AS I SEE IT: THE DOHA DECLARATION – Frank Ofili

Mr President Sir, I have found it necessary to say my bit once again as I see things, hoping that it will be of some help in the herculean task before you. I am hoping that you do not begin to feel that I am beginning to be too frequent with this self-assigned role. I certainly do not wish to be doing this all the time, but like I promised at the time of signing on for your government, I would not be the typical Nigerian supporter who sees no evil and hears no evil about his patron. My point sir is, I would not close my eyes to areas I feel are likely to hurt your government. The objective of course is for you to have early warnings and possibly make a detour before it is too late. 

Mr. President sir, as an ordinary Nigeria who is right there on street, I can authoritatively tell you that the mood on the street right now is not so good. The reasons are not far-fetched, but one particularly has left many wondering. 

 Last week you announced that your administration could no longer keep to your campaign promise of paying N5,000 monthly to every unemployed youth. To tell you the truth, I was miffed when your party, the APC went about town with this promise. I was even more miffed that you not only accepted it but equally adopted it and in fact used it in your campaign to the Presidency. 

It was my opinion then that you had taken on a political baggage that might be too heavy to carry. I mean, how on earth were you going to determine the number of unemployed youth in Nigeria.  Where was the data? Where was the framework to ensure the money actually got to the target group?

But the question is academic now. Suffice to say that that singular promise may have been what gave you the Presidency because given your pedigree, the youth believed you would keep to your word. There is no gainsaying the fact that many a youth risked their lives to get you elected. 

Given the economic realities today however vis-a-viz the unbridled looting that went on in the last administration which you could not have envisaged at the time, one appreciates the underlying reasons you cannot longer fulfill the promise. Indeed, implementing this campaign promise was always going to be near-impossible. I was not surprised therefore when you dropped your bombshell in your characteristic candour and frankness. In fact, I would have been surprised if you had insisted on carrying on with the promise. 

Mr. President Sir, my concern is not that you jettisoned a promise that was bound to be impossible to keep. My concern is that you chose to do so in foreign land; in faraway Qatar. In my opinion sir, such monumental announcement should not have been made outside the shores of our land. It would have made a huge difference if you had done so on home soil via national broadcast or some physical occasion where Nigerians would have the opportunity of seeing the pains and regrets on your face while you make the painful announcement.

Nigerians are not too difficult to please. Nor are they so unwilling to show understanding especially in these trying times. All they require is a bit of good faith. By dropping your bombshell in foreign land (not the first by the way), you may have alienated a large part of your support base – the youth. You may have also given the opposition yet another ammunition to attack you with; not to talk of the media who will also see it as one more pointer to your alleged disdain for them. You are of course aware of your somewhat tenuous relationship with the media – no doubt a carryover from your last sojourn on the seat of power.

All said and done, it would have been wiser to humbly reach out to Nigerians, giving reasons why you need to put a few things on ground first before being saddled with the responsibility of fulfilling the promise. The explanation given by Information Minister Lai Mohammed just doesn't cut it. To all intents and purposes the minister sounded like he was still the APC spokesman. He ought to know where to draw the line. 

But it is not late in the day yet. So far, you have performed quite well in the 10 months you have been in office. In you, Nigerians now see a purposeful and committed leader, especially with regards to fighting corruption. Every step you have taken so far has been purposeful and well thought out – aside a few errors of judgement of course. These errors of judgement nevertheless, I would rather have you in Aso Rock at this point in time than have someone else.