Nigerians as scapegoats of ‘change’

How do you feel when you expect to be soothed by words of comfort from those you look up to in times of trouble only to be offered no succour at all but indirectly abused and lambasted for what is really not your fault? Or how do you feel being made a scapegoat for an offence you didn’t commit? How do you feel? Shocked? Sad? Disappointed? Embarrassed? Well, for me, I felt all that and much more.

I’m talking about the media reports on Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, who, while reacting to the widespread lamentations on the economic situation in the country days ago, was quoted to have said President Muhammadu Buhari only promised change but Nigerians want magic in an interview he granted Radio Continental.

In case you missed it, I quote his exact words: “I think Nigerians have always complained, and we should learn to stop complaining and believe more. If you have elected a government because you believe it can bring change, and you have not allowed them to isolate what the problems are, and articulate what the solutions would be, and you begin to have all these complaints, I think it is not natural.

“What government needs at a time like this, is cooperation and support. The president said this at an interview last week. He said things deteriorated over 16 years that PDP was in power, this is the ninth month of this government, and you want everything to have changed. It is not real.”

Buttressing his point further, the President’s spokesman adds: “This is a government that is working for the people. Rather than complaining, let us cooperate, support and encourage. The promised change would come. Don’t forget that our president said it would take a minimum of 18 months to revive the economy. Nigerians don’t listen to something like that, they want magic immediately. It doesn’t happen that way. This change will come, but it would follow a process, and it would be enduring,” Adesina said.

Now, I know that Mr. Adesina is a good man and a born-again Christian. I also know that while he was MD/Editor-in-Chief at THE SUN, many of the staff had high regards for him and spoke so highly of his leadership qualities. He is described as a leader who is ever ready to support and encourage his people. He cares for the downtrodden. He is a giver. And I also know that many Nigerians love reading his weekly column and have followed his writings and thoughts for years before he was offered his current position by the President.

On a personal level, I’ve had the privilege of sitting one-on-one with Mr. Adesina when he was President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) to discuss critical issues about our country on a book I was writing at the time. I can attest to the fact that his desire is for the condition of the Nigerian on the street to change for the better. Of course, he is one of those who believed in President Buhari long before the President eventually won the mandate last year. However, what I do not know is if Mr. Adesina has mastered his current PR job for President Buhari well enough. But sincerely, I don’t think so.

Reading through his explanations in that interview as reported by TheCable, my heart sank. Ki le le yi? What’s this? Adesina says Nigerians have not allowed the government to isolate what the problems are, and articulate what the solutions would be, yet we are complaining. If we take Mr. Adesina’s words for it and I get him clear,  is he saying Nigerians can now conclude that the propositions and campaign promises made by the APC before being voted into power were mere promises that were not well conceived and thought out before they were pushed out to the public?

Is he saying all the change that President Buhari promised were not backed up by  thorough research by his team and a deep understanding of the challenges confronting our country? Is he saying when Nigerians were told the government would hit the ground running, those were just pure lies or insincerities to give Nigerians something to talk about?  That’s what I understand him to be saying. Or what is he saying since a politician or political party that knows its onions would have thoroughly done its research well before starting campaigns? Or is he saying a President or governor needs to first get into office before knowing what to do?  Such leader is already living in the past. Living in the past like yesterday!

We had the Obafemi Awolowos and Nnamdi Azikiwes of this world who shared the vision of the country they would love to build and the plans they intend implementing when voted into office in books even before being trusted with power. I honestly think the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity is being clever by half and trying to play smart on behalf of the government if he thinks Nigerians should be the scapegoats of the change promised by President Buhari and the APC.

Again, who says Nigerians want “everything to have changed?” Everything in nine months? No sir. That’s not what Nigerians are saying. Even the uneducated ones among us are certainly not so dumb or foolish. We know that the rot is deep and would surely take some time before it is cleared.

The concern, sir, is that the actions and activities of this government don’t inspire enough hope and confidence that things would change for the better. The Buhari government is not prompt. It is too slow for our liking in its decision making. Concerning critical economic matters, it foot-drags. Ask Nigerians. Ask businesses. Ask investors. The government must admit this reality. When the people are crying, and the government, rather than trying to ameliorate their situation, insists there really is no cause for alarm or complaints, now, that it is fake. It’s not real. For how long more will Nigerians wait? For how many more years will the pains last? Aside fighting corruption, when will Nigerians experience the change and be the ones to go on the roof tops, sorry, the social media, to proclaim the good news to the world?

Some Nigerians even say with the corruption perpetuated during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan being unearthed, their lives were still better off under his administration. No light. No fuel to power their homes, their offices, their enterprises and their machinery. No money to live life and settle their bills. That the situation of things is more or less on stand still in the country and the only thing they can see is President Buhari gallivanting all around the world while his country is burning on several fronts like the Agatu killings in Benue. Meanwhile, they are entitled to their opinions.

I sincerely cannot understand why Adesina would choose such words in passing across his points in the Radio Continental interview. Nigerians have been traumatised enough. We should give them some words of succour. Adesina may not be the President but he is the President’s spokesman. His words are more or less received as those of the President. That statement is the least I expected from a leader, especially a leader who understands the plight of his people and their situation very well. I think he needs to be more careful with his choice of words while speaking to Nigerians. My humble advice.

And I think the President’s man also needs to know that there is no patriotic Nigerian who wants his principal to fail. Nigerians are the ones who will lose if that happens. We don’t want that. The government must be clear and settled on this. However, Nigerians cannot be blackmailed into silence or refrained from expressing their opinions about the direction of the country or the performance of the government.

Meanwhile, I have seen a number of amazing people go into the corridors of power and become transformed, or ‘changed’ if you like, from the person people knew them to be. I think we may even need to someday investigate what it is that makes otherwise very good folks change in attitude and viewpoint after they get into government. I know a few. I pity them because they seem to be a shadow of their former selves. Serving the fatherland is a great honour. But I still think one can get out of the kitchen if it’s getting too hot. There are many other ways to make impact.

As citizens, we all are stakeholders and partners in progress in Project Nigeria, not enemies. And we must engage ourselves more respectfully no matter the opinions we hold. That’s why if I have a humble advice for those in power, it is that they learn how to communicate better with the people and interact more with them on their plans for our country and our future. If you ask me, I think leaders insult citizens too much in our country. They talk down on citizens as if they are doing us a favour being entrusted to lead us as if it’s not a great privilege and honour for them to write their names in gold and leave their footprints for posterity. Yet, true leaders are supposed to be servants, with lifting and inspiring words in their mouths for their people all the time no matter the season, no matter the weather. Not some lords to be worshipped spewing out unpleasant words to the ears on subjects.