Muhammad Ajah
On May 29, 2017, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari clocked two years. The two years witnessed great events. The period has actually been a critically attention-grabbing experience for the country basically because of the change which the nation has resisted for long. Facing reality is often a hard decision to take, especially in a society led by materialistic, capitalistic and non-empirical politicians. Mr. President is rated high by compatriots. If for one thing, he has united Nigerians in the belief in the powers of prayers.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has managed to establish itself, though the struggle continues. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has summoned the courage to accept its fateful ‘unexpected defeat’, a historical exit that enthused pain and joy amongst the people of Nigeria. Image the debauchery of a 60-year dream, a mission to deal with Nigerians and their country! It was the likeness of an untimely death of a presumed colossus, a ‘colossal’ party that prided itself as the greatest cluster of humans and political ideologies in Africa.
Nigerians have learnt a great deal in human and resource management. Every Nigerian, rich or poor, master or servant, influential or insignificant has a story to tell. And the man in the center of Nigeria’s affair, President Buhari, has been teaching Nigerians the best lessons of lives, lessons on topical realistic life challenges and the solutions to them. He has taught the citizens to stop building castles in the air, to make hay while the sun shines and to make their stitches in time.
He has also inculcated in the citizens the belief that it is better to be late than be late and that the evils which men do should not be left to manifest after them but that those evil men should be made to face, while alive, the wrath of their actions against their fatherland. What more is expected of a leader with such beautiful vision and mission.
These two years have yielded far-reaching positive results for the nation. I stand with millions of Nigerian patriots to celebrate with President Buhari on his second year anniversary of dynamic and purposeful leadership. It has not been easy. It has been a rough journey.
Every action that is being taken for the betterment of the people has been subjected to criticisms, sometimes very destructive ones, because the action is often wrongly perceived as novel in the system. Novelty has, many times, been a tide opposed fruitlessly by diehard pessimists. The President has been challenged, criticized and called names, but he has been determined to effect the desired change.
So, I sing to him: “Lead us to the Promised Land; And we pray God bless, be with you”.
Amidst health challenge, what President Buhari has achieved in 730 days surpasses all that the past leaderships of Nigeria collectively have achieved. The best that was achieved for Nigeria in the past memorable history is the customized independence from British colonialism. Buhari has shown the best political will. He has dared the past untouchable devil called corruption. He has conquered national upheavals and civil disturbances.
To a very great extent, Boko Haram terrorism has been defeated, just awaiting its final burial. The abducted Chibok school girls are being rescued. Corruption in Nigeria is on a speedy run. All corruption cases today were committed in the past. With the best memory, present cases, if any, are yet to be clearly established.
With utmost sincerity, I thank the gentle but charismatic party, the APC, for selecting and backing a compassionate nationalist, an unblemished patriot and a patiently courageous servant of his nation and the people known as Buhari. I sing to APC: “You have made the best choice;
But be real for more success”. The APC, with its various operational hiccups, has remodeled democracy in Nigeria. It has propelled growth of modern democracy, expounded national understanding of unity in diversity and reaffirmed past memories of leadership by example which was practically displayed to an extent by the patriots who fought for Nigeria’s independence.
I could not agree less with the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, when he told the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) that the Buhari-led administration will execute changes in the economy that previous governments never did. To me, there are already over a hundred things the incumbent government has done differently, some being seen as blessing in disguise.
Over 2,500 tips, the Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun recently revealed, have been recorded from whistle-blowers led to the recovery of huge sums of money from treasury looters. Positive responses from the citizens have made the policy a succeeding national fight against corruption.
The whistle-blowers are being rewarded and protected accordingly as promised. And to guard against abuse, there is check and balance and two people have been arraigned by the EFCC for alleged false information to the agency under the whistle-blowing policy.
Recounting the successes of this government within two years will make books. That is by the way.
Let me pinpoint some of the remote aspects of them. Just recently, the United States of America declared that Buhari’s agenda tallies with their expectations. The Deputy Director, Office of West African Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Nathan Holt, declared recently that Nigeria is a critical US partner which had a very important election that produced Buhari as president in 2015.
However, all is not yet uhuru. The results of some of the policies of the administration are manifesting but slowing with the attendant hardship felt across the land. Nigerians must continue to pray for the president to fulfill the promises he made to them. God alone is He Who knows how to use the good citizens to bring out positive results.
As we celebrate the two years of prosperity amidst recession, we must stay on the side of God and pray harder for more result-oriented and long term policies in the next two or six years to come. God knows best. After then, judgment can be passed on those who have subjected Nigerians to untold hardship because of their selfish interests – those who are fighting and distracting the government for no just cause.
Ajah wrote from Abuja. E-mail [email protected].
