Mr. President Sir,I want to at first register my apology ahead, if at any time in
the course of this write up I sound offensive with my
statements and assertions. For me you remain the GCFR of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to that seat all Nigerians owe
a lot of respect. Besides, it is not my words alone, but voices
from the Streets and Slums where I and most Nigerians
belong.
Your Excellency Sir, your Pride, Dictatorship tendencies and
vendetta mission coupled with your lack of economic blue
prints and vision destroyed our economy. Your recent
campaign of #changebeginswithme is a confirmation of the
fact that; firstly, you are clearly not in touch with the current
realities, secondly it is an unambiguous demonstration of the
fact that you lack clue and economic vision cum direction to
solving Nigerian problems.
I do not expect that you fill the pangs of this recession;
neither do you ‘enjoy’ the pains Nigerians go through. You
sleep and live in a posh house, in the most decent and secure
environment in Nigeria. You wake up to meals of your choice,
retinues of aides attend to your daily activities. So Sir, like
many other past Nigerian leaders you don’t buy anything but
get everything - courtesy, Nigerian tax payers’ money.
On your #Changebeginswithme campaign, I want to
affirmatively tell you that Nigerians have changed; you are the
one who have refused to change. You won your last election
not because you were the most qualified Nigerian but because
Jonathan had lost his re-election since Jan 1st 2012 when he
remove PMS subsidy. Nigerians in their ignorance of the scam
that abound in the process by the Cabals took to streets and
vow not to return home until the pump price is returned, after
then GEJ lost his good will. This same subsidy you flagrantly
removed without prior notice and Nigerians did not object.
What Change, Love and Support do you want again?
You came on board with your team, increased electricity tariff
despite not having adequate of it; Nigerians did not complain.
The worst of it all, you technically devalued the Naira which
has led to double digits inflation, in the hit of this recession
with goods and food items skyrocketing to an all time high.
Yet Nigerians, still believing in you, have not taking to street.
Sir, what manner of #changebeginswithme do you expect from
us again?
Your Honor Sir, you are the one who have refused to change!
You refused to change from your old ways of Pride, Tribalism,
Nepotism, Religious bigotry, and Vendetta Mission. This has
been driving your sense of judgment. You started, by making
the most tribalistic, nepotistic, religious and ethnic driven
appointments in the history of Nigerian as you assumed office.
You know what? This first action of yours divided the country
across tribal and ethnic lines and most unfortunately
destroyed the party that brought you into power on the platter
of gold. APC is dead!!! Hard truth to believe. What we have
now is CPC, ACN, ANPP, nPDP. Can four parties control one
government? Anybody might want to ask me how party issue
affects the economy, then I will tell you that one of the
reasons we have poor governance now is because there is no
cooperation between those at the helms of affairs. CPC has
the Executive, nPDP controls the Legislature; tell me the way
forward? Party’s ideology should GREATLY influence
governance just like other advance countries; the US and UK.
Your pride made you to make VERY reckless statements at
some particular points in time which are not good and healthy
for our economy. One of such is the 5% statement at the US
Institute of Peace. That those that gave you 5% vote will also
get 5% treatment. Mr. President, you goofed!!! Why that kind
of statement after elections? Were you still campaigning? This
statement is responsible for the renewed and increased
agitations for self rule in the South East and South-South
regions, for they are the ones who gave you 5% because of
their Kinsman Jonathan. They cannot watch you treat them
as second class citizens in the very country they claim to
belong. You also forgot that one of these 5% people gave you
Power voluntarily without recourse to force.
Imagine if you had extended a hand of friendship, and you
disappoint them by making someone from either SS/SE your
CoS/SGF and mirror the difference it would have made.
Experiences have shown that the persons you can trust most
is when turn your enemy to your friend and imagine the level
of loyalty. But your refusal to #change is responsible for the
lack of cooperation from these regions to move Nigeria
forward with you, which has led to the destruction of oil
facilities and installations. This has severely dealt with our
economy after Billion of Dollars revenue shortfall, besides you
spend more and over stretch the military personnel in trying to
destabilize the so called Niger Delta Avengers and IPOB
agitators, coupled with putting the Boko Haram in check.
