The public will see through any cosmetic or token gestures and will not tolerate a continuation of status quo. Corruption and plunder are the root causes of unemployment, insecurity, violence and unrest, General Muhammadu Buhari, while reacting to emergency situation in Nigeria.

Although I was quite confident that the Supreme Court would deliver a sound judgement contrary to a popular one in regards to the court challenge from the number one Nigerian opposition party of today, the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC), I could not hold my tears as I pondered over the speech of General Muhammadu Buhari on the verdict on Tuesday December 28, 2011.

My continued main worry for the General is that he so much believes in Nigeria and has often felt that things are not done the right way, thus his resolve at every political dispensation to fight the evil cartels that have held the nation to nothingness in terms of development, unity and peace. Each time he mounts his horse to the warfront; the same men who prepared the horse for him would desert him and dine with his enemies.

The General has been forsaken. But I cannot be sure that he has really realized that the war to change this country towards the right direction is not for Godly, soft-hearted and considerably humane people. Such people much be characterized by qualities that can be the semblance of chameleon, tortoise and in the commonest quote a green serpent in green grass.

I had often refused to believe that there is gentility in the army. I grew up partly in an army barrack and as a small boy, I thought that the army is a set of people built to defend the weak. I also attended Army Day School where we were trained to be not only stubborn in the right direction but to be orderly and manly. So, one feels lost contending with how the General climbed to this enviable position in the army with a civic mind. But I also know that soldiers do never surrender.

What are the General's crimes that he can never be allowed to make a trial in REDIRECTING Nigeria? What did he do wrong while he was the Head of State? Why have all the Generals lost the espirit de corps bond in the military and the security force at large as it regards this lofty-hearted General? Summarily, why is this General fearfully feared by a dreadful cabal?

Many compatriots are undone by the daily ugly development in the country since the return of Nigeria to democratic governance in 1999. Things have continued to worsen. Each government that comes democratically proves to be incapacitated to handle the complexity of the Nigerian nation. Four success democratic government! Is 2015 going to be any different?

After a thorough scrutiny of the General's speech, few points lined themselves up for my admiration. The first is that the nation has not conducted any widely accepted general elections since 1999. Four of such jamborees have been organized. In 2003 and 2007, the elections were also challenged at the Supreme Court and the verdict was not unexpected.

The General says that all Nigerian patriots who witnessed the conduct of the elections knew that the decision of the Supreme Court has always been politically motivated, thus having little judicial content. Therefore, he bitterly posited that the 2011 Supreme Court has proved no better than the Supreme Courts of 2003 and 2007.

Secondly, there was the misconception that a new umpire for Nigeria's elections would make a difference after Professor Maurice Iwu-led INEC announced prepaid results in favour of the ruling party. There was also the misconception that the judiciary was the last hope of the mass. At that time, the Justice Idris Kutigi-led Supreme Court after indiscriminate adjournments, declared the election valid, with three justices dissenting.

Thirdly is the significance of international observers who condemned the elections in no uncertain terms, yet their governments were quick to send congratulatory messages to the presidents from such elections. What do the observers tell their governments?

However, having been part and parcel of the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections, the General concluded that what happened in 2011 elections superseded all the other elections in the depth and scope of forgery and rigging. The hopes were chartered. Then, another INEC Professor, Attahiru Jega was bought in for the job, and after asking for and getting close on 100 billion naira for the elections including biometric data with all ten finger prints to conduct a thorough electoral exercise, he botched it.

Furthermore, the riots that broke out in parts of the country after the announcement of the 2011 Presidential result was wrongly ascribed to the General. The Justice Ahmad Lemu Panel had a different interpretation in its detailed causes of the reactions from the fallout of the election. As the General stated, the facts were that people were deeply angered and deeply provoked at the wanton conduct of the elections: the snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes, violence unleashed on opposition supporters, use of the police and elements of the army to intimidate injure and kill opposition supporters and flagrant change of results after collation such as in Niger, Bauchi and Kaduna states. Moreover, he asserted, the declaration of 86% - 90% of votes registered and cast in most part of the South-East and South-South states was highly implausible given the general turn-out of 50% - 60% in the rest of the country.

