Hurdles before Buhari as President-Elect

Fri, Mar 1, 2019 | By publisher


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After winning the presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari will need to reunite the country behind him by pursuing populist programmes to enhance economic and social growth in next four years

By Olu Ojewale

IN another few days the euphoria that greeted the re-election of President Muhammadu Buahri will fade away. Then, Nigeria will be faced with the stark reality of another four years of the Buhari’s presidency.

In the meantime, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and its band of supporters are still basking in the glory of winning a second term for the president. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had, Wednesday morning, February 27, declared Buhari the winner of the presidential poll held on February 23. He scored 15,191,847 votes while Atiku Abubakar, his main opponent and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, got 11,262,978 votes.

Since the election results were released, both the president and Nigerian electorate have been speaking on what the new administration should do to move the country to the next level, which the Buhari administration had promised Nigerians during the election campaign.

In any case, it was the president that set the ball rolling as he promised to form an all-inclusive government; continue with the infrastructural development and intensify his fight against corruption. At the occasion where he received the certificate of return, he said: “I, therefore, want to assure that we will continue to engage all parties that have the best interest of Nigerians at heart. Our government will remain inclusive and our doors will remain open.

“That is the way to build the country of our dream; safe, secure, prosperous and free of impunity and primitive accumulation by those entrusted with public offices.

“The hard work to deliver a better Nigeria continues, building on the foundations of peace, rule of law and opportunities for all. We will roll up our sleeves afresh, and give it our all. We have no other motive than to serve Nigeria with our hearts and might, and build a nation which we and generations to come can be proud of….

Atiku
Atiku

“I can assure that you will see a country moving to the next level, as we consolidate on our fundamental areas of securing the country, reviving the economy, and fighting corruption. Many other focal areas, as stated in our campaign manual, will be added, to the good things we plan for our country.”

In setting an agenda for the newly re-elected president for the next four years, Nigerians appear to be more concerned about economic growth, job opportunities, ending Fulani herdsmen violence and mass killings across the country.

But first, Buhari would need to jettison his nickname “Baba Go Slow.” It took him six months to appoint his cabinet first time around in 2015. Those he appointed into the cabinet are still serving, except for those who resigned to take up higher positions.

It is expected this time around that it will not take that long for Buhari to form his cabinet and also inject new blood into it. Nigerians would like to have a more virile and forward looking cabinet to meet the nation’s economic needs as well as developmental challenges facing the country.

The president tried to defend the “Baba go slow” appellation when he received members of the Federal Capital Community in Abuja, who paid him a courtesy call during Christmas in December last year. He said he is not slow but the system. He said: “I told you what I did when I was in uniform but now when I have to go by this system (Democracy), where people have to be arrested and then prosecuted, taken to court and then with evidence, we will collect back what they had taken illegally and for doing that, people are calling me Baba go slow.

“I am going slowly but whatever the case, I will not stop pointing fingers at those who have abused trust by taking money that does not belong to them.

“I will keep on trying to do my best for this country and get back what belongs to the country.”

Even then, his fight against corruption is not only seen as selective, but also sectional. Many of his cabinet members are being accused of corrupt enrichment, but nothing has happened to them in form or investigation and some of his supporters accused of corruption are not brought to book. For instance, Godswill Akpabio, a former Senate minority leader, who defected from the PDP to the ruling APC is likely to be shielded from corruption charges against him. If his loyalty were to be rewarded, like the president is wont to do, it is perhaps, evident that he may not be charged for corruption in the next four years of the Buhari government. “The fear is that across the board the looters will carry on pretty much as normal, undermining economic development,” a BBC reporter said. On his part, a Nigerian, who simply gave his name as Gbenga, said: “Buhari should balance the fight against corruption across all parties.”

Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Tinubu

That notwithstanding, Ahmed Tinubu, a national leader of the ruling APC, has assured the country that the president will not waver.  Tinubu said recently: “He (Buhari) will continue to battle corruption head-on. Given the president’s fortitude and determination, I know corruption will lose this battle and receded from being a major factor in our public arena. “This current leadership owes our youth and all Nigerians to build a political culture of civility, tolerance and equality.

“The tasks before us are hard. We dare not underestimate the challenges that await, but the rewards that beckon are profound. The people of Nigeria are industrious and brave. The ground beneath us is fecund and it is ours. Our plans are visionary and bold. Our goals are just. And the president you have re-elected is honest and true.”

Nigerians, understandably, are worried about the state of the economy. The country’s economy remains dependent on oil prices for more than 70 percent of government revenues. Besides, the World Bank recently predicted sluggish economic growth of 2.2percent for the coming year in a country where more than 20 percent are unemployed and about half the population live in abject poverty.

During the electioneering, Buhari had promised to pursue a five-pronged agenda to rejuvenate the nation’s economy, which would include creating jobs through such efforts as Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, N-Power, improving Ease of Doing Business.

According to him, N-Power would engage one million graduates and then there is a promise to skill up 10 million people under a voucher system in partnership with the private sector.

Two, several millions of jobs are to be created through agriculture, including having the “Anchor Borrowers’ programme to support input and jobs to one million farmers; Livestock Transformation Plan to create 1.5 million jobs along dairy, beef, hide and skin, blood meal, crops; and agriculture mechanisation policy with tractors and processors to create 5 million jobs,” among others.

