With the elections over, expectations are on APC to deliver on its campaign promises, Editor, Politics/Features, EMEKA ALEX DURU, writes.
It was not for nothing that the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, at his acceptance speech, on Wednesday, April 1, pleaded with Nigerians to be realistic in their expectations on his administration. As with other concerned stakeholders in the Nigeria Project, it was not lost on Buhari that the country had passed through unmitigated exploitation under successive administrations in the past. As the flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the March 28 presidential election, he had vowed to put an end to the trend, if elected.
But in his acceptance speech, it was apparent that the president-elect also realised that the rot occasioned by the ‘years of locust’ in Nigeria’s system were not mere incidences that could be upturned by a wave of the hand.
Buhari said: “We shall never take you for granted; so, be assured that our errors will be those of compassion and commitment, not of wilful neglect and indifference. We shall correct that which does not work and improve that which does. We shall not stop, stand or idle. We shall, if necessary, crawl, walk and run to do the job you have elected us to do.
“I realise that the expectation of our people is as high, as their commitment to change has been strong and their belief in us unshaken. While we pledge to begin doing our best without delay, we would like to appeal to them to appreciate the gravity of our situation, so that we become more realistic in our expectations. We will govern for you and in your interests.”
Not even the harshest critic of the retired army General would deny the fact of his commitment to putting the country on the path of development and standard practice.
On three occasions before now, he had offered himself for service at the presidential level. At such attempts, however, he had had his nose bloodied in defeat and betrayal. Even as he lost – serially, as his opponents sniggered, his desire in offering the country dedicated leadership never failed him. Even in his latest attempt, he had not waivered on his position. In fact, at all points, in the course of his campaign, he had told his audiences that he had no money to give and no goodies to share, but had his integrity to stake for good governance. That was not the first time he was making the pledge.
Back in 1984, when Buhari came into office through coup d’etat, it was obvious that he was unfazed at the rate the Second Republic politicians were playing games with the country.
He was disappointed that in four years and three months that the politicians were in the saddle, they had put the economy in serious predicament and immense crisis of confidence.
But in the face of the troubling environment, the General remained undaunted. He rather gave the country courage, character and carriage. His punch line captured it all. It said, “This generation of Nigerians and indeed future generations have no other country than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together.”
Buhari exudes that unusual strength of character.
How far can APC go?
The fear many entertain, however, is how far his party, APC, can go in realising the expectations of the Nigerian electorate.
Incidentally, March last year, the party made a move that advertised it as taking a decisive step into issue-oriented politics. In what it presented as a 10-point agenda for a new Nigeria, APC listed areas it would focus on to make life meaningful, if elected into office.
Highlights of the presentation included job creation, anti-corruption fight, free, relevant quality education, agriculture, housing plan, and healthcare plan for children and adults.
It also listed social welfare scheme for the less-advantaged as well as road, power plant construction among its priorities, adding that it would strengthen peace, security and foreign policy.
The roadmap read in part: “Roughly, one in four Nigerians, and half of young job-seekers are unable to find work. The number of people whose jobs do not cover the cost of food and housing is even greater.
“In addition, major industries that pay higher wages account for just over five per cent of the economy. The lack of jobs is the most critical challenge facing Nigeria today, hurting every community and preventing us from being the truly vibrant and prosperous nation we deserve. Building a diverse economy that allows every Nigerian to earn a living and better care for his or her family is our number one priority.”
Its antidote for unemployment includes immediate creation of 20,000 jobs per state for those with a minimum qualification of secondary school leaving certificate and who participate in technology and vocational training. There is also the idea of establishing technology/industrial estates fully equipped with information and communication technology (ICT), power and other support facilities across the country to attract and encourage small-scale technology businesses and other entrepreneurs.
The party also unfolded an elaborate agenda against official and/or private sector corruption. Part of its strategies in this regard would be to strengthen legal provisions to prevent stay of proceedings and other delays in corruption trials. It also vowed to “guarantee the independence of anti-corruption and financial crimes agencies by legislation, charging their budgets directly to the Consolidated Revenue Fund”.
Regarding security challenges facing the nation, the APC said it would allow states to own local police forces. It promised to establish a serious crime squad to fight terrorism.
Coming at a time the nation’s scorecard in governance, fight against crime and corruption had not been cheering, the intervention by APC was instantly celebrated by the party’s sympathisers as offering a window of hope for the obviously traumatised ordinary Nigerian that has borne the brunt of unfocused leadership since the commencement of the present dispensation in 1999. Riding on the excitement that trailed the presentation, APC bigwigs understandably went into frenzy of sorts.
In an encounter with our correspondent, for instance, human rights lawyer and chieftain of the party, Tunji Abayomi, described the document as a set of principles that would guide governance under APC, adding that it focuses on the Nigerian citizen and things that affect him.
“There is a lot of emphasis on employment, which is a major problem in the country, and also some kind of welfarism,” he said in obvious endorsement of the agenda.
