NOW, LET’S ASK: MUST A POLITICIAN DENY HIS OWN PEOPLE THE TRUTH JUST TO PLEASE HIS NEW BOSS?
By SOLOMON DALUNG ESQ
What should concern Nigerians is the temptation to turn public office into a theatre of political loyalty, where yesterday’s facts become today’s inconveniences simply because the people in power have changed.
Dave Umahi has every right to criticise Muhammadu Buhari’s record. What he does not have is the privilege of rewriting history to satisfy the political interests of the moment.
The South-East has legitimate grievances against successive Nigerian governments. No serious person should dismiss them. But acknowledging those grievances does not require pretending that nothing was achieved under Buhari.
The Second Niger Bridge was completed and opened to traffic under Buhari. Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu underwent major rehabilitation. ANAMMCO received renewed attention, while Innoson and other indigenous manufacturers benefited from federal procurement and automotive policies. Projects across the region deserve examination on their individual merits, not political convenience.
Were these interventions enough? No. Did they erase the South-East’s longstanding complaints about marginalisation, federal appointments, infrastructure and political inclusion? Certainly not.
But there is a difference between saying a government did not do enough and claiming it did nothing.
That difference is where credibility begins.
Umahi should tell Nigerians what Buhari failed to do, what he did, what remains unfinished and what the present administration has delivered in comparison. That would be an argument based on evidence.
What should concern Nigerians is the temptation to turn public office into a theatre of political loyalty, where yesterday’s facts become today’s inconveniences simply because the people in power have changed.
The South-East does not need politicians who defend every government that favours them or condemn every government they oppose. It needs leaders who can demand justice without distorting facts, acknowledge progress without surrendering criticism, and defend their people without becoming instruments of anyone’s political survival.
No region should have to choose between truth and justice. And no politician should sacrifice either to please a president.
Nigeria needs accountability, not political amnesia. Let every administration be judged by its record, every claim tested against evidence, and every public official held to the same standard, regardless of who occupies Aso Rock.
That is how a nation grows beyond personality cults and political opportunism.
Solomon Dalung Esq is former Minister of Sports and Youth Development under President Muhammadu Buhari Administration
