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Yar’Adua’s 100 days of bliss

HANK ESO

Wednesday 5 September, 2007

At the midnight hour on 5 September 2007, President Umaru Yar'Adua would mark his first centenary days-- that is 100 days -- in office. If the president’s four-year tenure was a book, I would be much inclined to say that the opening chapter has been inspirational, hope-inducing and heart warming. This is so, despite the contested legitimacy of Yar'Adua’s emergence. Indeed, the way his presidency is evolving was least expected, given what we already know about his ruling party. Perhaps, the positive but awkward uniqueness of the first 100 days would explain why some quarters of the nation are gearing up to celebrate.

While like all things Nigerian, we really need no excuse to celebrate, declare surplus or convoke an owambe, I suspect that efforts are already in full gear to mark this dateline, as if it coincided with Nigeria’s landing of a man on the moon or the announcement of our long sought efforts to find the vaccine that would cure HIV/AIDS. Had Yar'Adua’s presidency so far been unremarkable, some would still celebrate it, mindful of the fact that comparatively, such an indolent period would still be preferred to the best of times under his predecessor. In this context, it is not unlikely that those who are gong-ho about the first 100 days are indeed, indirectly celebrating the good riddance to the bad rubbish Nigeria had until last May, all in the name of leadership. Inescapably, the emergence of Yar'Adua will eternally and indissolubly be linked with rule and exit of his revered “wiseness”, OBJ. I, for one, was among those who blamed OBJ for bequeathing us with Yar’Adua and Goodluck - a “thirdrate team” to lead Nigeria. Many others shared my views. We were all dubious about the man named Umaru Yar’Adua, not because we had anything against him or his pedigree, but because of how he was thrust upon us.

How unusual, then, that I would join those who have started to believe that there may still be a modicum of hope for Nigeria with Yar'Adua at the helm. Hope may be eternal, but for Nigerians, hope has been abridged, after many false starts and after being incessantly, dashed, foreclosed, and mortgaged by most of our past leaders. Certainly, the nation could be forgiven of making the assumption that the political refrain under Yar'Adua will be much of the same. An apple never falls far from the tree; and Yar'Adua is willy-nilly a product of the Nigerian listless but fractious politics that produced his predecessors.

Without being unnecessarily preoccupied with history, Yar'Adua, ran the risk of being evaluated from the prism of skepticism than from one of optimism. Such fate was not of his making, but of what he inherited and the cynicism that has become habitual for Nigerians, given their long-standing experience. There is no magic to 100 days in office. In fact, it serves as no meaningful political barometer. After all, 100 days is not 100 years, which would be remarkable for an individual, more so for any individual from Nigeria, where the life span has plummeted alarmingly. But using 100 days as a benchmark for politics or anything else for that matter has become fanciful, trendy, and noteworthy. Ironically, for a journey that may last 1,460 days or 2,920 days if Yar’Adua gets a second term, 100 days is fairly inconsequential, since indeed, at that juncture, there is really no record to be judged, except for the preliminaries such as appointments and laying down policy options.

In real terms, we can say with some fervent degree of certitude, that Yar'Adua has stayed true to his promise to be a servant leader. Evidently, he is a cautious and very deliberate man, hence his sobriquet, Baba Go-Slow. But not much else has happened vis-à-vis his seven point agenda. Also in real terms, what can be said of his policy blueprint as contained in his inaugural speech? When his 100 days is juxtaposed with his declaratory speech, what is the yield so far, in terms of new initiatives, reforms, and overall expectation? Has there really been any discernible shift away from the ways of his predecessor and the ruling PDP party, besides the change of personalities? Perhaps it is coincidental, but I am told that since Yar'Adua took office the epileptic power supply in Nigeria seem to have abated; now there is uninterrupted power for extended periods.

Perhaps also, the President Yar'Adua is best suited to be a Fire Brigade captain. Surely, those around him have in the past 100 days given him enough ire and the opportunity to douse the flames they have set by stoking smoldering political amber. The kick off was by the maverick and eager beaver Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), Attorney-General of the Federation & Minister of Justice, who seemingly prefers to speak before looking at the statute books. His attempt to subjugate EFCC/ICPC failed as speedily as it was conceived, calling into question his vision of a functional justice system as “one that is simple, fast, efficient, effective and more responsive.”

