Nigeria Content Online

Let me be candid. As much as I admire you, Mr.
President, for your good fortune, and statesmanlike mien, and as much
as I am intrigued by the remarkable nature of your rise to the
Presidency, I am sometimes tempted to think the worst – that you don’t
have much to offer Nigeria. That nagging voice of doubt tells me that
you are only more of the same.

Struggling to be heard amidst the din of that
negative voice is another; a smaller, but more reasonable voice,
insisting that you can make a huge difference; that you can be to
Nigerians what Barack Obama was (and I daresay still is) to millions of
Americans: one more reason to believe in our country, at a time when
cynicism is the new enthusiasm.

I have made a decision to listen to the smaller voice, and am therefore more than willing to give you the benefit of doubt.

Tied to that ‘benefit’, however, are words of
advice, obviously unsolicited, but wholeheartedly and genuinely offered
– a ‘7-point agenda’ for you to aspire to live by:

1. Vacancy: Radical reformers! – One thing former
President Obasanjo will always be credited for is the vibrancy of
government agencies under his watch – NAFDAC, EFCC, NCC, BPE, CBN, etc.
Baba sought the finest talent, wherever they existed, employed them,
empowered them, and allowed them to shine. That’s how we came to know
of Dora Akunyili and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Oby Ezekwesili and Nuhu
Ribadu.

Stick to that winning formula. It paid off handsomely for Obasanjo; sadly,Yar’Adua somehow never quite managed to pull it off.

2. Surprise, surprise. The greatest failing of our
leaders is that they have lost the capacity to surprise us. They are so
damn predictable – throwing sirens and pot-bellies around, closing down
airports because they are VIPs, generally acting like they are doing
the electorate a favour, spending all their time fighting real and
imagined opponents, Surprise us Mr. Prez. Don’t take yourself too
seriously. Life is short. Power is transient. Transparency and
accessibility are key. How about a weekly unscripted 30-minute
television and radio address to Nigerians,to establish a visceral
connection between the governer and the governed. Every week tell us in
unambiguous, cliché-free English what concrete steps you have taken
over previous week to make Nigeria a better place. For our self-esteem
and our morale Nigerians need a President who’s not only performing,
but also seen to be performing.

3. Tame the Dame. Let your wife know that it’ll no
longer be business as usual. We don’t need another Turai or Maryam (or
‘Mariam’,for that matter!) in this country. Tell Patience not to bother
calling any meetings of Nigerian, or African, first ladies. Tell her to
jettison any plans to launch a pet project. We’ve had enough. Let her
use her clout to support already existing projects, especially private
sector ones. There are orphanages and women shelters and cancer
foundations all over the country. Let the first lady support them
wholeheartedly, not compete with them for attention!

4. And those gallivanting Governors. Politely but
very firmly put them in their place. It’s very annoying to see a bunch
of governors – emblems of unadulterated mediocrity – strutting the land
in the name of a ‘Governors’ Forum’ and portraying themselves as ‘power
brokers’. Let them know that their constitutional and moral
responsibility is to provide good governance in their states, not run a
purposeless Governors Forum or turn Abuja into a holiday resort. And
while you’re at it kindly put an end to those jamborees a.k.a ‘state
visits’ on which those same governors squander public funds to take you
on painstakingly packaged ‘sightseeing’ trips around their capitals,
and make you commission white elephant projects. Step away from the
sanitised, festooned paths. Pay unscheduled visits. Allow yourself to
come face to face with the poverty and want that have blighted the land.

5. Click ‘n flip. Obasanjo boasted that he never
did it (which is probably why he had not the slightest idea how much
his 3rd term agenda riled Nigerians). Yar’Adua may have had no energy
to do it (and Turai evidently didn’t). But you must. It is imperative
that you pay attention to what Nigerians are saying – online and in the
newspapers. We are a garrulous lot, in love with the sound of our own
voices, but you can’t afford to not listen to us. Never depend on aides
to feed you second-hand. (Need I ask you to make www.234next.com the
default homepage on the presidential Blackberry’s browser?)

6. Show us your friends…: the legacies of
Obasanjo and Yar’Adua will forever be tainted by the transparently
shady characters they surrounded themselves with – the Andy Ubas and
James Iboris and Michael Aondoakaas to name a few. Keeping those kind
of people around you is the fastest and surest way to self-destruct.

7. Tune the talk. I listened to your inaugural address as President, and was disappointed by the surfeit of platitudes therein.

I desperately hoped to see you break free from the prepared speech
and speak to Nigerians, ‘man to man and woman’. I want you to look us
in the face as a nation and tell us something inspiring. True, you are
no Obama,and will never be, but I think you can learn a lot from paying
attention to the American. Tired speeches are a hallmark of tired
thinking. Hire new speechwriters, try out a teleprompter; and endeavour
to speak more from the heart.