THERE were a lot of expectations by the people from the government of Nigeria in 2019, many or most of which were not met. Stakeholders in the Nigerian project have, however, said year-in, year-out, the country must continue to review its set targets and the recorded results. It is in the light of this that some of the stakeholders spoke with Sunday Tribune, disclosing their expectations from the Federal Government and offering suggestions on how to make life better for citizens of the country.
Let us discard the values of selfishness —Bode George
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Chief Olabode George, advised Nigerians, both the leaders and the followers, to shun selfishness in 2020, adding that government must stop the orgy of bloodletting in the New Year.
“We must and we should predicate our collective national destiny on the path of sacrifice, on the course of selflessness, on the goodness of the heart, on tribal cordiality, on truth and on a sweeping investment in a genuine and enduring leadership that really cares.
“Enough of bloodshed, enough of the grim recourse to ethnic and sectarian malady. This national journey must now be renewed totally and overhauled upon a foundation of trust, upon the firm ground of genuine commitment to service, upon the pivot of enlightened patriotism, and upon the sincere platform of brotherhood without boundaries.
“We must seize the moment with a leadership that is not detained by myopic self-interest, a leadership that is unhindered by the untidy short-cuts of commercial gains or temporary advantages or a leadership that is not mounted on the crude nudging of nepotism or ethnic triumphalism.
“Now, we have a chance at national rebirth, discarding the odious ingredients of instabilities, embracing new visions of ethical commitment to reposition our nation on a strengthened, firm and decisive course. The choice is ours. The reality is stark and obvious. We dare not fail nor falter on this righteous course. May the redeeming grace of God continue to abide with our nation.
The rule of law, good governance need govt’s attention —NBA
The National Secretariat of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) observed that there were many challenges confronting Nigeria in the out-gone year, just as it expressed the hope that the new year would be better.
It stated this while speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Olukunle Edun, in an interview with Sunday Tribune by telephone during the week, adding that the government had to accept the fact that without the rule of law, democracy could not grow in Nigeria.
“So, governments at all levels must obey judgments of the courts. They must stop treating the rule of law with disdain. The fundamental rights of Nigerians should not be trampled upon without valid court orders.
“We are no longer in a military regime where there is no rule of law. The fight against corruption should be made more transparent and there should be no sacred cows,” said Edun.
He noted with concern that corruption in public offices has increased in recent times, adding that the government ought to find a way of dealing with it, “even if it affects top officials working for them.”
Speaking further on the issue of insecurity bedeviling the country, he noted that banditry and kidnapping were on the increase, saying, “there should be increased security of lives and properties across the country beginning from the new year.”
He said a situation where most of the policemen were attached to wives, mothers and friends of politicians while the masses were exposed to criminal elements should stop.
The National Publicity Secretary of the NBA also counseled the National Assembly, to live up to its constitutional responsibilities by acting as a check on the executive, arguing that Nigerians did not vote members of parliament to be rubber stamps of the executive.
Edun said he was looking forward to a 2020 where President Muhammadu Buhari would remember his promises to Nigerians and fulfill them.
“The president does not have much time. There is too much poverty in Nigeria. The masses are suffering. Youth unemployment is on the increase, while the politicians seem not to care,” he said.
According to him, “if truly, the politicians are serving God, they should, for once, remember the masses of Nigeria and improve their welfare.”
Nigerians want structural, institutional shake-up —Adeniran
For the national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Professor Tunde Adeniran, what the people of the country want is structural and institutional restructure.
Professor Adeniran said; “many are fearful that our nation is moving towards a state of atrophy, but the challenges we face are quite resolvable. Justifiably, Nigerians are asking for action now for structural and institutional shake-up, and policy review to strengthen our institutions and put our youths to work.
“The past year witnessed a confounding nationwide social disorientation and dislocation. Politics in the land was at its worst in the face of a pervasive culture of violence.
“The economy yearned for sound macro-economic policies to present enduring opportunities for Nigerian citizens, especially in areas of jobs and business, while the youth clamoured for a better tomorrow through employment and investment opportunities today.
“2020 is, indeed, the year in which the Nigerian people must matter and should occupy the central point in all issues of our polity. It is the year to end all forms of violence and re-establish the rule of law as the main defining characteristic of Nigeria’s governance architecture and restore the democratic content of our political process.”
The former minister of education further told Sunday Tribune that the New Year “is the year for all Nigerians to rise up, unite and begin an effective process of national revival, restructuring and democratic consolidation through the rule of law, public and private actions that are people-oriented and informed by the vision of a better tomorrow.
‘Government should face the economy squarely’
A frontline Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Niger State, Alhaji Mohammed Shuaibu Badegi, said the economy remained a major challenge for Nigeria in the New Year. In addition, he mentioned the importance of job creation for the youth, especially graduates who have served in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.
Speaking with Sunday Tribune in Minna, Niger State capital, Badegi added that a major challenge for the country in 2020 was the carryover of conflicts of interest in the political circles.
According to him, “the post-2019 electoral challenges in Kogi and Bayelsa states where the system was mismanaged remain another main issue.”
He explained further that early competition for power over the 2023 contest has already occupied the front burner among the various political gladiators.
Alhaji Badegi said the security challenges bedeviling the country were still without tangible solution, stressing that the country was yet being faced with kidnapping and unsafe major highways in parts of the country.
He said insurgency was still very active in Borno and Yobe states and around the Lake Chad basin, just as he urged the Federal Government to seek military support from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and other international security organisations it has relationship with.
“There has arisen need for security agencies to step up and reorganise. There is need for reequipping the police and retraining of its personnel, in order to achieve internal security and stability across the country,” he said.