Second was the emergence of “Soludonomics” by the Central Bank Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who coveted playing a proactive and all-embracing kind of an Alan Greenspan role, but without quite fully appreciating the lay of the political land or having a feel of the pulse of the nation and what it would readily tolerate. Third, was the fire in Pitakwa; as in Fire in Soweto. Port Harcourt had become basically ungovernable; and intentionally so, as if to provoke a State of Emergency. But Yar’Adua proved yet again, that he would not be goaded into taking rushed or rash action. Perhaps he remembers what the Nigerian military did in Odi in November 1999. Finally, from the national Assembly, came the mother-of-all scandals, when the Speaker Patricia Etteh elected to use funds that could have built her a new mansion to do just renovating. If this was not the mother of self-indulgence, debauchery, and extreme inordinacy, I don’t know what is. Some male politicians are said to be profligate; but female politicians are more so, when they choose to indulge.

One thing all these have in common is what is generally referred to in the local pidgin parlance as “chancing”. It seems these people were “chancing” or feeling out the president to know how he would react to their respective overkill. They pushed the envelope to its limits, testing his tolerance level as they did so. Well, we can say that President Yar'Adua is not as ruthless as OBJ; otherwise these people would have been toast by now. But it may well be that the President deliberately wanted his honeymoon with Nigerians to last longer, thus easing the pain and concern of how he came to office.

Reversals as policy

When a preceding regime is superbad, it goes without saying or asking, that the succeeding regime can perceptibly do well by doing no worse. It could also look good merely by reversing some of the overreaches of its predecessor. Hence, the policy of reversal seems to be serving President Yar'Adua well – so far at least. Several reversals are noteworthy, though not in any order of the importance:

· Compliance with Court orders and promoting the rule of law and not meddling with the anti-corruption drive;
· Reversal of petroleum products pump prices and the suspension of import duty waivers;
· Upholding the Supreme Court ruling in Anambra State in favor of Gov. Peter Obi;
· Release of statutory revenue allocation due to Lagos state for its LGAs;
· Scuttling of the sale of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries;
· Ending the reallocation of revoked lands and demolition of alleged illegal structures in Abuja; and
· Stopping the Naira re-denomination policy dead on its tracks.

As welcome as these reversals may be, they do not in any sense begin to address the urgent questions of governance that persist in Nigeria. Neither are they indicative that Yar'Adua and his team have a full grasp of what it would take to turn Nigeria around, beyond spending the revenue from crisis-induced oil windfall. Leadership ought not to be like the song, which asks: “Now that we found love what are we going to do with it?”

The Governance Road Not Yet Taken

Here is Yar’Adua’s challenge for the next 100 days and beyond. There will be need for new and purposeful policies, which the people can identify with and which must have practical application. Second, good governance goes beyond rhetoric; its implementation and sustainability will rest of three key factors, interest of the common weal, equity for all stake holders, and act of governance itself, which must be anchored on peace and security, absence of or alleviating of poverty, employment, generation of wealth and sufficiency of democratic values.

More importantly, the people need to have a sense that they are contributing to how they are being governed. Like our changing world, Nigeria needs a new brand of leadership and ways of governance. We have earned the dubious distinction of being a nation where many wallow in abject poverty in the midst of affluence. With regards to Nigeria’s present disposition, The Economist recently referred to it as “a glaring mismatch between their actual state and their extraordinary potentials”. When President Yar’Adua speaks on September 24, in New York, at the forum titled, “From Challenges to Opportunities: Nigeria Meets the World”, Nigerians, more than his foreign interlocutors will be listening intensely. Our challenges and opportunities are inextricably linked, and getting others to help us grapple with them, must start with faithfully creating the enabling environment at home. He needs to remember that the Niger Delta conundrum is his political albatross. Solved or unsolved, the Niger Delta crisis will, as I have mentioned in the space several times before, define his presidency.

So far, President Yar'Adua has been saying and doing the right things. However, Nigerians would like, to measure the next 100 days by tangible progress in the realm of security, employment, rising productivity in non-oil sectors, stability in the education sector and through overall human progress. For now, despite the urge to celebrate the first 100 days, we are yet to commence our traversing of the governance road that will guarantee purposeful leadership and all the attending dividends.

We understand that with President Yar'Adua, maintaining an even keel, steady hand and deliberate speed is all part of the good governance act. Under President Obasanjo we earned over $230 billion over eight years and scuppered it all. We can earn the same amount in the next eight years. We would like to see it translated into something tangible for Nigeria and for our posterity. Additionally, Nigerians need to reach a comfort zone, where they can see and consider Yar'Adua not just as the president, but refer to him endearingly as ‘our’ or ‘my’ president. When we reach that critical juncture, we will celebrate Yar'Adua, the man and his accomplishments.

With neither anger nor partiality, until next time, keep the law, stay impartial, and observe closely.

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Hank Eso, is a columnist for Kwenu.com. His commentaries on Nigerian politics and global issues have appeared in The New Times (Lagos), African Profile International (New York), The Nigerian And Africa Abroad, (New York), African Market News (New Jersey) and in Gamji.com and Nigeriavillagesquare.com

Email: hankeso@aol.com