Baba Go-slow in the land of emergency

In the world of brand communications or advertising, it is proven wisdom to under-promise and over-deliver. The attempt to over-promise and then under-deliver can backfire and damage a brand’s credibility in the eyes and minds of consumers. In Nigerian politics, politicians are known to always over-promise but under-deliver. Their campaign promises before election can be typically superfluous and mellifluous, evincing a glimpse of an Eldorado. After election, things take a different turn and promises go awry. And the electorate become disillusioned, disappointed and diminished, but available to be deceived again at the next election cycle. Is this trend going to prove true in the case of the Buhari presidency?

Two months out of the 4-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari are already gone. His administration is still yet to fully find its feet, not to talk of hitting the ground running, notwithstanding the rash of globe trotting, proclamations of intended probes, change of guards in the nation’s security echelon and rabble-rousing arrests of a few yesterday’s men of power. The crisis in the ruling party APC has also complicated matters.

Tempers are already flying in the public domain. Nigerians are getting restless, asking questions and seeking signs that we indeed have a new government that will change our lives for better. Some are also reminding the president of about 81 promises he reportedly made during the 2015 presidential election campaigns.

So, what is really happening with this new Buhari government which promised Nigerians so much to the point of over-promising? Will Sai Baba turn into a brand that will under-deliver? Or are we all over-reacting too soon? In a sense, there appeared to have been some sunshine of a new dawn in the wake of the new administration. The pre-inauguration situation of acute fuel scarcity seemed to have improved in recent times, but there are still queues at filling stations. Also, the erstwhile zero electricity supply appears to be getting better in some places, but many are still in darkness across the country. Those are about the only good signs we could see and feel attending a change of government since May 29. What we don’t know is whether these slight fuel and power supply improvements are just temporary reliefs occasioned by palliative and goodwill given to a new government, or they are sustainable signs of good things to come.

But today’s reality is that Nigerians are hungry for far more drastic take-off action steps from the Buhari government. One such major step is the much expected constitution of a new cabinet of ministers to work with the president. Then, there is the issue of announcing a clear-cut economic policy direction for the country. An allied question still hanging in the air is: will Buhari remove the fuel subsidy or not? Investors are waiting for a definitive policy direction. Nigerians want answers. But the president seems not to be in a hurry.

Yet, time is ticking away. On the surface, two months might be too early for one to condemn President Buhari’s lack of a cabinet. However, his two months in power seem like an eternity as Nigerians have rightly been lamenting delay in appointing ministers due to sky-high expectations.

Now, let us put Buhari’s delayed cabinet appointment in context. According to public records, the late former President Musa Yardua was inaugurated on May 29, 2007 but did not announce his cabinet of ministers until July, two months later. Also, former President Goodluck Jonathan was inaugurated on May 29, 2011 and appointed his new ministers in July same year. An exception since the return of democratic rule in 1999 is former President Olusegun Obasanjo who constituted his full cabinet in June of 1999, just barely a month after his May 29 inauguration. Do the foregoing cases justify or vilify the delay in appointing ministers under Buhari? It depends on which way you look at it.

Compared to Presidents Yardua and Jonathan, it might sound unfair to condemn Buhari now since he has only spent up to two months in office. But juxtaposed with Obasanjo, Buhari certainly has no tenable excuse in appointing his ministers in record time. If Obasanjo could do it in one month, why not Buhari? Both are former military professionals trained to act decisive in certain situations. Throughout his two-term tenure, Obasanjo was not known to dilly-dally on taking decisions. In fact, he shuffled and reshuffled his ministers as frequently as one would shuffle a pack of game cards.

Well, some supporters of President Buhari would argue that his situation in 2015 differs from that of Obasanjo in 1999. Yes, that is true to some extent. And indeed, there is a myriad of excuses and explanations which have been made for Buhari’s delayed cabinet announcement. The Jonathan administration did not give Buhari handover notes on time. Delay. The APC Transition Committee had to study the said 8,000-page hand over document and distil it to a digestible 800-page working document. Delay. The new 8 National Assembly that should ratify the cabinet list had not yet begun sitting. Delay. The Jonathan government left behind an empty treasury. Delay. There is need to recover looted billions and clear the Augean stable. Delay. Now, the National Assembly has gone on a recess. More delay. And it is being speculated that the earliest we can expect Buhari’s announcement of ministers will be late August or early September this year.

In fact, the list of excuses is endless. Many supporters of the president across society have also advanced excuses that Buhari needs time to lay a good foundation, appoint the right people and get governance right from the start. Are all these excuses tenable enough to warrant further delay in constituting a new cabinet of ministers? I don’t think so, because the longer the delay in appointing ministers and articulating the government’s major economic policy direction, the foggier the cloud of confusion over the country.

For one, it is unrealistic for President Buhari to wait till institutional conditions are good or perfect before he appoints his ministers. It is even more illusionary to wait until he finds ‘angels’ and ‘saints’ to appoint as ministers due to his avowed stance on integrity. Where are the saints? Do saints necessarily make technocrats, or do technocrats make saints?

And by the way, with how we hear of purported names of prospective appointees being juggled every now and then, why should it have taken President Buhari this long to identify or constitute a host of those trusted confidants who will be his Ministers, Chief of Staff and Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF)? One would expect a leader who had been contesting presidential elections since 2003to have scoured the country for men and women of competence and integrity as future appointees, long before now. And if the current indecision is due to party politics and power play within APC, what has the party leadership been doing since their party won the presidential election in March? Just gloating in jubilations and lapping up wishes of congratulations left and right?

It would seem that the APC government was hungry for power, got the power and yet does not know what to do with that power! We Nigerians didn’t give power to the new government just for occupying Aso Rock like previous governments. We voted for a real change for better in our country and our lives. And that change must come urgently and surely enough.

So, President Buhari should realize why Nigerians are clamouring for him to appoint his cabinet without further delay. The chief of staff, SGF and ministers are not just political figure heads meant to decorate a government. They are leaders who would direct their respective permanent secretaries in the right direction. They are the foot soldiers that the president needs to pursue and execute his campaign promises and government policies.

Whether it is in recovering the looted monies stashed in Nigeria and abroad, or in bring reforms to our diverse national institutions, President Buhari needs ministers to help him achieve his goals. He cannot do it all alone. He cannot be everywhere. He cannot be the only one with Solomonic wisdom to tackle challenges in security, economy, education, infrastructure, power, oil, healthcare, transportation and social aspects of our national life. And with his recent admission of age not being on his side for optimum performance, the imperative for appointing ministers becomes even more urgent. Nigerians want the president to hit the ground running to tackle challenges at the home front, not to hit the ground globe-trotting.

In all this, one does not expect President Buhari to be perfect or orchestrate a miraculous change of Nigeria in a jiffy. No. And one does not expect the much needed change to come easy, considering the deep mess left behind by the Jonathan government. But we still cannot wait till all conditions are right, all looted monies recovered, all ‘saintly’ persons found for ministerial appointments, and all institutional rot cleared before we see a government in action! We don’t have the luxury of time. In reality, Buhari now has only 3 years to make a tangible difference in governance before another election year, 2019, comes. He had better started making positive history now, or he and his ruling party may be consigned to the ignoble thrash of history by the same voters’ power that brought them to Aso Rock.

NAME: TIM ONIFADE