Waiting for Buhari’s Men

By next month, President Muhammadu Buhari will, finally unveil his cabinet, according to his promise. When that happens, it would have taken Mr President good four months after he got into office, and six months after he was elected to form his government. Many had wondered why Mr President had delayed so much in putting his government together, knowing that he will surely form a government since March 30, when he was declared the winner of the presidential election.

In a short while, the government will get into the frenzy of 100 days celebration, without a cabinet.

But the consolation is that the wheel of governance has not been stuck because ministers are not in place.

In fact,  a measured progress has been made in the last three months, even without ministers.

Apart from the improved electricity supply across many states of the federation, it is interesting to note that in three or so months, the refineries which had perennially been unable to produce any litre of petrol are already back in business with the ultimate aim of reducing the volume of petroleum product imported to the country.

Without ministers, Nigerians can see the direction and pace of the Buhari administration, albeit in a yet foggy cloud. It will thus be good to  compare both focus and pace when ministers would have been appointed.

Perhaps of greater concern is the character and content of the Buhari cabinet. What kind of people will make his cabinet? Is it possible his ministers will be anti-corruption crusaders too? Will they undermine the mantra of his government or will they craftily circumvent the system to their own advantage?

Indeed, will Buhari recruit political angels into his cabinet?  Are there angels in the polity? Not likely.

Already, there is a growing impatience with the go-slow style of President Buhari, even within his political household. Those who had laid down both their lives and resources for his emergence are beginning to think it is a bad investment, especially as they cannot even access the poor farmer of yesterday.

He has seemingly held up national governance, as many are merely lounging around, waiting for Mr President and his “sanctified” list of cabinet members.

Those who know, are even more worried because the President does not seem to be beholding to anybody, not even the national chairman of his party. His style has tried to contain and curtail the usual effusive style of most Nigerian politicians.  Buhari’s mien and silent body language has stymied the old order.

Those who are close enough to the President inform that he is rather indifferent to the accusations of his slowness.  He takes his time on almost all things.

But one thing salutary is his fierce opposition to the malaise of corruption. The hitherto quiet Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is once again, busy and active. They are suddenly  reading the bold handwriting on the wall. The revelations and findings in recent weeks confirm what the society has always known: that the country reeks of corruption. It hits you on the face at almost every turn.

The emerging instances are a legion. From Okiro and his Police Service Commission where flight costs were paid to people going to Kogi and Nasarawa States whereas there are no airports in those states to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) where the Auditor General of the Federation said N183billion cannot be accounted for, to the financial malfeasance across the states, it is clear Nigeria is really in trouble.

That is why the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, headed by Professor Itse Sagay will have another career life seeking to chase and catch all they who had “cornered” our commonwealth into their own pockets. Because many are the crooks of the land.

All said, the fact is that the expectation of a great and puritanic cabinet has been heightened by  Buhari’s prolonged search for those he can consider “clean” and competent  enough to join him in rebuilding the broken bricks of the nation’s growth and development. Yet, it may be a mirage to seek virgins in the maternity wards of Nigeria’s political space.

Gov Ambode and Lagos Roads

As at today, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode would have spent just 78 days, out of 1,460 days in the Round House, Alausa. He seems to be undertaking a lot of lessons on the operations of government. That he has also not constituted his cabinet, like President Buhari, three months after, shows that he is also taking his time, endeavouring to ensure that all interests are taken care of in the cabinet that he will announce.

However, beyond the frequent commiseration with accident victims in the state, Gov Ambode appears to have commenced governance. One major instance is the near relief drivers and commuters in/to Apapa have been experiencing. I have been away on a short vacation. But I returned this week to see Ijora bridge—leading to Apapa, cleared of the chains of trailers and tankers that make life a little more brutish.

Reason: Gov Ambode has flogged them into line. I noticed almost six security agencies, fully armed, manning every stretch of the road, keeping the reckless and mindless trailer drivers in check. At least, one can now drive into and out of Apapa with minimal heartache. All thanks to the taskforce constituted by Gov Ambode after he met with stakeholders in the district including tank farm owners. There is some sense of discipline now.

But has the governor visited Apapa again in the last one month? The roads are terribly bad. With the rains, they simply got worse, what with deep pot holes and craters, many of which make the same trailers to fall at will and thus constitute the huge traffic mess that the taskforce is meant to contain. The argument that the roads are Federal Government owned will mean little here. Resurfacing the roads will save lives and reduce the torture of driving on the roads.

But talking about the state of the roads will be another thematic discourse in Lagos. Yes, the former government of Babatunde Fashola built quite a number of roads, but the fact remains that the inner roads in Lagos are a huge apology. No neighbourhood is spared this malaise. They are really so bad that even temporary palliatives at the moment will offer a big relief. But if the bad roads are a huge burden, the troubling menace of the Okada riders (many of whom are obvious escapees from the north east insurgency) are a greater yoke.

The commercial motor cyclists were once banned from certain roads in the state. But because of election, the Fashola government silently suspended the law banning the Okada riders. Today, they have returned in a vengeful force and the Orthopaedic wards are back in full swing business. Perhaps if a ban now is sustained, it will be relaxed again by 2019 when another general election is afoot. For Heaven’s sake, can the Lagos State Government be firm and consistent on this policy? It is bad enough that a mega city like Lagos is harangued, at every turn, by a horde of barely literate Okada riders, even on highways, running against traffic, yet it is ironically worse that such a city bears the epithet of Centre of Excellence.  What type of excellence can that ever be?

pix: Akinwunmi Ambode.jpg

As the Ooni Journeys Out

Why are you in your Jeans and T’Shirt today?

Why the question? Is there a prescribed dress code for Saturdays?

What kind of question is that? Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem?

I don’t understand. What are you talking about?

You mean you do not know that the whole of Yoruba land where you are dwelling is mourning and so should be dressed in the black-and-black mourning outfits?

Mourning? Why? Mourning who?

Can you imagine! Did you not hear the Alayeluwa, the Ooni of Ife joined his ancestors and was buried only yesterday? And you stand here and ask who we are mourning? How dare you! You want me invoke the wrath of the ancestors of the land on you?

Calm down. I am not in Ife land. I am in Lagos. The Ife people can observe all the mourning rites. Our Oba is well and kicking, even though he threatened to throw us into the Lagoon few months ago. Thank God his candidate won the gubernatorial election and that saved us from his royal wrath.

You mean you don’t know that the lead Yoruba Oba deserves the mourning of everybody in Yoruba land?

Look, this is tradition. It has nothing to do with science, pentecostal rebellion, democracy or human rights. You just have to comply. Do you think it is for fun that the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife had to issue stern warning to students to stay in doors during the period of the rites? Are you more progressive or civilized than the Ife academia?

So what are you implying?

That you should conform with the demands of the traditions and culture this period by going home and changing your outfit to black-and-black. That you cannot afford to be defiant in this matter, in your own interest.

And failing which

You will be on your own. And don’t say I did not warn you.

Away with a toxic culture that lies over even very basic truth. Didn’t the Ife chiefs deny strongly that the monarch was not dead? So why did they reverse themselves and declared him dead? Does any culture support such open lies?

You are culturally naïve. The passage of a monarch, a frontline monarch for that matter, cannot be announced in the newspaper, just like that. He is not a commoner. He is a prized king and the rites and cultural protocols must be followed.

It is the same in most ancient kingdoms. Did you not see how the Bini chiefs announced the passage of their monarch, the Oba of Benin, at the beginning of the year, when they said he had gone hunting in the Savannah? Look, you must respect the culture of a people.

Is that why also the Ooni must be buried along with some other persons? Is that not pure crime? What kind of culture supports that in this 21st century?

I don’t know what you are talking about. All I know is that certain rites get performed when a monarch dies. He is the 50th monarch in that ancient kingdom. You are not going to stand here and recommend that the people’s cultures and mores over the centuries be changed today because you are in the 21st century.

Does the fact that we are in the 21st century stop even the British monarchy from observing their norms and traditions in who becomes the Queen of England? Or you want to be more Catholic than the Pope?

I am not going to keep bandying words with you. You may be a traditionalist and a cultural icon. I don’t care. All I know is that a culture that circumvents truth and circumscribes peoples right to life is anachronistic and condemnable. QED!

You can speak all the grammar you like. It won’t change anything. But I must warn you that if you are in Rome, you must behave like a Roman. Otherwise you could be treated like a Jew. So be guided. Take counsel.

Well, I may have to go on holiday or remain indoors and watch the rites from my TV screen.

The choice is yours. As for me, I will launch out, join the array of Nigerians celebrating the passage of a great King, a monarch that deepened the bond of national unity. A Monarch that was equally an astute businessman who himself lived life to the fullest. Surely, by the colours of the sky, you can tell that the celestial elements bear witness that a great one trudged on from the terrestrial.

Good night. See you when the rites have all been perfected.

POLSCOPE    with  Eddy Odivwri                 eddy.odivwri@thisdaylive.com   phone nos. 08053069356

Waiting for Buhari’s Men