The X-Ray by Ope Shina

The President’s Independence speech is still fresh in our minds. Though, overshadowed by the Ministerial list, taking a deeper look and watching the body language of President Buhari in events to come is essential.

In the speech of twenty (20) paragraphs , he outlined the following: 

1. His Fight against Corruption:

PMB further reinstate his strong will to reduce corruption to a standstill, he categorically said "Nobody should fear anything from me. We are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their actions".

Hmmmm, I hope no one needs a soothsayer to explain this quote from the man who, in his inaugural speech made the popular statement "I belong to nobody".

Excerpt:

“As I said in my inaugural speech,
I bear no ill will against anyone on past events. Nobody should fear anything from me. We are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view to join me in working for the nation." 

2. Confidence:

He talked about enriching the confidence of the people in working with Vice President on medium-term and long-term problems, a quick work to assuring the good people of Nigeria that his administration is on top of the game.  He also talked about the issue of arrears in salary, another quick short work in restoring confidence.

Excerpt:

 “Accordingly, after consultations with the Vice President, senior party leaders and other senior stakeholders, I quickly got down to work on the immediate, medium-term and long-term problems which we must solve if we are to maintain the confidence which Nigerians so generously bestowed on us in the March elections and since then."

“At an early stage, the federal government addressed the issue of salary arrears in many states, a situation capable of degenerating into social unrest. The APC government stepped in to provide short-term support to the debtor states and enabled them to pay off the backlog and restore the livelihood of millions of Nigerians." 

3. War on Boko Haram:

I will say PMB owns the bragging right on this, we all heard it in the inaugural speech when he gave directive to the DHQ (Defence Headquarter) to be moved to the door of Sambisa and change the hierarchy of the Nation’s Armed Forces. Strategy that is paying off alongside his touring of the Lake Chad Basin’s countries and drumming for support in funds.

Excerpt:

“As you know, I toured the neighbouring countries, marshalled a coalition of armed forces of the five nations to confront and defeat Boko Haram. I met also the G-7 leaders and other friendly presidents in an effort to build an international coalition against Boko Haram."
“Our gallant armed forces under new leadership have taken the battle to the insurgents, and severely weakened their logistical and infrastructural capabilities. Boko Haram are being scattered and are on the run. That they are resorting to shameless attacks on soft targets such as I.D.P. camps is indicative of their cowardice and desperation. I have instructed security and local authorities to tighten vigilance in vulnerable places."

4. Power:

Some GEJist will want to bite me on this, am just a young man with a pen to draw my observation. I will say PMB’s effort is paying off. Though, I cannot specifically confirmed it but past rainy seasons are not always like this. There is constant power supply, we still need to wait till the other season come before we can truly say PMB is working. Whichever way, some will say it is the result of GEJ’s work but I will say ‘’the fear in the name Buhari is huge for all forces of darkness in Nigeria to bow’’. GEJists, come vampire me away.

Excerpt:

"On power, government officials have held a series of long sessions over several weeks about the best way to improve the nation’s power supply in the safest and most cost-effective way. In the meantime, improvement in the power supply is moderately encouraging. By the same token, supply of petrol and kerosene to the public has improved throughout the country. All the early signs are that within months the whole country would begin to feel a change for the better."

5. NNPC:  

Another ground where all eyes can reach and PMB will not spare the ground as well. Here, one cannot say who is on Home Ground, is it PMB or The Corruptionists? As the coach, PMB appointed Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the team captain. Kachi, with aname like God with us (Emmanuel) is proving that he’s got both constitutional and supernatural powers to operate free from the mid-field to the defence and as well strike and still stop the shots. A utility player in the NNPC calling the shot for Buhari. Except you are blind and not a citizen of this country or to be blunt here, if you are among the Movement against the Change Mantra People or a Sentimentalist (GEJist), please do say nothing is NOTHING is happening.

Excerpt:

“Preliminary steps have been taken to sanitize NNPC and improve its operations so that the inefficiency and corruption could be reduced to a minimum. Those of our refineries which can be serviced and brought back into partial production would be enabled to resume operations so that the whole sordid business of exporting crude and importing finished products in dubious transactions could be stopped."

6. Prudence:

So far, PMB has shown how well the nation’s resources should be managed. For example, the money released for the Independence celebration was N70 million compared to 2011 – N13 billion, 2012 – N15 billion, 2013- N14 billion and 2015 – N22 billion all in GEJ administration. He has asked for change self, don’t be surprised now. He is riding on the wings of Change. Let’s not forget the Single account for all government agencies and parastatals and ministries.

Excerpt:

 “In addition to NNPC, I have ordered a complete audit of our other revenue generating agencies mainly CBN, FIRS, Customs, NCC, for better service delivery to the nation. Prudent house-keeping is needed now more than ever in view of the sharp decline in world market oil prices. It is a challenge we have to face squarely. But what counts is not so much what accrues but how we manage our resources."

“We have seen in the last few years how huge resources were mismanaged, squandered and wasted. The new APC government is embarking on a clean-up, introducing prudence and probity in public financing."

     7. Morals: I thought he won’t dive into this river, he did. Except for the new generation that will not quite understand why he is the Field Marshal of moral in Nigeria, not just the corruption crusade alone. Whenhe was Head of State, I can recall W.A.I – War Against Indiscipline, Buhari and Idiagbon unleashed a new set of living on Nigerians back then. The excerpt below from his speech can only remind us of those good or bad ol’ days – depending on how you see it. I don’t care!

Excerpt:

“I would like to end my address this morning on our agenda for CHANGE. Change does not just happen. You and I and all of us must appreciate that we all have our part to play if we want to bring change about. We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust. We must change our unruly behaviour in schools, hospitals, market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices. To bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens."

    8.      Ministerial List:

Why the rush Nigerians? I mean, this is Buhari.

Excerpt:

“Fellow Nigerians, there have been a lot of anxiety and impatience over the apparent delay in announcement of ministers. There is no cause to be anxious. Our government set out to do things methodically and properly. We received the handing over notes from the outgoing government only four days before taking over. Consequently, the Joda Transition Committee submitted its Report on the reorganization of Federal Government structure after studying the hand over notes. It would have been haphazard to announce ministers when the government had not finalized the number of ministries to optimally carry the burden of governance."

“Anyway, the wait is over. The first set of names for ministerial nominees for confirmation has been sent to the senate. Subsequent lists will be forwarded in due course. Impatience is not a virtue. Order is more vital than speed. Careful and deliberate decisions after consultations get far better results. And better results for our country is what the APC government for CHANGE is all about."

There you have it, the eight (8) components in yesterday’s speech by PMB – President Muhammed Buhari on the 55^th Anniversary of Nigeria as an independent country. I am not an APC member, I only do support good things. This x-ray is borne out of my opinion, observation and monitoring. 

If you missed the full text, click below: 

Independence Speech