TWO YEARS IN OFFICE OF THE ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS, APC; THE PULSE OF THE PEOPLE AND THEIR FEELINGS

 

“Invariably, the success of the man, Buhari regarding his vision and initiatives is controlled by the people; it is no more Buhari but we all as Nigerians”………..Comrade Ochuko P. Otoba

COMRADE OCHUKO P. OTOBA

In the build up to the 2015 General Elections, the country was awash with many campaign promises for the electorates that saw to the emergence of the All Progressive Congress, APC as the party in power controlling the affairs of the Federal government and in majority of the states across the federation. 

Nigerians were in celebrative mood as they had, in their imaginations, dreamt of a new uhuru away from the shenanigans in the corridors of power at the nation’s capital which then, was under the firm grip of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP lead by Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as President.

With the victory of the APC, Nigerians, mostly from the Northern extraction were of the opinion that the new President, Muhammadu Buhari was coming with a new and positive change; ironically, that was the campaign slogan of the APC: “CHANGE”. 

It was a celebration galore for many. Youths did the unthinkable; some trekked from Lagos to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT in support of the new President. The streets of Abuja were completely overtaken by youths from across both divides. Chanting the name of the new occupant of Aso Rock; “Sai Buhari”! ”Sai Change!!” rented the air.

However, they all forgot to ask one very fundamental question; what type of “Change” were they introducing? Nobody asked the progenitors of “Change” what they were coming up with and in their excitement, did what their minds told them. Remove the PDP government at all cost and introduce the APC.

In their campaign promises, “fuel will sell at #45 per litre”, “dollars to exchange at #1”, “#5000 each for the teeming unemployed youths” and much more.

Have those promises been fulfilled to Nigerians? Are Nigerians satisfied with the APC government in these two years of being in the saddle of affairs? What is the pulse of the people and how are they truly faring?   These and many more are some of the questions begging for answers.

However, many are of the strong believe that President Muhammadu Buhari has indeed, tried in delivering on some of the electoral promises he made while also, acknowledging that, some of these promises were not made by Buhari personally but by the party as this are just some of the political gimmicks.

Speaking with Comrade Ochuko P. Otoba, President of the South-south People in Burkina Faso and Human Rights activist, the industrialist cum author noted that despite the economic challenges facing the country, of which we are gradually emerging from, President Muhammadu Buhari has done what most Nigerians expected of him.

Comrade Otoba stated that President Buhari, like in his first stint as military leader, brought about discipline into the fabrics of Nigerians when he introduced “War Against Indiscipline” which brought about a conscientious effort by Nigerians to be disciplined in all they do. As he puts it; “the war against corruption” this time around is the focus of the government. Apart from this, the other responsibility is the APC as a party with a manifesto.

Emphasizing on the achievements of the President in his two years in office, Comrade Otoba stated that, “the success of a party is quite different from the success of the President and his initiatives as the war against corruption would have yielded better results if he was to use military tactics. But, since the current system is democracy, his personal efforts will end up being check-mated by the National Assembly (NASS)”.

“Invariably, the success of the man, Buhari regarding his vision and initiatives is controlled by the people; it is no more Buhari but we all as Nigerians”.

“Buhari has achieved successes in the fight against corruption campaign. To me, Buhari is rather an activist and not a politician or, an economist. These areas should be apportioned to Special Advisers”, Comrade Ochuko Otoba said.

Saminu Abubakar, a public commentator has, however, a different opinion on the approaches and methods being applied by the President in handling of affairs of the nation.

According to Abubakar, the poor handling of issues, especially as it pertains to the unity of the country is a big minus. No leader uses divisive methods to lead his people.

Reminded of his being of the same region and religion with the President, Abubakar stated that his loyalty to the country comes first; not region or religion.

“We need leaders who are highly diplomatic in this nation to douse the tension we are currently experiencing and maybe, because of his military background, he, President Buhari does not foresee any likely danger as he does not believe in the power of using nice words to address issues”.

“Honestly, what Nigeria as a country needs is a smart and intelligent leader with the genuine sincerity to integrate the country and carry everybody along especially those from other regions who struggled with him to actualize his dreams and aspirations. No matter what, these other regions have many honest people who can handle any tasks or appointments; not minding the number of votes from such areas”.

What are the achievements of the APC government under President Buhari in its two years in office?

In his words, Abubakar believes that “trying to look for the achievements of any administration within two years in office might not be truly fair to any government”. 

Some genuine efforts at repositioning the affairs of any government might not be readily visible but over time, they begin to manifest. We have to be very sincere to the government of the day, says Abubakar.

We certainly have a task before us and how this government turns out at the end of the day, will determine how we can access the Buhari government but for now, let us pray that they turn around and do the needful for the greater good of the people.

Olalekan Oladimeji, a business entrepreneur says the pulse and feelings of the populace is the determinant in gauging the achievements of the leadership of a country.

“For this administration, if we have to be truly sincere to ourselves and the government, there is need for a re-jig on the part of the government”.

“The policies of the Buhari administration has been most unfair to the people he swore to protect and serve”. This is my candid opinion, says Oladimeji.

There are too many policy somersaults and again, it is regarded as too people friendly in its policies and seriously needs to re-jig the cabinet and bring in more professionals with sound knowledge of the various programmes in sectors such as the economy, agriculture, works and power as these areas, if properly addressed, would provide the necessary prop to improve on the resources of Nigeria, he concluded

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Many Nigerians are however of varying assessments of the Buhari government but have this belief that with the President presently incapacitated by illness, the acting President, Yemi Osibanjo has begun building trust in the citizenry that, all is not lost.

Osibanjo, in the few times he has taken up the saddle of leadership, in acting capacity, has rejuvenated that trust and mindset of Nigerians that the APC can truly, deliver on its promises to the people.

According to the Acting President, “in developing the APC manifesto and the economic development plans, the administration knew it had to directly intervene with a massive social investment programme that would tackle poverty and exclusion across the various spectra”.

He made this known at an event tagged; “A Smile for Every Nigerian” which was organized to commemorate the administration’s second year in office in Abuja.

Explaining the rationale behind the scheme, Nigeria’s Acting President stated that it was aimed at providing affordable housing for Nigerians; one of the administration’s social intervention programme that had not been mentioned.

“This is #100bn set aside for the Family Home Fund of our Social Housing Project”, he said.

“The #100bn is a yearly contribution to our #1tn Social Housing Fund, the largest in the history of the country. The World Bank and the African development Bank are contributors to the Fund. From this Fund, developers will borrow 80% of the cost of the project and counter fund with their own 20%”, Osibanjo explained.

How will the common man benefit, was also addressed by the acting president as he disclosed that, “the same fund will enable government to provide inexpensive mortgages for hundreds of thousands across the country who want to own homes”, he said.

“Anyone who can afford #30,000 will be able to buy a home under our new social housing fund scheme”, the Acting President stated.

But as Nigerians, there are palpable fears being expressed as powerful citizens would most likely commandeer everything to their side and make it become difficult and expensive for the average Nigerian access the scheme.

Will the government be able to address this and assuage the fears of the common man who will be hoping to cash in on this scheme, described as commendable?

This are some of the fears just like the #5,000 monthly stipend for unemployable youths and the aged, which has been criticized by many, as another drain pipe to swell the already bloated accounts of some officials of government.