(The transcripts of my earlier post today on my FaceBook Page)
"I
have consciously divided this appeal into 3 broad sections:
First
of all, the generality of Nigerians
Secondly,
the President-in-waiting, Muhammadu Buhari
And
thirdly, the APC as the governing party.
Standing
before you today, I have never been prouder to be a Nigerian. We Nigerians can
stand with our heads held high that we defied all the doomsday scenarios and
showed the world that when Nigerians really put their hearts to it, we succeed.
The age-old spirit of One Nigeria was severely tested by unsavoury rhetoric
salvos by depraved politicians’ attempts to split the common will of the people
along tribal and religious lines. They failed, miserably, to exploit our tribal
and religious sensibilities. I commend Nigerians for rising above those politically
nonsensical manoeuvrings and made sure that, for the most part, our votes
counted. We must not hesitate to thoroughly acknowledge the thoroughness with
which the INEC and Professor Jega in particular, conducted the whole electoral
process. Nigerians are highly indebted to them. It is probably only fair to
note Jonathan’s readiness to concede defeat; he contributed in no little way to
the calmness that followed after it became clear he had no chance in hell of
beating Buhari. The vast majority of the security personnel also did their
level best to keep the peace and maintain order in all areas of our country; we
must be quick to offer our thanks to them. It is also incumbent on us to
acknowledge and appreciate the support of the international community for their
impartiality and steadfastness in their monitoring and reporting activities. We
all succeeded together, and our collective faith in humanity greatly enhanced
in the process.
Now
that the dust has settled and the big issue of who will lead us for the next 4
years unambiguously decided, we must turn our focus to the even bigger malaise
that threatens our nationhood. It is in this quest that I’d like to appeal to
Nigerians to be even more vigilant than ever before; we may have won the
battle, but the war rages on. The war, as we know, is multi-faceted. We have
decided to be led by a proven general (for want of a better word) to lead us
into the war, but we, as foot soldiers, also have our work cut out. For this
war to be won, Buhari has to be ably supported and assisted so that we may have
the moral right to hold him accountable, whenever necessary, for any lapse in
policy direction, formulation and execution. Let’s make no mistake about it,
most people voted for Buhari rather than the APC. The Buhari effect helped the
APC enormously. Nigerians know that the PDP doesn’t have a monopoly on vile and
corrupt people in its ranks; the APC can also boast its fair share. I seriously
doubt if Buhari hadn’t been the APC’s Presidential candidate the APC would have
won so convincingly. I’m sure many Nigerians share this humble opinion.
The
malaise I alluded to is hydra-headed: the root causes of corruption are impunity
and greed. When people realise that they would get away with anything, their
proclivity for greed comes to the fore and a regime of corruption is
entrenched. A lack of transparency and adequate oversight predispose politicians
and officials to graft and insensitivity to the needs of the common people. We,
as Nigerians, need to start exposing cases of corruption and not condone them
as it hitherto has been our wont. For us to stamp out corruption we must
disengage ourselves from the very act itself. Hypocrisy is never a great human
attribute.
Our
country is in dire straits. The outgoing Jonathan government has depleted our
foreign reserves and plundered the ECA (Excess Crude Account); our foreign and
local debt profiles have never been starker. The government has been borrowing
heavily to even pay salaries!! Fuel scarcity is the order of the day as
importers demand the payment of subsidy arrears; many State governments have
been starved of allocations and in turn unable to fulfil their obligations.
Things are not bad; they are unbelievably bad!! Most institutions have been
heavily politicized and rendered useless. Think of the Police, the Army, the
Navy, the EFCC, the ICPC, Ministries, Departments, and so on and so forth.
The
16 years of the PDP, and even more damagingly, the 6 years of Jonathan, have
pushed our nation back decades and impoverished our people no end. In short,
there’s no quick fix and it’s both unrealistic and unfair to expect miracles of
Buhari and the incoming government. Studious and steady rebuilding process is required
to gradually undo the damage that has been caused by years of PDP’s ineptitude
and Jonathan’s weakness and reckless abandon of common sense.
Now,
to the President-in-waiting, Muhammadu Buhari (as he wants to be known
henceforth)
I
have no doubt in my mind that you realize Nigerians would not entertain any
excuses for failure in any area of our national life, be it in the guise of
paucity of electricity supply, rampant unemployment, insecurity, Boko Haram or
any other form of insurgency, infrastructural decay and corruption. Nigerians
have suffered long and hard and the hope for a respite was what we voted for
and it is what we expect. You’re not an ‘accidental’ President; you have been
preparing for this for longer than anyone cares to remember. Nigerians shared
your frustrations and we showed that by giving you the mandate to begin to
bring succour to our long-suffering people. We don’t expect miracles to happen,
but we expect serious action from your Day One in office. We will be watching
you closely and any failures by any of your Ministers will be your failure and
any act of corruption committed by them will be attributed to you. The hope of
170 million Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora rests on your shoulders.
One very important thing you must note: Nigerians expect you, more than
anything else, to claw back our stolen funds. Looters of our commonwealth
should not go unpunished and EFCC must be restructured, strengthened and
empowered to carry out its tasks without fear or favour. A special court must
be set up to deal with corruption cases so that they don’t drag on for years
with no resolution. Corrupt people must know that the era of impunity is over
and that they will be hunted down and not only made to pay back whatever they
have stolen, but go to prison for a very long time. We don’t only expect you to
step on toes; we demand that you smash toes and cut them off, for good measure.
The NNPC has to be paid a very special attention and all the monies missing
clawed back and the culprits, no matter who they may be, severely punished. The
20-billion-dollar question must be answered without delay.
For
us to have your back, you must show unambiguous determination to cure all of
our national ills and the readiness to bring forth that proverbial light at the
end of the tunnel. We will give you time, but not plenty of it. Your promise of
Change is like an albatross round your neck, and we will hold you to that
promise. To assist you enormously in the challenges ahead, you’d need to put round
pegs in round holes: people of proven ability and character have to populate
your team. Attention to political patronage at the expense of professional
pedigree would be a misstep.
You
have a golden opportunity to leave a lasting legacy of change, hope and
prosperity. As the 29th of May 2015 draws ever closer, I, along with
all Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora, wish you well. We wish you God’s
guidance as you embark on this journey of our nation’s revival.
Now,
to the APC, the governing party-in-waiting. The mistakes of the PDP have to be
good enough lessons for you to learn from. The transitory nature of power ought
to guide your conduct in office. Your party is in office, not in power. Power
belongs to the people. The APC has to be a template for good governance at all
levels of government and make Nigerians in every region its focus of attention.
No part of Nigeria should be considered hostile. Nigerians are watching you
closely, and party discipline is a very close guide to government discipline.
Do not take the mandate given to you by Nigerians for granted. Nigerians expect
you to work with the government very closely in making sure the letters of your
manifesto are adhered to. Finally, one burning desire of Nigerians is to
drastically reduce the cost of governance. Your push in that direction would
endear you no end to Nigerians. A situation where the legislature is allocated
more than the budget of any of 25 states of the country is inexcusable,
unsustainable and patently unfair. Nigeria and Nigerians expect.
Thank
you for listening. God bless the Federal Republic Of Nigeria and its awesome
people."
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