The way many leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress are fixated with the former President Goodluck Jonathan is getting on people’s nerves. Whenever they get the slightest opportunity to speak in public, they use it to pour venom on the performance of the former President. It was the same thing that played out at the reception organised in honour of the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, last Sunday.
I have been quietly debating with myself about what could be the motives of the so-called “Friends of Rotimi Amaechi” who put the colourful event together. I know that the former governor of Rivers State is a nationalist and a patriot. However, when you listen to some of the speeches presented at that event and place them side by side with the mood of the country, you will begin to wonder whether it was the right time to hold such an occasion for such a man. Especially when you realise that the programme was aired on live television. I know that those who spoke wanted to be complimentary and full of praises but whether they achieved a positive impact on the image of their “friend” is another thing altogether. But let me leave that for another day.
Let us go back to the main issues bothering me. When it was time for both Amaechi and the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, to speak at the reception, both rather unfortunately – as it is often the case -dwelt extensively on what the former President did or did not do, during his era. If that is anything to go by, the APC leaders seem to still be in jubilation, three months after their victory, and by doing so they have failed to tell Nigerians what they are doing or want to do differently. Are they still campaigning? No doubt, to defeat an incumbent and well-resourced President of Nigeria is no mean feat. It is worth celebrating, but for how long should that last? What is more difficult is to enthrone one’s own record of equity, sustainability and performance. The APC should focus on that. That is what the country needs very badly.
By now, Nigerians should be tired of hearing about Jonathan. This dance of triumphalism by the APC leaders as exemplified by Amaechi and el-Rufai must end now. They should be told that the change mantra is fast losing steam and Nigerian citizens are getting impatient. Our attention is fully focused on Buhari and APC and how they will take actions that will improve our lives. Nothing more.
That I am not a fan of Jonathan is a fact that is fairly well-known. Under his leadership, or better still under his supervision, the country was plundered in a most despicable manner. But he was so interested in continuing to remain in office that he was willing to sacrifice anything for his ambition. I continuously pointed Nigerians, through this column, to the dangers of giving Jonathan’s primitively divisive style of politics another chance. Like many Nigerians, I am glad that he was defeated and Nigerians are not bothering so much about him anymore. We are all looking forward to the dividends of change. The APC and their leaders should therefore stop reminding us about the former president. We are exhausted from hearing about the nation’s sundry problems and those who caused them. The problems are the reasons we voted out the last administration. We want to hear about solutions that can be provided. The current blame game of the APC is hurting the opportunities the ruling party has to firmly plant itself as a credible alternative platform that has come to stay. They should tell us more about how they want to confront the complex governance challenges facing our country in a way that will inspire hope in the minds of citizens. That message is not coming through yet and many people are getting worried.
It seems that the APC even as a ruling party, or governing party as it wants to be known, is still living in the past. They should stop it. As an opposition party, they did well with adversarial and crisis communication but constructive communication is a different kettle of fish. Frequent accusatory elements and unnecessary focus on persons that feature in the public commentaries of the APC and their leaders are unhelpful and will continue to diminish any positive perception the public has for them. There is no need for a ruling party to be acrimonious. Instead, it should simply take charge but it has not done so yet. Surprisingly, at least to the best of my knowledge, the loyalists of former President Jonathan are still in charge of the country. They are still occupying very important positions under the nose of the APC. All the Permanent Secretaries who are currently holding brief were appointed by Jonathan. Many federal commissions and agencies are still manned by those he appointed. That should sufficiently bother the ruling party. How then can anyone spot the difference from the crowd? How can they effectively push what many will see as an APC agenda – if there is anything like that?
My argument here goes beyond appointments, it is also about the policy direction, the message and agenda of the APC government which ordinary people can hardly relate to. It is either they do not seem to care enough or they prefer to allow the citizens to freely interpret governmental actions and come to their own conclusions. Both options could be very dangerous for a highly diverse society like ours.
Specifically, the Buhari administration promised three things in its manifesto during the electioneering. They include provision of security, fight against corruption and unemployment. On the aspect of security, apart from a few diplomatic shuttles and the funds released to the multinational task force to confront Boko Haram, we have not heard much about a concrete road map to extinguish terrorism sustainably. Boko Haram has been carrying out successful attacks and the President keeps shifting the goalposts about their eventual defeat. From how he spoke at his inauguration, many Nigerians believed that by now insurgency would have been history. If one read Buhari’s three major speeches, especially the one during the inauguration, the one at the Chatham House London and the one in Washington DC, one will pick up so many inconsistencies in his approach to governance.
On the fight against corruption, there has been so much talk about recovery of stolen funds. How far have they gone with that? I admit that it is not easy because of cross-jurisdictional issues that may be navigated. However, if this government has any evidence of anyone who has been indicted, they should take those persons to court and prosecute them at least. But my fear however is that we are unwittingly relying on the same old system to give us new results. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been arresting some people accused of corruption for some weeks now. It did exactly the same in the past administration only to let many of them off the hook either due to lack of diligent prosecution or deliberate negligence- both self-inflicted problems. Ironically, the anti-graft is alleged to be one of the most corrupt public institutions in Nigeria.
How can we rely on the same set of persons to now lead the fight against corruption if we want it to succeed? What about the judiciary? Has anything really changed among these individuals under Buhari? We will like to know those from the APC.
The signals from the economy are not showing much positives either. Everything seems to be in a flux. Uncertainty is hanging ominously in the air. The investment climate is unclear even in areas currently not threatened by insecurity. No one invests in an environment when the policy direction is blurred. If investments do not come in, how does the government intend to create jobs that will take our youths off the streets? Nigerians are yearning to hear from the APC. Amaechi and el-Rufai had an opportunity to push such messages to the anxious Nigerian public last Sunday but they could not. We know that they are victorious but we are more interested in knowing what they want to do for us with their victory. They should face Nigeria’s daunting challenges squarely.
By Uche Igwe
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