Yar’ Adua’s task at the helm is not a light one!
AS great speeches go, it is nowhere near one but with the following words, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’ Adua defined his Presidency, at his swearing in at the Eagle square in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja on Tuesday,May 29, 2007: “I will set a worthy personal example as your president.
AS great speeches go, it is nowhere near one but with the following words, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’ Adua defined his Presidency, at his swearing in at the Eagle square in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja on Tuesday,May 29, 2007: “I will set a worthy personal example as your president.
No matter what obstacles confront us, I have confidence and faith in our ability to overcome them. After all, we are Nigerians! We are a resourceful and enterprising people, and we have it within us to make our country a better place.
To that end I offer myself as a servant-leader. I will be a listener and doer, and serve with humility. To fulfil our ambitions, all our leaders at all levels whether a local government councillor or state governor, senator or cabinet minister must change our style and our attitude.
We must act at all times with humility, courage, and forthrightness. I ask you, fellow citizens, to join me in rebuilding our Nigerian family, one that defines the success of one by the happiness of many. I ask you to set aside negative attitudes, and concentrate all our energies on getting to our common destination. All hands must be on deck.
Let us join together to ease the pains of today while working for the gains of tomorrow. Let us set aside cynicism and strive for the good society that we know is within our reach. Let us discard the habit of low expectations of ourselves as well as of our leaders.
Let us stop justifying every shortcoming with that unacceptable phrase ‘the Nigerian factor’ as if to be a Nigerian is to settle for less. Let us recapture the mood of optimism that defined us at the dawn of independence, that legendary can-do spirit that marked our Nigerianess.
Let us join together, now, to build a society worthy of our children. We have the talent. We have the intelligence. We have the ability.
The challenge is great. The goal is clear. The time is now.†No one who knows Umar Yar’ Adua would have been surprised that the speech was not earth shattering. The man’s personality is not given to great speeches, flamboyance or dramatic gestures.
If a man who has been a Governor of one of Nigeria’s 36 states for the past eight years could still remain anonymous in a country where even local councillors, not to talk of state governors and ministers, will never let you forget ‘who I am’ it should tell us something about the man.
It is not just that many people did not know him. he appears unwilling to allow many people into his inner recesses hence not many can say this is what makes him tick. This quality has made many to underestimate him.
Instead too much attention is placed on his main sponsor, General Olusegun Obasanjo and how he imposed Yar Adua as a candidate and used ‘do or die’ machinations to ensure his election.
There is a democratic need to continue to challenge the credibility of the process but as at 72 hours ago Umar Yar’ Adua is the President of Nigeria de facto and de jure. We cannot be blaming any problems on Obasanjo anymore. As the Americans say, the buck stops at Yar’ Adua’s desk now.
Whatever role Obasanjo played in getting him to Aso Rock people given power are not known for showing too much gratitude. Look at Chiluba and Mwanawasa in Zambia or Muluzi and his successor in Malawi and long before that Ahmadu Ahidjo and Paul Biya in Cameroun. A more infamous example in this region is the role the English noble wannabe, Charles Njonjo, played in facilitating President arap Moi’s Nyayo takeover and how they dramatically fell out.
In order for Yar’ Adua to gain any credibility he has to show himself as his own man. And all indications are that he will do that because he is that type of man. But he may not do so in any confrontational way.
He will just ease Obasanjo into the sidelines while still publicly paying handsome tributes to his legacy, much the same way Moi institutionalised his personal rule while claiming he was following in the full steps of Mzee Kenyatta (nyayo!).
There is nothing in the speech that will indicate any significant policy shift from Obasanjo’s market–driven reform agenda, stabilising the system, controlling corruption and rebuilding the deplorable infrastructure of the country and transforming economic growth into development that may deliver on the bread and butter issues to Nigeria’s overwhelming ‘poverty amongst plenty’ population.
That is what they all say but what Yar’ Adua brings to the table is that first line in the concluding sections of his very brief speech that I quoted above: “I will set a worthy personal example as your presidentâ€.
He has set himself to succeed or fail through his own example. He has a record of being relatively above board which was one of the factors that favoured him above his more flamboyant candidates. He delivered a competent administration in Katsina state.
