As it is said, change is not an event but a process and a process takes time and patience to come to fruition. In marital life for example, it begins with solemnization and other cultural festivities performed to mark the commencement of a lifetime event that involves several processes. But that is not all. This is because the process of marital life involves daily fulfillment of rights, responsibilities and obligations of each party. It is a process that continues until death. Like the marriage process, the process of change began with the event of PMB’s election and will continue till PMB and Nigeria emerge successful.
I laughed when I read fuel scarcity being tagged as PMB’s first failure. Failure? Really? You must be kidding me. I laughed not because it was funny but because I, unlike that person, never expected the challenges facing this country to disappear simply because a new sheriff is in town. I knew I voted a human, with limitations, not God. Most importantly I knew I voted for honesty against dishonesty, determination against cluelessness, I voted for a patriotic leader who would not relent in demystifying and solving our problems. It is uncharitable to quickly forget the nuance between this government and the previous one. Before now, we had an NNPC that was not transparent, economical with the truth, and which could not with mathematical accuracy disclose the number of oil barrels produced and consumed per day… Nobody knew how much NNPC spent or earned but now all that is changing. Let me be quick in pointing out that i am not holding brief for anyone but the truth must be said not minding whose ox is gored. This government is different. It is different because it doesn’t pretend all is well and it is alive to its responsibilities. It admitted on different occasions that challenges exist that need urgent fix. We are at liberty to disagree in the methods being employed to solve the various challenges yet we must admit that government is doing its best to fix the system.
It is argued by some and quite rightly so that PMB’s government should be held responsible for the high expectations people have in this administration. However, it is pertinent to keep in mind that during the election, there were several campaign organizations, official and non official that campaigned for the success of PMB and admittedly, some went as far as employing incredible means in order to garner maximum support for PMB. For unforeseen reasons all campaigns could not be monitored and centralized and regulated. Be that as it may, campaigns in democratic dispensations all over the world are characterized by unimaginable promises embellished, polished and neatly packaged in an irresistible package. Those that are abreast with the campaign promises of President Obama for example know that the man has not been able to fulfill certain promises he made such as closing down Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, ending all wars and returning all American troops home etc. I am not suggesting that PMB would be like that but what i’m saying is that many politicians make promises during election but are unable, deliberately or not, to fulfill them all. I don’t know, I haven’t read nor have I heard of any politician anywhere in the world who has managed to achieve 100% campaign promise fulfillment . Thankfully, PMB’s media assistants have come out to clarify on the genuine promises made. I am confident that all important campaign promises made can be and would be fulfilled by this government but it is sufficient if government can fulfill 70%-80% of its promises. And it is safe to say that from the determination, steadfastness and exuberance exuded by the head that wears the cap, it wouldn’t be incorrect to expect 80% fulfillment of campaign promises.
One momentous thing to note is that even if PMB succeeds in transforming Nigeria into Singapore or Paris, some Nigerians will still complain about freedom of this or that being violated or not having enough icing on their cake or that they are tired of seeing the same face or don’t like a leader’s facial expressions or his accent etc as it happened in Libya with Muammar Gaddafi. You simply cannot satisfy a human, can you?
The change process has begun in earnest and any fair minded person would attest that affairs of this country have not been as they used to be in the past 10months. What this administration badly needs from patriotic citizens is support and prayer not Judgment or hasty conclusions premised on some temporary discomfort caused by fuel scarcity or power failure. We need to see the bigger picture. Lastly, to criticize or to pass judgment that this administration is a failure or weak simply because it is taking its time to address certain challenges is not only hasty and laughable but myopic as well.
Farid Labaran Esq.
Facebook: Farid Labaran
Twitter: @farid_labara
Email: uneeq007@gmail.com
