By Reginald L. Chukwu

It’s almost a year into the Muhammadu Buhari government. So far, it’s been pain, penury and extreme hardship experienced in the country, as against the promises of a total change for good. It should be to the president, as a man with conscience, a call to action. The way the same voices that sang his ‘Sai Baba, Sai Buhari’ praises are all now singing a different song, wishing they never voted him in, following the economic hardship in the nation, is something to think about.

No doubt, the transformational change that Nigeria needs can never come overnight, but it is shocking that in just a year, Nigerians are regretting the choice they made at the presidential election.

Now, it is becoming clear that APC, knowing that the state of affairs in Nigeria was bad, deceived us with the promises they made. I think that to fix Nigeria will not be done in a while, but APC made it look as if it was easy. How could APC have promised to repair the nation immediately, knowing that things had gone bad in 16 years? Must every party that wishes to be in government come with a too-good-to-be-true campaign promises just to be in power, without any sincerity of purpose? How could the party have promised the release of the Chibok Girls in the first few months of its regime, and one year after, nothing has happened? How come the prices of everything, food, goods and commodities, be going up when “change” should mean succour?

Although, change, they say, is a process and with it comes difficulty and a high level of penury in the process of transformation, the question on the lips of every Nigerian is: When will this economic hardship being experienced end? The majority of the populace believe that the hardship the nation is subjected to is a result of lack of vision of the Buhari government and not any process of change, like they are making the masses believe. The chorus echoed on the streets are: If the economic hardship is part of the process of change, what are the visions on ground? How long will it linger, so the pain can be borne once and for all?

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It is a worrisome trend that whatever goes up in price in Nigeria never comes down. A sachet of water, popularly known as ‘pure water,’ which sold for N5 before, now sells for N10. Also, prices of food items and other commodities have doubled and tripled. We all know that they will never come down.  I am worried. I am worried because the body language of the present government so far has made the masses lose hope in its policies. Now, people are doubting if the government will ever deliver on their promises. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Nigerians believe, is more interested in throwing jabs at the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), instead of focusing on the re-orientation of the nation. This shows how visionless the government is. They fail to realise that the major essence of a two-party system is to put the party in power under pressure, so that it will perform well.

I imagine if the PDP were in power and APC still in opposition, we would be sure that APC would have raised issues, for instance, about the constant foreign trips by the president. President Buhari has made travelling from one country to another the order of his government, jettisoning issues that need urgent attention at home.

Well, I do believe that his trips abroad are for the betterment of the nation. However, I must say that the government should thrive to change the fortunes of Nigerians. There’s no better time to tackle corruption, societal decadence, economic menace and security challenges than now. If President Muhammadu Buhari fails to deliver, then nobody can lead this nation successfully because he’s good enough to change things for the better.

It is advisable that we give the government the benefit of the doubt. A year is not enough to experience the desired change we need as a nation. Rather than complain, let’s accept out fate and diligently watch the government and see what it could do. Let us be hopeful that with the groaning of the masses, notable changes, in the area of affordable price of goods and services, stable power supply, good roads and others will be witnessed in no distant time.

• Chukwu writes in from Lagos; [email protected]; 08064896236