Odigie Oyegun’s declaration: Excuse for non-performance?

The declaration by the National Chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) that the party did not know while it was campaigning for the 2015 general election that Nigeria’s economy was in shambles, has made many to wonder if the statement is an excuse for the inability of the APC-led administration to deliver the ‘Change’ it promised to Nigerians, more than a year in office.

Additionally, Odigie-Oyegun’s declaration reveals two things: One, the statement shows how politicians and parties can deploy propaganda and outright lies to hoodwink the electorate to cast votes for them during elections as well as how politicians and parties in Nigeria can exploit the ignorance of the electorate to their advantage.

Secondly, the declaration reinforces the need for Nigerians to be more circumspect before casting their votes for candidates and parties during elections as no sooner the candidates and parties get into office, they begin to sing different tunes. 

The APC national chairman, who made the statement at a reception held in his honour by the management and staff of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja to mark his 77th birthday on August 12, 2016, said: “It has been tough times for the nation. When we were campaigning – it is necessary to continue to hammer on this point – we were not in government; we knew things were very bad but we did not know they were as bad as we eventually found them.

“Secondly, and that is very important: nobody ever expected the prices of crude to collapse in the way they have done. One can only repeat what Mr. President (Muhammadu Buhari) said a few days ago and that is, from being a nation that could have an Excess Crude Account, today, because of the collapse of the prices of crude, a lot of the states in this country do not even have enough resources to meet their very basic functions and responsibilities to their citizens.”

Odigie-Oyegun’s declaration and his assurance that the APC-led administration is laying “a solid foundation” for the country and that this would be the last economic crisis Nigeria would face is heart-warming, however, the APC helmsman must realise that the onus lies on the party-led administration to get Nigeria out of the woods.

Odigie-Oyegun must know that Nigerians who voted for the APC, will not accept anything short of the fulfilment of the promises the party made during the 2015 general election. The APC-led administration must perform or be ready to face the consequences at the election. It may be difficult to convince Nigerians that the reason the nation’s economy is grinding to a halt is because of the alleged misdeeds of past administrations, particularly the last one.

It is important that the APC and its chieftains, Odigie-Oyegun inclusive, stop taking Nigerians through this route of whining over the alleged misdeeds of the immediate past administration.

Those who are close to him and other chieftains the party should let them know that their endless whining over the alleged misdeeds of the immediate past administration has become irritating and makes it look like the APC is still campaigning for votes more than one year in office.

The unending whining over the alleged wrongs of the immediate past administration by Odigie-Oyegun and other chieftains of the APC also makes the party appear still not prepared to tackle challenges of being in office which every administration both locally and internationally exist to confront.

Globally, governments are in office to confront challenges of their people no matter how bad or intractable they are and provide solutions to the needs of their people. Nowhere are governments in place to whine over misdeeds of past administration as the APC national Chairman and other big wigs of the party have been doing more than a year in office.

This being the case, Odigie-Oyegun and the APC should do more to focus on their mandate, deliver the positive ‘change’ they promised Nigerians in the run up to the 2015 general elections. The party must confront the challenge of governance headlong and stop whining give over whatever misdeeds of the administration they succeeded.

This can be done through adoption and implementation of sound policies, plugging loopholes through which officials fritter away public funds. Fact is that it will be difficult for Nigeria to get out of the woods when outdated policies are being resurrected by the APC administration. It will serve the country better if the APC-led administration adopts and implements robust and pragmatic policies to tackle current and future challenges.

Odigie-Oyegun and the APC must stop behaving as if they are is still campaigning, get down to work and allow Nigerians to be the judge.

(samnzeh2015@gmail.com; 08050220692 SMS only)