Give The Buhari Administration A Chance, By Pastor William Bendega

By Pastor William Bendega

As far as I am concerned, the pressure and the vicious criticisms that are being hauled at President Buhari are vicious, ill timed, wicked, selfish, and unreasonable and they are the orchestration of people who have been used to mediocrity, to the plunder of the national treasury, to shamelessness and even to stagnation and retardation. Yes, we should put pressure on those we have appointed so they do not dwell at ease in government thinking they can get away with just anything. But if in four months, President Buhari is being judged for not fulfilling his campaign promises, how silly! How unreasonable! How wicked! If these criticisms were coming after two years or close to another election, it would be in place.
Those who participated in the immediate past government of President Jonathan know to what extent they plundered the nation and the dire state in which they left the economy. Except that President Buhari is taking the painstaking effort to ensure we recover the loot, with what would his government pursue developmental projects? For anyone to even say that his administration has achieved NOTHING in a hundred days is mischievous, dishonest and even blind. (Please, pardon my language). How many of you have forgotten so soon the fuel queues that began to build up all over the places? Where are those queues today? I know how many Nigerians were spending so much on diesel and petrol to power their generators. Now, we have electricity supply for longer hours. I have been sleeping with my air conditioner on nearly every night – all night! The probes that are ongoing are important. The message has to go out to Nigerians that impunity is unacceptable and we must be determined as a people to bid it farewell. We need the recovery of looted funds. It is our common patrimony.
On the issue of appointments, for crying out loud, some of you already accusing Buhari of pursuing a Northern agenda, some of us have gone far beyond where your thinking has reached. The current reality in Nigeria is this: Our young adults do not think in terms of North, South, East or West. They think NIGERIA. They identify as Nigerians. The primordial sentiments of where you come from in Nigeria and what entitlements that gives you has been a hot topic in public discourse. Some of the same people complaining now are those that get miffed when denied certain privileges on the basis of where they come from despite living in a certain state for many years. Iam from Benue. I have lived in Lagos for 30 years. My children were born here and one of them has not even been to Benue. This may offend some of my kinsmen: even though I love them and will do my best for them while I am alive, I am so used to Lagos and so love Lagos that this is where I will live for the rest of my life, God willing. (Only yesterday, I heard on radio a young man who said on air that his father is from Edo, his mother from Ogun but that he is proudly LAGOSIAN – having been born and brought up in Lagos.) It is time to shun primordial and very retrogressive sentiments which have held us back for too long. Regardless of wherever anyone comes from, what most Nigerians would be clamouring for are the legacies they will leave for occupying their offices. Afterall, what have we benefitted from the so called quota system over the years? To me, it seems to be something those who have indulged in systematic looting and waste of public resources have benefited from. It is difficult for them to imagine we can do without going on like that.
I have seen in President Buhari a sincere commitment to labour to restore and to uphold the lost glory of our nation. I am comfortable with his record of integrity; I love his strategies and I am persuaded in his focus. Like several millions of Nigerians, I am ready to wait patiently, to give to him and to his team ample time to fix this nation. I am waiting to see if he and his government will disappoint me. If he does, I WILL NEVER AGAIN GIVE A CHANCE TO ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL who will come out to market himself for presidential election in Nigeria. I can only pray and hope that President Buhari would have a befitting successor who will properly build on his legacies after him.
The nation is tired of PDP. They should keep quiet for now and stop making noise just to distract the administration of President Buhari. Good enough, I see a man that is so focussed, so firm and so unbending. I can only pray for more of God’s help and grace for him and for his government.
May we never again succumb to the treachery and the perfidy of egocentric politicians who see office as a means to self aggrandisement rather than an avenue for public service and for making a difference to our corporate existence.
MORE GRACE TO THE BUHARI ADMINISTRATION! MORE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND MORE ENDURING LEGACIES, in the name of Jesus!
We must never forget that these same forces were the ones who told us President Buhari would islamise Nigeria. They were those who said he did not have a secondary school certificate. There was nothing they did not spill out from their desperation to cling to power and to stop Buhari from coming into office. Never again should we make room for them. We must not allow them use foolish and unreasonable permutations and postulations to get us to accept their unfounded fears and skewed arguments. NEVER AGAIN! Let’s give PMB a chance. I know his government WILL NOT DISAPPOINT OUR EXPECTATIONS.”

Pastor William Bendega, the author of this opinion piece is a Pastor at Omega House, Lagos, Nigeria