11 Devils Buhari Must Battle From Now Till 2019
President Muhammadu Buhari is not new to wars. He has fought and won many battles while he was a military man. Just like Boko Haram members are one of the arch enemies of Nigeria’s security, there are other devils Buhari must battle if he is to end his four year tenure on a remarkable note, with encomiums from the Nigerian people.
Gallant officers are never scared of assault from the enemies. It is only in rare cases that soldiers abandon their post and flee due to the superior firepower of the enemies.
Nigeria is a complex country. The nation is made up of diverse ethnic groups with vested interest. These diversities should be well studied and known before anybody attempts to lead the country. Hardly a day goes by, without one or two crises popping up in some parts of Nigeria. It will be a disservice to the citizens if people elected to serve the country fail to discharge their duties as they should be done. Some of these national challenges include absence of social welfare, security of lives and properties and a prosperous economy.
It is not uncommon to see a president who comes in as a hero and enjoys people’s goodwill on assumption of office turns out to be a villain when he leaves office. The reason for this is simple. Such a president would have been submerged in the challenges facing the country while he governed.
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During election campaigns, he might have promised Nigerians heaven and earth. Then, he could have said he will turn the country into “Eldorado” in a couple of months. However, the story changes after months in office. He sees a different picture when he starts work. He would not know when 24 hours turn into eight years without a tangible achievement. The next thing for him is to plead for an additional four years. He is denied. Thereafter, he leaves office unceremoniously because he failed the electorates to turn their woes into fortune.
There are different shades and shapes of devils Buhari must battle. He has to go the whole hog fighting this war in other to succeed. The president must tread softly because the Nigerian ground is slippery. Also, the devils are the canker worms retarding Nigeria’s development. They have become recurring decimals.
Buhari’s predecessors all boasted they will surmount these problems, but failed woefully at the end of the day. They achieved little or nothing.
The president should know that his integrity is at stake. How he goes about calming frayed nerves of Nigerians should be his daily headache. He should swing into actions immediately. If he fails to do so, he may be astounded that these devils might have grown bigger come 2019.
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1. Sheep in wolves clothing
These are the sycophants. They always make their way to the corridors of power. They deceived Chief Olusegun Obasanjo during his third term brouhaha. They told Doctor Goodluck Jonathan that all Nigerians wanted him for a second term. They came as Transformation Ambassadors. They doctored millions of signatures of Nigerians and told Jonathan they were from Nigerians who wanted him for a second term. A good number of them became overnight billionaires after the 2015 general elections.
2. Unemployment of the teeming youths
Kurt Vonnegut said: “What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.”
The youths are the beacon of hope of the country. They should be fully engaged because an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. A nation that takes care of its youths has secured its future. It seems the future of Nigeria’s youths looks bleak. Hundreds of thousands of graduates are turned out yearly without assured employment. They are sent into the labour market, where some of them lose their talents after years of searching for the jobs that are not there to do. They are always at the receiving end. Some of them commit suicide after frustration from years of no job.
3. Epileptic power supply
One of the major devils Buhari must battle is the power sector. Billions of dollars have gone down the drain, without any commensurate result. Getting a few days of uninterrupted power supply is still a mirage. No one knows when the jinx would be broken.
During the time of late Chief Bola Ige as minister of power, he said he will turn stone into bread. He had hardly spent some months there before he was redeployed to the ministry of justice. All his attempts to revolutionise the power sector met brick walls by the cabals in that sector. These cabals are still there. The powers that be overshadowed Bola Ige. He achieved nothing when he left the ministry.
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4. Overzealous law enforcement agencies
Just September last month in Lagos, a mother of four fell to the bullet of an overzealous police man. Eyewitnesses said the officer pulled the trigger just because the rider of a tricycle the woman sat failed to give the police man some money he requested from him. The deceased was also the wife of the tricycle rider.
Nigerians are gunned down daily in cold blood by trigger happy law enforcement agents. There are illegal road blocks galore where bribery is collected.
5. Corrupt civil/public service
It is only in Nigeria that civil servants who are just level 8 officers are richer than university professors. Nothing goes for free in the civil service. The stench in the public service is offensive. The level of corruption there is alarming. It is only petty thieves that are prosecuted in the country. Big cats who are public servants are allowed to go scot free.
6. Decaying infrastructures
President Buhari should see to the various decaying infrastructures in the country. Many federal government structures are in bad state. Federal roads have become death traps. Some are havens for armed robbers. There are also many federal buildings in dilapidated state. All these need urgent renovation and reconstruction. Apart from decaying facilities, the maintenance culture in Nigeria is very poor.
7. Social unrest
This is particularly directed at ethnic groups who beat drums of war. For instance, there is agitation for the sovereign state of Biafra. Some renegades want to secede from Nigeria. A few months ago, the frequency of Radio Biafra was jammed by the Nigerian army. Also, during Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure, some Igbos were arrested in Enugu state. They attempted taking over a radio station to announce their secession from Nigeria.
8. High rate of crime
Some states in the country are crime zones. All manners of evil acts are committed there. Kidnapping and human trafficking are on the rise in the country. They have become thriving business. The incomprehensible thing is that perpetrators of this acts are hardly arrested, not to talk of charging them to court to face criminal charges. Just September last month, Chief Olu Falae, a one-time secretary to government of the federation was kidnapped. He regained his freedom after sleeping on bare floor in the kidnappers’ den for four days.
In addition, dare-devils armed robbers were on rampage on Tuesday, October 13 in Festac town of Lagos state. It was unfortunate that there were casualties during the robbery. Innocent lives of 3 people were taken as a result of stray bullets. Residents in that area now live with unimaginable fear.
9. High level of societal decadence
The standard of education has fallen to the lowest ebb. The purpose of going to school is being defeated. There is nothing like hammering on the importance of moral values again. Nowadays, it is difficult to differentiate between a female student in a higher institution of learning and a female sex worker. Also, there is so much similarities between the appearance of the so-called educated males and motor park touts. The effects of all these are glaring at homes. A lot of dangers lies ahead. Another concern is that no one seems to care that the moral fabric of the society is wearing out fast.
10. Ethnic clashes
The marauding Fulani herdsmen constitute nuisance to the nation. Their cattle graze without being monitored, thereby destroying farmers’ crops.
In 1999 in Oyo state, they killed some indigenes that resisted their excesses. They go beyond their boundaries often. They rear their animals unguarded. A few weeks ago, they kidnapped a local traditional ruler in Kogi state. Issues like this have snowballed into one ethnic groups fighting another. Some states with perennial tribal frictions include: Plateau, Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, to mention a few.
11. Falling exchange rate
The rate of exchanging a dollar to the naira is appalling. It is biting hard on businessmen and women alike. Goods and commodities which could benefit Nigerians if imported cannot be brought into the country due to the high exchange rate. No country will achieve industrialisation and development if the dollar is exchanged for over two hundred naira. Some businesses are closing shop due to this. They can no longer be funded. International business transactions and foreign investments are dwindling because of this. The multiplier effect of high exchange rate is that the final consumers always cough out higher money to buy goods which could have been bought at cheaper price.[article_adwert]
Source: Legit.ng
