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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / A New Sheriff Is In Town By Femi Adesina (540 Views)
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A New Sheriff Is In Town By Femi Adesina by lorbah001(m): 9:04am On Sep 05, 2015 |
Some call it the Buhari bounce. Others
describe it as the Buhari effect. Yet some
others say it is the Buhari aura. One thing is
however crystal clear. Things have not been
the same in the past 100 days in Nigeria,
since Muhammadu Buhari assumed the
presidency. A new sheriff has truly come to
town.
Exactly 100 days ago, he climbed the
podium at Eagle Square in Abuja and got
inaugurated as president, 30 years after he
had been toppled from power as military
head of state. He promised to belong to
nobody, and to belong to everybody. It is a
pledge that still resonates loudly today, and
will surely echo for a long time to come.
On a day like this, you would expect a
presidential spokesman to chronicle the
achievements of his principal in office. He
has turned stone to bread, slain the dragon,
and climbed Mount Olympus in ten
seconds. But that is not what I want to do.
There are some intangible, almost
imperceptible achievements, but which run
very deep, and are quite fundamental.
Those are the ones I’ll rather talk of, while
we leave the tangibles till some other day.
Oh, he’s escaping. There are no concrete
achievements, some wailing wailers would
cry. True? Not true. I could have decided to
focus on the bloody nose being given to
Boko Haram in the North-east, which would
see the country rid of insurgency soon, the
rallying of leaders of other neighboring
countries to deploy a Joint Multinational
Task Force, the openness displayed about
government finances and the welfare
package instituted for states that couldn’t
pay salaries, the Treasury Single Account,
which would promote transparency and
accountability in governance, the
disappeared fuel queues, fast-tracking of
the cleanup of Ogoni land, reduction in the
cost of governance, and many others. But I
will not focus on all those. The day cometh!
When a new sheriff comes into town,
disorder gives way to order. Chaos flees.
Impunity is swept away. Laxity gives way to
diligence, and people change their old,
unedifying ways. When you have a Wild,
Wild West situation prevailing, the new
sheriff comes, and stamps his authority. Old
things then pass away, behold, everything
becomes new.
Nigeria had always needed attitudinal
change. That was why the Buhari regime
launched War Against Indiscipline in the
1980s. And the war was succeeding, till a
spanner was thrown in the works through
regime change. Buhari was called all sorts
of names then: despot, tyrant, iron fist ruler
etc But the discerning knew. They
understood that it was a change we needed.
And that change was postponed for 30
years.
But what is bred in the bones never goes
out through the flesh. Immediately Buhari
returned on May 29, Nigerians knew that
discipline was back. The bird of the
homestead told the ones in the bush, and
they all sat up. No unnecessary chirping.
Stealing is now corruption, they whispered
to themselves. God help you if you get
caught.
Now, consider the situation with electricity
and with our refineries. Electricity has
climbed to about 5,000 Megawatts. Some
refineries, which had not produced a drop
of fuel for years, have cracked into life. Even
the perennial queues in our petrol stations
have disappeared, vanished.
Is it because Buhari threw billions of dollars
at the problems? No. Those things simply
responded to the presence of the new
sheriff in town. Those who manned those
schedules could afford to be laid back in
the past. But not anymore! The music has
changed, and the dance steps must follow
suit.
And would Buhari take credit for the
newfound zeal and efficiency? Not the plain
and honest man from Daura. The
broadcaster Omotayo Omotoso had come
to the presidential villa to interview him
sometime in July. And she had asked what
the magic wand he waved was, that
refineries, long comatose, had sprang back
to life. The President responded that it
would be dishonest of him to have claimed
he did anything.
He had not touched refineries at all. But
unknown to the President, he did
something. He had swept into town with his
reputation for efficiency, and for achieving
results. And the refineries, fuel supply,
electricity supply, responded to the new
sheriff. May things continue to get better till
the change becomes enduring and
irreversible. Amen somebody!
Another imperceptible but momentous
achievement is the faith that Nigerians now
have in their leader. Yes, the opposition
numbers in millions, and naturally so. A
political party had held power at the centre
for 16 years, and its loyalists would not
simply disappear, or get converted
overnight. About 12 million Nigerians had
voted for the presidential candidate of that
party in the March 2015 general elections.
Would they just cross over to the winning
side? It often takes awhile. But despite all
that, a great deal of Nigerians, a vast
majority, believe in the new sheriff. And
that is great achievement. A big deal. When
the citizenry believe in their leader, and
almost can swear by him, it is no mean feat.
The NOI polls, in a survey in July, revealed
that over 70% of Nigerians were happy with
the Buhari administration. And I can bet
that the percentage would rise, as the
months and years roll by. Faith in
leadership is something that does not come
cheap.
And this one! Even our foreign reserve
knows that a new sheriff is in town, and has
responded appropriately. In June, just one
month into office, and with the plugging of
some leakages and loopholes, foreign
reserve surged from $29 billion to $31.89.
Holy Moses! Just in one month. Well, that is
what a new sheriff can do. He brings sanity,
confidence and probity to the system. And
you would agree that Nigeria needs such
shot in the arm, if we consider recent past
experiences, when our treasury was like a
bag filled with holes.
An evidence of the believability of the new
sheriff, and the confidence reposed in him,
is the disclosure that came this week from
Ambassador Godknows Igali, Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Power. He said since
Buhari came to office, not a single sabotage
of the power infrastructure has been
recorded, and it is one of the reasons that
electricity supply keeps improving. But did
Buhari line up soldiers across the power
infrastructure?
Did he hire a combination of OPC, Egbesu,
MASSOB, MEND and Arewa youths to keep
vigil? No. Just believability. Those who are
so angry with the country, and would go to
any extent to sabotage development, have
decided to give the sheriff a chance. They
have heard of his reputation. A man that
believes in fairness and justice. He would do
right to all parts of the country.
Can you imagine the respect our sheriff
commands on the international scene, and
how it redounds to the glory of the average
Nigerian? American President, Barack
Obama said Buhari came onto his job with
reputation of integrity and a clearcut
agenda. Ambassador Johnny Carson, also
during the U.S trip in July, said the Nigerian
President was a man of honour and
integrity.
Everywhere he goes, the Nigerian President
is lauded and garlanded for his virtues. And
the image of the country is burnished and
repositioned in the process. Surely, greater
days are ahead. Some people say the sheriff
did not hit the ground running, as he is yet
to constitute his cabinet in 100 days.
And I usually ask such people: when you hit
the ground, and you land in mud, how do
you begin to run immediately? You can only
sink deeper, if you attempt to run. The thing
to do is to first clear the mud, till you get to
terra firma, and then you can begin to run.
President Buhari has spent time trying to
clean the Augean stable he inherited. And
he is succeeding. Sheriffs can either come
in with guns blazing, shooting malefactors
to kingdom come, or simply stamp their
authority on the situation by sheer force of
personality and presence.
The Nigerian sheriff seems to have opted
for the second option for now. But we
should never forget that sheriffs are
licensed to shoot. And those shots can be
lethal for lawbreakers. In a matter of
months, you can ask those who had bled
our treasury to the point of death. They’ll
have stories to tell.
.Adesina is Special Adviser, Media and
Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/a-new-sheriff-is-in-town/ |
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