Baba go slow of Nigeria and the ‘mbeku’ Dance

It is two years since Yar'Adua , the hand-picked choice of former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo became president in an election that observers regarded as one of Africa's worst to date. Hundreds died in politically-inspired and politician-funded clashes in the run-up to the April 2007 poll. Election day itself was criticized by many observers as a grand display of organized fraud and violent theft.

On May 29 2007,President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua assumed office,Nigerians who were already tired with the then bully, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, prayed for a new lease of life from his government.The manner Yar'Adua was selected by Obasanjo and the “consensus” spelled D-O-O-M for Nigeria,but still ,Nigerians prayed that he should lead us to the promise land. He was given the benefit of doubt. Nigerians gave him the good will even though the election that brought him to power was heavily flawed.

Today, it appears that Yar Adua has allowed some cabals to literarily take over the day to day running of government, making official state matters to suffer. Most people called his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo "Baba" . But Yar'Adua has inherited a less-than respectful name after two years of little progress. His performance in the affairs of governance has given the Nigerian president a nickname: "Baba-go-slow".The long lines of traffic that clog the streets of Port Harcourt and Lagos, Nigeria is what Nigerians call go-slow. "Baba Go Slow" is thus the fitting nickname for Nigeria's president Umaru Yar'Adua, who has shown total non performance in governance.

When he came to power in that flawed election in 2007, President Yar'Adua promised reforms, and lots of them. The electoral system would be revolutionised, peace would be sought in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the murky oil industry would be reformed as well as the woefully inadequate power industry. All talk, no action. Whosoever advised him on his May 29, 2007 speech has played upon Nigerians level of tolerance. In his may 29 2007 speech, he vowed to provide the nation with the kind of leadership that would steer it out of its toga of under-achievement and propel it to enviable heights.

He pledged to accomplish this by motivating his team to implement the now familiar seven-point agenda of his administration, namely, Power, Electoral Reforms, Education, Agriculture, the Niger Delta, Health and Employment generation. How far that has work for him and Nigeria remains to be seen.

From across the country there have been worries, dissatisfaction, dreadful looks, and resentments from NGOs, Nigerians Abroad, Religious Leaders, Political Opponents, Community Leaders, and angers are high on his style of leading Nigeria

Let us pick only electricity today. We will talk about the other aspect of his seven point agenda another day.Yar'Adua promised to solve the problem of electricity supply. Infact, he sounded more serious about solving the problem than Obasanjo did. He told Nigerians that he was going to declare a state of emergency in the energy sector if nothing meaningful was done to correct electric supply problem. By declaring a state of emergency, he would have the authority to enlist the help of any competent outfit, including foreign nationals, to solve the problem. Unfortunately, 2 years after Yar'Adua's inauguration, the situation, in the electricity sector, has remained the same. The so-called Power Holding is just like NEPA(Never Expect Power At- all) Infact, people have argued that this outfit is worse than useless.Individual generators are still humming and sending toxic fumes skywards in the cities and villages of Nigeria.

Inspite of Yar'Adua's seeming go slow syndrome, Nigerians have, until now, continued to look towards him and hope that he would do something dramatic. His pronouncements, about the issue of electricity, shows that he has gone the way of Obasanjo. Power Holdings has told Nigerians that the problem of power outages would possibly continue. They blamed it on sabotage by faceless ghosts! Then came the bombshell: the man that Nigerians were hoping would fix the problem, Umar Yar'Adua, attributed the incessant blackouts in the country to the handiwork of a cabal sabotaging government's efforts at revamping the energy sector.

Essentially, Yaradua is telling Nigerians the lies that Obasanjo told us for 8 yrs. The Federal government always looks for an excuse or someone to blame for poor performance. They have found it in the idea of the existence of saboteurs. Now instead of spending time to look for meaningful ways to solve the power problem, they are spending valuable time looking for a "cabal". Granted, vandals do wreak havoc on public utilities. Even in advanced countries, they vandalize electric poles, guard rails and items they sell as scrap. What these countries do is institute a stiff penalty for such offences and put the police on alert. They do not go looking for a "cabal" to blame for their ineptitude. Once again, the government has failed Nigerians

Nigerians need fuel and diesel to run their generators.It is none of Yar'Adua's business if we can never generate electricity. Where do we see the fuel to run generators? It is none of our President's business if fuel is scarce in Nigeria. It is none of his business if we are to go through a long queue for petrol in a land flowing with crude oil. There is no one in the corridors of power who can properly explain the abracadabra happening in the oil sector. In places were fuel is available, it sell for 100 naira per litre at fuel stations and mum is the word from official quarters.

Nothing seems to be an embarrassment to President Yar'Adua, otherwise, he should be burying his head in shame with the news that president Barack Obama's first official visit to Africa is slated for Ghana and not Nigeria. Obama, along with his wife, Michelle, will visit Accra, Ghana, on July 10 and July 11, the White House said Saturday. It will follow Obama's trip to the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, from July 8 to July 10.

Obama will address various bilateral and regional issues with Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, the White House said in a news statement.

“The President and Mrs. Obama look forward to strengthening the U.S. relationship with one of our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and to highlighting the critical role that sound governance and civil society play in promoting lasting development," according to the statement.

The first Black American president choose to snub Africa's biggest nation as a symbolic way to tell our leaders how useless they have become. For our president, life is all about grabbing power for himself and his cronnies.See the way he followed the Ekiti state rerun election. For our president, life is all about exploring our oil and wasting the proceeds on useless projects. What else can we say of a president whose greatest attributes is lack of action and a deafening eloquence of silence. Baba go slow of Nigeria is moving too slow dika mbe (tortoise) .

Yar'Adua must solve this problem of electricity. The absence of constant electricity is seriously affecting the ability of Nigeria to attract foreign industries that heavily depend on electric energy to get their products out. It is ironic that investors now take their businesses to more electrically stable countries like Ghana. Ghana is waxing stronger in all aspects of national development. Nigerians are now establishing businesses in Ghana, building factories and private mansions there. Some even send their children to schools there because the schools have better amenities, constant supply of electricity and a more conducive environment for studying.

If Nigeria is serious about solving the problem of electricity supply, there are many experts in that field both in and outside Nigeria that could be brought in to help. Those factories that have decided to stay in Nigeria, invest in expensive but reliable power generating plants. They try to recoup the business cost of the plants by hiking up the prices of their goods. No wonder why many "made-in-Nigeria" goods cost so much that one does not see the benefit of local production. It is those at the lowest rung of the economic ladder that suffer the brunt of the effect o prices of goods that stink to high heavens

The quality of education in Nigeria is indirectly being affected by absence of constant electricity in schools. The internet has become an integral part of education and access to the internet is dependent on electricity. A kid with constant access to the internet will be able to conduct research and pull up information on so many aspects of education. Hospitals depend on instruments like ultra sound, kidney dialysis machines, CT scan equipment and more to save lives. These instruments are powered by electricity and so it is imperative that a constant source of electricity is provided in all hospitals. We've heard about cases where patients were turned away from certain hospitals because the generator broke down and certain life-saving services could not be offered.Enough of this mbe dance .Baba go slow must wake up .His too many failed areas are stinking to high heavens.

-Kenneth Uwadi is from Mmahu –Egbema in Imo State, Nigeria