YOUR Excellency Sir, let me join people of goodwill who wish Nigeria well and have congratulated you on your hard-won victory at the polls. May the next four years actualise the renewal of the hope that Nigerians have in you and vindicate your teeming supporters in theirreposition of trust in your capacity to excel in governance. I wrote a similar letter here to the then President-Elect, Muhammadu Buhari, in April 2014. Yours will be markedly different because our circumstances in 2023 are not the same as in 2014. We have made a lot of sustained progress in many areas and have faltered in some. I will start with the most important area in which we need to, as a matter of urgency, regain momentum.
The serious dent we put in the activities of Boko Haram, kidnapers and murderous herders under President Buhari have been turned into huge bulges with the level of insecurity in the South-East. I won’t bore you with the details of some of the goriest atrocities in that part of our country. Your administration must tackle the IPOB/UGM/ESN menace with a carrot and stick approach, the stick taking prominence. You must lay down the marker, showing that your administration will not tolerate armed agitation for any cause. The possession of illegal firearms should attract the stiffest of penalties, to include the perpetual confiscation of all properties at which such weapons are found and expedited prosecution of all terrorists. You should consider setting up a weapons buy-back program whereby,within a grace period of not more than 60 days, anyone currently in possession of illegal firearms can voluntarily surrender such weapons without penalties.
I am aware of your promise to decentralise the police force. I hope that means the creation of state police. I am aware that we need to amend our constitution to make this happen. I trust that you will take advantage of the honeymoon period you will enjoy from Nigerians in general and the legislature in particular to expend some political capital on this matter. Our democracy is now matured enough to handle this. Whatever fears we have about state police – the tendency by state executives to abuse it and the cost of running it – exist with the federal police system we have now. States will continue to fine-tune and improve as the years go by. But we desperately need a huge surge in the quality and number of police officers, probably triple the force that we have today in order to improve the police-citizens ratio, and adrastic improvement in their overall general conditions of service: police officers who will share the same culture with the community they are policing, police officers who will likely plant roots – raise children and plan to build homes in the community they are policing. Every police officer on duty should carry weapons on which he/she is qualified to maintain and fire, along with the standard load of ammunition. Police officers should be able to patrol their assigned areas on foot, on bicycle, on motorcycle and in automobiles. I know this means a lot more money for the states. We shall discuss that under “size of government”.
Our country does not face an imminent threat of invasion by any of our neighbors or any other country for that matter. But we continue to be threatened by non-state actors from within and from without whose modus operandi require non-conventional tactics, techniques, and procedures for them tobe successful. A conventional force designed to defend against conventional enemies will only achieve marginal success against such non-state actors. It, therefore, goes without saying that our military must be re-organised to de-emphasise large, lumbering, heavy, lethargic units in favor of small, light (lightning speed), lethal units that will exemplifyintelligence-based,full-spectrum performance. This means heavily fortified bases may have to be moved closer to threat areas in a maximum, show-of-force deterrence posture and for overwhelmingly successfulpreemptive strikes when necessary.
And just like the police force, we desperately need the following: increase in the quality and number of our military personnel – the combatants, the combat support elements and the combat service support elements– with a view to drastically improve their general conditions of service. We should invest in “shock and awe” state-of-the-art weapons systems and support equipment that will simplify their missions, make them safer, put them at an advantage over the enemy and embolden them to initiatecontact with the enemy, and institute, at a minimum, a weekly televised press briefing led by the Ministry of Defense during which the week’s engagements with terrorists are highlighted.
Very rarely do security agencies initiate deadly engagements without prior actionable intelligence. For the military, the police and the other security agencies, a robust intelligence agency, organised based on unique tasks and focuses as we already have, is a must. Admittedly, the outgoing administration has made great strides in improving the services. Your administration needs to do morein the area ofoffensive covert actions as well as overt counter-subversion actions against fifth columnists and home-grown terrorists. Obviously, we will need to invest more in Human, Cyber, Signal, Geospatial, Imagery, Technical and Open-Source intelligence collection capabilities to get up to speed and provide needed support to the tips of our spears, our combatants. This is 2023. The real world has changed significantly and so have the worlds of criminals and terrorists. Nigeria cannot afford to chase today’s rabbit with yesterday’s dog.
