ABLE MEN

ABLE MEN 

Exodus 18:21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 

There is much conjecture as to what will be Nigeria's President elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, greatest strenght as he assumes office exactly two weeks from

today. Some think it should be a fat national treasury, others believe his success will lie in his own inherent personal integrity, while others think that the increasing popularity of his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), with the larger than life Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as leader, will be his greatest strenghth. I am convinced that while all the aformentioned parameters may be an advantage for Buhari, his greatest secret to success will lie in his ability to marshall able men to lead key aspects of the nation's public life. Buhari's success will lie in his ability to find likeminded individuals who will help reproduce the blue print he has carefully outlined in the APC manifesto into a workable format for the rapid development of the nation, as it is clear to everyone that much time has been wasted on frivolities by past administrations and the need to hit the ground running is so very important at this crucial time in our national life.

 The few weeks running up to the transition to a new government has continued to unviel to Nigerians the kind of charachter the president elect is and the type of government he is going to run. Buhari is not mincing words about the "CHANGE" philosophy he espoused through out the campaigns leading up to the elections. A few days ago the General made it clear to the public that he was not going to influence the choice of a Senate President. He said he could work with anyone. One would have thought that a Buhari government, that is already showing commitment to the rule of law and dictates of the constitution, will want to influence the choice of key persons into positions at the National Assembly so that laws he might wish enacted could find quick passage. But not Buhari. It is clear that the President elect may have disvovered the archile heels of past leaders in this country: their penchant to become preoccupied with less than important issues, while leaving important matters unattended to. It is this character that the men that must work with Buhari must possess. This leads me to enumerate the kind of men that must work with Buhari. Foremost in the list of people who will be found in Buhari's inner cabinet must be Buharists. 

Buharism is a quiet movement that had built up through the twelve years that the General sought the office of the presidency via democratic means. Buharists are detrabalized individuals, found in all the religions of the country, particularly Islam and Christianity. They are men and women who appreciate the General's lifestyle of honesty, uprightness, discipline, thriftiness, incorruptibile and hard work. Buharists are people who also practice these virtues in their private lives. These are the people who are truly likeminded with Buhari. Fortunately, many of them are professionals, working in both the private and public sectors of the country. They can be found in all the geo-political sections of this country. These are the men Buhari must find to work with him in his close carbinet. These people are largely unknown. They are both young and old. But they are Buharists at heart; they will do the General's bidding and abide religiously to his dictates. Buhari can be rest assured that these people will not steal public funds and will use every resource available to them for whatever they are meant for. The late amazon, Prof. Dora Akunyili, fits this picture. She had worked with the General and when an upright individual was being sought for by Obasanjo to lead the NAFDAC, reports have it that Buhari recommended her for that job. These are the kind of people Buhari must seek to work with him. 

The second group of people that will work with the General are political associates. Politics is a game of numbers and when a man wins a political position, quite naturally his associates are the ones who will work with him. The mistake that past administrations have made here was making political associates their first choice. Buhari has made it clear that this will not be his style when he rejected the list of ministers from the hands of elected APC Governors a few days ago. Nonetheless, it makes sense to believe that he will still appoint political associates to his cabinet. What will happen, however, is that such men will be his choice from a pool that has been provided to him. The next thing is that such people must be given quick orientation and converted to Buharism. I say this because if any one of these men show the slightest form of corruption in a Buhari government, they will be shown the way home even if they had only been in government for one week. 

The last set of people who will work in a Buhari government are people who he has

no direct authority over their choice to position and whose choice to office he will not influence. An example of this is what has been mentioned earlier: the choice of the Senate President. Others will include Speaker of the house of Representative, principal officers in the National Assembly, State and Local Governments officials and others like them. Buhari is also likely to give his party, the APC, the freedom to choose individuals to lead some public institutions. While the General shall not appoint these people, everyone of them must know that a Buhari presidency will strenghten the anti corruption outfits in the country, along with the police, such that corruption in Nigeria's public and private life will become a thing of the past. By the close of his government in 2009, most Nigerians will be Buharists at heart. 

The bible verse at the opening of this article were the words of Jethro, Moses' father in law, to him as he lead Israel through the wilderness. Jethro told Moses his success will lie in his ability to choose able men to lead aspects of his government. This centuries old advice is still relevant today. Human resources is the greatest and best resource a nation can have. Nigeria, with its teaming population of 170 million people, has human resources in abundance. My prayer is that God will grant Buhari the wisdom, capacity and courage to find able men to work with him. 

Amen. 

Deji Yesufu is a blogger and a Christian minister. He lives in Ibadan.

Pictures from Google Images.