Buhari Should Face The Reality!

Buhari Should Face The Reality!
...The expectation of the people is very high.

President Buhari should be smarter than who he was in his first coming as a full blown tyrant. How do I mean? In his first coming, the welfare of the people was secondary while probing and trial of sacked political office holders took the front burner. Before he knew what befell him, he had lost in a palace coup that consumed his government.

Under his watch, people were starving with no help in sight. People, especially, the civil servants and teachers used to queue in buying what were called "essential commodities"such as milk, rice, and other food stuffs. Some died prematurely in the process of buying rice that was mixed with sand. It was a shame. 

This is another rare opportunity for him. As someone who had been contesting for the Presidential poll for three time before winning in the fourth attempt, many thanks to the marriage of strange bed fellows, that helped him to power, one would have thought the man had prepared for the task but the reverse seems to be the case.

During the electioneering, Buhari and his party, APC, made so many promises that even if he presides over the World Bank, he could not fulfill them all. (See the list as complied by TheCable). For example, Buhari on CNN interview promised to end the menace of terrorism by the end of July 2015, the July is few days to go yet the terrorists are becoming more daring and bold under his watch. His visit to the U.S. has brought little or nothing to the method and approach inherited from President Goodluck Jonathan.

As someone who had been fighting hard to become the President, one would expect Buhari to have the Blueprint of his vision for Nigeria and the moment his government was inaugurated, he hit the ground running. But the reverse is the case. He himself in the U.S. said he has been renamed "Baba go slow" from "Baba Buhari". He and his fans are not happy with the criticism dodging his snail speed administration but they have forgotten the way they were assuring Nigeria a state of Eldorado the moment they won. 

From the way the government took off, it would be a magic for Buhari to implement a half of what he promised Nigerians. I wish the event proves otherwise.

The government began with wrong footing when the APC lost grip of the National Assembly. The party leadership was pretending it has no faith in zoning system used by the PDP but deep down in the heart of everyone that makes up the leadership, zoning is a reality.

A group of the party loyal to Senator Bola Tinubu, whose idea led to the formation of the APC, wanted to control the National Assembly but the group underrates the PDP rebels in the party (whose presence contributed the lion share of the victory at the poll), but the event proved them wrong and today they are yet to recover from the sting of failure suffered in the hand of the PDP rebels.

In fairness to the rebels, the APC leadership did not want anything for them. The CPC produced President Muhammadu Buhari, the ACN has the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, the ANPP produced the National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun leaving nothing for the PDP faction.

With the intention of the ACN and ANPP to corner the leadership of the National Assembly, the PDP rebels vowed to teach the APC leadership lesson. One thing led to another, the PDP rebels laugh last and this is where we are.

It is unfortunate that Buhari has gone back eating his words never to intervene in the leadership tussle but was forced to make a u-turn because it is too early to confront Tinubu. But the tragic irony of the whole mess is the failure of the Tinubu group to learn from the lesson it taught the PDP in 2011 when it imposed Aminu Tambuwal on the House of Assembly as the Speaker.

This became possible because the PDP in the Southwest were divided over who should become the speaker. President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted Hon Isiaka while President Goodluck Jonathan preferred his wife choice, Mulikat Akande-Adeola. The opposition ACN penetrated through the loophole but the PDP swallowed its pride unlike the APC which has failed to follow suit. 

Like Senator Shehu Sani said, the APC should be grateful that the PDP did not take the Senate president but the deputy because they had what it takes to secure the number three seat. Even in the House, where the story is different, the ACN wing of the APC has failed to reconcile itself with the reality. Femi Gbajabiamila lost to Yakubu Dogara yet he insists in becoming the Leader forgetting the the Southwest has gotten the Deputy Speaker, Hon Yusuf Lasun, at his own expense.

Now they wanted to corner the remaining leadership position forgetting that in Nigerian politics, it is winner takes it all. The National Assemble was forced to adjourn to 21 July and when that day was few hours away, the resumption was adjourned again. But doing this is not the way out because there is no solution in sight. They have been using all tricks in the book to remove Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate president in vain. They have ran to court but the judicial intervention has not helped in the two chambers. It is the reality of having strange bed fellows in the ruling party.

With all these in his hands, Buhari could not move as expected. He also compounded his problems when eight of the first nine appointments he made came from one religion and a part of the country! It was only few days ago that he found the courage to appoint his service chiefs which left the Southeast out. The inherited service chiefs led by Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh wanted to go with Jonathan but were prevailed to stay behind to stabilise the war against the Boko Haram terrorists. Buhari in his wisdom has appointed the NSA and the Chief of Army Staff from the Northeast, Borno state in particular where the terrorists seem to be having upper hand now. The Chief of Air Staff too is from the same zone as he hails from Bauchi state.

It is hopeful that their appointments would go along way in putting the terrorists where they should be within the shortest time.