On electricity, your job is cut out for you in this area. Whatever improvement you bring to Nigerians in other spheres will not be fully appreciated unless you are able to provide regular (even if expensive) supply of electricity. Nigerians deserve a dependable power supply. Individuals and businesses want to be able to plan their survival on dependable supply of electricity. So many businesses have been lost or stifled; so many bright ideas have been stultified because of the epileptic nature of power supply in our country. I understand that this is a Herculean task, one which tasked Minister Raji Fashola’s competence and stained his fabled resourcefulness in the eyes of many. If any president can solve this issue, it is you. Nigerians believe you can pull off magic. Do not disappoint. On appointments, please do not take six months to put a respectable cabinet in place. Do not even take one month to have 60 percent to 65 percent of your key appointees before the Senate. You asked for this job. You have had decades to prepare for it. You campaigned hard for it. From your antecedent, it is clear you understand that while political partners should be compensated for their support, competence should not be sacrificed at the altar of political patronage.
Look beyond the APC for a combination of brain and brawn. Make deliberate efforts to find talents in other parties (believe it or not, there are good people even in the PDP, maybe even in AAC) and appoint them to, not just inconsequential positions, but key positions that will task their intellect and vigor. Look beyond active politicians for skilled people because many of them want to serve and can serve very well but for myriad reasons, could not participate in politics. Spread your appointments across the nation as fairly as possible. Put the right pegs in the right holes, regardless of what part of the country from which they come. Endeavor to switch some positions that appear “zoned” to certain sections of the country. For instance, find a non-Northerner for the FCT. Find a non-Southerner for the Economy.
Unlike your predecessor, do not be bashful about sacking non-performing appointees. I don’t even have to remind you about this. We know you have found ways to remove subordinates in the past.
(Downsizing Federal Government)The Federal government is a behemoth that’s filled with too many employees who do practically nothing, and too many parastatals that do not add value to the system. Many of these parastatals and employees are holdovers from tasks and duties long discontinued;yet, government is paying salaries, pensions and other associated costs to maintain the obsolescence. With expected devolution of powers to States and Local Governments, you must ensure a commensurate reduction in Federal employees and offices. There are just too many people in the FCT who do not need to be there.
The billions of naira usually allocated for food in Aso Rock need to be drastically cut. Everybody working in or visiting Aso Rock is already being paid handsomely. They can pay for their own food. Make the cafeteria in Aso Rock a pay-for-your-own-meal establishment for everybody.
Cut down on the number of people traveling out of town and out of country who collect estacodes and allowances for doing practically nothing on such trips. Then invite the Senate Leader and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and ask them to lead their respective legislatures in taking drastic cuts both in salaries and in other emoluments. Nigerians find it unconscionable that a Senator earns more than the President of the United States.
(Nationalism/Patriotism/Public Engagement) What we have in very short supply in our country is fidelity to our nation as a corporate entity and to each other as distinctive ethnicities. Just because our tongues defer does not mean we cannot unite to make our country better. But slogans alone do not and cannot make one a patriot. Citizens develop love and pride for their nation if the nation gives them hope and dreams and fair opportunities to accomplish those dreams. If you provide reasonable security to Nigerians – an atmosphere where criminals of all classes have reasonable expectations of severe consequences for the crimes they commit – if you provide stable electricity; if you provide opportunities for folks to actualize their dreams; if you make every part of the country feel equal and important; if you embark on a massive mobilization effort to drum up support for the country from the citizens, and you are out there yourself engaging the populace from time to time, Nigerians will breathe a sigh of relief. They will exhale. They will come together to help continue the building up of our country.
Your spokespersons should be people who command the professional respect of members of the journalism constituency andare able to articulate your programs and actions without being condescending and patronizing. Please, do not appoint someone who will attack your political opponents. That job should go to your party’s spokesperson. Do not appoint a bombastic columnist. They alienate the audience. Hire someone grounded in public relations yet fully familiar with the journalism terrain.
With the commissioning of the Dangote refinery recently, it would appear you are primed to fulfill your promise of removing subsidy without inflicting too much pain on Nigerians. I understand that even if the cost of fuel in Nigeria is increased by 40 percent today, we would still be paying less than every country in sub-Saharan Africa. But most Nigerians don’t understand this. You must do a better job of engaging Nigerians on this matter and sensitizing them to the reasons for the removal and how the most vulnerable citizens impacted would be compensated. My fervent belief is that you are better prepared than anyone who has ruled us since independence. We all know that you will surround yourself with people who are even better than you. When President Obasanjo was asked why Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala performed so brilliantly in his administration but didn’t do so well under President Jonathan, he responded that it was a matter of supervision. I know you will put together a good team, provide the motivation, purpose and direction, and supervise theteam appropriately.
Good luck sir.
- Ladepo writes in from Ibadan, Oyo State, via oluyole2@yahoo.com
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