Wonderful how election can be regarded as credible where 100% of votes cast were for one candidate in many constituencies and 90% in some states! No election can be validated if 100% of those registered all cast their votes in favour of the same candidate! Was it for these reasons that INEC refused to release the biometric data? Why then did the Supreme Court turned a blind eye and deaf ear to all these irregularities that have run through all three elections since 2003?

The General warns on an emergency situation that looms in the country. To many of Nigerians, the situation is more pathetic when law and order are broken with impunity at any time, while the political leaders feel complacent with verbal promises and theoretical solutions in place of practical actions.

Steps which are known to all Nigerians and which have been proffered by many citizens were re-echoed by the General. These solutions are never new but what is new is that he advocates abolishment of security votes. Other steps to assist in good governance are:

- drastic reduction of the cost of governance in the three tiers of government

- drastic reduction of salaries and especially allowances

- security votes should not be increased as the 2012 Budget has done

- votes for the Armed Forces, Police and Security Services should be transparent and accountable

- foreign travel and estacodes should be stopped for at least six months except for the Presidency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and medical emergencies

- government house expenses in all the states should be drastically reduced

- foreign travel for state officials should be suspended for a while

- allowances for members of the National Assembly should be reduced substantially while their foreign travels should be stopped

- savings from these sources should be channelled to education, infrastructure and agriculture with emphasis on youth employment through meaningful and practical emergency programmes.

In his words, if all hands are on deck to help save Nigeria from imminent collapse, the country would stabilize. When stability is attained, Nigerians can then come together to discuss the country's structure in a calm and unemotional atmosphere. Are these Biblical and Qur’anic recitations on a seemingly ruined land and people by its people? Hopefully not!

Muhammad Ajah is a writer, author, advocate of humanity and good governance based in Abuja. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

If wishes were to be horses, beggars could ride. But Nigerians are neither wishful thinkers nor beggars. Likewise, if pledges were to be realities, the Nigerian people would have been the best in the world. This is the time to harvest pledges, just like before, from our politicians. Some have been carelessly making promises for the impossibilities or things that are not rational.

Three promises that have attracted my personal attention and which are being discussed by many Nigerians are from President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Jonathan wishes to put in place a mechanized farming system to ensure steady food on our tables and improve our economy through the agricultural sector. Buhari wishes to remove immunity clause from the constitution so that politicians in elective offices can be challenged and dragged to court for mismanagement of public funds which is the order of the day. And Ribadu wishes the fabulous creation of 120 million jobs so that even the under-aged Nigerian citizens can work and assist their parents to earn a better living. By this, Nigeria can become the highest in the provision of jobs to its citizens and the country will then have to open a department for green-white-green residential cards for foreigners.

                                                           President Jonathan

The PDP presidential flag-bearer has made a lot of pledges. By my assessment, if the valour with which he makes these promises is turned to action, the next four years of democratic rule in Nigeria will be different. One hears, "I will do this. I will do that." And the future seems to be assured by the use of this strong futuristic verb "will". He often says he despises mentioning what he has achieved in the last one year in office as the president of Nigeria.

I am much more interested in the promise that Nigeria will operate a mechanized farming system. Farming, or to put it appropriately, agriculture has been the most neglected sector of the economy since the discovery of oil and gas in Nigeria. Most of the world powers of today, despite their technological advancement, do not relent in daily development of their farming system. In short, most of the richest men in the world, some who are not known and do not want to be known, are farmers. Food is the most needed thing in life. On normal circumstances, one must eat before actualizing daily activities. A healthy brain is in a healthy body and a health body is primarily built on good food. In the colloquial language, "Man must wak". It is a must and without farming, life would have been a mirage.

