by Eze Eluchie
After what appeared to be a craftily scheduled period of absence from reality, to obviate a hiatus in governance, Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari, has finally returned from a whirlwind private visit to his benefactor in the United States, Barack Obama, a visit spiced with sightseeing engagements to places of interest.
For those who might be laboring under the illusion that the visit was an official 'State Visit', comparison with other State Visits hosted by the US Government and the traditions and customs associated with such visits and the fact that the Executive arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria has not been constituted as at the time of the said visit, will serve to clarify any such doubts.
Some unsavory fallout of the said private visit which may provide insight into the style of administration which Nigerians will be saddled with under a Buhari presidency include: a). the announcement by the World Bank on the release of a dubious U.S.$2.8 Billion loan to Nigeria for the 'redevelopment of the North east region' devastated by terrorist attacks'; b). the fallacious announcement by Mr. President himself, obviously for the interest of his foreign audience, that Ministers under the immediate past administration 'stole' over 1 Million Barrels of crude oil per day; c). and the beggarly manner with which our once respected country appeared to be appealing for foreign support to address regional issues of global/transnational crimes {terror and corruption}.
a). In the absence of Ministers of Finance and National Planning, requisite Presidential Economic Advisers and other such officials of State, and no discussion or approval of the National Assembly to access this funding facility/loans, pray who negotiated and thought through the process of requesting or deciding if the IMF was the appropriate institution to apply for this facility to develop what is ostensibly a continuing war zone? What better cover for graft than to claim you secured a loan facility to 'develop a war-zone'? Will this fund disappear down the drain that must such 'loans' have gone into?
b). Mr. President's assertion that over 1 Million Barrels of crude was stolen by the Ministers of the immediate past regime is clearly alarmist, fallacious and aimed at continuing with the propagandist nature with which activities of government has been conducted since his ascension into office. Corruption has posed a serious source of instability in Nigeria over the years, dating way back to President Buhari's earlier stint in office as Head of State in 1983 - 1985, and beyond. Trying to overly vilify the immediate past regimes sends the message that a witch-hunt of gigantean proportions is in the offing.
c). With regards to being beggarly with foreign governments in discussing mutually beneficial issues, the services of experts would have prevented a situation where the President of the most populous African state and the 'largest economy' in the continent, would appear to be seeking approval for his plans to address the domestic issues in his own country - I knew Nigeria had issues, but certainly, things had not gotten this low.
In addition, the series of slavish and condescending messages of appreciation for 'winning' the elections reeled out by the Nigerian ruler to his American host in the course of their meetings were particularly troubling. Apparently, Nigeria had descended to the status where the power to decide who rules over our contraption has been openly taken away from the people. It had been clear in the build up to the Nigerian general elections that the Barack Obama administration was taking an overly interest in the outcomes of what ought to be an internal affair - the extent of 'gratitude' showered on the US President by his Nigerian counterpart justifies the need for a query as to whether what we had during our last presidential elections was an 'election' or a 'selection'.
As we welcome President Muhammadu Buhari back to the reality he left nearly a week ago, a 7-day period during which terrorist elements have continued unabated in their daily hellish agenda of murder, destruction and institutionalization of fear which has served to cripple our North Eastern region, it is trite that Mr. President is reminded that when the chips are down, Nigerian problems will be solved in Nigeria by Nigerians and that the expected patronage from outside always fails at the last moment and that after participating in publicized 'international community' meetings where support for counter-terrorism measures, extremist Islamist terror elements have usually responded with mind-boggling response attacks - are we ready for this likelihood?
For the umpteenth time,almost 60 days after ascendance into Office, let governance begin and allow some Nigerians have a feel of the 'change' they think they 'selected'.
Picture: Presidents Buhari and Obama - the picture tells it all.
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