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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Who Says Buhari Is Not Smart-dele Momodu (677 Views)
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Who Says Buhari Is Not Smart-dele Momodu by smsshola(m): 12:36pm On Oct 10, 2015 |
Fellow Nigerians, please take this piece as a
rhetorical question that requires no answer. I’ve
always said that an average Nigerian is an expert
in conspiracy theories and there is never a limit or
end to the thesis we conjure from time to time.
Please, flash back to just some months ago, at
the peak of the PDP gragra, General Muhammadu
Buhari was completely ruled out of the race for
reasons ranging from the sublime to the
ridiculous. He was supposed to be suffering from
all sorts of terminal ailments and even described
as brain dead by some uncharitable souls. The
doomsday prophets did not appear to reckon with
the great man’s personality, integrity and
perseverance. They also seemingly dismissed out
of hand, the yearning of most Nigerians for
change from whatb they perceived to be a corrupt
and inept regime. But it would seem a miracle
has occurred so soon and a Lazarus has been
raised from the dead.
Since winning the election, we have moved from
those old tales to new ones. Buhari is now said
to be slow, even slower than the snail or tortoise
because of our penchant for being in a hurry and
rushing to nowhere. The same accusers would
have accused him of being too dictatorial if he
was too fast and decided to choose his team in a
jiffy without making wide consultations and
investigations about those to be chosen and
those to be discarded. It should have been clear
to all that there would be many deserving and
worthy candidates for the post of cabinet
ministers because Nigeria is indeed a country
blessed with abundant gifted and talented human
resources. Any selection process was bound to be
complicated if not long drawn out because of this
fact and not simply because of the President
Buhari’s quest to find champions for his anti-
corruption crusade who would not themselves be
smeared or tainted by allegations or whiffs of the
noxious odour of corruption. Besides there was
also the fact that the President had to cater for
the various vested interests and balance those
interests in the overall interest of the nation. No
mean feat when dealing with a rich coalition and
amalgamation of strong political Parties and
personalities.
I have read all manner of comments since early
this week when the initial ministerial list was
publicly disclosed by the Senate President, Bukola
Saraki. Some said President Buhari had wasted
four months to pick his cabinet since all he done
was to come up with the names of mostly people
that had initially been touted as potential
ministers after the President had been elected.
The usual talebearers therefore saw nothing good
in the selection. They claimed there were no
youths and wrote off the much older nominees as
being too geriatric to govern a nation that
requires all the energy it can muster. There are
cries from women’s groups that women have
been marginalised and mistreated because only 3
of the 21 nominees are women.
Those who championed the cause of technocrats
believe that the President has failed them becasue
there are no visible technocrats amongst those
nominated. The truth is that this is only a partial
list and some of these concerns, even if genuine,
may be subsequently dealt with when the final
line-up is published. Again what I can discern is
that we are too hasty in arriving at unjust
accusations and conclusions. We should exercise
patience and restraint and wait for the President
to put his team together and explain why he has
chosen those people.
Furthermore, some of the nominees were accused
of unbridled corruption by fiat even if they’ve not
been prosecuted, tried or convicted. The armchair
critics lampooned President Buhari’s anti-
corruption stance as fake or, at the very least,
weak and ineffective. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind
if Buhari unilaterally arrest supposed criminals
and flings them into jail or executes them without
trial. I have followed the raging debates on the
ministerial nominees with keen interest and my
conclusion is that the arguments and furore
demonstrates that we do not really know what we
want most times as a people. It seems to me
that we are myopic in outloook and can only see
the short run, the smaller pictture.
We seem to lack the vision of a people committed
to a distant future of development and success in
our collective national endeavours, a commitment
to long term goals and aspirations that sees us
cultivate and develop the present crop of talents
so that we can birth greater giants in the future.
I reached the simple conclusion that many of the
commentators hardly knew or understood the
issues at stake. They are super human beings
who know everything but have forgotten the man
on the hot seat is likely to know what most of us
don’t. He has access to privileged and
confidential information that would have informed
the choices that he eventually made. I will
continue to plead that we tarry awhile before we
begin to write off this President.
This is an unusual leadership at an unusual
period of our national existence. There is no
gainsaying the fact that there has been great rot
and decay in our polity. Too many of our worn-
out institutions had virtually collapsed and a
reasonable, dedicated and meticulous leader
would need to study the situation a bit more
before arriving at critical decisions such as those
that administer this country with him.
This is not to say governance should take eternity
to kick-start things but we have to wait a bit and
see the direction this government is headed. I
confess that I have previously had cause to call
on the President to name his Ministers quickly so
that the business of government can continue in
earnest and the speculations and suspense
engendered by the failure to do so would be laid
to rest.
More importantly the legal and constitutional
implications of not governing with Ministers was
becoming an issue which was an unnecessary
distraction and was unfortunately detracting from
the patently obvious good work that this
adminstration has been doing and the remarkable
progress made in such a short time. The
President decided to take his time but thankfully
we are now where we are and everything is now
a matter of history.
Now that President Buhari has picked about half
of his men and women, I’m one of those looking
forward to some blistering pace of action soon.
I’m certain it will happen once the Senate
confirms the Ministers and President Buhari is
able to allocate and fill up key position.
The hues and cries about the Ministerial
appointments are diverse but I’m sure they would
subside once we take time to study the great
individuals saddled with the task of restoring
hope, stamina and dignity to our nation. As I have
said clearly on social media, I’m reasonably
impressed with the list of Minsters released so
far. Most of them are the people that I have
previously suggested are worthy material for the
noble assignment that the President seeks to
entrust them with. They have already proven
themselves in previous national asignemnts and in
some cases stood firm and supportive of the
President in his leadership of the change that
Nigerians craved for. In essence, the nominees
are distinguished men and women of substance
and intellect. It is my hope and expectation that
in alloting them portfolios President Buhari will
put round pegs in round holes and not seek to
assign them to positions where they are not best
suited.
I’m happy to see such big brands like Audu
Ogbeh a former Minister of yesteryears who
handled both the Communications and Steel
Development portfolios at different times betwen
1982 and 1983. He became a farmer afterwards
and was a great achiever and significant success
in that field until he became Chairman of the PDP
in 2001. He suspended his activities but returned
to his first love when he resigned from the Party
chairmanship in 2005. He still has a lot to
contribute because his knowledge of the
Agricultural sector in Nigeria is astonishing.
I was privileged to watch him in action shortly
before the inauguration and I marvelled at the
extent of his knowledge as to what needed to be
done to fix our agricultural sector and return
Nigeria to its enviable status as a foremost
agrarian nation and remove our dependency on
the monoproduct known as crude oil. There is the
quintet of five former governors led by Dr
Ogbonnaya Onu, the first Governor of Abia State
from between 1992 and 1993. Other Governors
who are the product of this current Republic are
Dr Chris Ngige of Anambra State, Babatunde
Fashola SAN of Lagos State, Rotimi Amaechi of
Rivers State and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State.
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu made a first class degree in
Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos
and is an alumnus of the renowned University of
Claifornia, Berkeley, where he obtained his Ph.D
in Chemical Engineering. He lectured at the
University of Port Harcourt and is a Fellow of
several Enmgineering Societies in Nigeria. He is
passionate about using technology as a tool for
national development and during his tenure as a
governor established a Technology Village in his
State and introduced free computers into schools.
Dr Chris Ngige is a medical doctor who rose to
become a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry
of Health before retiring to join politics. He
distinguished himself as a medical doctor and as
a governor and naturally had a predilection for
medical projects during his tenure as governor.
Babatunde Fashola SAN, needs no introduction to
Nigerians. A distinguisghed Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, he has a cult following because of the
strides and advances he made whilst he was a
two term Governor of Lagos State. He continued
the work of his illustrious predecessor, Asiwaju
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in changing the face of
Lagos State into a cosmopolitan city that would
rival any city in developing countries of the world
whilst at the same time also continuing to
increase the internally generated revenue of the
State.
