The campaigns were sweet, the promises assuring, Nigerians, hungry for change, held out as if the country will start getting better from the night of May 29, after the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The reality is that Buhari is coming in at a critical time in the life of the country. All hope is pinned on him, as Nigerians await the promised change that will make yesterday truly history. They did not take into consideration the elements that have dragged the country back for decades, the likely centripetal forces within the party that put Buhari forward and the root of problems, many of which had defied solution in years past. Some or all of these account for why he could not release the list of potential cabinet members within the first week in office, as promised.
Last week, the first major challenge was registered with the seizure of the National Assembly by forces foreign to the heart of ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
What that means is, more than what former President Olusegun Obasanjo suffered under his Peoples Democratic Party-controlled National Assembly, Buhari may have to contend with a hostile legislature, one that will continually seek pacification on matters that would have aided change.
Unfortunately the President cannot use emergency laws as if it were a military government. He needs the Assembly, the levers of which are in another closet.
The Editorial Board asked Tajudeen Suleiman, senior associate editor, to go to town and find out what happened behind the scene and the consequences of such for the President and his party. His findings and reports from colleagues are contained in the story, NASS: Bumpy Road Ahead for Buhari.
It is one of the two cover stories we served you this week. The second one is the controversy generated by the report of the Amnesty International on alleged human rights abuse by the Nigerian military in its prosecution of the war on insurgents in the northeastern part of the country. The story, How Honest is the Amnesty Report? is written by Anayochukwu Agbo, general editor and head of Abuja Bureau.
The special report is on efforts by the Nigerian Stock Exchange to revamp stocks that have become moribund, thus saving the investments of shareholders. The story, Lifeline for Shareholders, is written by Abiola Odutola, senior writer, who has endeared himself to happenings in the stock market.
There are more!
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