a
lot of goodwill. It was a government that came in with high hopes and ambition.
Many changes were promised Nigerians, whose expectations were very high.
“There were successes recorded in a number of
areas and there were also failures that have been experienced in the past two
and half years. “We must accept the fact that Buhari has been able to degrade
the capacity of Boko Haram in capturing territories and hoisting flags in our
country.
“They also do not have that capacity in
launching attacks in Nigeria, because they have been confined to a very small
quarter. That does not mean that violence and bombing is over.
“Secondly, Buhari has been able to declare in
Nigeria that corruption is a menace to be crushed, otherwise, it will kill us
as a people.”
Sani, however, said there are numbers of
failures the administration has recorded, pointing out that they are
attributable to a number of factors, including “the failure of the government
to appoint ministers from the first week it came into office, which left affairs
of the government in the hands of civil servants and Permanent Secretaries and
the inaction to declare economic blueprint for this administration right from
inception, suggesting that every economic policies were done haphazardly.”
Other shortcomings listed by the All
Progressives Congress (APC) senator and human rights activist were the actions
of the politicians themselves, who “diverted the attention of the government
away and made it impossible for the party to truly support the administration and
also serve as a bulwark for facilitating its own programmes and policies.”
Sani further argued: “Another factor is the
existence of a government within a government. A clique of people appeared to
have surrounded the President and hijacked instrument of power. They overran
the government and held the country to ransom. Otherwise, they are known as
cabal.
“From a democracy that is a government of the
people for the people, we are now in a government of the cabal, by the cabal
and for the cabal. And this seriously stained the government of Buhari and
undermined the capacity to deliver.
“Nigerians are worried that the President is
held hostage and the government is being teleguided, manipulated and directed
by few people within the corridors of power.
“Another problem that the nation will
continue to face is the fact that the moral component of Buhari’s
administration is the war against corruption. Nigerians expected so much from
him, but the disturbing trend is the fact that his capacity to address the problem
of corruption seems to be very limited.
“He seems to lack the virility, capability and potency to deal with friends and
friends of his administration who have been found wanting.”
He went on: “There is the issue of grass
cutting scandal, which he has not been able to address. There is the issue of
Kachikwu and Baru-NNPC scandal, which seems to have been swept under the
carpet.
“Now, there is the scandal of the recall of
Maina. An impression is now created in the minds of Nigerians that the
anti-corruption crusade is double-faced. And we must tell ourselves the truth:
Corruption has become a cat with nine lives.
“In the past, it was under the shade of an
umbrella, but today, it is being swept under the carpet with a broom.”
In his reaction to the state of the nation,
Musa said: “There is no good sign that the situation in Nigeria has improved
under Buhari’s government. Rather, things are now getting worse.
“The only thing that can save the nation is
for this country to redirect its policies and centre the socio-economic and
political interest to public interest first, rather than private interest,
which is the order of the day in Nigeria.”
Source: GuardianNG
