Friday 13 November 2015

AND BUHARI TOUCHES THE PULSE OF NIGERIANS


           " Here on the pulse of this new day,
             You may have the courage to look up and out,
             And upon me ,
            The Rock,
            The River,
            The Tree,
            Your Country.
             No less to Midas than the Mendicant,
             No less to you now than the mastodon then
             Here, on the pulse of this new day,
             You may have the Grace to look up and out,
             And into your sister's eyes,
             And into your brother's face,
             Your Country,
             And say simply,
             Very Simply,
              With hope-- Good Morning!
                                          -------- Maya Angelou
                    (Award Winning African American Poet)

There on the Pulse of that fine day in 1993  award winning African American Poet Maya Angelou read this Poem to the world at the inauguration of Bill Clinton as America's  42nd President,  vocalizing the hope of Americans that the Clinton administration would bring freshness into governance.  


And on the pulse of another fine day,11th September, 2015, here in the business hub of Africa, Africa's most populous Nation,  the collective pulse of all Nigerians was touched by President Muhammadu Buhari for the first time since his inauguration as he allocated portfolios to his Ministers.  Although many felt disappointed by the " THE LIST" of ministers from the Executive, the allocation of portfolios evoked a different set of emotions altogether.





In much of Surulere, Lagos many were fixated on their TV sets  watching with rapt attention as President Buhari inaugurated his Ministers. Then he began allocating Ministries  to each and there was silence --- until he called out : Babatunde Raji Fashola, Minister of Works, Power and Housing -- and cheers erupted. People started clapping -- it was as if Nigerians were watching their under-seventeen National soccer team,  the Golden Eaglets score a winning goal in a FIFA world cup final. It was simply a spontaneous outburst of joy -- the first re-kindling of  hope that seemed to almost have been lost many a months ago. Two other names that drew some sort of applause also were Rotimi Amaechi (Former Rivers State Governor) named Minister of Transport and Kayode Fayemi (Former Ekiti State Governor ) named Minister of Solid Minerals.


For many with Fashola as Minister of works there is hope that at least some of this government's programmes will touch the lives of the masses in a positive way; there is hope that the many abandoned Federal Road Projects all over the country will be swiftly dealt with; there is hope that the national monster called Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) will be swiftly and comprehensively dealt with once and for all ; there is hope that the National housing policy will really and truly be available to all Nigerians, not just those fortunate to have 'godfathers' in high places.


And maybe we can re-echo Maya Angelou's words: "On the pulse of this new day, we did have the grace to look up and out, into our sister's eyes, and  our brother's face, our Country-- Nigeria, and say simply, very  simply, with hope-- Good Morning! 


                                        Victor O. Sawyerr
                                         12/11/2015


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