The beginning of a new era (2)

Guest Columnist By Ussiju Medaner

info@medaner.com | justme4justice@yahoo.com

It is just 16 days into the new Administration; and while it would appear it is too short a time to begin to logically appraise the performance of the new Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the tempo of most Nigerians cutting across strata and dispositions would say differently. Even from the stock of the opposition, we have begun to see a wave of genuine repentances and acknowledgements of the capacity of the president to make a remarkable difference in the governance of the country.
Some of us are not surprised as we knew and canvassed support for his candidacy way back because we knew of his antecedents as an executive leader of Lagos state government and overtime as a political leader.
Give it to President Bola Tinubu; he came in prepared to govern Nigeria. From his utterances and the confidence he demonstrated, he knew before hand what the national challenges are and he obviously knows what to do to solve them. In just two weeks, we are beginning to see the President setting national developmental trajectories that are feasible and workable. For the first time in a long time, we are seeing the Federal Government sort out issues of national importance fairly on the negotiation table. It is un-Nigeria to see the people agreeing unanimously with the removal of fuel subsidy and buying of PMS at prices that are well above five hundred naira without taking to the streets, and even the civil society organisations canvassing support for the same.
Some people have said it would be the same if any other candidate had won and did the same, but I boldly say it won’t be. One of the lows of the President Buhari regime and others before him that consistently led to showdowns with the organised labour and the civil society groups and which truncated all attempts to remove the subsidy in the past was their inability to engage the people differently. A blend of politics with a sense of reasoning, we saw a president combining the two to appeal to leaders of thought to have his way in implementing his first decision as a president.
Till this moment, the president has not met with anyone, friends and perceived oppositions alike, who did not come out to do his bidding. He has gotten something others before him perhaps were all lacking. In the words of a PDP House of Representatives member on ARISE Politics days ago, “The president’s speech was an extempore, yet it was perhaps the most eloquent and inspiring speech by a president in Nigeria ever.” Another from the platform of the Labour Party, who has since been queried for praising the president by his party, was short of words at the demonstration of absolute intelligence and understanding of Nigeria issues and the pathway to solutions.
It all appears to be the best of a new beginning, but then the jobs that have to be done in Nigeria are well beyond mere appearances of capacity but a realistic demonstration of the same – over time and space. So many things have literally gone south with the country. The economy has been sabotaged and left incapable of redeeming itself except by deliberate attempts by those in government to right the wrongs inflicted on the systems. There cannot be a rebirth of Nigeria without government readiness and willingness to address the issue of crimes committed against the country. It cannot be business as usual; a new administration coming in and setting up what is called initial “gragra” in our local parlance. We cannot afford a repeat of arrest and media trials that changes nothing.
We suffered as a country from the ineptitude that characterised the operation of the Central Bank over the years. Even before the suspension and arrest of the immediate past Governor of the apex bank, Emefiele, the list of his crimes and abuses of office were already in the public domain. For instance, a deliberate decision to allow multiple exchange rates to fuel personal gains from round tripping business, alleged funding of terrorism and allegations of abuse of power of his office while serving as the governor of the apex bank.
In a nation suffering primarily from insecurity fueled majorly by terrorism, it is unheard of how we could have allowed such a heavy allegation to be swept under the table overtime and the same man protected by state power to retain his position. If we were truly serious about revamping the fortune of this country, the Emefiele trial should be a litmus test for the judiciary and the executive alike. Nigerians would be watching.
The President should be aware just as much as Nigerians are helplessly aware of the catalogue of lootings and brigandage that have characterised the management of the nation’s commonwealth over the decades. A paradox is the result; how a rich nation would also become the abode of poor citizens. I read the analysis made by Femi Falana SAN; it’s saddening to see the catalogue of systematic stealing of our commonwealth by a few among us, who continue to walk freely without consequences for their sins against us. We read of #40 billion diversions from the Federation account, unaccounted additional revenue of $1.5 billion payable to the Federation account, unaccounted outstanding royalties to the tune of $62 billion, stolen $500 million by a group of corrupt public officers, unremitted funds from sales of public assets and enterprises, illegally fixed $7 billion in fourteen banks across the country, hidden funds from the corrupt sales of Keystone Bank, Union Bank and Polaris Bank by CBN, fund from theft of gold and other solid minerals across the country, over #10 trillion diverted by CEOs of government enterprises, and a lot of other daylight robberies of the wealth of the country.
The worst of these looting is found in the corruption in the nation’s oil and gas industry. It is unexplainable how a nation would have a functional Navy and yet lose millions of barrels of its crude oil on a daily basis? And yet, it remains non-traceable. We have a functioning Custom service manning our borders, yet, our finished products are the regular in all our neighbouring nations, even when our borders are declared officially closed. Only between January 2009 and 2020, we lost 619.7 million barrels of crude oil to these illegal activities, worth in the region of #16.25 trillion.
