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Now, let's give Yar'Adua a chance
ACHO ORABUCHI Dallas, Texas
Sunday, June 17, 2007
"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving." - O.W. Holmes
The above aptly captures the sentiments of many Nigerians, especially Nigerian professionals in the Diaspora, about the Nigerian experiment.
Interestingly, the inauguration has come and gone and Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is Nigeria's new president and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The time for spewing vitriolic and incendiary insults as a result of the concluded elections should have been over. Anyone that felt aggrieved, however, should have been seeking redress from the tribunal with civility.
As a matter of urgency, now is the time to give President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua the full opportunity to fulfill his election promises. In his campaign trail, President Yar'Adua consistently pledged to transform Nigeria. It's increasingly a daunting task to be president of Nigeria due to ubiquitous complexities inherent in the composition of the country which lend themselves to fierce competing interests. There would be some forces that would want to impose their will on the new president. Additionally, it is human nature to try to appease everybody. This phenomenon may expose the new president to initial mistakes in his administration thereby compounding his task of leading the nation. However, the task of leading Nigeria would be less onerous when the citizens are united with the national goals and interests.
Yar'Adua, a servant leader, whose antecedents are admirable, understands that the first 100 days of his administration would be pivotal; it would be a gauge from which analysts would judge the direction Yar'Adua-Goodluck administration is going. Therefore, his decisions in the first few days would be a window through which the man could be seen. Nevertheless, there's no doubt that our new president would go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure credible reforms, good governance, plausible development programs, reasonable legislative agenda, and continuous democratization process by ensuring that credible individuals with expert knowledge and experience are recruited to serve the nation.
If his appointments so far are any indication of how effective and efficient his administration would be in delivering services to the people and achieving optimum economy, one would conclude that President Yar'Adua's administration would be fertile for achievable goals.
Nevertheless, for Nigeria to be one of the 20 top economies in the world by 2020, this administration would focus more on education and technology while ensuring security of life an properties, including the availability of a quality healthcare system for the citizens. Education is one of the most important factors that not only sustains the culture of high productivity and democratic principles, but also empowers an individual and determines his/her worth. Education lurks perfectly behind technology necessary for global competitiveness. Additionally, economic and development policies should focus more on creating a business climate for burgeoning of small manufacturing industries in Nigeria. In any case, to achieve global competitiveness, the Yar'Adua administration would have to employ the services of Nigerian experts in various fields.
Yar'Adua would be better served if he would fully integrate Nigerians in the Diaspora in his administration. It is pertinent to realize that the remittances of money that U.S. residents send to Nigeria for various projects contribute significantly to the economy of Nigeria. Nigeria has experts in all fields and most of these experts are resident outside Nigeria. They need to be attracted back to Nigeria for the nation-building process. Interestingly, many Nigerians in the Diaspora yearn for the opportunity to contribute in making Nigeria great, but to no avail.
One of the ways to integrate the Diaspora Nigerians would be for the president to move swiftly through legislation to grant voting rights to the citizens of Nigeria in the Diaspora. This issue has been burning on the minds of Nigerians in the Diaspora who feel disenfranchised by their country. If Ghana could allow its citizens living abroad to participate in its elections, Nigerians abroad wonder why it has been difficult for Nigeria to do same. They feel it's unconscionable to deny them the right to vote from their country of resident considering their enormous economic impact to the Nigeria.
Though Nigerians in the Diaspora agitate in silence for the right to vote in the Nigeria's national elections, their agitation has been tepid at best. They have not been able to organize to exert pressure on the government considering the enormous economic power they wield in terms remittances to Nigeria. However, it appears that help is on the way with a new administration that prides itself in utilizing expert knowledge and experience. It's believed that Yar"Adua administration would work collaboratively with the legislature to grant Nigerians living abroad the right to vote in the Nigeria's national elections.
Well, as he navigates the Nigeria's socio-political terrain, all we have is the covenant of trust that Yar'Adua would stand tall and be bold in making decisions with the national interest as the only driving force. Therefore, we are hopeful that President Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua would steer the country in the right direction with minimal and innocuous mistakes. There is no perfection in leadership. As a result, Yar'Adua should not be fearful of making errors in the course of leading Nigeria. According to Elbert Hubbard, "The greatest mistake a person can make is to be afraid of making one."
Nigerians are less apprehensive in giving President Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua a chance to transform Nigeria as they wait patiently the first 100 days.
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