Yakubu
Yakubu

On infrastructure, Buhari said he would focus on four areas, namely, roads, rail, power, and the Internet, marked to be treated as ‘a critical infrastructure.’ Specifically, he promised to complete the Second Niger Bridge, in the works for years before his coming, and “the phased works in each state of the federation.” So, it will not be out place to expect the Buhari administration to complete the Second Niger Bridge before the expiration of his second term.

The same progress is expected from the government on the railway by completing the Lagos- Ibadan-Kano Rail, Eastern Rail (Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri) taking the network through Aba, all South-east state capitals, Makurdi, Jos, Bauchi and Gombe, and the Coastal Rail (Lagos-Calabar).

Similarly, he should fulfil his promise to move broadband coverage to 120,000km of fibre network across Nigeria, after ‘addressing uniform Right of Way charges’, and prioritise Internet access to education, markets, primary healthcare and business clusters. All these will enhance the economy and provide more jobs for skilled and unskilled Nigerians.

Through renewable, clean energy sources such as solar, his promise to ‘energise’ nine universities and up to 300 markets across the country to have an uninterrupted power supply should be fulfilled to make Nigerians believe that they have truly elected a committed president.

Further on power, Nigerians will expect him to fulfil his promise that “a minimum of 1,000 MW new generation incremental power capacity per annum on the Grid and get to 7,000 MW under Distribution Expansion programme.”

On business, entrepreneurship development, Buhari would similarly be expected to continue with plans towards facilitating business and entrepreneurship, which include ‘people moni bank’, ‘entrepreneurship bank’, easing business process, and MSMEs clinics.

Under the people moni scheme, there would be a consolidation of the current trader moni, market moni and farmer moni schemes, targeting 10 million Nigerians from ‘the current 2.3 million’.  Then, the entrepreneurship bank is proposed to be tech-enabled and offer credit, capacity building and business plan support to young entrepreneurs.  These, indeed, are parts of the campaign promises that Nigerians would want to come to manifestation in the president’s second coming.

For ease of doing business, he promised to “legislate and enforce deadlines for issuance of government licences and permits” and “simplify investments, customs, immigration, trade and production procedures.”

Indeed, Buhari reiterated all these commitments when he collected his certificate of return on Wednesday, February 2. He said: “On improving the economy, which we are still going to explore, we have done well in agriculture, and those who embraced farming are not regretting it and we have also addressed unemployment and we are very lucky that we are now attaining food security.”

Indeed, Nigerians are expectant that the second coming of Buhari should consolidate on his economic development programme and make it come alive to improve the living standard of Nigerians which has taken a hit because of the inflationary trends in the country.

He similarly assured Nigerians that on human capital enhancement services such as healthcare, education, that every child counts will make our students digitally literate in Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics,” adding: “all teachers will be retrained to deliver digital literacy.” If thoroughly and sincerely carried out, Nigerians expect that thousands of unemployed will be engaged in gainful ventures that will earn them a living.

He equally reiterated the determination of his administration to continue to repair the roads and revive the railway and electricity with the little resources at its disposal.

Indeed, if given the needed impetus, these are other areas to improve the nation’s economy through job creation and easy accessibility that lessen prices of goods and services.

But it would also be fool hardy to expect all the economic programmes of the new government to take-off without tackling an array of security threats from clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the Middle Belt, continuing instability in the oil-producing Niger Delta and the Boko Haram insurgence in the North East.

If assurances were enough, it would have been accepted as given that the menace of Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram insurgence would be severely dealt with by the Buhari’s second coming. Incidentally, there have been no such measures to give hope to Nigerians that all would be well in the second term of the Buhari administration. The president was not hard enough on the Fulani herdsmen in his first term in office and to convince Nigerians of non-partisan, he needs to be seen to be harder on the herdsmen who are rampaging farmers’ lands at will. Nigerians expect a permanent solution to the farmer-herdsman conflict that continues to ravage the North-Central part of the country once and for all.

Besides, the government would have to be tougher to rout the insurgence in the North-East.

Although admitted that he was impressed with the manner the war was being prosecuted, he said he did not change the military leadership because he did not want the scrambling for positions that might follow. So, it would not be asking for too much for the president to effect the necessary change that will give Nigerians peace of mind concerning the terror group.

Tinubu said: “President Buhari has made marked progress against the terror of Boko Haram. In his second term, he will continue to install peace where there is unrest and violence and he will not cease in this task until Boko Haram and its evil brethren are no more.

For a president who promised to obey the rule of law, the detention of Sambo Dasuki, a retired colonel and former national security adviser and and Ibrahim Zakzaky, an outspoken and foremost Shitte Muslim cleric in Nigeria, since 2015 is a big dent. The Buhari administration has disobeyed Nigerian and ECOWAS regional courts to grant the two men bail. The re-election of Buhari seems to spell doom for them.

Buhari should be improve on this record by setting the captive free and allow the law to take its course instead of keeping them in jail and thereby portray himself as above the law.

Be that as it may, a lot of Nigerians will want the second coming of Buhari to be better that the first one. In the words of Ikhalo Joshua, a young entrepreneur, “I don’t want much; all I need is good governance and a touch of digital advancement.”

Indeed, in the 21st century, the president must keep in mind that Nigeria needs a lot of catch-up to do for the country to exploit the available opportunities in this digital age.

– Mar. 1, 2019 @ 14:07 GMT |

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