When Nigerians trooped out en masse on March 28, 2015, to hand over the keys of Aso Villa to the candidate of an opposition party, Muhammadu Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress, the world got a resounding anti- status quo notice. Nigerians desired change and voted for change. Definitely, if the outcome of the tortuous contest, which countdown had plainly foretold doom and calamity for the country’s corporate existence, had been otherwise, the notice contents would have been pro status quo. Nigerians would have, thus, desired that what had always been, on their socio-economic and political spheres of existence, to continue to be. However, while it is true that the citizenry has proved its acquiescence on the imperatives of change in Nigeria, it seems false that its vast majority possesses clear and unmistaken view of the real necessities of change, judging by its perceptual and attitudinal reaction to the seemingly slow start of the Buhari presidential race. My view, put in a more plain language, was that although most of my fellow citizens were convinced there was a need for change in our country, till date, they appear confused about those things that really make their desire compelling. Far from it, I am not in any way labelling my compatriots as people who are ignorant of the obvious problems that have, so far, afflicted them, tying their naturally active destiny to the stake for the last 54 years. They indeed know and would always know. That ethno-religious crises have become a semi-god worshipped through the pouring of the human blood libation on our soils. That Boko Haram is only a prototype of the countless couriers of sleeplessness in every nook and cranny of the nation. That corruption has, for long, become our national norm. That darkness has been the ironic product consistently and successively sold to Nigerians by the defunct ECN, NEPA, PHCN and their offspring power companies. Also, they know with certainty. That the abiku status (infantile mortality) foisted on local industries by a combination of government policy inadequacies, individual sabotage, power failure and the like have greatly diminished the sweetness of life in their mouths. That Nigeria has, for long, shared with no other country the infamy of an oil producing giant relying on even non-producing nations for over 80 per cent of its refined petroleum product needs. That labour unrest has been so ubiquitous that mass death frequently occasioned by rampant medical doctors’ strikes is no longer newsworthy, just as it is no longer sensible of any student, particularly in the tertiary level, to fall short of making advance provisions for a minimum of additional two years in his or her course duration projection in any Nigerian educational institution. Citadels of handouts. Where photocopied key point materials have, for long, supplanted international textbooks, academic journals, encyclopaedia and the like. That the nation, as a whole, is just one Iwo Town, which in Yoruba panegyrics is alluded as a structure without doors (Iwo o ni ‘lekun), courtesy of our intractably porous borders ever guarded by the Nigeria Customs and other agencies that Nigerians know too well. That the occupation of many an electoral or appointive office has, consistently, produced richer-than- nation citizens. Is that all? Never. To say yes would be an open lie that cuts away some significant fraction of what Nigerians people know. After all, we still know our country is but a jungle where everyone helps themselves with their own laws, rules and regulations, self- made, self-enforced. Such jungle dictates we know we have always succumbed to, willy-nilly, in our motor-parks, markets and many other public places. Our solace lies but in our individual and collective resignation to fate and pretence about the existence of our lord majesties of force who do not only molest and harass us in our daily routine but also collect unknown “levies”, “taxes” and, sometimes, “fines” from us if we must enjoy some public facilities. Having, on a typical day, helped the country cover the revenue collection loopholes of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Our Jingle Lords and Queens, in their multitudes, seek night comfort under bridges, motor parks, rail lines, etc, where smoking festival, gambling and every other imaginable vice are routines We, the rest, know, but feign ignorance of our collective peril while retiring daily unto our cosy beds, with our own “over-protected” and “over-pampered” children who must never be seen near the gates of those poultry-like facilities across the nation, nicknamed public schools let alone court pupils of such “low” world as peers. Yes indeed, it is because we know all these and many more that we, naturally, expect the new President who, aside from being famous as a man of discipline and integrity, is known to possess some thorough understanding of what these problems really are, to dither not, but fix Nigeria in no time. Or, at least, take off with some concrete steps capable of reassuring us, within a short while, that the future is indeed bright. An aspect of such steps Nigerians have been eager about since the March 30 declaration of Buhari’s victory by the immediate past electoral commission chairman, Professor Atahiru Jega, is the appointment of credible people to steer the ship of change in the various sectors and sub-sectors. But, almost two months into an administration widely perceived as messianic, the expected captains remain unnamed, as many of the old day actors remain on the stage marked by heightened Boko Haram’s mindlessness and godlessness. So far, Buhari has appeared lethargic. He has not been the firebrand General we used to know. Many out there vilify him for this. But, for me, any discerning mind with a true grasp of the real necessity of change in Nigeria would rather commend the new helmsman for having adopted the right approach so far. One basic truth that had, for long, been ignored by Nigerians and successive administrations but which must not only be identified and admitted but also adopted as our guide is that those seemingly listless diseases that we are always quick at pinpointing as our banes are not our real problems. To me, they are but an appearance of some foundational and fundamental faults that can never be rectified by mere deployment of personal brilliance, zeal and innovativeness of a leader. It is obvious that we have failed, as a nation, mainly due to our mistaken protracted political gambling – tying of our fate to the personal traits of leaders, rather than toiling to erect enduring institutional frameworks for unavoidably good governance, in line with global best practices. Written by Rasheed Olokode.

Source: www.today.ng/opinion/why-buhari-must-be-slow/ cc: lalasticlala

Patience...

Slow motion