Four Challenges for Buhari

Four Key Challenges

Max Siollun shared photos of Buhari and Jonathan together as Jonathan showed his successor through the presidential compound. I took one of his photos to share with you – thank you, Max.

Not sure what Jonathan is handing to Buhari - maybe notes? A welcoming present?

Not sure what Jonathan is handing to Buhari – maybe notes? A welcoming present? Photo from Max Siollun’s website.

Buhari campaigned against corruption, mismanagement, and waste of resources, and for a united country. Now he’ll have to deliver. Can he?

The challenges are so great. Four areas he needs to address right away are detailed in an article from Yahoo News by Phil Hazlewood.

“Buhari, 72, has said the corrupt and corruption will have no place in his administration, sparking fears of a wide-ranging crackdown similar to his previous time as military ruler in the 1980s,” Hazlewood says.

People were frightened of him then, with good reason. How will he attack this curse of Nigerian life? I am eager to see.

Some suspect the current fuel shortage has been driven in part by the people who will lose the opportunity to benefit from their positions when Buhari steps in.

Second is security. Former Major General Buhari has the experience, surely, to defeat Boko Haram. He has said he will continue to work with other countries in the region.

But the need for employment possibilities so that young people have better options than terrorism is critical to fully solve this problem. And that’s the third challenge. “Buhari’s administration has pledged to embark on a massive programme of industrialisation, including building railways, improving roads and ports, and improving crumbling infrastructure.” But will they have the funds to do this?

And do you like the British (and Nigerian) spelling?

And finally, energy. Electricity is a big piece of this, but so are the oil and gas sectors. Will he dare end the ever-popular fuel subsidies? Can he get the refineries back on line so that there is domestic fuel supply? It will be a fascinating year ahead.

Fuel Shortage Persists

In a Financial Times article on May 26, William Wallis reports on the shortage of fuel and the impact on the economy. At one point there were two days of fuel on hand for the country. Electrcity generation was down to 1300 MW a day. less than one third of the already inadequate supply. Flights have been diverted as airlines cannot refuel.

Wallis reminds us that Buhari was Minister of Petroleum in the 1970’s and created the NNPC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which many now regard as a culprit in this and other crises.  “It is an accident of history that the same man, elected president in March, could now be compelled to dismantle the state oil company he helped create,” he says.

The next day Wallis and another reporter said that the fuel crisis continues, although steps are underway to ease the shortages over the next seven to ten days.

With the opaque nature of transactions between the NNPC and the multinational oil companies, and the concern that billions of dollars have gone astray, ending the reign of the corporation might be the solution.

I read another article on the fuel shortage, sent to me by my friend, teacher, and editor Marcelle. This article comes from ADIPEC, the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference. I forgot to ask Marcelle why she received it – maybe she’ll tell us in the comments.

Revoda, the Smartphone app, that turns voters into election monitors

Revoda, the Smartphone app, that turns voters into election monitors

Smartphones at Work

I depend on my Smartphone more and more each day, it seems, as I get used to reading email on the little screen. I even found myself reading a book on the phone yesterday when I was at Posh Nail Salon.

Apparently Smartphones were instrumental in getting out the vote in the recent elections. In addition, Enough-Is-Enough Nigeria, a non-governmental organization promoting good governance and accountability in the country, created an app called Revoda to allow individiauls to “report as independent citizen observers from their respective Polling Units across Nigeria.” The website says, “You simply register with your Polling Unit number, name & phone number.” Reports are anonymous.

Memorial Day Parade with family and TEAM Westport

Memorial Day Parade with family and TEAM Westport

We Marched on Memorial Day

TEAM Westport joined the social justice coalition of the Unitarian Rainbow Task Force and Triangle Community Center to march together in Westport’s Memorial Day parade on Monday.

Savrita and Arnela are carrying the banner. Kelvin is pushing Ikem who displayed the flag proudly for twenty or thirty minutes. John from our church is beside Kelvin.

By the last photo you can see Ikem’s got his head down, exhausted from the flag waving!

Grandson Kenechi  who is on his dad’s right, carried the Black Lives Matter sign for most of the time he marched, but daughter Beth has it in the final photo. We got lots of positive reaction and applause as we walked.

Nkiru and her friend Lily marched too, but they were too busy taking pictures of themselves and each other to be in the photos with the rest of us.

Author: Catherine Onyemelukwe

Author, blogger, speaker. Born in New York, grew up in mid west United States, lived in Nigeria for 24 years, back in U.S. since 1986. Advocate for racial justice.

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