How to Get Rich from Buhari’s Government

Some people oppose the Buhari government because they think people cannot get rich from his government. Some people love Buhari so much because they think that people cannot make a penny from the government. They are all wrong, at the same time, they are all right depending on the prisms they are seeing things. 

Some Nigerians question whether the practice of self enrichment from government coffers that flourished in the last administrations will continue under the Buhari government. Certain factors trigger such a question: President Muhammadu Buhari is fighting corruption the way it ought to be fought. Many Nigerians believe that the only way to get rich in Nigeria is through the government. Over the years, Nigerians have seen fellow citizens become overnight millionaires by simply being part of or connected to the government. 

Can people make money from the Buhari government? The answer is yes. People can become wealthy, or even super rich courtesy the Buhari government, but it will be through legal, legitimate and clean process and not the usual corrupt and opaque way of making money from the Nigerian government. 

To get rich from the Buhari government, people must have smart brains, honesty and the passion to contribute to the country’s development through innovative ideas that will be sold to the government through due process. The government of Buhari has so far made it clear that it is no longer business as usual. Just being smart enough to illegally squeeze money from the government, politicking and using extreme unconstructive criticism to blackmail the government into giving out contracts can longer earn one a dime from the government. Certainly, these old crude gimmicks cannot yield fruits under Muhammadu Buhari watch.

The Buhari government wants programs, projects and initiatives that will improve governance, fight poverty, improve revenue generation avenues and the welfare of ordinary Nigerians. Smart thinking people with silicon-valley-like brains who can design programmes, ideas and projects to help the government improve the methods of getting more revenue from other non oil sectors (solid mineral, taxes, agribusiness, ITC and export of goods and services etc) are the people that will enjoy the Buhari government. In fact, more people can make more money from Buhari, than the very few that got dishonestly rich in the past. But intelligence, legitimacy and public good are the signature. 

I am of the view that the style of the Buhari government is that if you want to do business with the government, you have to work hard and intelligently design and present brilliant ideas that will improve good governance and add value to the nation and her people. 

Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Jimeta, Adamawa State, zaymohd@yahoo.com, 08036070980.