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Nigeria Celebrates President's Midterm With Mixed Feeling
Nigerians Tuesday celebrated, with mixed feelings, the second anniversary of the inauguration of the civilian government led by Olusegun Obasanjo, which ended 17-years of continuous military rule on May 29, 1999.
Delivering a nationwide speech to mark his midterm in office on Tuesday morning, Obasanjo, though mentioned the modest achievements he helped to achieve, did not fail to stress that a whole lot remains to be expected and done to materialize his promises.
Among the gains listed by the president include the country's re-admission into the international community after long isolation during the military rule, progress in getting back the stolen state wealth stashed abroad by former military dictator General Sani Abacha, and the laborious and yet partly successful negotiations with the Paris Club over the re-scheduling of the country's staggering 24 billion US dollar debt.
He pointed out that his administration, since its inception two years ago, has worked assiduously for the development of the country and repair of its decaying infrastructure.
Over the last two years, the main institutions of democracy have been waxing stronger with the legislature becoming more efficient, the judiciary being not only independent but also robust and the press continuing to be most vibrant, independent and free, said Obasanjo.
The president, however, explained that two years were too short a time to repair the enormous damage done to the polity by successive military regimes, saying that the transition to full democracy is not something that could happen within a short time.
He appealed to his fellow Nigerians to continue to persevere and work harder to achieve the aspirations for which the country has been fighting, noting that democracy is a long process that requires patience, vigilance and sacrifice to bear positive fruits.
"We must continue to water and nourish the democracy tree and make sure it grows into full maturity," he added, calling for the concerted efforts for the rebirth of the nation.
Hardworking is needed to urgently address the challenges such as low productivity of the real sectors of the economy, massive importation of foreign goods, high interest of rate and depreciating value of the currency naira, the relatively slow pace of infrastructural rehabilitation, he said.
The president made the speech at a time when many of his countrymen, especially those from the grassroots, rated the performance of his administration low.
They argue that they are happy to have a country freed from the deadly shackles of the military, but a democracy without dividend means little to the under-privileged people.
They complain that they are still living in abject poverty, struggling with full sweat to meet the ends of life in an economy severely knocked apart by the devaluation of naira, shortage of fuel and soaring prices of food-stuff.
Local newspapers Tuesday commented in their editorials the gain-and-loss of Obasanjo administration at the mid-point of its term, crying for more deeds than words and a better second half.
"Nigeria seems heading for the future, as Nelson Rockefeller put it, holding aloft a banner whose only emblem is a question mark," said an editorial.
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