Obasanjo's government is derailing
by
That General Olusegun Obasanjo's government is derailing is no more news.
It can only be news to the sycophants of the South-West press who feel they have an obligation to defend "their own" in the face of mounting evidences to the contrary. All the opposing news reports on the dismal performance of the Government are taken by the South -West press as "ranting of the ants".
The Arewa Consultative Forum ACF was emphatic and quite patriotic in their submissions. Let me quote them here "Obasanjo is probably the only person who knows where his government is going. It neither has focus nor would he stay around to work. The economy is grinding to a halt. Unemployment is running out of control and so is crime. The Naira Value is shrinking and industries are collapsing". They submitted that together, these pose a real danger to civil disorder and conflict. They advised the different tiers of government to cooperate. The President was advised to work with the National Assembly, to travel less, to listen to his officials and advisers and most importantly, to ensure equity and fairness to all in the discharge of his functions.
Taken together, nothing can be more patriotic than the ACF submissions except to the myopic eye.
If the performance of the economy so far is taken along the lines of the greatly increased revenue accruing to the government through oil sales wind fall, then this administration needs to thoroughly re- examine itself. The president need not be reminded that while our year 2000 Budget was based on 618 per barrel of oil sold, throughout this year oil has consistently sold above $ 27 per barrel (to be conservative. Let him be reminded that the Abuja Stadium project in the face of grinding poverty is not what Nigerians expect from him. That this stadium project contract was awarded to Julius Berger (Major Partner) and Bouygues has been correlated to his unapproved payment to Julius Berger on assumption of office.
The question Nigerians are asking is can we afford to build the stadium now? If the president is to be assessed on his own criteria, two major points become important -the anti corruption crusade and NDDC bill. How far have we gone in these two areas? Has the resignation of a particular Minister in this government recently got anything to do with official corruption on unauthorised transfer of funds to a Bank where the minister has interest? Yet this ex-minister is being proposed for a higher portfolio.
Why is the president not prosecuting his own aids, while he chases the National Assembly and has succeeded in making the Senate a lame duck? Let the president challenge Nduka Irabor of the House of Representatives to debate on oil lifting contracts. So much on corruption.
On NDDC, we are still waiting for him to act on one of the first bills he submitted to the National Assembly even when the bill has been passed into law, although against his wish.
Obasanjo has also succeeded in making Alliance for Democracy (AD) a subsidiary of PDP. The South-West will soon regret this if they don't stop him now.
The president is derailing. There is no doubt about that. No amount of campaign from Afenifere or the South-West press can change this position.
The only thing that can swell the president's friends is good performance.
In that case, he may need to publish like the Delta, Edo, and Abia State governments, the consolidated Income Statement and Balance Sheet of the Nation. This is the challenge of transparency.
Mr. Ukah wrote in from Lagos