Eight years ago, the Buhari government promised Nigerians that the refineries would be back to operation and new refineries would be built to sort out the national dependency on imported finished products. Eight years had passed, there are no new refineries, and recurring turn around maintenance of existing refineries yielded no positive good to the country. Yet, the government claimed to have spent above $19 billion on the refineries to turn them around; this was more than the entire capital base that built and completed the Dangote refinery. Are we going to close our eyes and pretend it is well? $19 billion just went to some bunch of individual purses because the system allows it; no, it can’t be. We can’t move away from these intentional theft of national resources at the expense of national critical development and expect any meaningful progress into the future. These monies should and must be accounted for, as part of our national healing process.
Today, decades after we have consistently budgeted and expended huge resources on improving the nation’s electricity generation and distribution, the country’s electricity generation still remains unbelievably low and distribution capacity below par with investment in the sector. Who would be held accountable for the billions of dollars spent without result during the Obasanjo administration, and the annual budgets without result, or are we just going to let go and move on from the looting and the corruption that were obviously our undoing as a people and a nation.
Can we ever talk of healing if we close our eyes to these lootings and crimes in virtually all sectors of our economy and national life? Definitely not; our path forward would and should begin from addressing the past, bringing to book all the elements that are eating deep into the marrow of our national flesh and making it impossible for us to thrive. If we would have to overlook the fact that CBN spent N58.6 billion to print 2.5 billion notes sometimes in 2020; that the Federal government at a time spent N5.9 billion to train just 177 youths in Smartphone repair, a little above thirty three million naira per training; that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture used N18.9 billion to clear grasses, then I don’t think we are serious doing business differently.
There is so much to be done; and if this Administration would be different, it cannot afford to play the game as usual. Every of its policy pronouncements should and must be marched with commensurate action. There are news of emerging reforms in the oil and gas industry, the energy vision 2023, the education reform and many more; Nigerians want to see beyond the reforms on paper because we are tired of promises that raise and dash our hopes. We want to see implementations that bring smiles to our faces.
The signing of the Student Scholarship Bill commenced a new era in social responsibility of government and commitment to educational development of the people of Nigeria. It is no news that a major impediment to education, especially tertiary education in the country has been funding; many a time, we have heard story of how many youths desire for education were cut short by deaths of parents and sponsors, as well as the financial incapacities of the same.
A well planned out implementation of this policy would be all that is needed to create an all-inclusive education that is needed in the country, including the children of the poor as much as that of the rich having access to the same education as far as the country is concerned. It is for this reason that we cannot afford to allow the implementation to go south like many great dreams before now. So, where do we start from and what must be in place to get it done?
Funding and sustenance would be the first challenge of the implementation; and one that would require very proactive readiness. There would be the need to establish a student bank that would be responsible for holding and administering the student loan fund on behalf of the Federal government. And as a starter fund in the created bank, the Federal government should mobilise all tertiary institutions in the country to fully account for and release into the bank the N5,000 caution fee paid by each student on admission and at the beginning of every academic session into public institutions and on a seasonal basis as part of their tuition fees. On a normal basis, this fund is to serve as insurance against damages and is refundable to students on graduation, which is never done. From this alone, we could be talking of a start-up capital of over #20 billion in the proposed student bank, a sum that is at par with the capital base of some financial institutions.
Just as important as the Education Loan Bill is the Energy Bill passed by the President; unbundling the national energy sector to allow all-comer participation in energy generation and distribution might eventually be the breaker we have been hoping for as a nation. Yet, it is very important that for an effective and efficient implementation across the board, it would be very important that all layers of government recognise the need for mutual collaboration and cooperation that would erase repetition of values and duplication of unnecessary components of the sector. While states and even some serious Local Authorities would begin investments, this must be cleverly considered. We must go beyond passing these bills to addressing implementation pathways that will maximise deliverables to Nigerians.
Mr. President, our hopes are on you. Our eyes are fixed on you. We want to see the results you promised; as you would agree, we have been hoping for a better Nigeria for decades. We embrace the Renewed Hope you offered; and you cannot afford to fail Nigeria and Nigerians.
GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA!