When will this blame syndrome cease?
Nigeria is facing difficult times. That is clear. Our economy, politics, sports and other spheres of national life are in descent. It is certain that our acts of commissions and omissions in the past have contributed to our present state. That is the basic truth. But what we are today in our individual, family or corporate lives have been affected both by the choices we made in the past and the ones we make in the present. And for most individuals and nations, it has been a mixed grill. Good decisions, bad and not so good. The bible says that all things work together for good to those who love God.
But to continue to blame all of our current failures only on the decisions of yesterday is begging the issue. To insist that we did nothing good yesterday but all bad is self-defeatist. And to claim that all the evil was done by somebody else and we are the only ones that did or could do good is playing god.
To be true, many non-partisan Nigerians are getting fed up with the penchant of this government to blame all of our current challenges on the past administrations. Sometimes the PDP is blamed for all the troubles, at other times it is narrowed to the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan. For me, our nation has performed below its potential since independence 56 years ago and all the past regimes, especially the military, contributed to the overall unsatisfactory situation. But no one in all sincerity and good conscience can say that any regime did only bad and nothing good.
When Olusegun Obasanjo returned to power as civilian President in 1999, the nation was reeking of the obvious poor governance of Abacha’s tenure but except for the effort to repatriate the money said to have been looted by Abacha and his family, Obasanjo moved from the first day he assumed office to begin to redirect the economy. He acted with a sense of urgency and was as aggressive in inviting foreign investment as he was in promoting domestic investment. The current class of major domestic investors which includes Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Oba Otudeko, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Wale Tinubu, Femi Otedola, Jimoh Ibrahim, Coscharis Maduka, Jim Ovia, Folorunso Alakija, ABC Orjiako, Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, Innocent Chukwuma and many others were motivated by Obasanjo to dream big and Goodluck Jonathan offered them the nitrogen and oxygen to soar.
When President Yar’Adua succeeded Obasanjo, all was not rosy, given the global economic crisis of 2008-2009. He quickly empanelled a Presidential Steering Committee on the global economic crisis and invited the best brains and experiences from the public and private sectors of the economy to help stop the economy from going down as most of the world, especially those dependent on commodities, were experiencing. When Goodluck Jonathan took over after several months of the economy suffering poor management due to the politics of Yar’Adua’s health, he quickly established a Presidential Advisory Committee, peopled by very distinguished, bright and experienced Nigerians to help him stabilize the nation, both economically and politically. None of these leaders spent seventeen months of their tenure blaming the past but pushed ahead vigorously, seeking all the help they could get from home and abroad.
Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) took this blame game to what looks like an alarming level. It was as if the President was back to the campaign ground where anybody could say anything against his opponent without providing evidence or being taken to task. Speaking from Katsina, he said something like “PDP ruled this country for 16 years and left us with no money, no road, no bridge, no airport, no rail line, no school, no university, no hospital, no building and no food…and no nothing”. This is a most troubling speech. If it came from one of his aides or party officials, it could be less troubling, though still disconcerting. I am not a spokesperson for the PDP or the past presidents, but as an avid observer of history and active advocate during the last 16 years in the various roles God has allowed me to play in MAN, NECA, NESG, NACC, etc, it is difficult for me to swallow this repeated effort to rubbish every contribution of the past leadership of the nation. Additionally as a Christian, something revolts in me when facts are misrepresented just to paint other people black. The Bible says: “Woe to those who call evil good, and those who call good evil”.
Roads
It is true that overall, Nigerian roads development remains unsatisfactory, worse in the South East, especially the road to Arochukwu my home town, but I can still see many of the roads around Abuja, the ring road including the 10- (or is it 12-) lane expressway to the airport which were built in the last sixteen years. The Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja dualization was started by Obasanjo and completed by Jonathan; the 338km East-West Rd that stretches from Warri through PH to Oron was started by Obasanjo and completed (virtually) by Jonathan. The Benin-Warri dual carriageway, the Onitsha-Owerri expressway, the Benin-Onitsha dualization were all done in the last 16 years. The Kano-Maiduguri highway would have been completed but for the insurgency in the North East. The multi-lane Lagos-Ibadan expressway expansion project, the reconstruction of the Benin-Shagamu expressway were all started and significant milestones achieved by the last regime. Some bridges across the Rivers Niger and Benue, especially the Oweto and 2nd Niger Bridges were initiated in the tenure of the last regime. These are just a few of the roads which in my reckoning were built or started in the last 16 years.
Railways
The Lagos-Ibadan-Kaduna-Kano narrow gauge rail line rehabilitation was started by Obasanjo and completed by Jonathan, allowing trains to resume running since 2012. The Eastern PH-Makurdi-Kafanchan-Bauchi-
Social infrastructure and safety net
Several new federal colleges were established in the last 16 years. The last regime built several new federal universities to ensure that every state has a federal university. Every state now has either a federal teaching hospital or a federal medical centre. The government in the last 16 years massively expanded the primary health infrastructure and implemented an aggressive vaccination and health promotion programmes that helped us to wipe out polio, though now recently reintroduced, and bring down the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, not to talk of the globally applauded effort at containing the deadly Ebola Viral Disease (EVD). It was the last government that introduced social safety measures that included maternity and child care, conditional cash transfer (CCT) to pregnant and lactating mothers and poor rural dwellers. This helped for the first time to reverse our embarrassing maternal and infant mortality rates and arrested the growth of poverty. The last government launched a massive effort to manage youth employment through the youth employment and empowerment programs and the YOUWIN initiatives which were implemented through the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). Yes, we may complain about the quality of our universities or the medical centres. That should be the challenge to be undertaken by successor governments, not to deny what had been done.
Economy
Our economy grew at an average of 6.5 percent annually for about a decade. Inflation came down steadily till it hit single digit. Our debt to the Paris and London clubs were extinguished by astute economic managers. We became the biggest recipient of FDI in Africa, and major receiver of portfolio investment that lifted our stock exchange and executed liberalization of the economy unleashing one of the biggest telecommunication revolutions in the world. The return to big time agric-business and the diversification of our economy was a major focus of the last regime. It is true that oil revenue helped but we had situations of low oil prices during Obasanjo and Yar’Adua regimes but our economy did not slide into recession.
Anti-corruption
Even in the anti-corruption stance where PDP and especially the last government are rated poorly by Nigerians, it must be put on the record that it was the PDP government that set up EFCC and ICPC, that appointed Nuhu Ribadu to eliminate ‘419’ in Nigeria and begin holding our political office holders to account, and it was the last government that appointed Attahiru Jega to lead INEC that gave us President Muhammadu Buhari. And the last government saved the nation from loss of lives and property, disruption of economic activities and prolonged legal battle and political instability by conceding defeat without a whimper! Unprecedented, and yet we seem to have all forgotten so quickly in seeming hate-conspiracy to completely obliterate Jonathan’s good deeds.
For the purpose of history and the good of our country, certain incorrect narrative must be challenged. It is morally wrong to keep quiet so as to be politically correct. PDP governed the country for 16 years. I believe they did so many things well and did many other things badly, which is why they were voted out to try another party. APC has governed for nearly one and half years and certainly has done some things well and others not so well, which is why we are where we are today. May it not be said after four years or eight years by successor president or party that PMB and APC did nothing good!
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa