An Open Letter to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari
An American Constitutional Lawyer and author Bruce Fein, has written an open letter to President Buhari which was published in Huffington post website yesterday. Very interesting letter. Read below
Aso Rock, Abuja
Nigeria
Dear President Buhari:
When you visited the United States Institute of Peace last July, you pledged that you would be “fair, just and scrupulously follow due process and the rule of law, as enshrined in [the Nigerian] constitution” in prosecuting corruption.
Such loftiness is laudable. As the Bible instructs in Amos 5:24: “[L]et justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
But to be just, the law must be evenhanded. It cannot, in the manner of Russian President Vladimir Putin, be something that is given to punish your enemies and withheld to favor your friends. If so, the law becomes an instrument of injustice bearing earmarks of the wicked rather than the good.
In the United States, you declared a policy of “zero tolerance” against corruption. You solicited weapons and other assistance from the United States government based on that avowal. But were you sincere?
During your election campaign, you promised widespread amnesty, not zero tolerance. You elaborated: “Whoever that is indicted of corruption between 1999 to the time of swearing-in would be pardoned. I am going to draw a line, anybody who involved himself in corruption after I assume office, will face the music.”
After you were inaugurated, however, you disowned your statement and declared you would prosecute past ministers or other officials for corruption or fraud. And then again you immediately hedged. You were reminded of your dubious past by former Major General and President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who succeeded your military dictatorship. He released this statement:
“On General Buhari, it is not in IBB’s tradition to take up issues with his colleague former President. But for the purpose of record, we are conversant with General Buhari’s so-called holier-than-thou attitude. He is a one-time Minister of Petroleum and we have good records of his tenure as minister. Secondly, he presided over the Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, which records we also have.
We challenge him to come out with clean hands in those two portfolios he headed. Or we will help him to expose his records of performance during those periods. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. General Buhari should be properly guided.”
You then swiftly backed off your zero tolerance policy because you would have been its first casualty.
You opportunistically announced that zero tolerance would be narrowed to the predecessor administration of Goodluck Jonathan because to probe further would be “a waste of time.” That conclusion seems preposterous. In 2012, the World Bank’s ex-vice president for Africa, Oby Ezekwesili, estimated that a stupendous $400 billion in Nigerian oil revenues had been stolen or misspent since independence in 1960.
The lion’s share of that corruption spans far beyond the Jonathan administration.
Your zero tolerance policy seems to come with a squint to avoid seeing culpability in your political friends. A few examples are but the tip of the iceberg.
A Rivers State judicial commission of inquiry found that N53 billion disappeared from the Rivers State Reserve Fund under former governor Rotimi Amaechi. Former Lagos governor and head of your campaign finance team Babatunde Fashola was accused ofsquandering N78 million of government money to upgrade his personal website. The EFCC has ignored these corruption allegations, and you have given both promotions: the Ministry of Transport to Mr. Amaechi, and the Ministry of Power, Works, and Housing to Mr. Fashola.
In contrast, you have played judge, jury, and prosecutor in the newspapers to convict former PDP Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke of corruption.
Is this evenhanded justice?
United States Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson taught: “[T]here is no more effective practical guaranty against arbitrary and unreasonable government than to require that the principles of law which officials would impose upon a minority must be imposed generally. Conversely, nothing opens the door to arbitrary action so effectively as to allow those officials to pick and choose only a few to whom they will apply legislation and thus to escape the political retribution that might be visited upon them if larger numbers were affected.”
To investigate or prosecute based on political affiliation or opinion also violates Articles 2 and 7 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is unworthy of a great nation like Nigeria.
Make the hallmark of your administration justice, not retribution, and you may live for the ages.
