Seriously Speaking

Muhammadu Buhari

The Naira continues to take a bashing against major currencies. there seems to be no let up. In saner climes, the Governor of the Central Bank would have voluntarily thrown in his towel for not knowing what to do to arrest the trend.

But definitely not in our clime. We do not resign even when it is obvious that we have failed. Unfortunately, the tenure of the CBN Governor is fixed by law and the President cannot sack him unless he is found to have committed serious misconduct.

Emefiele's CBN is too conservative and laid-back for my liking. This is not the CBN we need in these trying times. Too bad too, that there doesn’t seem to be much synergy between the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Finance. Both seem to be going their separate ways. Ideally, they should be moving in the same direction.

Baba should have his well-deserve rest and come back to rejig his government. There are too many idle hands. In fact, I hardly know whether some ministers exist. We do not need such ministers.

I do hope Baba has used the opportunity of his leave to reflect on events backwards to 29th May 2015. I know he is doing his best but a lot still needs to be done, and I don't see his present team of ministers helping him to deliver. The recurrent excuse of past mismanagement is no longer acceptable almost two years after taking power.

Seriously speaking Baba needs to open up the political space. He needs to get men like OBJ and Ashiwaju to have input in who he appoints in his next cabinet (yes, cabinet reshuffle is now a must!). There is no denying the fact that these two men know how to recruit competent hands. We have seen them do it in the past.

And for whatever it is worth let me advise that Baba should look beyond party next time around. If he finds a competent candidate in an opposition party, he should not shy away from appointing the person. A level-headed man like Donald Duke should be considered for a role, not minding the fact that he belongs to opposition PDP.

Again, let me reiterate that Aso Rock personnel, as is presently constituted, needs to be tinkered with. Two men with strong organizational skill and cross-over appeal are seriously needed to put things in proper shape at the Rock. Raji Fashola should be considered for Chief of Staff or Secretary to Government of the Federation. I believe Madam Oby Ezekwesili can play a role there too.

Finally, let me say this, if power supply was bad in the past, it is worse now, and it is unacceptable. And shameful too. The biggest fraud in this country is being committed in the power sector. Nigerians are billed exorbitantly not for power supply but for darkness. Baba must address this problem. We really don’t care how he solves the problem of epileptic power supply. He should just do it, even if he has to, like Donald Trump, issue Executive Orders. All we want is result, and I believe Baba is capable of giving it to us