31 January 2017
By Abiodun Komolafe
The world had barely
settled down to the reality of Brexit when Donald Trump trounced Hillary
Clinton to clinch victory in an election that would eventually shame the power
of opinion polls. Trump purportedly played a fast one on unsuspecting
Americans and the world was left to grapple with 'Trump Trauma'. A few
weeks after, Fidel Castro was done with the wildness of this world and the
world, with the exception of
those who felt threatened by his Marxist-Leninist
disposition, mourned the passing of a great humanist. Along
the line, Yahya Jammeh
happened to our democratic psyche and that tragically revived memories of
sit-tightism that has all along been the
bane of our Africanness. Elsewhere in Europe, Italy stunned the world
with a referendum which, though looked and sounded marginal in shape and size,
has, in all the important ways, changed the face of global
politics. And, uninterested in being uncounted, Nigeria continues to grapple
with recession even as economic juggernauts catwalk excuses!
Indeed, the global
village is in a mess and all eyes can see it! Nations are waging wars against
nations! Sicknesses and diseases are defying medical
prescriptions! Conflicts, endless droughts, hunger and deprivations are
separating us from our journey and it is as if signs of the end times
are already staring us in the face.
With a special
attention on Nigeria, that dear country is experiencing a siege
revolution is no longer news! Willingly or by happenstance, the town is tough
while the glory of the gown is tormented. In addition to the global
uncertainty which has shaken Nigeria to her foundational relevance, politics,
not policy, threatens her existence and it is as if godly minds have eloped
with their prudent counsels. Like a steeringless vehicle, inflation has gone
to an unbearable level and it is as if those witches and wizards of the
military-era Nigeria are back at work! To make matters worse, Africa's
foremost giant, and worlds 10th biggest oil reserves, now joys
in having more than 60 per cent
of her people living on less than $1 a day. In 2016, unemployment rose from
12.1 per cent in the first quarter to 13.3 per cent in the second quarter.
Only God knows where it now stands!
Truth be told, events of the last few
months have again compelled bewildered Nigerians to debate the particular
nature of the 'Change' they voted for! Of considerable worry is their
inability to discern whether or not the events of March 28, 2015 were destined
to take Nigeria to her Promised Land or Muhammadu Buhari was merely ordained
to act Nigeria's Moses. For God's sake, why has a bag of rice, which sold for
N7,500.00 in December 2015, now gone beyond double and how come less than 500
people are sitting on not less than 20% of Nigeria's 2017 budget, all in the
name of constituency and other meaningless projects? Widening the scope of our
worries, why has Cuba, in spite of her travails, become a socio-economic
success while Nigeria, despite its touted giantness, continues to look
Northwards, not inwards, for succour? All said, will Nigeria get out of this
miasma unbowed and where lies the road to comfort?
An Igbo proverb says:
"you don't need a mirror to see what you are wearing on your hand".
Agreed! The times are quite unusual. But Nigerians must
have to work together for their teeth to chew the meat! Bola Tinubu struck the
right chord when he urged the government to
"re-engineer the economy bottom up, diversify the economic base, strengthen
our industrial base, modernize infrastructure, enhance agriculture, and
provide employment and of course, ease of doing business.
"It is interesting to not
that Buhari has been there before. Therefore, that he knows what to do to
navigate the country out of the economic turbulence is not in doubt. But he
has to act fast and the earlier he does this, the better for the ruling party
and this fractured microcosm.
Assuming without
conceding that government at the centre is currently moving beyond sharing our
pains to making genuine efforts at restoring Nigeria's political and economic
credibility, keying into
Osun State's' government unusual' which has made the
business of governing and growing the state an exciting experience will not be
out of place. With its adoption of some of the state's initiatives like the
School Feeding, Elderly Welfare and Youth Empowerment schemes, Nigerians will
agree with me that the Federal Government is on the right track. But, more
still need to be done, especially, in the area of massive infrastructure
development, if it must timorously deliver on the promised dividends of
democracy to the citizenry. The president must come to terms, not only with
the details and the intricacies of 'cash' in the people's "pockets and food in
their belly" but also the basics of the "promises of a brighter future." After
all, a naked man does not put his hands in his pocket.
Platitudes aside, for
any country in the world to develop, the socio-economic benefits of good road
network can never be overemphasized. Apart from getting people, markets,
services and knowledge connected, it is also advantageous in the economic
growth of the society. sun, under Rauf Aregbesola, has demonstrated the
impactful interaction between the state's economic
development and the sufficiency and quality of its road network. Therefore,
it's time Buhari rose to the task of tapping from
this wonderful experience that has turned Osun State into 'a permanent
construction site'.
Again, this is where those who are
accusing the governor of wasting resources on the construction of an airport
have also missed it. As a matter of fact, there is a lot of benefits derivable
from an initiative as laudable as this. Among them are speed, reliability,
rapid delivery of medical supplies as well as efficiency in connection of
markets across states, countries and continents. Statistics revealed that not
less than 35% of world trade by value are transported by air. In 2013 alone,
about 49.3% million tones of freight were handled by air.
As we know, Osun State is adjoined by
not less than five other states: Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun, Akure and Kwara. At a time
like this when the state is putting its trust in diversification, a cargo
airport will in no small way add to its income generation capacity. In like
manner, Nigeria can truly serve as Africa's hub for "distant markets and
global supply chains in a speedy and reliable manner" if only those in
positions of authority can look in the direction of upgrading facilities at
our airports with a view to serving the original purposes for which they were
established. But for paucity of funds, the story of MKO Abiola Airport
in Ido Osun would have been pleasantly different. All the same, Aregbesola has
demonstrated that it can work and Buhari will do well by borrowing a leaf from
this worthy venture.
And, to those who
delight in accusing Aregbesola of engaging in 'capital flight', it may
interest them to know how Dubai got to where it is as well as the
contributions of Jews and people of colour to the development of the United
States of America. Added to this will be some tutorials on the indices for
measuring growth. In my considered opinion, Buhari
will be doing progressive governance a lot of good by learning some useful
tips, along this line, from Osun State.
Education, Agriculture and Security are
some other important areas where I am optimistic the Federal Government can
effectively partner Osun State in order to meaningfully impact the lives of
Nigerians and I hope to address them in subsequent interventions.
Well, this is not to say that hypocrites
and pathological naysayers whose portion is in attitudes that bring failure
will not attack the president for taking a bold step like the aforementioned.
Unfortunately, that's their professional calling and there's nothing one can
do to cure their mischief. Beyond their disjointed preachments, they see
politics as a game of death even as they represent all the bad things that
poverty can give. Shepherdless in the journey of life, they once accused Bisi
Akande of mismanaging Osun State but, not unexpectedly, the stone that the
builders rejected have eventually become the cornerstone. And, in their eager,
sometimes feverishly paranoid attempt to interpret the times, they fail to
understand that Osun is an integral part of the project called Nigeria; and
that both are constituents of the global village. So, whatever ails the eye is
not unlikely to ail the nose!
Warren Buffet made a strong statement
when he remarked that no one gets credit for predicting rain but for building
the ark. In other words, how Buhari goes about fulfilling his election
promises to Nigerians will go a long way in determining how posterity will
remember him.
May principalities and powers, assigned
to rubbish our leaders' efforts, scatter!
*KOMOLAFE writes in
from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)
abiodun
KOMOLAFE,
020, Okenisa Street,
PO Box 153,
Ijebu-Jesa,
Osun State.
©
EsinIslam.Com
Add Comments