THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW

Many of you will find the above title very familiar. Indeed it is. In 2008, Barack Obama said he was running to become the US President because of the fierce urgency of now. America was involved in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; grappling with a crippling financial crisis; 46 million Americans were without health insurance and unemployment was hovering around a record high of 10%.

Today, there is a fierce urgency of now in Nigeria. Nigeria is involved in two vital wars. One, against the invinsible armies of the boko haram islamic group and the other against the debilitating warriors of corruption. Unemployment is, for lack of any reliable data, conservatively projected to be around 45%; the economy is held captive by local, national and international cabals and now, as if that is not bad enough, the ghosts of the fuel subsidy imbroglio are mindlessly inflicting enormous political and economic pain on a country that is already traumatized beyond measure.

As the seamy situation plays out, voices of dissent and civil disobedience take to the streets. Some genuine and altruistic. Others, motivated by political and selfish agenda. And the logical question becomes, what has happened to President Jonathan's much vaunted Transformational Agenda. But the truth, which i am sure will surprise many, is that the stresses, schisms and crises that are presently replete in the system are are a direct and natural result of the transformational policies of President Jonathan's government.

Why do i suggest that these strsses are natural? Simple. In any environment where CHANGE is attempted, people will resist for various reasons. Even when the change or changes canvassed are patently beneficial, people will still oppose the change. It is a natural reflex. And this is exactly what we are seeing here in Nigeria under President Goodluck Jonathan; in the United Kingdom under Prime Minister David Cameron and in the US under President Barack Obama.

The fact is that leadership is not and should not be a popularity contest. It should instead be a courageous and sincere effort to articulate policies, programs and plans that benefit the greater majority of the people all of the time. If we can agree that the foregoing philosophical premises are true then we can logically deduce the following:
1. Fuel subsidy is a policy regime that is targetted at consumption and not production and has only benefitted a small cabal in Nigeria while impoverishing the greater majority of millions of hardworking Nigerians.
2. President Jonathan's decision to do away with the fuel subsidy regime, regardless of the merits of the argument on timing, is a bold and double edged move designed to deal a destabilizing blow to corruption and at the same time take away the benefits of our oil economy from the pockets of a tiny minority and distribute it to the vast majority of Nigerians through rapid infrastructural development and provision of short term palliatives.

3. Finally, that the incidents of opposition to the removal of fuel subsidy is a natural reflex to change and should be expected, particularly, in a democratic system where freedom of speech and expression is protected by the constitution. These voices of opposition therefore do not in anyway change the fact that the removal of the petroleum subsidy remains an absolute neccessity and an excellent economic policy for Nigeria and Nigerians to embrace.

The overal implication of all these is that the fierce urgency of now in Nigeria, more than anything else, calls for the transformational leadership that we collectively voted for. For too long, Nigeria has been plagued by leaders who feed us platitudes and inane policies. They lacked the sincerity to sell us the right programs and the courage to implement them. If they did, fuel subsidy would have been removed since the early eighties. But each leader that came into office preffered to simply increase the price of petrol slightly, remain popular by deferring the evil day and leaving the unpopular decision to be made by his successor.

Well that day has come. A time of fierce urgency that requires neither cowardice nor vacillation. A historic crossroad that calls for courage, character and conviction. And with a quiet demeanor, President Jonathan has maximized the moment and offered exactly what he promised - transformational leadership. But why transformational leadership? Transformational leadership because the solution to the boko haram threat and the many other indicators of the fierce urgency of now lies much more in a committed ad transformative leader focused on reversing the decades of infrastructural decay and abandonement; determined to institutionalize a regime of rule of law, merit, equity and accountability. So, President Jonathan's focus on fixing the power problem in Nigeria, returning agriculture to its former pride of place, rejuvenating education and insistence in due process, amongst many other policy priorities, are the right responses to address the fierce urgency of now in Nigeria.

The truth is that President Jonathan's policies thus far are consistent with what he promised during his campaign. Because of the fierce urgency of now, we voted overwhelmingly for him to become President and transform Nigeria. Surely, President Jonathan is by no means infallible. He will certainly make mistakes and get it wrong some times because he is human. But he clearly demonstrates sincerity and committment to the ideals he campaigned on. It will therefore be unfortunate if we fail at this critical time to keep faith and give him the support he needs to get the job done. Let us leave the corrosive corridors of cynicism and embrace hope in the ability of President Jonathan and his team to transform Nigeria and dffuse the Fierce Urgency of Now.. Time and history will show that we made the right and patriotic choice.