My new job, APC, the economy and the blame game

By Joseph Edgar… For the umpteenth time, we have just been told once again that the PDP is the cause of this recession and economic meltdown. To say the least, and with all the respect I want to muster, I will scream ENOUGH of this blame game. This song is now a tard boring and is also beginning to irritate a lot of Nigerians especially the millions of youths who staked their future on the message of change.

Let me tell one small story. I was recently given a project to handle . It was a turn-around kind of thing. The earlier handlers had messed up the project and I came with very strong credentials to lead a turn-around. Upon resumption, I had a meeting with stakeholders where I introduced myself and told them very clearly my mandate while also showing them my planned road map. After that wonderful presentation, I got the support of some of the major stakeholders who had a lot invested.

They were willing to work with me to see things turned around. They even went ahead to give me their support agreeing to longer tenors and giving me referrals thereby opening up newer sources of opportunities. But as the month wore on and my strategies where not panning out, their patience started wearing thin. My usual song of taking over a comatose project ruined by my predecessors was no longer giving me the desired buffer. And eventually a year after, I saw the red flag and did what I had to do as a Honourable gentleman. I accepted failure and with my head bowed gently took my exit.

I am not pushing for anybody’s exit before I am charged for treason. I still believe in this mandate freely given and I still believe that the President has the strength of character to execute a credible economic resurgence and there lies the wahala. How do we get this plan. I have said earlier that this present aides and cabinet do not and will never have the capacity to deliver on this plan. They are too myopic and far removed from the ever changing dynamics of global economy and the Nigerian economy which, despite its present wahala, still has the sophistication of a global economic player.

The resort to the continued blame game in my mind is President Buhari’s seeming recognition of the weakness he has surrounded himself with. Since nothing is coming from there in terms of impactful policy decisions, he is left with only the blame game and the anti corruption war as his swan song. Observe, every forum the President attends both local and international, his sermon is rested on the PDP government’s carnal destruction of the economy and his anti corruption stance.

If this was football, we would be seeing a defensive team. A team defending its own post without the much needed foray into the opponent’s side to score a goal. Nobody wins a match by simply defending and as a striker you cannot score a goal if the midfield do not supply you. The president’s midfield is not supplying him and as such he cannot score.

Take the example of the TSA, Jonathan did not have the strength to implement but immediately Buhari was sold on it, he delivered. That was the midfield giving him the ball and he scoring. The CBN seems to be the only actor even trying to do something. Although they beset us with policy changes almost on a daily basis you can see the support of the presidency and the political will to implement all these policy yo yo in an attempt to defend the Naira.

I say again what are the rest doing, haven’t we satisfied their godfather’s enough? Isn’t it time we got real people on board so that they can supply the President with the much needed crucial passes so he can score the goal. My Lord, PDP is no longer the problem, let me tell you very bluntly that this APC government of change is now the problem.

Seriously, people are beginning to yearn for the PDP era. They are saying that whatever it is they were doing that kept inflation at single digit, kept the Naira at 145 and kept fuel pump price and 84 they should come back and do it. With change we now have 17% inflation, fuel at 145 and threatening to go up further anytime soon, job losses and capacity utilization at its very worse. As my former Oga Segun Oluyori used to say, if you cannot better my circumstances, please leave me where I am. That is the message we are sending to the APC government of change. Even if you cannot better us, at least defend us.

The President must as a matter of urgent compulsion look at his team again and separate the political jobbers from the real tacticians. There must be a real change in personnel and it must be now. The President must empower his team, get people across all divides irrespective of party colouration. We need help, he needs help. He is a good man and a man with a vision but he is handicapped becuase he needs to be fed to be able to implement.

Sir, let’s stop blaming PDP. If we continue we may blame them for the four-year tenor of this our administration and have only that to show as our major achievement on top of the huge mandate Nigerians gave us.

The time is NOW, sir. Make that move and preserve your place in history. I know you can do it just close your eyes and do it. Dissolve that cabinet NOW. It’s not working.

Ripples Nigeria…without borders, without fears

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