Ministerial nominees: Interrogating President Buhari’s mindset

Because everyone cannot “have everything they wanted whenever they wanted it”, we have politics.Therefore, a President, who believes that he will do things on his own terms and in his own way and have everything he wants whenever he wants, would merely embark on a fool’s errand – a wasted effort.

 

For Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s providential President who rode to power on the back of the disdain for Goodluck Jonathan and his ways, he needs to leave Cloud Nine  soonest lest the embarrassment that greeted the release of the names of his ministerial nominees may be a child’s play compared to what may befall him in future.

What manner of President would openly junk diplomatic candour in a foreign land and seek gate-crashers to his function?

What manner of President would consistently make appointments that require National Assembly’s clearance or confirmation but would insist his appointees must commence work immediately?

How would President Buhari convince his many ‘Change Ambassadors’ that insistence on zero-tolerance for corruption is real when his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, is set to field two individuals with massive corruption cases against them as governorship candidates in Kogi and Bayelsa States?

What manner of President talks almost every week about what he plans to do?

But, really, there is a world of difference between a President who talks about what he plans to do and one who actually goes ahead to do what he needs to do.

And which now leads to the long-awaited ministerial list!

Nigerians were willing to give Buhari the benefit of the doubt regarding who would or who would not make the ministerial list.

In fact, many Nigerians defended him when, in a manner of speaking, it appeared that he was searching for and was actually almost finding the ‘saints’ he needed to assist him clear the Augean stable left behind by Jonathan.

Indeed, many pleaded on his behalf that he needed to be sure and make a clean break from the past.

In the end, Buhari could not have what he wanted when he wanted it.

That the same politicians, with whom he campaigned earlier in the year, the same set of politicians who put down huge sums of money for his presidential bid, the same people whom Nigerians see with him and who he sees every now and then, and with whom he has travelled to France, the United States of America to visit Barrack Obama, and with whom he recently traveled to the United Nations’ General Assembly – as recently as some 15days ago – are the ones who dominated the list of  ‘saints’, says so much about the character and behavior of the Nigerian President.

What this says, in the first instance, is that you do not promise so much and deliver so little.

Worse still, some of those whom Buhari has nominated have embarrassing cases of corruption allegations hanging on their heads.

If truth be told, Buhari could have named over eighty percent of those on his list on May 29, 2015, after his inauguration.

So, why did he keep Nigerians waiting for four full months before releasing the names of those whom Nigerians have suspected all along he would nominate?

The simple answer is that try as he did, he could not dissociate himself from the politics of those who brought him to power.

Yes, Buhari’s body language may be creating a paradigm shift in attitudes.

Yes, some moves of his may have rekindled hope that things may get better after all.

But he has also opened himself to criticisms bordering on a myopic vision that he alone knows and sees more than other Nigerians – the list of recycled politicians he presented, penultimate week, comes with a sour taste because it was not worth the wait.

This does not mean some of these people do not possess what it takes to move Nigeria forward, but it is high time the regime of indulgence, which appears to be fostering a complacent leadership on Nigeria, needs to be broken and Buhari told the truth that the last four months of waiting cannot be regained; they are lost and lost forever.

Therefore, as the Senate grapples with the issue of clearing and confirming the nominees this week, Buhari had better wake up to lead and avoid wasting more time.

For instance, DOW, a conglomerate involved in virtually what humanity needs for daily survival but basically focused on water solutions, says 15% of global construction is presently going on in Dubai.    Pray, if the leadership there takes the type of time Nigeria’s President takes to merely nominate ministers, or keeps talking about what it plans to do, that city would not be where it is today. 

Dubai is just a city in the desert.    Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, GBE, also known as  Sheikh Mohammed, is the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Emir of Dubai.    He does what he needs to do because that is what the people expect of him.    Buhari can take a cue from him.

Source : Vanguard News