The present administration in Nigeria is 5 years in office and a year old in its second tenure. Those in Government insist that the country is better off than it was pre 2015. However, a cross section of Nigerians argue that this is far from the truth. Insecurity, the high debt profile, bad roads, epitleptic electricity supply, lack of potable water supply, hunger and poverty are all sign posts to the fact that all is not well in Nigeria. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that most sectors of the economy urgently need the attention of the Federal Government. Excerpts :
Is Nigeria better off today than before the present administration mounted the saddle in 2015 ?
The issue of Nigeria’s status in terms of welfare and development would be highly misleading if we are to base it on comparative analysis on ex President Goodluck Jonathan’s Government and the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is because the All Progressives Congress(APC) inherited liabilities of insecurity, institutional indiscipline and a high level of corruption with the governance dividend divide between kleptocracy and pockets of poverty, in the series of the poor, people in abject poverty and destitution at its worst.
The slogan of change capture the people into the cycle of ever looking for a preferred alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party’s(PDP) 16 years of dehumanization at its cumulative rising profile in the APC that used President Buhari’s antecedents of no nonsense in government under the tag team of Buhari/Idiagbon regime.
After winning the election therefore, President Buhari lamented that he would have preferred to be younger in age,as well as having an environment of no constitutional bottle neck of democratic structure to be able to effectively fire the shots. To add salt to injury, his regime is faced with the expected corruption fighting back and rain of insults through hate speeches to run down his fitness and integrity, which is alien and anti cultural to our system of having due respect for constituted authority and against the ethics of all scriptures, in the process metaphorically or metaphysically, he became an ailing President in an environment of ridicule, forcing Nigeria to have its President abroad for so long, to be safe in recovery.
This prompted Nigerians to come to terms with the emptiness of the health sector and its poor management with attendant under funding. The inability of the present administration to emphasize professionalism in the appointment of Ministers resulted in the formulation of problematic policies. For example, Ministers are not supposed to be chosen on political loyalty alone, but on the basis of the relevance of their disciplines and the competence factor, for assertive ability to deliver. Each Minister or member of cabinet is supposed to be subjected to integrity test as well as periodical auditing.
Nigeria’s debt profile is already a source of concern to all and sundry. Nigerians are now in a fixed situation in search of another preferred alternative because of the outrageous number of political parties most of which are mere buffer solutions to the APC and PDP.
After all said and done, this government needs to be credited on some policies that seem to be highly effective only on the civil servants, though insecurity is still the issue in different parts of the country, in addition to insurgency, kidnappings, killings and armed robbery. Some roads were constructed, while touches of diversification of the economy were equally experienced, more universities were built, but polytechnics were undermined, making the are of psycho motor development to be difficult. Government is expected to use SWOT analysis to x-ray the areas of strength and opportunities without been carried away through mere partisan politicking. Our areas of weaknesses and threats lie mainly in the ability to provide basic amenities for people’s sustenance, as it goes beyond the mere politics of tradermoni.
In the Infrastructure, Education and Health sectors, under funding is the major challenge, when SERVICOM and ACTU are expected to be more effective in sanitizing all institutions that have been soaked in corruption.
Amnesty for Nigerians caught i the web of corruption is against the natural rule of law that demands for deterrence to be able to curb corruption effectively. Government must realize that it takes two to tango. Transparency and trust are essential tools to gain people’s loyalty.
All these are lacking to the detriment of our development. There is a need to thank Mr. President for making June 12 the Democracy day,as against the former May 29, which merely represents mere assumptions of power by winners of political contests. June 12 is an issue and May 29 is about personality. Issue is eternal, while personality in power is transient.
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