The stabilizing factor in the Presidency, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) is not yet appointed. This is simply because, Governor Rochas Okorocha wants the slot for his own faction of APGA that joined the merger instead of Chief Ogbonaiya Onu of the defunct ANPP who is waiting in the wing. Another stabilizing factor inside the State House, the Chief of Staff to the President too is giving him headache over whom to give, Lt Gen Dambazzau or Col Hameed Ali.

With all these cold wars going on within the ruling APC and the government. How could the President deliver goods to the masses who voted him to liberate them from the economic nd social bondage? Yet President Buhari seems to have made up his mind to make probe the cardinal programme of his government. This was the remote cause for the failure of the late President, Umaru Yar A'dua when he resolved to probe the Obasanjo administration using the NIPP project. He found an ally in the then Speaker, Dimeji Bankole.

While the probe was going on, some funny figures were quoted as the fund wasted on power supply and before he died, the NIPP had almost become moribund. Till date, the only success recorded by the Yar Adua government was the Amnesty for the Niger Delta militants which had not taken off before he died.

My advice for Buhari is to face the reality. He should pick not more than five of his promises and face them squarely because there is no fund to implement all. Not only that, there is no government anywhere in the world that solved every problem it met on ground. How could he implement payment of N5000 monthly to every graduate unemployed in the country? It is a mirage.

As much as the probe sounds, it would not bring the initial succor to the masses.  Even if he wanted to probe, all he needs to do is to dust the Nuhu Ribadu panel report and the audit account of the NNPC  and sanction whoever is indicted. And unless he closes his eyes, the party that brought him to power too stinks. Although when he was asked this question on CNN while in the U.S, he said there would not be any sacred cow but by focusing only on the Jonathan presidency, he may have been tactically spared his APC friends but the people know this. And with democracy in place, taking them to court might not be that easy as their trial may continue till "Thy Kingdom come" no thanks to the stinking judiciary.

Buhari needs the National Assembly more than its leadership needs him. Hence, he should let there be peace in the two chambers or be ready to face a hostile National Assembly as we witnessed under Obasanjo when the duo of Ghali Na'Abba and the late senate president, Chuba Okadigbo. The implication of this is nothing but failure.    
 
WHAT BUHARI PROMISES TO DO AS PRESIDENT:

 1. Public declaration of assets and liabilities

2. State and community policing

3. Ban on all government officials from seeking medical care abroad

4. Implementation of the National Gender Policy, including 35% of appointive positions for women 5. Revival of Ajaokuta steel company

6. Generation, transmission and distribution of at least 20,000 MW of electricity within four years and increasing to 50,000 MW with a view to achieving 24/7 uninterrupted power supply within 10 years.

7. Empowerment scheme to employ 740,000 graduates across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

8. Establishment of a free-tuition and scholarship scheme for pupils who have shown exceptional aptitude in science subjects at O/Levels to study ICT-related courses

9. 720,000 jobs by the 36 states in the federation per annum (20,000 per state)

10. Three million Jobs per year

11. [In another policy document by the APC] We will embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition schemes for graduates along with the creation of a Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to create at least 5 million new jobs by 2019.

12. Churches and Mosques would not pay taxes under national laws, but if they engage in businesses, the businesses would pay tax.

13. Provision of allowances to the discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members for Twelve (12) months while in the skills and entrepreneurial development programme

14. Making our economy one of the fastest-growing emerging economies in the world with a real GDP growth averaging 10% annually. [In another instance, the APC promised 10-12% annual GDP growth]

15. Creation of a Social Welfare Programme of at least Five Thousand Naira (N5000) that will cater for the 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens upon the demonstration of children’s enrolment in school and evidence of immunisation to help promote family stability

16. Recruitment and training of at least 100,000 officers into the Nigerian police force and establish a Federal anti-terrorism agency.

17. One free meal (to include fruits) daily, for public primary school pupils

18. Building an airport in Ekiti state

19. Eradication of state of origin, replacing that with state of residence to ensure Nigerians are Nigerians first, before anything else.

20. Establishment of Crime Squad to combat terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, militants, ethno-religious and communal clashes nationwide

21. Working with the National Assembly towards the immediate enactment of a Whistle Blower Act 22. Economic stability for the ECOWAS nations and maintaining a strong, close and frank relationship with West Africa, South Africa, UK, USA, Canada, and other African countries

23. Establishing a conflict resolution commission to help prevent, mitigate and resolve civil conflicts within the polity.

24. All political officer holders earn only the salaries and emoluments determined and approved by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission RMFAC.

25. Permanent peace in the Niger Delta and other conflict prone areas such as Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi, Borno and Abia.

26. As against fears in some quarters, Buhari while speaking with catholic bishops in Abuja back in February, promised not to Islamise Nigeria.