I am a United States citizen and lawyer. I have no political standing in Nigeria. Some might argue that my speaking about the administration of justice in Nigeria bespeaks impertinece. But you chose to vist the
United States to solicit weapons and other assistance from my government–a government of the people, by the people, for the people. The United States government represents me. What the United States government does reflects on me. I thus have an interest in addressing the actions of foreign governments that receive United States government aid.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
Just 6 Months In Office Buhari’s Body Language Reeks Of Body Odourby Edward Oparaoji
Six months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office, promising CHANGE! According to his campaign rhetoric his priorities would be fighting corruption, defeating Boko Haram in 3 months and revitalizing the economy. Given Buhari’s military history in government as commissioner, minister, governor, and military head of State, the four attempts it took for him to become a civilian president, and how masterfully he sold the CHANGE agenda to the Nigerian electorate, most were convinced Buhari knew what he was talking about. The expectation was that he would not only deliver, he would hit the ground running.
The euphoria that heralded the new sheriff-in-town was further exaggerated by a temporary surge in some services such as electricity and fuel supplies. This surge which could not have happened if the service-pipelines were not previously primed by the outgoing administration, was however credited to the ‘body language” of President Buhari, who at the time was yet to move into his official Presidential quarters.
Nevertheless, it did not take much time when doubts about Buhari’s capacity to implement his CHANGE agenda began to surface.
Within a few weeks of assuming office, he started telegraphing his preference for backward rather than forward looking, an approached that signals anything but change. Dan Millman, a world renowned gymnast and motivational speaker wrote in his book, titled Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives, that “…the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
President Buhari may not have had the benefit of this wise counselling. He, right off the gate, got distracted by his obsession for witch hunting his predecessor President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration, in the name of a poorly thought out “fight against corruption”.
It should be recalled that, it was this same Jonathan whose administration was declared less corrupt than those of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, by Transparency International – an independent non-governmental international agency, in their 2015 report.
It didn’t help matters, when after wasting over 3 months in office without ministers, in a move that disappointed even his most strident supporters, Buhari constituted his presidency and cabinet with mostly questionable characters from the past with no known skills to navigate today’s digital terrain.
These initial missteps were at a cost of significant political capital and momentum needed to initiate and implement his campaign promises, of ushering in positive CHANGE to various key sectors of our polity including; national security; conflict resolution, national unity and social harmony; job creation and the economy; agriculture and food security; infrastructure; oil and gas industry; education; healthcare; senior citizens, youths, sports and culture; women empowerment; environment and foreign policy.
Another reason behind Buhari’s chaotic take off may be that he has neither read nor has knowledge of his CHANGE manifesto, which requires or demands a reorientation of our polity. Otherwise why has he not focused like a laser beam on laying down the needed legislative infrastructure to accomplish his programs? Enduring societal change cannot be sustained by executive orders, as he has so far preferred, only enabling laws can.
In my assessment of Buhari’s first 100 days in office, I explained that “the tradition of a 100-day marker to assess presidential effectiveness was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), in 1933, when he inherited the calamity of a depressed US economy. Faced with a collapsing economy, such as we face in Nigeria today, FDR hit the ground speeding! He engaged the US congress and eventually secured an unprecedented FIFTEEN landmark legislation, between March 8 and June 16, hence the birth of the “Fifteen legislation in 100 days” yardstick, for assessing Presidential performance and the foundation for FDR’s widely successful “New Deal” programs….”
Judging by this yardstick, since we operate the same Presidential system of governance, at the 100 days mark, I gave President Buhari an F grade, because he had introduced zero legislation in support of his agenda. It is sad to observe that the situation remains unchanged 6 months into his administration.
Score cards apart the reality as felt by most Nigerians, substantiate that most indices of progress are headed south and fast. The economy, job creation, stock market, petrol and electricity supply, insecurity, gender equity, extrajudicial impunity, civil servants, military and youth morale, infrastructure, support for education, healthcare and agriculture are all worse today than when Buhari took office.
President Buhari, unlike most Nigerians, may have figured out a way of living above means through the accumulation of estacodes from his numerous unproductive foreign travels. This also is not sitting well with Nigerians!
Where is Buhari’s messianic body language when we need it! How quickly body language has turned into body odor.
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