The
massive turnout by the voters during the last general elections,
particularly the presidential elections, was revolutionary and marked a
new political evolution in Nigerian democratic experiment.
The
ruling political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, was defeated by
the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress. But every
revolution promises great hope and expectation to confront and deal
decisively with the problems plaguing the society. The end of a matter
can be presumed by the occurrences in the beginning. It is in this
context that the ruling party APC will be critically assessed, if indeed
it should be regarded as a true change agent in Nigeria.
The
APC was an amalgamation of several political parties. The parties came
together to form a united, purposeful and strong opposition party to the
then ruling party, the PDP. The party, from its inception has shown for
all good intents and purposes its determination to confront and correct
all perceived social-economic problems facing the nation. But a
thorough observation and critical analysis of the new government so far
shows no signs of a potential change agent for the country. Some
Nigerians are already nursing doubts if the present government really
has any road map to deal with the issues of developmental challenges
confronting our dear nation. After all, a child that will be great in
future must start showing some elements of greatness from childhood.
That
Nigeria, like any developing nation in the world, is faced with
monumental developmental challenges is a fact that is not hidden either
from the ruling party, the Nigerian populace and indeed the entire
world. Though genuine and sincere efforts were made by the immediate
past government of the PDP led by the former President Goodluck
Jonathan, to tackle some of the critical challenges to no avail, the
Buhari-led APC government presented itself as a credible alternative and
the messiah of our time to take our nation out of the woods. Nigerians,
however, are yet to see the signs of any good times ahead.
The
lack-luster approach of the APC government, on take-off, to some
sensitive national issues should be of serious concern to discerning
minds.
It is a normal occurrence for any new government coming
into power, as a matter of fact, to be confronted with challenges, but a
true change agent must however be proactive enough in dealing with and
proffering solutions to these challenges, drawing from its
well-articulated strategies and programmes of action. Many of us are
doubtful if the APC does.
The impression given to Nigerians by
the APC leadership before the last general elections was that the party
had already designed a blue-print to deal with the country’s numerous
challenges. More so, when the government is being led by a former head
of state, who had had the rare privilege of presiding over this nation
in the past, contested for the presidency on three different occasions
and before the last general elections had traversed all the nooks and
crannies of this country promising and whetting Nigerians appetite for
‘change.’
Any true change agent like Muhammadu Buhari is
expected to bring his wealth of experience and reputation to galvanise
the available human resources to spur the nation to greatness and live
up to that expectation in planning and action.
Regrettably, the
actions of the APC led administration at the centre have not in any way
shown any appreciable level of preparation or readiness for the roles
expected and anticipated of a ruling party in Nigeria. The party has not
in any way justified its so much flaunted mantra as a change agent.
For
a true change to occur there must be a clear vision that is different
and better from the past vision if only by the road map of achieving the
old vision. After all, change is said to be the attraction of doing
things differently to achieve the desired results. Let the APC
government challenges Nigerians with its clear-cut vision and the road
map that are different from the political illusion or mere promises of
stable electricity, infrastructural development, security and employment
generation.
There must be clearly defined ways or methodology
of performance measurement. For example, tell Nigerians how many
megawatts of electricity they want to add to the National grid per year
and how that will be achievable; tell Nigerians how many kilometers of
roads they want to construct within a specific time frame and their
strategy in achieving it. They should tell Nigerians what specific
approach on wealth creating employments they have to offer and so on.
However,
what happened in the National Assembly during its inauguration had
shown a poor management of political power and electoral success by the
APC leadership, which resulted in crisis because of lack of
consideration for every region and interests. A true change agent must
be able to align forces, aggregate various political interests and
articulate fresh ideas of dealing with all these characteristics.
Regardless of its implications to APC, the National Assembly has
exhibited democracy at its best. What played out has further
strengthened our democratic values and creates checks and balances in
the legislative arm and other arms of government in extension.
Drawing
from the flaws of APC, the first requirement of any true change agent
is to understand the workings, the systems and the dynamism of its
environment. To proactively identify, analyse and decisively tackle
perceived problems or challenges in the system. It is the understanding
of the problems that will give room for the right solutions. Nigerians
are concerned if the APC truly understands the workings of the Nigerian
governmental system.
It is also important that a change agent
must provide adequate incentives to pacify every segment that makes up
Nigeria and to reduce grievances that could erupt from various interests
and cultural differences. Incentives in this case come in form of
positioning and distribution of power across the various interests. APC,
so far, has not shown a sign of fairness in this case.
Looking
at some of the steps taken so far by the present government, it is clear
and obvious that the APC as a party in government lacks the credentials
and potential of a true change agent. It does not possess the required
skills and knowledge of the change process.
It is highly
disappointing that the ruling party does not understand neither has it
come to terms with the complications and complexities of governance at
the federal level. This lack of understanding and cluelessness has led
to the failure of the government to identify and appoint competent and
experienced people into sensitive positions in government that should
not be left vacant for too long. This has also led to the chaos and
apparent confusion created by the party in its bid to assuming the
leadership of the 8th National Assembly in the current dispensation.
Kudos
must therefore go to the PDP that has shown swiftly, the capacity to
seize any available opportunity to enthrone democratic stability,
independence of the legislature and all-inclusive government in the
country.
In conclusion, the change Nigerians are getting, if there is any change at all, is not the change they voted for.
- Setonji Koshoedo is the former chairman of the PDP in Lagos State
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