On May 29th Nigerians and the rest of the world will be witnessing history unfold, as the in-coming Administration led by Gen. Buhari will be sworn in. During the general elections which took place in March and April, Nigerians in their numbers defied all odds as they came out en mass to express their rights to vote. While the international community had its eyes firmly fixed on Nigeria, Nigerians themselves felt a sense of fulfilment and national pride, reassured by the fact that they brought about the desired change they had for so long clamoured for.
A few days to the Presidential elections, U.S president Barack Obama sent a special message through live broadcast, calling on Nigerians to maintain the peace and shun those who called for violence. Before this, the well-seasoned top diplomat of the USA, John Kerry, had been dispatched to Lagos to broker a peace agreement between the major contenders President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari. Many saw this as a show of concern from the president of the free world. Some feared that the elections would take the same course of previous elections in the country, characterised by chaos, violence and lack of credibility. To the amazement of most, the reverse was the case. Nigerians and the world at large, have since attested to the credibility of the recently concluded elections which has since been adjudged as one of the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria’s nascent democracy.
President elect Muhammadu Buhari no doubt has a lot on his plate. It would be recalled that there were several attempts by his opponents to discredit him before the elections. Yet he stood tall in the midst of all allegations directed at him. He seemed to have kept his focus on the task ahead. He remained relentless and tenaciously pursued the mark set before him. His resilience and show of maturity has since culminated in his emergence as president elect of Africa’s largest democracy.
While having a conversation at one of his campaign events with his erstwhile running mate and now vice-president elect, Professor Yemi Osinbanjo, the retired General noted accurately that some Nigerians expect that from the second day of his Administration, their plight would have been addressed. This poses a major challenge for the in-coming Administration. Nigerians exhibited so much vigour and passion as they voted for change. They will not settle for anything less for delivery. The call for change and how quickly this change would be effected would for a long time to come, define the Buhari Administration under civilian rule.
For General Buhari, his immediate task, as a step in meeting up with these expectations would be to set up a competent cabinet. Nigerians are tired of recycled hands. A team that knows the tasks to be met and that is ready to make the necessary sacrifices in delivering on the mandate that Nigerians have bestowed on them would be General Buhari’s gift to Nigerians. As in politics, there is a need to compensate political bigwigs, but doing so at the expense of national development should no longer be tolerated. A befitting cabinet under the Buhari Administration should be composed of 85% technocrats and 15% politicians (non-corrupt)
The tasks ahead require that those with proven track records of delivery and technical expertise are appointed to move Nigeria to its manifest destiny. The stakes are just too high for political appeasements to triumph over collective common-sense in the quest for national progress and development.
While General Buhari must have the burden of expectations clearly spelt out for him, he should be guided by the fact that Nigerians have given him a mandate to get their country back on her feet. To do otherwise would be to hasten a rapid fall in his approval ratings. For a start, the retired General should acknowledge that not even 8 years is enough to solve all of Nigeria’s many challenges. But as a decisive step, he should be willing to hit the ground running in supersonic speed.
Security should be on the top of his list. He should move very quickly to dislodge, defeat and dismantle the rise of the Islamic State in West Africa. Amplifying human intelligence on the ground would be very much welcomed in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria. Unemployment must be accorded unreserved priority. While doing this, he should simultaneously push for an improvement in power generation and distribution across the country. A massive operation to improve on the state of our roads nationwide would be most welcomed too, alongside other pressing challenges, a step at a time, and a day at a time. Nigerians will be watching closely.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. God bless Nigeria’s nascent democracy.
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Fola Aina is a public policy analyst. A youth development advocate and a proponent of good governance.

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