Azu Ishiekwene
A
veteran Nigerian writer and member of the board of the Global Editors
Network has penned an interesting piece on the "Slow & Steady"
description of the Buhari style of government.
The cartoon was published in The Guardian on a Sunday sometime in
2016. It was a depiction of the tortoise approaching the gate of the
Presidential Villa, carrying the sign, “Slow and steady.”
On that Sunday, nearly one year after President Muhammadu Buhari
was elected and months, I think, after he announced his ministers, the
President had a copy of that publication on his side table as he spoke
with a guest.
Over small talk, he picked up the newspaper, flipped to the cartoon
page and spread it before the guest. “Whom do you think that is,” he
asked, half-smiling.
His guest looked at the cartoon, and as he was raising his head
locked eyes with the president. Both of them erupted in laughter.
The tortoise in the cartoon was a caricature of a president who had
taken six months to appoint his cabinet and would take even much longer
to fill other vital positions in government. Up till this week, he
regretted that many vacancies still exist.
Except in relation to the war against Boko Haram, which appears to
have been an aberration in response time, the tortoise may well be the
president’s favorite mascot for performance. But it’s no longer a
laughing matter.
The removal of former Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Babachir Lawal, and the NIA DG, Ayo Oke, finally happened
five months after the report was ready and over two months after it was
submitted to the president.
Did it have to take that long? Yes, the president traveled on a
medical vacation shortly before the report was due to be submitted. But
for a matter that has been lingering since April – and one that touches
on corruption, a major pillar of the government’s agenda – it shouldn’t
take nine weeks after his return to nail the coffin.
Yet, this coffin is not even closed. Prosecution for criminal
breach of trust should immediately follow their indictment and removal
from office. But if it took six months to indict and formally remove
Lawal and Oke from office, that may well be the end of the matter, until
either or both of them pop up again in another government office and
claim arrears for their layoff.
In a deal worse than incest, Lawal used a company in which he has
an interest, to cut grass with N220 million from funds meant for
displaced survivors of Boko Haram. It should have made the president mad
that such nonsense happened at a time when he was desperately looking
for help from the World Bank to rebuild the devastated North East
region. Or that instead of providing intelligence that might have saved
lives at the war front, Oke, the nation’s top spy, was busy stashing
away money in a private apartment in Lagos, using his wife as full-time
dollar nanny.
Why should the World Bank – or any other serious-minded group – act
with urgency or care when the government gives the impression that
fantastically corrupt officials in government are welcome to stay until
public outrage boils over?
Again, we’re seeing the same dangerous delay playing out in the
case of the disgraced former Chairman of the Presidential Pension Reform
Task Force, Abdulrasheed Maina. With questions over what President
Muhammadu Buhari knew or did not know swirling, the government ought to
follow up on Maina’s speedy removal – an exceptional moment – by
charging him to court.
But from what the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, is saying, it
appears that the same forces inside the government that prolonged
action on the Lawal-Oke case are working hard to let Maina enjoy the
billions of naira he pocketed from the sweat of miserable pensioners.
Sadly, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, Abubakar Malami, who should be helping to put away high-profile
crooks appeared to either be confused or overwhelmed by his job. It was
heartbreaking to hear him enthusiastically justifying his role in
Maina’s triumphant return to work, while millions of the victims of the
pension scam are suffering.
It’s not Malami’s fault. Neither are the hordes of crooks that
still appear to be beyond the reach of the law to blame for the delay in
bringing them to justice. The energy of Buhari’s government has been
drained, almost from the start, by nasty internal brush fires and turf
wars. The situation is compounded at the worst of times by his poor
health and at the best of times by his choices and temperament.
It’s the turf war that has left Magu as the public officer on the
longest probation doing perhaps the most dangerous job and yet serving
without a letter of appointment for two years, while Maina, a fugitive,
has a job reserved for him.
It’s the turf war that encourages the Group Managing Director of
NNPC, Maikanti Baru, to add insult to the injury of the Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, and at the height of public
disgust over the way the corporation is being run, the GMD still offers
politicians free lunch.
It’s the turf war that has paralyzed Buhari’s government, often leaving behind a trail of tardiness.
But even outside the turf war, it sometimes gets tardier with the
choice of a few of the President’s key staff. His Chief of Staff, Abba
Kyari, for example, may be doing a great job for him in some other
unknowable departments. But the last thing that an aging Buhari needs on
top of his poor health and natural insularity, is a key staff who
allows the molehills of official work to become mountains of obstruction
before anything gets done.
As the nation watched the pathetic scenes of Kyari and the Head of
Service, Winifred Oyo-Ita, bickering over Maina in the Villa this week,
and plumber after executive plumber raced in to mend the leaking roof in
the presence of a perplexed Vice President, the rule appears to be:
slow and tardy wins the race.
It was interesting to hear the D-G of Customs and long-time Buhari
ally, Hameed Ali, pile on the Peoples Democratic Party for the woes of
the ruling All Progressives Congress. I think he should have spoken up
when former Governor Rotimi Amaechi and others who crossed over from the
PDP with fat checkbooks in hand were joining the APC.
Since APC cannot take their money and turn around to complain about
their influence, the best the ruling party can hope for is to manage
the mess.
Two and a half years down the road, the government’s worst enemy is
not the PDP or crooks who are taking advantage of the system. It's
tardiness, government by slow motion, letting things pile up until
there’s deafening public outcry. That’s the point of the mascot of the
tortoise in the Guardian on Sunday cartoon.
That mascot haunted the president in his first coming 32 years ago,
providing an excuse for his removal in a palace coup. He should know by
now that delay is, sometimes, more dangerous than speed.
About the Author:
Azu Ishiekwene is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview and member of the board of the Global Editors Network
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