When we talk about farming in Nigeria, many people would disassociate themselves from it, basically because a farmer is not respected. A farmer is regarded to be a poor person who has very little relevance to the society. In our villages, farmers are hard because they are still using archaic methods. Unlike in the olden days when a damsel will choose a husband based on his strength at farming or war, a man can be disqualified for his coarseness, even if he is a big farmer.

So if President Jonathan can assure Nigerians of mechanized farming and its attendant wealth, there is hope that the next four years would be great. Added to this, he should intensify efforts to provide stable electricity and qualitative education. Three point agenda, period: Power, agriculture and education. Nigerians are not asking for too much. Let him say very little and do much more. What he has done in the last one year as the president of Nigeria should speak more for him.

On the expunction of immunity clause from the constitution by the CPC Presidential flag bearer, this could be the great weapon to fight corruption to a standstill. Both national and foreign observers and analysts have maintained that the highest level of corruption is perpetrated in the government houses and the environs. This implies that the elected in particular and the appointed political office holders in general are the corruption mongers. They squander public funds which are meant for human and infrastructural developments on frivolous things and personal aggrandizements.

The immunity clause in the constitution do not allow for their trial while in office. This gives such category of the citizenry the effrontery to spend public funds without accountability. Since the return of Nigeria to democracy in 1999, this singular clause in the constitution has caused us trouble in the management of public funds. They are not accountable. They are not frugal. They are not checked by even the assemblies, because all are partners in this criminality against our motherland and her peoples. I do not know if any Nigerian can precisely say how much Nigeria has lost to this menace since 1999.

So, if Gen Buhari can, amidst expected adversities and challenges, expunge this part of the constitution, methinks in the next four years, Nigeria and Nigerians will have cause to rejoice and give thanks to God. The politicians will then be accountable and the monies meant for development will be properly utilized. All sectors of the economy will witness transformation.

People may claim that the governors or the president will be distracted as some citizens perceived to be opposition will engage them in legal battles. It may be so in the beginning. After all, the political office holders have been using public funds to fight the oppositions. But when the initiative stabilizes, every politician will welcome it.

Mr. Buhari

However, expunging the immunity clause should not end there. The constitution must clearly spell out serious punishments for financial mismanagement. One who is convicted of stealing between one to five million naira should go behind the bars for six months with hard labour. Five to ten million naira should attract one year imprisonment. One to five billion will mean two years imprisonment with hard labour. Ten billion and above should be life imprisonment. Let whoever inhabits the Aso Rock Villa from May 29th try this for our dear country.

As for job creation, it is a necessary antidote for slot, hooliganism and youth restiveness. An idle mind is, surely, a devil’s workshop. The rate of crime and moral decadence that are ravaging the country, namely: armed robbery, kidnapping, political thuggery, pick-pocketing, human trafficking, child abuse, prostitution, all forms of examination and electoral malpractices, among others, are natural products of joblessness.

Creating jobs for even two third of the Nigerian population and most especially the youths is enough to reform the society and push the country to its deserved position in the comity of nations.

But these should not be like before when politicians made very empty promises, knowing fully well that they would not deliver. The public should therefore scrutinize these politicians and discover the promises that can possibly be delivered and vote for the genuine ones. It has been discovered that political manifestoes are written by political jobbers who study members of a society and tell them what would stir them up. Enough is enough!

The unguarded waggling of the tongue with promises, just as it used to be during electioneering campaigns has baffled many patriotic and prominent Nigerians. Foremost of them is the Sultan of Sokoto who was moved to demand that the incumbent President Jonathan makes a written undertaking to fulfill all his promises when voted to continue. This is because, in the past, not one quarter of the pledges made by politicians is actualized. Most of our politicians often become incommunicado after winning elections.

Muhammad Ajah is a writer, author, advocate of humanity and good governance based in Abuja. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it