“Stop leading Nigeria with a closed mind”: BBOG campaigner writes President Buhari
Dear Mr President,
This letter and subsequent letters I hope to write to you would not have the required formality that it may deserve but be rest assured it comes straight from the heart and would always say it as it is. It’s over one year since you took over office and we are waiting for what many believed in and voted for.
As a Nigerian I have waited endlessly for the Nigeria of my dreams and each time hope surges it is dashed and now I have decided impatience is a virtue and I as a citizen must take an active part in governance. For as a citizen my job shouldn’t be just to vote but to also ensure that I monitor the activities of the government and make demands.
Mr President the work of a leader is not how much he can do but how much his team can do. So for the best to happen you must have the best team. You need to have a team comprising of people who can deliver even before they are asked to. You need to look far and wide to search for the best people. There are many Nigerians within and abroad whom you may not know nor the party. Get a world class Human Resource Company to help source for the best Nigerians home and abroad. Nigeria at this moment needs its best.
Mr President I would respectfully point out to you sir that it is better to work smart than to work hard. Working hard requires more effort with you having to do it yourself while working smart gives more output and requires having a good team doing the work with little effort from you.
Mr President with a good team you can focus on the big picture of governing the Nation instead of having to solve small issues which ought to be solved before you even become aware of them.
Mr President sir in doing any work you need your best foot forward.
Having the best people for the job and putting them in the wrong holes would create problems. Square pegs must fit perfectly in square holes.
Mr President with no sense of bias I would like to say your Chief of Staff is dropping the balls. Here I must add I have nothing personal against him. I don’t know him other than the fact that he is the Chief of Staff to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Reports have it that he is ill and unable to do most of the work. It is said that a lot of work have piled up and many things are falling through the cracks. Reports also have it that most work is being handled by the Permanent Secretary State House. It is also reported that many things are not coming to your knowledge. Petitions and issues to be tackled are not getting to you. “I don’t know” is not an excuse we would take from our President whom some gave their lives to vote for. We want the best and anything less than the best we cannot have in a government of change that should be giving us superlative performance.
It’s possible sir the Chief of Staff was unable to turn down your offer even with his ill health so as not to let you down but it wouldn’t be fair to burden him with such heavy work and give the Nation less. To hear that your Chief of Staff is also now on the board of NNPC makes one wonder what is going on? Is it a case of its now our turn? What do you want to be remembered for in the next hundred years? For the people you employed or for the great achievements Nigeria would attain during your era?
A Chief of Staff is the defacto President. He should be able to work 48 hours in the 24 hours of a day. A Chief of staff that is able to work ahead of time would greatly lessen your work and give us Nigerians a glimpse of a sense of direction.
There are National tragedies that should be responded to within hours even before full security briefings. The President should be seen empathising with its citizens through a statement or a broadcast before coming to us with fuller report but we are left with silence and a feeling that nobody cares. Statements have sometimes come in late and other times not at all and this gives room to a lot of unhealthy speculation. Recent example is the silence for a period when report of corruption malnutrition and starvation of IDPs were first reported. Others include Enugu attacks, Dalori and Agatu to mention a few.
Mr President communication is very key. No matter what you are doing as long as the citizens are not spoken to we would not know and we cannot go on believing. We have to see and hear what is on ground and the recent town hall meetings by the Federal Government is a welcome development.
Mr President you need the right people being in the right place and being utilised to their maximum potential. Also Mr President you need to widen your horizon. Don’t limit yourself to what you know.
Open your mind to possibilities and what you do not know and in it you would find growth. Mr President I would like to remind you that you are no longer the son of the North. You are now the Father of
Nigeria with a population of over 170 million people. You must not only carry everyone along, you must be seen to carry everyone along. I repeat again you must get world class human resource company to help you find the best Nigerians from all over the world and within Nigeria that would fill up the right positions rather than whatever method you are using now.
This country is fraught and it’s unity fragile. It would be a crime Mr President if you do not use the change mantra that brought you to office to heal wounds and unite the Nation. One year is gone but it’s never too late to do the right thing. People are crying all over the nation and it is time you took a tour of Nigeria starting with the
North East and the IDPs and then South South and South East Middle Belt. It’s time you let us know you are here for every Nigerian.
Here I would stop for now Mr President. There are many issues on ground but first thing first. One thing I would assure you Mr President I would always tell you as it is. I would criticise your government because I want it to be the best. I would not praise you.
I would want 100 years from now our descendants to praise you as the Father Of Modern Nigeria so we must work hard now.
I respectfully leave you with a quote from Jim Rohn If what you did yesterday is still looking big to you that means you are not doing enough
Yours Sincerely,
Aisha Yesufu.
Aisha is a Bring Back Our Girls Group leader..
