Obasanjo's Cross-With Western Standards

By

Nnaji Kene

I am not so concerned, at least now, about when President Olusegun Obasanjo vacates office. Only time will bring about his administration’s cherished celebrations on economic reforms; corruption – free Nigeria; constitutional amendments; poverty eradication; favourable foreign exchange… Just as the seems endless, much of the country’s helmsman’s desire is to receive international pat on the back; such that will motion him to the seat of elder-state-man with reverberating influence across the shares of Africa and beyond, honestly socio-political and economic ideology Obasanjo has recently, I wish him the best! This is because, according to Obasanjo, some people may not earn one dollar a day but are sure of what to eat tomorrow and vice versa. By the time Obasanjo finished this sermon, thousand of NTA Network News Viewers including this writer, raised their hands for clarifications. But the president was far from the people as his idea about poverty measurement standard is from reality.

That was not the first time president Obasanjo is making unguarded remarks on issues that should be taken seriously. His outright condemnation of sociology and mass communication course in the institutions of high learning, without parallel efforts to make science courses attractive to the majority of pupils is still fresh in memory and don’t hope in the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme! What one fears is not Mr. president’s interest in domestic measures on poverty. But the possibility that his hatred for the already known, internationally acceptable principles has made his poverty eradication policies more alien, remote and unconnected to the immediate causes of poverty in Nigeria. And the fact that his office has not evolved in an appreciation attentive to one dollar a day benchmark. Don’t discuss the controversial National economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) here.

The question is at what point are his poverty reduction steps truly, people generated and people oriented? How many sustainability measures put in place are realisable when power changes hands? For more than five years, the National Poverty Eradication Policy (NAPEP) has been strategizing. No! it has provided thousand and thousands of Nigerians with opportunities in some skills acquisition programmes such as shoe repairs and serving of many small and medium scale enterprises (SME) have benefit from loans etc. This singsong is better done by Mr. President and his retime of Federal and State Political actors. Also from this angle: NAPEP wants all Nigerian graduates to put off their ties and shirts and enter into farming. That is quoting one of the governors of the South-West. But we always say we are ready, if only our leaders can show how subsistence agriculture can be preferable to their get rich quick political ventures.

The truth is that an average Nigerian graduate is at a self developmental dilemma. He is not smart enough to catch up with modern technological challenges. Yet not as humble as to take after his fore fathers in practicing non merchandised family. And why should he? Where only juice positions in governance can pass through hell. Justify his academic endeavours or make him feel his politician role models are mortals as he is. Back to Obasanjo’s calculation. Those who cannot afford N130 day should rejoice, because some how they are sure of what eat this rights this thought is plausible! But apart from the possibility of satisfying other human egos, as living above poverty line all about affording what to eat? Is it not about having good health, security and maintaining that without losing it tomorrow? It is about not being vulnerable to poverty. Other words living above poverty line means that those who are not below poverty line today will not lose status tomorrow? And for goodness sake N130 is simply minimum not a good reference point! It is not the physical money earned a day but its value, which should have been raised to match the present economic credibility.

The president needs to be told that average income earners are no longer able to train their wards in the public universities. What for meeting the cost of private institutions, where quality education still exists? I am a fan to Obasanjo’s reform programme. But my star’s touches on economic matters are supharating. Increases in the prices of oil products is not helping matters. Yet the president has penchant for showing how far he is from the reality. His comments on issues matter a lot. It is the same Obasanjo who hates intelligence report on the country’s possibility of breaking up before 2020, who also quotes similar reports on Nigeria’s improvement in the worldwide corruption rankings. I believe it is either Mr. President practices capitalism, abiding by known benchmarks for poverty reduction or he actually comes home and see that his alternatives to survive his reform programmes. He’s got people who can challenge his current dispositions.

However, chances are that his asides only tell him what he likes to hear. At Abuja recently, only Christian Women were chose to him when he hated M130 income per day as a poverty line paramount. Rather than raise their hands for clarifications, they practically motioned their arms to his head and blessed Mr. President.    

Nnaji Kene is a Nigerian Corper with Gombe State Media Cooperation write from Gombe.