A President and His Exemplary Leadership

A PRESIDENT AND HIS EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP

There is so much grim news coming out of Nigeria everyday, but when you look closely, you will find bits and pieces of progress here and there that bring good cheer and nourish the roots of hope:

One, for the first time in recent memory a sitting elected President of Nigeria formally and properly handed over to his vice-president before proceeding on vacation....without controversy. I guess this lays to rest the contrived logic of old that "the Nigerian President can rule from anywhere he is in the world, including planet mars."

Two, I read today that as at January this year, Nigeria has saved 2.2 trillion  Naira through the effective implementation of the TSA alone. President Buhari assures citizens that this sum is sufficient to fund the 2016 budget deficits. Meanwhile more savings are still expected as we go forward.And we have not even added recoveries from 'our common-yam thieves' and Abacha funds returns.

Three, The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) disclosed that Nigeria has for the first time in the history of her electricity generation profile, generated about 5,074 megawatts (MW) of electricity.The nation is also on target to add an additional 2000 megawatts by December 

And four, we also learnt today that Directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria  are the real owners of majority of the so called Bureau de-change (BDC)  in Nigeria. This explains why Burea de-change owners will buy a dollar for N190 from the CBN and then sell to ordinary Nigerians at N305 to a dollar. Well, you guessed right, this discovery further explains why President Buhari directed the CBN governor to stop selling dollars to BDC's. A potent shot in the arm of our economy.

There are those who will have us  give up in the false believe that nothing good is happening in Nigeria particularly under this government. Every time i hear or read such comments, I am reminded of two basic facts of life: One, that opinions are free and cheap but facts are sacred and respected. And two, that life is very difficult for the blind, so we must learn to be sympathetic to them that suffer such great an affliction.

The truth is that, slowly but surely, Nigeria is making progress and taking baby steps forward into the hallowed arena of civilization and development. The pains are there. The doubts persist. The disappointments and betrayals of many decades gone by stubbornly linger. But we must dare to dream again. Hope again. Believe again, particularly when we see the convincingly bold and beautiful steps of integrity of a leader who is truly accountable to us, citizens.

The good news might be coming in bits and pieces now rather than in droves and floods. But given what this country has gone through in its recent history, we ought simply to be thankful that there is any good news at all.

The message is that, a New Nigeria is Possible. Believe!

Anthony Ubani