Senator Shehu Sani
Taking inventory of the present situation in Nigeria and the capacity of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to deliver the country from economic, social and political quagmire, in the face of the recent happenings within federal government circles, Shehu Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central, and former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said there are clear indications that the government has been hijacked by a cabal and holding the President hostage.
Both Sani and Musa also lamented that even the federal government’s anti-corruption crusade and the capacity to revive the country’s economy have not been properly articulated by the President, following the inability to address the fundamental problems undermining government’s policies.
Besides, Sani urged Buhari to reconsider the calls from some quarters to run for a second term in office, considering his age, health status and the complexity to drive the nation’s economy, adding, however, that the decision is his whether to contest again in 2019.
After reviewing the performance of the President and the state of the country’s economy and polity today, the senator said in an interview with The Guardian, yesterday: “First and foremost, in 2015, the Buhari administration came with a lot of goodwill. It was a government that came in with high hopes and ambition. Many changes were promised Nigerians, whose expectations were very high.
“There were successes recorded in a number of areas and there were also failures that have been experienced in the past two and half years. “We must accept the fact that Buhari has been able to degrade the capacity of Boko Haram in capturing territories and hoisting flags in our country.
“They also do not have that capacity in launching attacks in Nigeria, because they have been confined to a very small quarter. That does not mean that violence and bombing is over.
“Secondly, Buhari has been able to declare in Nigeria that corruption is a menace to be crushed, otherwise, it will kill us as a people.”
Sani, however, said there are numbers of failures the administration has recorded, pointing out that they are attributable to a number of factors, including “the failure of the government to appoint ministers from the first week it came into office, which left affairs of the government in the hands of civil servants and Permanent Secretaries and the inaction to declare economic blueprint for this administration right from inception, suggesting that every economic policies were done haphazardly.”
Other shortcomings listed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) senator and human rights activist were the actions of the politicians themselves, who “diverted the attention of the government away and made it impossible for the party to truly support the administration and also serve as a bulwark for facilitating its own programmes and policies.”
Sani further argued: “Another factor is the existence of a government within a government. A clique of people appeared to have surrounded the President and hijacked instrument of power. They overran the government and held the country to ransom. Otherwise, they are known as cabal.
“From a democracy that is a government of the people for the people, we are now in a government of the cabal, by the cabal and for the cabal. And this seriously stained the government of Buhari and undermined the capacity to deliver.
“Nigerians are worried that the President is held hostage and the government is being teleguided, manipulated and directed by few people within the corridors of power.
“Another problem that the nation will continue to face is the fact that the moral component of Buhari’s administration is the war against corruption. Nigerians expected so much from him, but the disturbing trend is the fact that his capacity to address the problem of corruption seems to be very limited.
“He seems to lack the virility, capability and potency to deal with friends and friends of his administration who have been found wanting.”
He went on: “There is the issue of grass cutting scandal, which he has not been able to address. There is the issue of Kachikwu and Baru-NNPC scandal, which seems to have been swept under the carpet.
“Now, there is the scandal of the recall of Maina. An impression is now created in the minds of Nigerians that the anti-corruption crusade is double-faced. And we must tell ourselves the truth: Corruption has become a cat with nine lives.
“In the past, it was under the shade of an umbrella, but today, it is being swept under the carpet with a broom.”
In his reaction to the state of the nation, Musa said: “There is no good sign that the situation in Nigeria has improved under Buhari’s government. Rather, things are now getting worse.
“The only thing that can save the nation is for this country to redirect its policies and centre the socio-economic and political interest to public interest first, rather than private interest, which is the order of the day in Nigeria.”
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