2 March 2018
Democracy is a game of number. Leaders elected in any democratic setting are sent to serve public and not personal interest therefore all their actions must always reflect this.
Most times as leaders, certain decisions are taken not necessarily because the people at the helms of affairs are comfortable with them but because those they represent, the masses are.
The refusal of Presidential assent to the bill passed by the National Assembly establishing Nigeria Peace Corps by Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not represent the aspirations and desire of majority of Nigerians to me. The President just took the decision to satisfy his opinion and that of the people working with him.
I read in the media that the President gave three reasons prominent among which is the financial implication of setting up such security agency. This reason to me is funny and laughable.
Recently, a cerebral Economist and former CBN Governor, Emir Sanusi advised federal government to slash the salaries of NASS members, ministers and other government officials. If Buhari had done this to accommodate the multitude of jobless Nigerians who were hoping to be gainfully employed through this agency he would have been the true hero of the common man.
It's appalling that we find ourselves in a country where we spend so much on our leaders but seem to make mountain over the little things we're supposed to spend on the common people.
Peace Corps is not a security agency peculiar to just Nigeria. It's recognized by the United Nations and many developed and developing countries have this security outfit. Some of the countries, Nigeria is richer, in all ramification than them.
Some countries with better security conditions have Peace Corps but in Nigeria where girls are abducted almost at free will by insurgents, hundred of farmers are killed by Herdsmen, kidnapping and cultism are proving difficult to curb, the President and his associates are telling Nigerians that we don't need additional security outfit. What an insolence! What an irony! What a shame! What a change!
The President should understand that in a democratic setting, leaders don't take decision to suit their personal opinions but that of the public. His refusal is an aberration to public opinion.
Besides, the number of times he has refused to assent to bills has become worrisome. While I appreciate the fact that the President may be trying to build strong and independent institutions, his culture of rejecting assent to bills is a bad omen for the APC who have both the Speaker and Senate President as well as majority NASS members.
Don't tell me some are not true APC members. The President is responsible for everything those protesting against him are doing. As the leader of the party, if he had risen to his responsibility and stop the I-don't-care attitude towards the party and acted like a leader during the NASS elections, most of the things happening today would have been avoided.
Like Benue state APC Publicity Secretary said, the President has succeeded in making the Senate President and the Speaker heroes by his actions.
I'm an APC member and an unrepentant supporter of President Buhari but this his decision has left me very disappointed.
Is the President not aware of the excruciating unemployment rate in the country? Is he not aware of the high rate of crime which expert have traced to youths joblessness? Who is he saving the money for, is it not the same Nigerians that are in Peace Corps and would have been recruited into the force?
The President can't be saying he feels the pulse of Nigerians yet he's denying thousands of Nigerians the opportunity of being gainfully employed in the name of no money! What happened to all the money recovered from looters?
It's never too late! President Buhari should have a rethink. He should think of thousands of jobless Nigerians who would have been gainfully employed through this and kindly sign the bill.
His concern for Nigerians will come under serious scrutiny if he allows the NASS many think work contrary to the interest of Nigerians to veto this build. It will be a big shame and disgrace to the change he represent.
Even if the NASS don't veto the bill, he may have succeeded in giving the opposition strong campaign point ahead of 2019.
A stitch in time saves nine!
Inyali Peter writes from Calabar.