He also advocated giving out soft loans by the federal, states and the local governments “to support youth empowerment and revive the nation’s economy, calling for agricultural revival by governments at all levels, “with the view to grow sufficient foods for Nigeria.”
It’s an opportunity for political leadership to make amends’
In an interview with the founder of Igbo Youth Congress (IYM) and deputy secretary of the Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT), Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu Uko, he said, “the year, 2020, provides a wonderful opportunity for the leadership and political elite of Nigeria to rise up and do the needful.”
He urged the Federal Government to urgently begin the process of reconstructing the polity, “in order to whittle down excess power from the centre and devolve same to the federating units via a new people’s constitution.”
Uko maintained that “bipartisan, respectable committee of eminent and patriotic leaders should be raised now to begin the process of a holistic restructuring of the polity,” adding that “we have pretended for too long that this military Decree 24 of 1999, aka 1999 Constitution, can sustain, unite and grow Nigeria.
“We have lied to ourselves for much too long. Consistently, resisting the truth, in preference to falsehood, is a dangerous and unhelpful response to the stark reality facing us as a country.
“Voting huge amounts to acquire military hardware just to contain internal disaffection, setting up dozens of military operations (some codenamed after reptiles and wild cats) only deepen the anger, bitterness and frustrations in the land.”
According to him, “anti-hate speech laws and suppression and repression of rights to free speech, again, only succeeds in establishing an atmosphere of apprehension which, in turn, only encourages more dissent and revolt.
“Circumventing reality and going round in circles, while struggling to avoid the needful did not help Somalia, Sudan, the USSR and Yugoslavia. It will never save Nigeria. Only doing the needful, which is devolving powers to the regions by reverting to the 1963 Constitution, will. Only returning to true federalism will save Nigeria.
“2020 should be a season of stock-taking, reminiscing and ruminating on development strides of the First Republic, 1959 to 1966 and the unwieldy rigmarole of today. The untidy and unjust unitary system has destroyed cohesion, enthroned nepotism, prebendalism and hatred from the oppressed peoples, which in turn has given birth to everything evil dominating the land today. “Continuing to deceive ourselves is being unkind to the good people of Nigeria, especially our progeny. Our decades’ old hypocrisy has not and will never solve the problems. Things can only get worse with time.
“The hunger, poverty and criminality ruling the land today are only signposts of a dysfunctional unitary structure imposed on the country by the military. Corruption, unemployment, disequilibrium and calls for revolution are direct consequences of ignoring the reality for too long. Calls for secession only confirm to the deaf and the blind that the termites of injustice and oppression have eaten the foundation of the edifice called Nigeria. The cracks are so obvious. Yet, our leaders across board prefer to paper over the cracks in pretence.
“Nigeria is tottering at the precipice and all our ‘leaders’ could care about is political accommodation in this squeaky rickety vehicle burdened with a frightening foreign debt profile, crawling in a most directionless manner to only God knows where, sad, so sad.
“All hands should be on board to both plead and pressure the government to embark without further delay on the only solution to our miseries, the holistic restructuring of the polity.”
‘Issues FG must tackle’
Also in an interview with Sunday Tribune, Convener, Voice From the East, a non-government organisation, Comrade Kindness Jonah, stated that “the Electoral Act, first of all, in Nigeria, is periodically altered by the powers-that-be to script a hoodlum-enhancing tendency. This is carried to any level to manipulate democratic ethos for personal gains. The next stage is implementation of this manipulation which involves monetising the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, military and security personnel and political thugs. At the height of the election, the electorate is technically amputated and so cannot do anything to remedy the situation, as he is simply allowed to vote and leave the polling both.
“Then, they frustrate electronic voting system with biometric inputs, because that will mean little or no work for INEC officials, security personnel and thugs. So, in Nigeria, except this electronic system is entrenched solidly, election and positive results will continuously be a mirage.
“On security aspect, there is a bifocal analysis that must be well understood. The first is the religious origin of terrorism and the second is will-power to fight terrorism. On the first phase, it must be clearly understood that Boko Haram is holistically Islamic. In other words, if there is no Islam, there is no Boko Haram.
“So, fighting Boko Haram without understanding the religious connotation is squaring the circle. The second phase is a follow up of the first. You cannot give what you don’t have. A corollary to this is the fact that you cannot win a war you are the cause of.
“Therefore, the will-power to fight Boko Haram and win it must come from a leader not given to religion, because Boko Haram is fighting to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria. So, Nigerians will be constantly deceived by the leaders who counter-claim that Boko Haram is not Islamic.”
‘NASS must be given pride of place’
Speaking on the National Assembly, the social commentator said the parliament is the first arm of government anywhere in the world.
“It is never the other way round. But in Nigeria, due to outlandish insincerity, the reverse is the case. The constitution is skewed to favour the executive. The implication of this is that the executive sits atop, manipulating the constitution, distributing patronages whimsically. Lower still on the ladder is the fact that the So-called interpreters of the law are arm-twisted to sign on the dotted lines with the executive.
“So, Nigerians can never fare better without irrevocability of roles assigned pro-rata to legislature, executive and the judiciary.
“The debt profile is rising seemingly irredeemably in Nigeria, which is fallout of lack of vision in leadership. Since the turn of the millennium, Olusegun Obasanjo exited Nigeria from the debt trap. Subsequent governments have been encircling Nigeria round the inescapability of this trap by uninformed humongous external borrowing. This has been made to be by a whitewashed legislature.
“By and large, the Federal Government should first arrest the macro-economic cascade of the huge debt profile, because it affects everybody simultaneously. This, again, boils down to will-power of the executive. After arresting this debt profile matter adequately, the economic is synchronised and positioned for competitive development.
“The next on line is security which does not mean a direct impact of financing to execute it. To arrest insecurity, the constitution should entrench secularity of state where religion does not play any role in governance.”
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