The Art of Governance is not Rocket Science

They say time reveals everything, and nothing can be truer. As the last days of President Buhari pitters out, majority of Nigerians are reeling from almost four years of botched promises. For some, it was a complete fraud while for the unrepentant opposition, it was a confirmation of what they hoped. There are certain presidential dispensations that require a thorough retrospective work to determine their success or failure; the sense you get for the Buhari dispensation is that it has already judged itself and there might be no need to keep the jury out.

It is important to unequivocally state that anyone that dare say that our lot as a nation would have been better if the administration of president Goodluck Jonathan got a second chance, is either deluded or ignorant of the issues. The startling revelations uncovered by the Buhari administration simply showed that the nation was being raped, and it was only a matter of time before we self-implode. Yet, it wasn’t enough that the Buhari administration spent the first half of their tenure hurling blames.

What we have witnessed over the past few years have been anything but change. Power is still epileptic, cost of doing business remain dire, unemployment is still at an all-time high, systemic corruption is still on rampage, Boko Haram scourge has refused to go away, and then the new monster that has unraveled under this administration – herdsmen/farmers killings. There are plausible reasons to explain all of these misdemeanors but no ‘excuse’ will be good enough. Government was elected to find solutions not find excuses. The lethargy and indecisiveness of the president have been explained by his handlers to mean being calculative and cerebral. They will often say: This president takes his time. Total gibberish! The job of the president is one of judgement calls and decisions, and that is why he is bloody paid his salary. In numerous instances, president Buhari judgment calls have been found wanting. Not only is he slow in reaching decisions, the outcomes when he eventually does make up his mind are truly poor. His latest gaffe was visiting the Dapchi school, where hundreds of school girls were kidnapped after many weeks, and his handlers deemed it fit to roll out the red carpet. At a crime scene!

Even the eight National Assembly has to cover its face in shame. The so called ‘parliamentarians’ have spent a good part of their time seeking a change to the electoral calendar for their self-interest and pursuing mundane bills. The Judiciary cannot also be spared. Agree or not, the Judiciary has been a blocker rather than a enabler in the corruption fight. In all, it is a government that have failed at the first time of asking.

If the first four years of this administration is anything to go by, then it is obvious that it does not deserve a second term. The administration has depleted it credibility bank and should be quick to leave. Yet, the million dollar question is: where are the alternatives? If the current names being brandished across the major opposition parties are all we can afford, then let’s brace up for another tortuous four years. Surely, the art of governance is not so complicated. It is not rocket science!