In a bid to achieve a better Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari launched a national re-orientation campaign tagged “Change Begins With Me”. This campaign aims to ensure that Nigerians change their attitude and personal behaviour towards achieving a better Nigeria, and consequently, aid sustainable development.
On September 8, President Buhari stated in Abuja that “the campaign we are about to launch today is all about the need for us to see change not merely in terms of our economic and social progress, but in terms of our personal behaviour on how we conduct ourselves, engage our neighbours, friends and generally how we relate to the larger society in a positive and definitive way and manner that promotes our common good and common destiny – Change at home, change in the workplace, change at traffic junction, change at traffic lights etc.”
A few days ago, Ventures Africa proposed that the said change needs to begin from the top, right from the Presidency and throughout the major tiers of government. This position is based on the various ills pervasive in the governance of Nigeria, such as the highly unpopular subject of corruption for instance. On this basis, one needs to explore the attitude and personal behaviour of Nigerian politicians, and how much change has taken place in government – if any – to inspire a ‘lead-by-example’ or ripple effect style of the desired socioeconomic change.
Nothing seems to change for Nigeria’s political office holders
President Buhari administration championed a campaign of attitudinal change. This campaign has been rejected by Nigerians on several grounds. In Nigeria, political office holders live flamboyant lifestyles despite the downturn of the nation’s economy. These politicians live in luxury homes, flaunt their fleet of cars, and loot national funds. This is evident in the alleged luxury Dubai property owned by President Buhari’s Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Burutai. Despite the economic recession, political office holders still maintain their high salaries while average Nigerians suffer salary cuts and job losses. All these reveal the lack of empathy from Nigeria’s politicians. Thus, if Buhari really wants an attitudinal change from Nigerians, the flamboyant lifestyles of the politicians should be checked.
Positive attitude towards work is a major premise of the “Change Begins With Me” campaign. As interesting as it sounds, Nigerian politicians have a lackadaisical attitude towards their duties. There are lots of senators that have never proposed a bill that will favour their constituency or intend to do so. Most of these senators abandon their constituencies to reside in the national capital, Abuja. In addition, there are several ministers that probably have no clue how to carry out their duties. For instance, the recent Rio Olympic Games revealed that the Minister of Sport and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung has done nothing to improve Nigeria’s sporting activities.
A hungry man is an angry man
With the current economic downturn, many Nigerians are living in very difficult conditions. People are losing their jobs while some cannot afford a three-square meal. There is no basis for Nigerians to embrace the campaign while they are hungry and their businesses are being shut down. This campaign could be seen as a mere distraction.
The federal government should do the needful by working towards revamping the economy. It needs to implement policies that will make things better for average Nigerians. Most importantly, all political office holders need to lead by example. With these in place, Nigerians could exhibit better personal behaviours and attitudes that will move the country forward.