He will need to do more than that as president before he succeeds in turning the huge debits on credibility that he is starting with and begin to build political savings that may gain the grudging respect of disillusioned Nigerians who have always yearned for credible leadership under whom they could all feel proud again to be Nigerians.
No matter what obstacles confront us, I have confidence and faith in our ability to overcome them. After all, we are Nigerians! We are a resourceful and enterprising people, and we have it within us to make our country a better place.
To that end I offer myself as a servant-leader. I will be a listener and doer, and serve with humility. To fulfil our ambitions, all our leaders at all levels whether a local government councillor or state governor, senator or cabinet minister must change our style and our attitude.
We must act at all times with humility, courage, and forthrightness. I ask you, fellow citizens, to join me in rebuilding our Nigerian family, one that defines the success of one by the happiness of many. I ask you to set aside negative attitudes, and concentrate all our energies on getting to our common destination. All hands must be on deck.
Let us join together to ease the pains of today while working for the gains of tomorrow. Let us set aside cynicism and strive for the good society that we know is within our reach. Let us discard the habit of low expectations of ourselves as well as of our leaders.
Let us stop justifying every shortcoming with that unacceptable phrase ‘the Nigerian factor’ as if to be a Nigerian is to settle for less. Let us recapture the mood of optimism that defined us at the dawn of independence, that legendary can-do spirit that marked our Nigerianess.
Let us join together, now, to build a society worthy of our children. We have the talent. We have the intelligence. We have the ability.
The challenge is great. The goal is clear. The time is now.†No one who knows Umar Yar’ Adua would have been surprised that the speech was not earth shattering. The man’s personality is not given to great speeches, flamboyance or dramatic gestures.
If a man who has been a Governor of one of Nigeria’s 36 states for the past eight years could still remain anonymous in a country where even local councillors, not to talk of state governors and ministers, will never let you forget ‘who I am’ it should tell us something about the man.
It is not just that many people did not know him. he appears unwilling to allow many people into his inner recesses hence not many can say this is what makes him tick. This quality has made many to underestimate him.
Instead too much attention is placed on his main sponsor, General Olusegun Obasanjo and how he imposed Yar Adua as a candidate and used ‘do or die’ machinations to ensure his election.
There is a democratic need to continue to challenge the credibility of the process but as at 72 hours ago Umar Yar’ Adua is the President of Nigeria de facto and de jure. We cannot be blaming any problems on Obasanjo anymore. As the Americans say, the buck stops at Yar’ Adua’s desk now.
Whatever role Obasanjo played in getting him to Aso Rock people given power are not known for showing too much gratitude. Look at Chiluba and Mwanawasa in Zambia or Muluzi and his successor in Malawi and long before that Ahmadu Ahidjo and Paul Biya in Cameroun. A more infamous example in this region is the role the English noble wannabe, Charles Njonjo, played in facilitating President arap Moi’s Nyayo takeover and how they dramatically fell out.
In order for Yar’ Adua to gain any credibility he has to show himself as his own man. And all indications are that he will do that because he is that type of man. But he may not do so in any confrontational way.
He will just ease Obasanjo into the sidelines while still publicly paying handsome tributes to his legacy, much the same way Moi institutionalised his personal rule while claiming he was following in the full steps of Mzee Kenyatta (nyayo!).
There is nothing in the speech that will indicate any significant policy shift from Obasanjo’s market–driven reform agenda, stabilising the system, controlling corruption and rebuilding the deplorable infrastructure of the country and transforming economic growth into development that may deliver on the bread and butter issues to Nigeria’s overwhelming ‘poverty amongst plenty’ population.
That is what they all say but what Yar’ Adua brings to the table is that first line in the concluding sections of his very brief speech that I quoted above: “I will set a worthy personal example as your presidentâ€.
He has set himself to succeed or fail through his own example. He has a record of being relatively above board which was one of the factors that favoured him above his more flamboyant candidates. He delivered a competent administration in Katsina state.
He will need to do more than that as president before he succeeds in turning the huge debits on credibility that he is starting with and begin to build political savings that may gain the grudging respect of disillusioned Nigerians who have always yearned for credible leadership under whom they could all feel proud again to be Nigerians.