Still on your refusal to #change and your erroneous believe
that you are a saint, you made other reckless statements at
your trip to the UN Summit last year, such as; Nigerians are
very corrupt and that Nigerian Economy has being destroyed
by PDP 16 years of misrule. One of the most unfortunate is
the embarrassment you gave Elumelu and Co. in one of your
visits. If you care to know Sir, you cannot develop the
economy alone. You need the business community more than
they need you. Your UN summit statements discouraged
investors from coming into Nigeria. And the embarrassment
you gave Tony Elumelu and Co. made other domestic
investors run from you. The result Sir, is reduced Foreign
Direct Investment, worst still investors withdrew their money
from the economy. If you care to know, the Stock Market lost
#1.732 trillions in your one year in office. Unfortunately and
most embarrassing for us, the same Elumelu you treated with
disdain, afterwards gave a lecture on Investments in Nairobi,
Kenya with the US President Barack Obama present. Your duty
as the Father of all include mobilizing all sections of the
Country and all Sectors Of the economy for an inclusive
economic growth and developments, above all portray your
people and the economy in good light whether good or bad -
Yorubas will say; eni ti o ba ta ara ile e lopo ko le rira lowon.
Meaning if you despised your family members in public, others
will join suit. They will also say; a ki n gbo buburu lenu abore.
– if the great Seer says he sees doom what will the followers
see?
Your lack of economic blue prints and unpreparedness made
you to waist six months of our precious time looking for your
‘saint’ ministers. At the very time will needed brains to come
together to faction out ways to improve the economy, you
were there junketeering around the globe. All we hear from you
again is another reckless statement that ministers are noise
makers. And these noise makers you now expect them to
bring good results after you have portrayed them as useless.
A leader does no work other than to ‘mobilize and encourage’.
He charismatically leads his followers and they gladly do the
thinking for him. Now the so called ministers are afraid to give
you ideas for unnecessary fears.
Your war against corruption has being that of vindictive
mission and more of media trial to discredit your opponents
than sincerity of purpose. Incredibly the economy bleeds for it.
Obasanjo toed same path you are now but achieve nothing,
only to have corruption fight back. No country across the
globe can boast of totally exterminating corruption through
your ‘crude’ means. What you don’t know is that abuse of
office is part of human nature. So corruption will continue to
live as long as human beings liveth. The best way to fight
corruption is correcting the system by putting up institutional
measures to curb the menace. Instead you run after your
opponents and enemies, harass them, even to the extent of
flouting court orders – your dictatorial tendencies. Yet you
shield your associates alleged of corruption. #buratai saga,
Danbazau, job racketeering by CBN, FIRS and budget padding
among others have all being swept under the carpet. The
most recent is the dollar racketeering by your ministers and
top shots in the Presidency being alleged by a formal CBN
Governor, the Emir of Kano Lamido Sanusi – no minister or
Official has being fired yet. What we heard next was that FG
wants to probe formal CBN Governors. The energy and vigor
you are suppose to put in reviving the economy, you dissipate
it on trivialities.
Your non- being receptive, a product of yet your pride is
responsible for utter disregard of warnings and pieces of
advice given to you on policy formulations by patriotic
Nigerians such as Pat Utomi, Rewane, Charles Soludo among
others. For example is the TSA issue. TSA is a good policy,
but her implementation is bad. Why allow cash to ‘waste’
away in the CBN vault while the economy needs productive
spending to move out of recession. Another one is the forex
ban and restrictions on 41 items and the almighty devaluation
of naira. Charles Soludo one of Nigerian finest brains in terms
of Finance and Economy rebuked all of the above at a lecture
in Lagos for Realnewsmagazine.net 3rd Anniversary in Nov.
2015. He said it categorically that these steps will implode the
economy, worsening unemployment and poverty level. All
theses prophesy are now very much with us today in less than
a year. Instead of inviting him….. No I’m sorry, he is from the
5%.
Finally, I will say recession is a normal thing. What goes up
must come down. That’s law of nature. When will have boom,
we should also expect doom. Doom leads back to boom. Sir
congratulations then! Just same way a bad Case makes a
good Lawyer, a critical condition makes a good Doctor and
that smooth Sea does not make a skilled Sailor, so does
turbulent times makes historic presidents. Use this opportunity
to ride to victory by imbibing the #changebeginswithme
mantra.
Ben Afolami.
A Public Affairs Analyst and Strategist
Akure, Ondo
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