While the Catholic Church and other Christian groups were praying for a country free of corruption and a country out of distress, Muhammadu Buhari came.
No sooner had Buhari emerged and assumed office as President than he swung into action and began to tackle the problem of Boko Haram. Compare the situation then with the situation today. Those cities, towns, local government areas captured by Boko Haram have been recovered and people who fled their homes are now returning.
Boko Haram has practically been routed and defeated. The pockets of suicide blasts in few places today is nothing compared to those days of horror. If we Nigerians are honest, we should gladly acknowledge this feat achieved by the military under Buhari. Unfortunately some people in their dishonest disposition, rather than appreciate God for using Buhari to conquer Boko Haram, have resorted to making comments to the effect that that Boko Haram was not real- that it was a stage-managed affair.
They even claim that the kidnapping of Chibok girls was a ruse. As the ongoing fight against insurgency begun, so also was the fight against corruption initiated. Revelations of massive and unimaginable proportion of looting began to emerge. Look at the manner the money voted to fight Boko Haram terrorists who were killing Nigerians was looted. The truth is that Buhari is fighting bribery and corruption which have long eaten deep into the fabric of the nation. He is also at the same time fighting Boko Haram insurgency and we are all seeing the positive effects.
That the fight against bribery and corruption is selective is laughable. For God’s sake, common sense demands that when you embark on a problem solving mission, you start from the known fact to get to the unknown.
It is a known fact that a certain political party and its members were at the helm of affairs of Federal Government and it stands to reason that if there were problems, it is those at the helm of affairs that will be called upon to answer to the problem. That the preponderance of those under probe are ex- political office holders of the immediate past administration is understandable. The probe cannot be said to be selective.
At least cases abound where those who were originally not under probe were later found to be part of the problem, and they are facing probe as well, even though they were not political office holders. Much as I am appalled that we seem to close our eyes to the successes recorded in the fight against insurgency, I’m utterly sad we close our eyes to the successes that are being recorded in the fight against bribe and corruption. We ought to appreciate and thank God for the successes recorded within a year and a half and at the same time pray to God to grant our President more courage and steadfastness in the handling of the affairs of the nation especially the economy.
About the state of Nigeria economy, I am also appalled that some Nigerians, even the educated ones blame Buhari for the poor state of the Nigeria economy. Some religious leaders to my surprise blame him too. I don’t know why any right thinking Nigerian will blame the President for what we are passing through today.
The economy that has been mismanaged and looted for several years is now negatively manifesting its effect on us all, most especially the mismanagement of the crude oil revenue of several years running. Unfortunately, the price of crude oil in the international market has drastically come down, but people tend to ignore the effect of this fall of oil price, which is the mainstay of Nigeria economy as a major contributor to Nigeria economic problems. Another worrisome and ironic scenario is the fact that those who led us to this present condition we face are now the same people using the hardship they created to campaign for election victory.
They are warming up to come back in 2019. And Nigerians seem to be asking them to come back to drag us to a more damning state. I have faith that better days are coming for us in Nigeria. Things are going to be better. Fuel is now available at a constant price.
Very soon we will begin to reap the gains of agricultural programmes and efforts put in place by this administration. Certainly, the foreign exchange situation will improve. I pray the Niger Delta militants will not continue to sabotage the efforts of Buhari to revamp the economy by eschewing all acts of bombing and destruction of oil facilities which gives rise to the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country.
All well meaning Nigerians will have to give full support to this administration and pray that our President doesn’t lose focus. Nigerians must display the virtue of patience, patience and patience because the task is enormous.
