Muhammadu Buhari: Nigeria’s certain Good Luck….?

No April fooling for sure

The polling booths have served their transient purpose and the ballot boxes have revealed their closely guarded secret. After the vote harvesting and tallying, Nigerians have chosen to CHANGE their choice of Chief Public Servant. They have dropped the unlikely Goodluck they had hoped would heal their land, and they have embraced a prospective Good Luck they hope has been seasoned by the lessons of history and reformed by the necessities of these times. With this move, Muhammadu Buhari returns on a second mission as Nigeria’s highest ranked Public Servant.

Unlike his first act as Nigeria’s military dictator, this time Buhari will not have the power of the gun. He will not need this to govern. The world is different now and so is Nigeria. But for sure, he will need the power of process bandwidth to uphold the safety and dignity of ALL Nigerians as they go about their lawful endeavors across the landscape of their country. Additionally, he must become the Chief Defender of the sanity of the Nigerian Brand at multiple levels – security, economic, political, rule of law, etc. Finally, he must cultivate the flight-deck mastery to govern with a 3D view of the entire Nigerian space, with no sacred cows operating outside the law, no sectors or regions sidelined, and no critical miles uncovered. Put simply, Buhari’s one and only task is to get the Nigerian engine firing on all cylinders within the shortest possible time.

So many miles, such limited time

We pause ever so briefly (there’s such limited time for rest) to give KUDOS to Nigeria’s President-elect Buhari and his team. The courage of their conviction has given birth to an era of viable opposition in Nigeria’s politics, and this is no small step. We wish the President-elect great health and a sound mind for the monumental journey ahead. We must also praise President Jonathan for the refinement to make the one call that matters the most in any tense post election early hours. Jonathan may not have given Nigerians enough good reasons to retain him in office, but it must be said that the fact of being the first Nigerian incumbent to gracefully accept defeat in an election his administration conducted has a certain je ne sais quoi that makes the man more than just a politician.

Now, the real business of governance must resume. For Buhari, this mandate is super-sized. There is no higher honor. And it comes amidst well-rehashed past failings that many Nigerians must now forgive. Even so, Nigerians everywhere have high expectations. No business as usual result is likely to cut it this time. Unbridled competence and an unrivalled national outlook must become Buhari’s core governance ingredients. This atypical second coming must not be played out on the altar of rookie naïveté. There is no time.

The vital stats on Nigeria that Buhari’s administration must retract and upgrade over the next four years are best seen in pictures since words may not do them justice. Take a peek below.

These stats pack a lot of information that are useful for any people-focused government seeking to turn Nigeria around. We will be digging deep into these in subsequent blogs.