Mallan Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai is a man I have nothing but the utmost respect for. He was one of the few beacons of hope, along side Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Prof. Soludo; during OBJ’s tenure. When he was called to serve his nation he carried out his duties with the highest level of patriotism and diligence, both as the director of BPE and as the Minister of the FCT. He’s outstanding performance during the latter catapulted him to limelight in the Nigerian political sphere gaining him numerous admirers. However, since El-Rufai’s return from his self-imposed political exile, followed by a brief romance with the PDP (during Yar’adua’s tenure in office), there has been a tacit change in his body language as regards his relationship with the Federal Government. It would appear he suddenly became anti-Government, more specifically anti-Jonathan. For the records, I am not a big fan of the Federal Government for obvious reasons such as: poor governance, epileptic power supply, poor road networks and maintenance, insecurity of lives and property to name a few.
However, I would like to point out in El-Rufai’s piece, he gives a good overview of the challenges facing Nigeria. No doubt. On the other hand, disappointingly he fails to proffer any meaningful solution or the way forward for issues raised. As an active member of the kitchen cabinet in OBJ’s presidency, El-Rufai is well versed with the issues beleaguering the Nation; and he should be charitable enough to put forward strategic ideas to move the nation forward. But he chose to be on the other side of the fence and engage in destructive criticism.
It is somewhat disturbing that some of the issues raised seems to be pointed at GEJ being the cause or originator. When you think about it, most of these issues were caused by decades of negligence, corruption on the part of the leaders of the country. It is laughable to think that GEJ is in possession of and has refused to wave the ‘magic wand’ that will solve all of Nigeria’s challenges, and place her on par with other developed nations. There is no magic wand to wave in the first place. There is no escaping it, if Nigeria is going to develop into a prosperous nation it will take time, top class brains and lots of hard work. There is no short cut. Even China and India, the acclaimed red hot growing economies of our time haven’t yet reached their peak despite over a decade of double digit GDP growth rate.
I am going to touch on a few of the issues raised by El-Rufai which I do not agree with.
“Jonathan's politics of deliberate division and militarization has pitted Northerners against Southerners and Christians against Muslims to the point that obtaining the cohesion and social harmony necessary for economic development will be difficult in the short and medium terms.” I totally disagree with this claim which again points fingers at GEJ being the cause of the violence in the North. GEJ has made more effort to unite this country than any other President. OBJ would have ordered the massacre of people in Kaduna and Bauchi, just like he did in Odi and Zaki-Biam.
“In the last four years, the Yar'Adua-Jonathan administration and the ruling party governors have spent over $200 billion of oil and non-oil revenues, including over $23 billion the previous administration left behind in the Excess Crude Account (ECA), with little to show for it. Not a single major infrastructure investment or policy initiative has been concluded in four years! A third of that amount was spent under Jonathan.” If a third was spent under GEJ, then two thirds was spent by Yar’adua and his family, right? That translates to $17billion. Moreover, there is proof that there is progress being made in the railway and power sector in Nigeria.
“As to the claims Jonathan now has 'his own mandate', and will therefore be different from the poor manager of politics and economics than we have seen so far, I will allow legal luminary Itse Sagay to speak: “the desperate politicians of the South-South and the South East are barbarians. And I repeat it; they are barbarians because they did not allow elections to take place smoothly and freely”. The inconvenient truth is that Jonathan's mandate is fundamentally flawed, as a forensic examination of the ballots will prove sooner or later.” The election wasn’t perfect, I agree. But, it was a big improvement to former ones we had held. It was further acknowledged by local and international observers as a fair reflection of the will of the people, which is vital. It is pertinent to point out that there was rigging in both the Northern and Southern parts of the country.
“Under Jonathan's watch, massive election spending, fiscal expansion, policy reversals and falling exchange rates have pushed inflationary trends upwards, left the economy unproductive and scuttled domestic and foreign investments in many sectors.”
“…..while many cheerleaders are optimistic, the records of last year or more show otherwise. We have to wait patiently and see how things unfold. And as we always do in Nigeria, pray. While we are praying however, the signals are very scary.” This is my major problem with this piece. Who says we have to wait patiently and pray? We are going to demand good governance from our leaders. They are accountable to us, the electorate that voted them into power. We are going to engage them. We are going to offer constructive criticism and not destructive criticism. We shall let them know our pressing problems. Results of findings from different surveys carried out indicate that the 3 most pressing issues raised by youths are: Power, Education and corruption.
It is expected that a person of El-Rufai’s calibre, level of intelligence and achievement would suggest proactive measures to help the present holders of office so that they can benefit from his wealth of knowledge. The major challenges facing Nigeria are known by many already. This write up by our own ‘former’ beacon of hope, builder and safe guarder of the Abuja master plan is a source of concern to me and I believe many other pro-Nigerians out there. You would expect a former member of the kitchen cabinet in OBJs regime to share his wealth of experience in helping the nation move forward and not criticise and castigate.
I see the challenges ahead, not a failed or failing state. I see opportunities not problems. I believe and hope that one day; in fact soon, Nigeria will re-awaken and take its stand in the global arena. Whoever can re-awaken Nigeria from its slumber, shall etch his/her name in gold in the books of history. History shall be kind to the person.
Ali (Sidibespoke) we shall disagree to agree as we exchange ideas, debate, learn from each other as we all contribute in our own little way to a better country for ourselves and our children.
(Kindly ignore all typo, no time to proof read)
