Against the backdrop of Nigeria’s 55th Independence Anniversary and the recent arrest of former petroleum minister Diezani Alison Madueke, we take a look at president Buhari’s run so far and a number of areas that need urgent attention in the overall polity.
Nigeria is a country in need in the face of plenty. Her condition is
terribly bad in terms of economic growth and development, a situation
best described as the ‘resource curse’.
The resource curse thesis was introduced by British economist Richard M. Auty in 1993, and it explains the situation where countries with abundant natural resources are unable to grow and develop their economies.
We have come a long way as a nation but we can start to right our wrongs from this point regardless of the ruins. President Buhari is beginning to show progressive steps in this light. But we can do more, the stakes are higher now and we must not accept ordinary efforts when we can easily do the extraordinary.
So when one writes a piece asking that president Buhari takes a bold step, one is simply asking that the anti graft process of reclaiming stolen funds and punishing looters begins.
When one writes such passionate pieces, the intention is for a pervasive anti graft process that sweeps not only the last administration, but preceding ones. The expectations are that president Buhari goes as far back as possible in his fight to rid society of corruption, because we can.
The recent shakedown involving the former petroleum minister Alison Madueke is one key step in the right direction, but the outcome of the probe matters even more.
Further arrests, probes and punishments for defaulters are another step in the right direction for us to win this war.
Time is running out. Buhari is not an angel but is the best bet we have today at liberating the nation and freeing generations to come from the shackles of the thieving minority in Nigeria. If the conditions of the destitute and downtrodden don’t bother you, then one wonders what will.
In the light of this, president Buhari has the opportunity of becoming one of Nigeria’s most successful leaders ever by turning the wheels from socioeconomic malaise into economic growth and political brightness.
He has the opportunity of not just steering the ship in the right course but to quash the many cartels in the oil sector given their roles in arm twisting the government of the day, consequently running the country aground with their monetary and political clouts.
Because considering that over 136 million barrels of crude oil worth at least $11 billion at the time were stolen between 2009 and 2011, it would be better to wipe out our wells and start anew, pretending there was never any such thing as oil, than to let these wolves walk freely.
It is a daunting, unending process, agreed. But we must not cede.
You think of the fact that since Independence Nigeria has enjoyed at least $400 billion in aid, an amount six times of what America spent in rebuilding the entire Western Europe after the Second World War, yet with nothing to show for it and you agree that enough is enough.
The stakes are higher. We must reach for the stars. The probes must begin, and they must be far-reaching.
Summarily, we analyse our discourse here in four points viz:
First, the president has started a good war which he must fight to the end. But with the ministerial list parading some credible as well as questionable names, one hopes the entire process of change isn’t lip service at best.
Secondly; the anti graft war, as bold and brilliant as it is, will mean only so much till it is pervasive and we beam the searchlight to as many previous administrations as possible.
Thirdly, the arrest of Diezani Alison Madueke is noteworthy and impressive but means nothing if she isn’t sufficiently probed and sanctioned
.
We say this because looking at the situation vis-à-vis antecedents, there is a chance the probe goes down as one of those high profile cases that were swept under the rug at the end of the day. Hers might be another of the feeble attempts at unveiling corruption without any particular result at the end of the day. We hope for a difference.
Fourthly, as demanded by the US authorities at the president’s New York meeting in July that we show a dedicated and transparent fight at ridding Nigeria of corruption, will president Buhari find and fire unscrupulous judges from the Nigerian judiciary? This is important because arresting and probing can only do so much if we are interfacing with a treacherous legal system.
Source: Naij
President Muhammadu Buhari
The resource curse thesis was introduced by British economist Richard M. Auty in 1993, and it explains the situation where countries with abundant natural resources are unable to grow and develop their economies.
We have come a long way as a nation but we can start to right our wrongs from this point regardless of the ruins. President Buhari is beginning to show progressive steps in this light. But we can do more, the stakes are higher now and we must not accept ordinary efforts when we can easily do the extraordinary.
So when one writes a piece asking that president Buhari takes a bold step, one is simply asking that the anti graft process of reclaiming stolen funds and punishing looters begins.
When one writes such passionate pieces, the intention is for a pervasive anti graft process that sweeps not only the last administration, but preceding ones. The expectations are that president Buhari goes as far back as possible in his fight to rid society of corruption, because we can.
The recent shakedown involving the former petroleum minister Alison Madueke is one key step in the right direction, but the outcome of the probe matters even more.
Further arrests, probes and punishments for defaulters are another step in the right direction for us to win this war.
Time is running out. Buhari is not an angel but is the best bet we have today at liberating the nation and freeing generations to come from the shackles of the thieving minority in Nigeria. If the conditions of the destitute and downtrodden don’t bother you, then one wonders what will.
In the light of this, president Buhari has the opportunity of becoming one of Nigeria’s most successful leaders ever by turning the wheels from socioeconomic malaise into economic growth and political brightness.
He has the opportunity of not just steering the ship in the right course but to quash the many cartels in the oil sector given their roles in arm twisting the government of the day, consequently running the country aground with their monetary and political clouts.
Because considering that over 136 million barrels of crude oil worth at least $11 billion at the time were stolen between 2009 and 2011, it would be better to wipe out our wells and start anew, pretending there was never any such thing as oil, than to let these wolves walk freely.
It is a daunting, unending process, agreed. But we must not cede.
You think of the fact that since Independence Nigeria has enjoyed at least $400 billion in aid, an amount six times of what America spent in rebuilding the entire Western Europe after the Second World War, yet with nothing to show for it and you agree that enough is enough.
The stakes are higher. We must reach for the stars. The probes must begin, and they must be far-reaching.
Summarily, we analyse our discourse here in four points viz:
First, the president has started a good war which he must fight to the end. But with the ministerial list parading some credible as well as questionable names, one hopes the entire process of change isn’t lip service at best.
Secondly; the anti graft war, as bold and brilliant as it is, will mean only so much till it is pervasive and we beam the searchlight to as many previous administrations as possible.
Thirdly, the arrest of Diezani Alison Madueke is noteworthy and impressive but means nothing if she isn’t sufficiently probed and sanctioned
.
We say this because looking at the situation vis-à-vis antecedents, there is a chance the probe goes down as one of those high profile cases that were swept under the rug at the end of the day. Hers might be another of the feeble attempts at unveiling corruption without any particular result at the end of the day. We hope for a difference.
Fourthly, as demanded by the US authorities at the president’s New York meeting in July that we show a dedicated and transparent fight at ridding Nigeria of corruption, will president Buhari find and fire unscrupulous judges from the Nigerian judiciary? This is important because arresting and probing can only do so much if we are interfacing with a treacherous legal system.
Source: Naij