The fire brand known as Rotimi Amaechi also
needs no introduction to Nigerians. He was one
of the prime arrowheads of the change movement
and indeed it was his resolute courage at the
Nigeria’s Governor’s Forum which was the major
platforms for change. His reform agenda in
Rivers State and the progress made by that State
in the areas of infrastructural development and
education cannot be overemphasised. Last
Sunday, his name went viral on Twitter as
Nigerians poured encomiums and paid special
tribute to his rare courage in the face of raw
intimidation. He remains the catalyst for change
and a quintessential pride of APC who must be
protected from the PDP apparatchik who may
wish to take their pound of flesh when screening
begins next week.
Dr Kayode Fayemi is a graduate of History,
Politics and International Relations from the
Universities of Lagos and Ife respectively. He
holds a Doctroate degree in war studies from the
world acclaimed Kings College of the University of
London. Dr Fayemi is a guru in foreign relations
and international community and was a
successful Governor of Ekiti State who brought
much needed development to that State with his
distinct style of refinement.
Senator Hadi Sirika is a pilot who has a
longstanding passion for aviation. He was a
member of the Senate Committee on aviation and
was known for his forthrightness in discussions
about Nigeria’s almost comatose aviation sector
and what is needed to resucitate and revamp the
sector. A credible person he has long been a
staunch supporter of President Buhari who he
regards as his mentor.
The three women nominated by President Buhari
namely, Senator Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, Amina
Mohammed and Kemi Adeosun are all
distinguished women of integrity in their own
right.
Senator Aisha Al-Hassan, a lawyer by profession,
was a former Attorney – General of Taraba State
and eventually retired as Chief Registrar of the
High Court of the Federal Capital Territory. She
became a Senator in 2011 and contested for the
post of Governor of taraba State in 2015 but lost.
Amina Mohammed was until her nomination the
United Nation’s Secretary-General’s Special
Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning. She
has been involved in the management of more
than US$1 billion debt relief funds in Nigeria and
has had the unique position of having served 3
Nigerian Presidents during the current political
dispensation. She has worked in projects
involving reduction in pocverty and gender and
education in both Nigeria and at the United
Nations. She has also been involved in a multi-
disciplinary firm of engineers and quantity
surveyors.
Mrs Kemi Adeosun was previously commissioner
for Finance in Ogun State under Governor Ibikunle
amosun. Indeed she had been nominated to
retain her position until she was nominated by
President Buhari. Mrs Adeosun is an Accountant
who has worked at senior managerial level in the
United Kingdom and Nigeria. She has been
routinely involved in finance and financial mattrers
for more than a decade.
Space and time won’t allow me to go on but
there is always another chance in the future. Even
at this juncture, President Buhari has shown the
true stuff of a born again democrat with his deft
moves especially his latest working relationship
with the National Assembly. I’m sure he has more
jokers in the pack! |
Re: Who Says Buhari Is Not Smart-dele Momodu by ThePeacemaker(m): 12:40pm On Oct 10, 2015 |
FTC TODAY..... Buhari my role model mentor Still agile at 72 compared to the 57years zoo keeper |
Re: Who Says Buhari Is Not Smart-dele Momodu by OVI75(m): 12:54pm On Oct 10, 2015 |
Somtyms litle noise made may jst provoke som undesired uterance against Momodu dele aka chief hailing hailer. |
Re: Who Says Buhari Is Not Smart-dele Momodu by mars123(m): 2:06pm On Oct 10, 2015 |
who says Buhari is not smart? It is the dull wailing wailers, whose political leaders with a whole countries resources at its fingers, could not win an election. I remember that fund raising day like it was yesterday, billions been thrown around, billions that could give Nigeria one of the best universities in the world. Those are the ones saying Buhari is not smart. |
Re: Who Says Buhari Is Not Smart-dele Momodu by wolebanks(m): 2:10pm On Oct 10, 2015 |
You can't take it from Amaechi! The Chief progressive Governor. |
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