The return of
President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigeria after 103 days of medical vacation in
London presents an opportunity for a new beginning in his Presidency. The long
period of his being away from official duties should have provided him an
opportunity for deep reflection and strategising on better ways to achieve
results in the task of national development.
an administration. So, the sickness and hospitalisation which appears negative
could also provide the canvass for positive thinking and
repositioning.
Five key issues the President should focus on and take
seriously as he resumes work…
longer. The first is that the President needs to do a deep soul searching based
on empirical medical evidence whether he is fit enough to continue to shoulder
the heavy burden of the duties of state considering the huge developmental
challenges facing the nation. That decision is his to make and whichever way he
leans, posterity will remember him.But he should remember that the interest of
the generality of Nigerians should come first in his considerations. And the
President needs no one to remind him that he needs to be alive first before he
can rule or govern in any capacity.
The second issue is that the ailment
that took the President away to London for this long stretch of time shows the
very poor state of our medical facilities and how government has treated the
right to health of Nigerians. Health is underfunded with no clear cut actionable
policies to turn around the sector. A sector filled with all manner of clichés
and slogans which no one including the leaders believes in provides no succour
for anyone. If the health institutions have been working, President Buhari would
not have voted with his feet to London.
of men and materials to move the health sector to a level far different from
what is available now. We can begin the march with improved funding of health
care by meeting the 50 per cent of the Abuja Declaration of 15 per cent of total
budget, and subsequently increasing funding by additional 2.5 per cent every
year until we hit the ceiling. We can also ask the National Assembly to
fast-track a new health insurance law which makes health insurance mandatory for
all citizens and residents in Nigeria who earn the equivalent of the minimum
wage and above. This will provide more resources for healthcare.
The
third is that the Academic Staff Union of Universities is on strike and other
unions in the tertiary education sector have joined them. So, the issue is that
the higher education challenge may need to be resolved wholistically. The
President needs a team that will not just think out of the box but get education
out of the box totally. The idea of sitting inside a box and trying to think out
of it is flawed. What are you doing inside the box in the first place? Simply
get out of the box; that is what needs to be done in the education sector.
Various reports of needs assessment and visitation teams are available and
should be implemented. The challenges are very well known and solutions have
been tabulated so many times for the sector.
The fourth is that the
political environment has come under heavy strains and a clear headed reform is
imperative. The mindset of indivisibility and indissolubility of the Nigerian
nation is no longer holding sway going by the extreme positions and
repositioning taken by different religious, ethnic and interest groups. The
Nigerian of today wants a new political, federating and governance structure
that releases his energy to excel, a race to the heights rather than the current
competition and race to the bottom. The youths want a system that releases their
positive disruptive energy, to innovate and create new things in the new age of
information and the internet of things. Continuing with business as usual is no
longer an option especially when the tie between governance structures,
processes and the economy is unraveled. Thus, change has to become concretised
to make impact in people’s lives.
Reducing the tension in the land means
the President has to go to work to address the fault lines of ethnic and
religious divides which has been further widened by economic challenges. The
President needs to address the quit notice given to people of Igbo extraction by
Arewa Youths. He needs to address the revolving issue of the agitation for
Biafra, the renewed boko haram insurgency and other similar challenges. With the
exception of the book haram insurgency, virtually all the challenges need a lot
of dialogue and reassurances involving all sides to the disputes whilst the law
enforcement angle is invoked where recalcitrance and failure to see reason holds
sway.
leaning to one interest group against the others. This is the time for display
of statesmanship and nonpartisan resolution of issues. Any leaning which is so
understood and interpreted by stakeholders could further fuel the ongoing crisis
and may make them unmanageable.
The fifth issue is the economy which has
depreciated over the years. It is understood that getting the economy back of
track is not going to happen overnight. But we need to begin to see the
preliminary footsteps which show that we are thinking beyond oil rents and its
depreciating value.The President may consider rejigging his economic team to
bring in more professionals and tested hands.
non-partisan presidential advisory councils on key sectors of the economy.
Challenge the Nigerian intelligentsia to get new ideas to produce results in
different sectors. Key challenges in powers, works and housing need to be dealt
with separately because the issues are too big to be kept under one portfolio.
Keeping them under one portfolio ensures that they will be perpetually
underfunded since the budget of the ministry will always appear big. In real
terms, the budget will not scratch the surface of sectoral challenges when
disaggregated.
In the war against corruption, start thinking of institution
building and less of the media rhetoric. Let action speak louder than words
through high level convictions and trials. Strengthen the office of Auditor
General in its mandate whilst granting the office financial autonomy and
sufficient elbow room to do its work. This will help the office to provide
empirical evidence to support judicial prosecutions and proactive work to nip
public service corruption in the bud.
stretch that is looking to power home. Now is the right time to unfold the last
jokers and cards to improve economic, social and political life so as to score
high when reckoning time comes.
