It’s time Mr. President

My Dear Mr. President,
I not only voted for you but dedicated almost a year of my life to persuading people you were the only sane option for Nigeria’s immediate future. The day on which you were sworn in as the fourth president of Nigeria’s fourth republic was one of the happiest days of my life – such is my passion and desire for a Nigeria that is progressive, transparent, and fair to all. My desire for your success remains as strong and as vibrant as it was on that momentous day.

But although I continue to pray for your success, my confidence in your administration’s ability to lead Nigeria to the promised land seems completely drained. So disillusioned am I by the haplessness of the past thirteen months that I’m no longer sure whether Nigeria actually has a promised land. For ours seems to be a continuous cycle of unfulfilled potential and dashed hopes.

A few days ago I heard myself utter words I never thought possible. During a conversation regarding your government’s inability to draw up a sound economic blueprint I shockingly stated the following; ‘I’ve given up on this government. I don’t think they know what they’re doing.” I’m not sure what upset me more – my statement or the fact that everyone agreed with me. The last thing I want is the seemingly inevitable demise of your administration’s credibility.

So why have we given up on your government?

Simple – no economic blueprint, very little direction, so many u-turns that the whole nation is sick with dizziness, communication so poor that it seems you and your cabinet are living in a different country to the rest of us, and zero sensitivity to our wretched plight.

Many factors contribute to our desperate exasperation, but for the sake of time I’ll outline just five.

1. Economy
Nigeria’s economy is in dire straits. I’ve never known it this bad. Not only do all economic indicators suggest we’re on the path to near certain implosion, but your administration continues to behave as though all is fine and dandy.

Everything is definitely NOT okay sir.

We’re not generating even half the revenue needed to effectively implement the budget, key sectors are either contracting or collapsing, leading to negative growth; public expenditure is at an all-time low, and as a result we find ourselves in a full blown recession. And yet your ministers and media spokesmen continue to tell us ‘it’s still early days’. Surely this wasn’t part of the plan?!

2. Foreign exchange

A few months ago we rejoiced about your administration’s apparent ‘moment of enlightenment’ – believing you had finally seen the light; recognising that the FX market needs to be liberalised in order to attract foreign investors, thereby increasing dollar supply. But what happened? You did an immediate u-turn – even telling the world you don’t believe in liberalising the FX market. As a result, foreign investors have stayed away and the naira/dollar exchange rate is now over 400 to one.

The longer you try to control the FX market the further the rate will plummet, and the poorer people will become – rich, middle class, and poor.

As things stand, Nigeria is staring into a very bleak abyss. And make no mistake, the hardest hit will be the very people you’re so passionate about – the under privileged. For they not only rely on the middle class and the rich for jobs, but also for their general welfare. In today’s Nigeria, because we’re literally getting poorer by the day the middle class and the rich have drastically cut costs and are far less generous when helping the under privileged; not because they have become hard hearted or callous but because they simply cannot afford to think beyond their own survival.

3. Unemployment

One of the key indicators of whether or not a government is effectively implementing measures to improve people’s livelihoods is that of employment – or ‘unemployment’ as the case may be. According to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, since your administration resumed office unemployment figures have steadily risen from quarter to quarter – rising to 8.2% by the end of Q2 in 2015, then to 10.4% in Q4, and further more to 12.1% in March 2016. Unemployment is at crisis point.

One of the biggest causes of this unemployment crisis (we may as well get used to calling it that) is a lack of confidence in your government’s ability to move the nation forward. The private sector still has no idea of the direction in which we’re heading, and as such has to assume there will be very little improvement during the next couple of years. The result is a general policy of non-hiring and extensive job cuts.

4. Cost of living
The cost of living is excruciatingly painful for most Nigerians, as food and transportation costs have sky-rocketed during the past twelve months. The poor have got poorer, and the comfortable are no longer financially stable enough to help them (the poor).

Yes, a few of the rich (in this case those of the grossly illegal gains category) are finally also crying, but unfortunately the poor are now officially comatose.

The rest of us have had to adjust; and you know what? –  most of us are more or less okay with it. Indeed Nigeria has for far too long being a nation of futile excesses, prideful decadence, and demonic wastefulness. Hence the sanity you’ve brought us is actually quite welcome. However we’ve had to adjust so much during the past twelve months that we no longer live but merely exist.

For how long must we continue to adjust? Until there’s no more food in the supermarkets? Until we’re forced to queue for hours to buy bread and milk?

5. Power
Electricity supply has never been so bad – even worse than the last six months of the previous administration. We are of course aware of the Niger Delta Avengers factor, but the simple fact of the matter is your government promised to make things better – to provide us with more stable electricity supply. Whatever challenges you face is quite frankly not our problem. For that is what we voted you in for – to overcome whatever obstacles there may be, so as to keep the promises you made during your election campaign.

Finally, to not mention the obvious disconnect between your government and the people would be a foul injustice. Be-it the sports ministry inadvertently telling the nation’s athletes they’re on their own, ministers claiming our situation is better than that of Venezuela, or the first lady carrying a NGN30m handbag, the stark reality of not being at all in-tune with the mood and travails of the nation is clear for all to see. Regarding the first lady’s handbag, my personal view is she should be able to buy and use whatever handbag she wishes. However in light of the extensive suffering that has engulfed this land, it would be both wise and prudent for Her Excellency to opt for more simple accessories in future, even if only to convey empathy with the plight of millions of impoverished Nigerians.

Have I been too harsh? I hope not.

Have I been disrespectful? I pray not. In-fact I’ll be sure to re-read this several times in order to ensure I’m not disrespecting my president in any way.

I plead with you to take these points on board sir; and to do whatever needs to be done to rescue our presently perilous plight.

Great leaders are pragmatic, whilst remaining true to their ideals. This often means having the right individuals in place, regardless of ethnic background, faith, party, or affiliation.

It’s time for you to be the great leader I know you can be Mr. President.