Other members of the party shared in his optimism.
A party and campaign promises
Apparently buoyed by the roadmap, APC had commenced its campaign with a promise to fight insecurity and corruption as well as reviving the ailing economy of the country. Buhari, its flag-bearer, had particularly remarked that his party had already assembled capable hands that would work towards improving the economy as soon as he is sworn in on May 29.
He said: “The major problems we are facing in Nigeria today is the problem of the economy and insecurity. We have arranged competent hands to manage the economy once we come on board on May 29, 2015… We have lined up programmes on how to tackle unemployment. We are going to assemble team of professionals for wealth creation and employment for our teeming youths. We will put mechanism in place to fight insecurity and improve the country.”
The emphasis by the former head of state on tackling corruption, unemployment and insecurity did not come to many as a surprise. In the last couple of years, for instance, public perception of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration on these key indices has been contentious. While supporters of the government score it high in fixing abandoned infrastructural facilities in the country as well as steering the economy on the path of recovery, his opponents disagree, dismissing him as lacking in the initiative to tackle the challenges before him.
Insecurity, occasioned by the Boko Haram challenge in some parts of the North, easily falls into this consideration. The terrorist group, which has increased its offensive on the country since the inauguration of the administration, has put the country in bad light among Nigerians and international observers.
In its murderous onslaught on churches, mosques, schools, communities, markets and other public places have not been spared. As it launches its odious campaigns, it leaves in its trail sorrow and blood. What, perhaps, exposed the audacity of the sect to the international community was the Monday, April 14 abduction of about 276 students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, by those suspected to be its members.
Even as the nation’s military has recorded appreciable impact in reducing the menace of the terrorists, they still remain potent in their evil agenda. For example, aside their occasional strikes on soft targets including remote villages in Borno and Yobe, the Chibok girls are still in their net, one year after.
In similar vein, social life and economy of the ravaged states have been in the doldrums. While the menace lasts, the country’s image among nations has been on the negative side. There have also been other incidences of criminality as manifested in armed robbery, kidnapping, corporate and cybercrimes.
It is thus not out of the ordinary for APC to list eradication of insecurity among its priorities.
Call for action
With the elections over and APC convincingly handed power at the centre and in more states, analysts remind the party that it is now time for action.
Ikenna Odife, senior lecturer in the Department of History, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, argues, for instance, that the era of politicking has given way for a time of performance, stressing that all eyes are now on the APC.
“All eyes are now on the APC. The honeymoon is over. While in opposition, it was easy for the party to point out areas the PDP was not living up to expectation. It is now on the hot seat. With overwhelming majority in the states and the National Assembly, the party has every reason to excel. It is my wish that it meets the expectations of Nigerians. If it fails, however, Nigerians will send it packing in the next four years,” Odife said.
Even as he would wish the APC success in piloting the affairs of the country, Odife, as other experts, had predicted tougher days ahead for the country, given the gloomy global economic indicators.
During the campaigns for instance, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Charles Soludo, had alerted Nigerians to gird their loins for some rough economic measures, regardless of who won the presidential race between Jonathan and Buhari.
“None of them will be able to deliver on the fantastic promises being made on the economy, and if oil prices remain below $60, I see very difficult months ahead, with possible heady collisions with labour, civil society and indeed’ the citizenry,” the professor of economics had predicted.
Soludo added: “Let me admit that the two main parties talk around the major development challenges – corruption, insecurity, economy (unemployment/poverty, power, infrastructure, health and education among others). However, it is my considered view that none of them has any credible agenda to deal with the issues, especially within the context of the evolving global economy and Nigeria’s broken public finance.
“The United Kingdom (UK) Conservative Party’s manifesto for the last election proudly announced that all its programmes were fully costed and were therefore implementable. Neither the All Progressives Congress (APC) nor the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) can make a similar claim.
“A plan without the dollar or naira signs to it is nothing but a wish-list. They are not telling us how much each of their promises will cost and where they will get the money. None talks about the broken or near bankrupt public finance and the strategy to fix it.”
For his audacious intervention, PDP and federal government attack dogs were unleashed at the former CBN governor. APC, on its own, claimed having a template to tackle the major issues confronting the nation, relying, apparently, on its roadmap.
PDP kicks
PDP has, however, dismissed the roadmap, describing it as lacking in content and originality. In fact, a statement by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, dismissed the APC manifesto as “a roadmap to anarchy, which is typical of all anti-democratic coalitions”. According to him, the document lacked character, depth and completely addressed no issue.
Some other analysts have also commented on the roadmap, noting that it was lacking in specifics on key issues.
Critics particularly observed that good as some of the items listed on the agenda appeared, the party was not forthcoming on how it intended to finance them. For a mono-culture economy that in recent times has not fared well on account of fluctuations in the international prices of oil, there had been huge expectations on APC to come up with alternative sources of revenue to finance projects advertised on its roadmap.