HOW DID WE GET IT WRONG?

Let me start by wishing our numerous readers a happy new year.

Either the government likes it or not this year will be better for us as a nation.

At about this time last year, the subsidy crises was the order of the day; I don’t need to remind you that the whole of that year 2012 was packed full of policies, decisions and misappropriation of priorities  by the government that is still making some of us wonder if these people actually knows what governance is all about.

After the subsidy strike that almost crippled the economy in 2012, several committees were setup by the federal government to investigate claims by the NNPC, Minister of Petroleum, and the Central Bank that the sum of 1.73 Trillion Naira was paid out to marketers in 2011 as subsidy claims.

Like most other committee reports in Nigeria, the findings of some of these committees were swept under the Carpet; prominent among them is the “Farouk Gate” scandal where a Notable business man and oil magnate Femi Otedola openly confessed that he gave marked Dollars to some members of the House of representative subsidy probe panel headed by Honourable Farouk Lawan. Nigerians are yet to recover from the “Boju Boju”(hide and seek) that followed the whole scenario. The comments by notable Nigerians and human rights activists across the country about the need to see to a logical conclusion of the bribery scandal have not yielded much in this regard.

Also in 2012, our great reformist and master strategist Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi though not disappointing some of us who have always known him to be a man that puts the cart before the Horse, came with his N5000 note policy that did not eventually see the light of the day.

 The year 2012 also recorded major air mishaps like the DANA air crash that “deflated” the Nigerian University Commission NUC and the spokes person of the NNPC Levi Ajuonuma amongst others who are too numerous to mention, Deputy Inspector General of Police John Haruna, former Governor of Kaduna State Patrick Yakowa, and former National Security Adviser General Andrew Owoye Azazi were also victims of some unfortunate helicopter crash that bedevilled the aviation sector.

The radical Islamic Group (Boko Haram) insurgences in most part of the North became so rampant last year that most Nigerians now believed that Mr. President have already - made condolence messages for victims of the blasts and bombings whenever it happens.

Despite warnings by the   National Emergency Management Commission NEMA of an imminent flood disaster, the government failed to take proactive steps which made it clear that  ‘fire brigade’ approaches and who gets what gives room for ‘kleptocracy” and “fictitious” contracts for our political leaders than taking the right step at the right time.  The flood disaster eventually came destroying properties worth billions of naira and rendering many homeless. The Home Town of Mr President was not also spared as most of our roads which were hitherto bad became un-passable by any kind of vehicle. The Abuja – Lokoja expressway was totally closed by the Federal Road Safety Commission for days due to the flood crises.

The 17.6 Billion Naira relief fund to manage the disaster by Mr. President also fell into the hands of some ‘political mistakes’ that now prefer to use the money to buy choice vehicles rather than solve the problem at hand all in the name of logistics, needless to say that some of the relief materials ended up in the public market where they were sold and the money remitted to these enemies of progress.

As a way of welcoming us into the New Year as usual, the federal government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development struck again with its wild Goose chase when the permanent secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote announced in Abeokuta that the federal government has concluded plans to spend the sum of 60 Billion Naira for the acquisition of 10 million units of mobile phones, at 6,000 Naira per unit to be distributed to rural farmers all over the country before the end of the first quarter of 2013; stating categorically that the fund has already been provided by the federal government. The next few hours brought about what I will call social media chaos as the policy somersault was now trending on twitter, facebook, and all others social and news media used in this part of the world. So many School Of Thoughts condemned the misappropriation of priority by a government that has promised betters days in 2013.

In a bid to cover their inadequacies, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina denied the report attributing it to quoting the permanent Secretary out of context. The Mobile Empowerment Initiative (MEI) according to him was just a plan by the federal government to make sure that rural farmers all over the country have direct link with government policies, Banks loans and market realities emphasising that the government is yet to take the final decision on the issue. My eloquent Minister neither confirmed nor denied the report that the sum of 60 billion naira will be spent on this White Elephant project. Between Madam permanent secretary and Honourable Minister, Nigerians are still trying to come to terms with who is actually telling the truth. Whichever way, 60 billion naira is hanging on a balance.

This has raised a lot of questions begging for answers; prominent among them being ‘are these people actually working for the progress of this country? Or working just to enrich themselves the more?  Is it actually about developing the economy or just a way of creating avenue for treasury looting in the form of contracts and consultancy?’ why is it that almost all our reforms and policies always end in the award of juicy contracts that create jobs for other countries rather than our own country? Where will these mobile phones come from? Oh maybe the government will open a factory in Aba, Lagos, Kano and the FCT where these phone will be produce. India and China have found a major market in Nigeria for dumping their tricycles which some of our state governors are using to replace Motorcycles all in the name of policies reforms and rebranding for a better Nigeria; who gets the contract and at what cost is mostly not made public. During the first and second republic when Nigeria could boast of groundnut in the North, Cocoa in the West, Coal in the East and Timber in the South in large commercial quantity were the regional government using mobile phones? Let’s even agree that it’s a digital age and we need to communicate; how will these rural farmers recharge the batteries of these phones with the epileptic power supply in the cities and 70 percent of our rural communities still to be connected to the national grid?  Will the government also give allowances periodically to farmers to buy airtime in these phones? Like Dele Momodu asked in one of his articles will notable farmers like the former president Olusegun Obasanjo also be a beneficiary of this government largesse? Will these phones stop the importation of food that is presently running into trillions of naira yearly? These and many more questions are begging for answers.

Where did we get it wrong? Is it by voting for these set of leaders that are now using our mandate to punish us in the name of reforms? Have we failed on our part as citizens of this nation to stand and fight for what we believe is best for us? Or is it that those set of leaders and technocrats who were part of the first and second republic when the nation survived mostly on proceeds from agriculture have failed to contribute their quota by given the necessary advice when needed? Maybe these present set of leaders have refused to listen to wise counsel from those that have been there.

  It is high time Mr. Presidents looks within his government to see if they are all on same page, Benue state is the food Basket of this Nation but it’s obvious we are under utilising this Basket. Mobile phones will not improve the lots of the rural farmers who have resorted to “farm and eat phenomenon” government should work to make faming attractive to the youths who would rather prefer to run after white collar jobs rather than farming. Different federal farms should be introduced and the dead ones resuscitated in states that are known for specific kind of crops to boost yields. Government officials should forget about making policies that are not people oriented. The interest of the country should be placed over personal interest so that reforms and decisions will portray collective interest of the people. Polices that create jobs for other countries should be avoided.

Nigeria is a great country and together we can achieve this Greatness