Stanley Azuakola: Take your time, Mr. President
Posted By TheScoop on November 1, 2015


inShare
by Stanley Azuakola

Today I remembered a song we used to sing in primary school. Some of you sang the ancient version, but in my school, we sang the revised standard version. Join me if you remember it:

“Some have mouths but cannot wail;
Some can wail but have no mouths;
We have mouths and we can wail;
Glory be to thee, Oh Lord”



As I sang that song, my heart was lifted in thanksgiving. Yes, I have mouth and I can wail if I want to; but I searched, and there was not one reason under the Nigerian sun for me to wail. Not one reason. As the APC songster, Joe Igbokwe, noted in his recent release, “Buhari is on the throne”, so who am I to wail? I choose to hail the President instead.

The wailers say that Buhari is insensitive to gender, age and tribal diversities in the nation. They say the Buhari presidency is proving to be a setback for our women because only about 12 per cent of his appointees so far have been women. As for the youths who backed him so strongly during the elections, none is worthy of serving under him. They remind the president of statements like the one made by IMF boss, Christine Lagarde, in a recent interview that, “having diverse perspectives in leadership results in better strategy and having diverse voices at decision-making tables results in better policies.” Bleh! Dearest Pres. Buhari, please pay no attention to officials of these Bretton-Woods institutions. What concerns a Rock like you with the Woods?

It is unfortunate that the Ife oracle chose a 40-year old as new Ooni of Ife whereas Buhari has not appointed anyone less than 48 years old. A situation where a sectional oracle refuses to follow the worthy lead of the great oracle of Aso Rock is confrontational and does not bode well for the rule of law in this country. It is imperative for the Code of Conduct Tribunal to prosecute the Ife oracle for its unacceptable conduct.

Before I forget, let me use this opportunity to welcome Pres. Buhari back to Nigeria after another one of his foreign trips. May I also bring to his attention the fact that he is yet to visit China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Brazil or even Russia. I am not wailing o; this is just a friendly reminder. It is a great thing that he only speaks directly to Nigerians when he is abroad, whereas when he is in Nigeria he leaves the speaking to the inimitable duo of Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu. It was during one such trip that Buhari graciously told us that he would have a cabinet in place by September. He broke his word, and up till now we don’t have a cabinet. But his name is Buhari and he has the right to break his words anyway he likes because it is in the measure that he breaks his words that he will also break the chains of kwaraption, poverty, insecurity and unemployment in Nigeria.



I will also like to plead with President Buhari to travel abroad again this week so that he could announce to us personally when he intends to swear-in the confirmed minister-designates. Something tells me he will swear them in before January 2017 because there is really no need to rush. Buhari is the only star in the Nigerian firmament and must remain so for as long as possible. We don’t need mini-stars please – one star is enough for us. In any case, even if he proves me wrong and swears the new ministers in soon, I shall still not wail because I know that Ogbeni Buhari always knows best.

The senate approved 15 special advisers for President Buhari as far back as June 3rd. By then, David Mark had not even handed over as senate president to Bukola Saraki. Some wailers are wondering why Buhari has still not appointed his special advisers. Not even a chief economic adviser has been appointed, five months after the approval. But I say to the critics: Why should Buhari appoint special advisers? Is he not the special ONE? How many other special people can the nation afford? Besides everyone knows the reason he has not appointed them is that ex-president Jonathan went to Tanzania to monitor elections and did not submit his handover notes on time.

Whenever Buhari decides to swear in his appointees, we are confident that they would be ready. For the records, the favourite nominee of every young Nigerian man is the Bayelsa nominee, Mr. Heineken. Being the sharp man that he is, Heineken has already taken a new job as campaign manager to Timipre Sylva, the APC candidate for the December guber poll in Bayelsa. We hear that Heineken – who will be the minister of miracles in charge of turning water into beer in the Buhari cabinet – decided to take up the Bayelsa campaign job as he waits for his swearing-in because he knows that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop and a bottle of Heineken should never be left idle.

Some of the worst critics of Buhari are the busybodies who quote the law as if they know the law better than the president. Section 11(1)(b) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (2007) mandates the president to prepare a Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for the next three financial years and lay it before the national assembly FOUR MONTHS to the commencement of the next financial year. The financial year begins in January, therefore the MTEF ought to have been presented before the national assembly not later than 31st August. Today is 1st November but the presidnt doesn’t give a damn about that law. Meanwhile, it is only after the MTEF has been submitted that Nigeria’s annual budget can then be prepared and presented before the national assembly because Section 18 of the same law says that the MTEF shall be the basis for the preparation of the annual budget.

As a result of this so-called negligence by the president, his critics are accusing him of breaking the law. What a joke! What a malicious thing to say about our dear president! Is there no depth that the wailers won’t sink to? Let it be on the record today: President Buhari does not and cannot break the law. He is the fulfillment and the personification of the law – NAY – he is the law.

Those are the reasons why I hail the president and do not wail. I thank him for bringing reality TV entertainment to governance, where everything is sensational, last minute, secretive and suspense filled. Ride on, Mr. President. Take your time and if time tries to hurry you up, bring her to book. We shall continue to wait for you like Godot because the children of anger who are for you are far more than the wailers against you.





http://www.thescoopng.com/stanley-azuakola-take-your-time-mr-president/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

ok

what is this one saying no more looting for you