27. Nationwide sanitation plans to keep Nigeria clean

28. Preserving the independence of the Central Bank

29. Simplifying immigration process to foster faster visa processing at points of entry.

30. Special incentives to facilitate the education of the girl child

31. Full implementation of the National Identification Scheme to generate the relevant data.

32. Making Information Technology, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Entertainment key drivers of our economy

33. Balancing the economy across regions by the creation of 6 new Regional Economic Development Agencies (REDAs) to act as champions of sub-regional competitiveness

34. Putting in place a N300bn regional growth fund (average of N50bn in each geo-political region) to be managed by the REDAs.

35. Amending the Constitution and the Land Use Act to create freehold/leasehold interests in land along with matching grants for states to create a nationwide electronic land title register on a state by state basis

36. Reviving and reactivating our minimally performing Refineries to optimum capacity

37. Creating additional middle-class of at least 2 million new home owners in our first year in government and 1 million annually thereafter.

38. [In another policy document] Creating an additional middle class of at least 4 million new home owners by 2019 by enacting national mortgage single digit interest rates for purchase of owner occupier houses as well as reviewing the collateral qualification to make funding for home ownership easier, with 15 to 30 year mortgage terms.

39. Enacting a national mortgage system that will lend at single digit interest rates for purchase of owner occupier houses.

40. Injecting extra N30bn to the Agricultural sector to create more agro-allied jobs by way of loans at nominal interest rates for capital investment on medium and commercial scale cash crops.

41. You farm, government buys, guaranteeing a minimum price for selected crops and facilitate storage of agricultural products as and when necessary.

 42. Creating a national infrastructural development bank to provide loans at nominal interest rates exclusively for this sector.

43. Construction of 3,000km of Superhighway including service trunks

44. Building of up to 4,800km of modern railway lines – one third to be completed by 2019

45. At least one functioning airport is available in each of the 36 states.

46. Ending gas flaring and ensuring sales of at least half of gas produce, within Nigeria

47. Speedily passing the much-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and ensuring that local content issues are fully addressed.

48. Establishing at least six new universities of science and technology with satellite campuses in various states.

49. Establishing six centres of excellence to address the needs of special education

50. Prioritizing the reduction of the infant mortality rate by 2019 to 3%

51. Reducing maternal mortality by more than 70%

52. Reducing HIV/AIDs infection rate by 50% and other infectious diseases by 75%

53. Improving life expectancy by additional 10 years on average.

54. Increasing the number of physicians from 19 per 1000 population to 50 per 1000

55. Increasing national health expenditure per person per annum to about N50,000 (from less than N10,000 currently)

56. Increasing the quality of all federal government-owned hospitals to world class standard within five years.

57. Ensuring timely payment of retirement benefits for all pensioned senior citizens and creating a poverty safety net for all aged citizens above the age of 65.

58. Amending the Constitution to require Local Governments to publish their meeting minutes, service performance data, and items of spending over N10M.

59. Requiring full disclosure in media outlets, of all government contracts over N100m prior to award and during implementation at regular interval

60. Amending the Constitution to remove immunity from prosecution for elected officers in criminal case

61. Initiating action to amend the Nigerian Constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties, and responsibilities to states in order to entrench true Federalism and the Federal spirit

62. Reforming and Strengthening the Justice System for efficient administration and dispensation of justice with the creation of special courts for accelerated hearing of corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism and similar cases of national importance

63. Establishing world-class sports academy and training institutes and ensure that Nigeria occupies a place of pride in global sports and athletics

64. Reviving the Nigerian football league and putting incentives in place to make it as competitive as other national leagues.

65. Putting in place measures to identify talents early and ensuring their participation in local and international games to enable them become professionals

66. Assisting Nollywood to fully develop into world class movie industry that can compete effectively with Hollywood and Bollywood in due course.

67. Ensuring the rights of women are protected as enshrined in our Constitution

68. Guaranteeing that women are adequately represented in government appointments and providing greater opportunities in education, job creation and economic empowerment

69. Promoting the concept of reserving a minimum number of seats in the National Assembly for women.

70. Free maternal and children healthcare services

71. Stabilizing the naira

72. Targeting up to 20% of our annual budget for this critical sector whilst making substantial investments in training quality teachers at all levels of the educational system (Some other APC policy documents had 15%)

73. Ensuring compliance with policies and measures to halt the pollution of rivers and waterways in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country

74. Adopting a holistic approach to erosion and shoreline protection across the country

75. ECOWAS currency by 2020 under Nigeria’s guidance and leadership

76. Maintaining strong, close and frank relationships within the Gulf of Guinea, the Commonwealth, South Africa and the rest of the world

77. Establishing a new special relationship with the leading emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and other strategic partners around the world.

78. [On Boko Haram] Government intends to commission a sociological study to determine its origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connections to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence of this evil.

79. Strengthening INEC to reduce, if possible, eliminate electoral malpractices in Nigerian’s political life

80. Improving operational and legal mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human rights violations by the Armed Forces.

81. Free Education at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Education.

 Complied by TheCable.

heCable

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/documented-promises-buhari-apc-made-nigerians

Read more at: https://www.thecable.ng/documented-promises-buhari-apc-made-nigerians