The recent critical review of Yar’Adua’s Seven Point Agenda by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the newly appointed Central Bank Governor, has elicited defensive responses from the Federal Government and further critical remarks from sections of the country’s populace.
That our president had focused on seven areas of challenge facing his administration is no misnomer and he should, indeed, be credited for articulating his presidential mission. But the problem is definitely not with the president having seven or more agenda which are touted at ease by members of his government whether the occasion demands such or not. The problem lies instead in the realm of performance: What exactly in concrete terms has the present administration done to address and overcome the challenges in the seven point agenda?
Many Nigerians are indeed gratuitous in expressing their keen interest in just one of the seven point agenda- fixing the power problem. They are of the opinion that if Yar’Adua succeeds only in putting lights on for comfort and productive activity in the country, he will have won himself the position of a hero. Belaboured and mesmerized for too long by failed promises of politicians and successive governments, it is not surprising that the seven point agenda of Yar’Adua has from the outset been met with cynicism and disbelief. Yet they have not been observably and convincingly proved otherwise.
We are of the view that two years into the tenure of the Yar’Adua administration, this is indeed no time for defensive talk or rhetorical speeches on agenda setting, but a period to reflect on the set agenda and discover why the course towards their achievement is tardy, and not yielding real results. As the popular saying goes, action speaks louder words’. Effective country governance does not call for the mere articulation of blueprint agenda and disseminating such in fanfare without corresponding concrete action. The demand of Nigerians is simple. Let the Federal Government do something and talk less. The things that are done for the wellbeing of all will definitely require no campaign, they would be glaring.
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Nigerians that have courageously criticised either the numerous agenda set or the manner in which government is going about the achievement of the set goals are indeed reflecting the views of many unheard voices who daily buy petroleum products sometimes at black market rates to maintain their noisy generators run daily at their homes and offices. These Nigerians run their own water supply plants, join hands in neighbourhoods to grade their roads, daily commute across the country on badly maintained roads and highways, send their children and wards to universities where the decay is resplendent in the existing poor facilities, and suffer the increasing incidence of poverty.
Indeed no one really expects that the present administration would concretely fix all the problems arising in the set seven point agenda, which have been a result of decades of neglect, executive rascality and mismanagement within a four year presidential tenure. However, there has to be real signs of a deliberate, consistent and progressive move to take on these developmental challenges. If these happen, Nigerians will definitely perceive it.
We note with pain that, for now, the seven point agenda is in crisis and may continue to remain so if this administration continues to exhibit and maintain a tardy and insensitive posture towards the fulfillment of its set goals. Nigerians are keenly watching to see what Yar’Adua’s administration will eventually be remembered for. The ball is in the President’s court to choose what legacy he may bequeath to a nation long denied of exemplary leadership in all ramifications.
