2011 Elections: Presidential Debate at Last
However, with the presidential debate coming up under the auspices of Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), the electorate now have an opportunity to assess each candidate and make an informed decision before casting their votes. Likewise, the presidential candidates will have an opportunity to present and defend their programmes before the electorates. The Murtala Muhammed Foundation […]
However, with the presidential debate coming up under the auspices of Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), the electorate now have an opportunity to assess each candidate and make an informed decision before casting their votes. Likewise, the presidential candidates will have an opportunity to present and defend their programmes before the electorates.
The Murtala Muhammed Foundation has scheduled a two-day conference titled: ‘Public Policy and Governance; 2011 and Beyond: Policy Dialogue with Presidential Candidates’, in recognition of the fact that the building of institutional capacity for Nigeria cannot be left in the hands of the government alone. The conference will among other issues, seek to create a safe environment for candidates to express their views about key developmental challenges facing Nigeria and also share their policy prescription on solutions.
It will also provide an opportunity for Nigerians to deliberate and engage deeply with the candidates on key national challenges and priorities in an environment devoid of usual partisanship and antagonism. By providing candidates with the opportunity to promote themselves and their party’s vision, the Murtala Muhammed Foundation hopes to create the necessary avenue for Nigerians to make informed choices about the various candidates. Such an event would stimulate important discussions amongst Nigerians on how to reduce the cost of governance and developmental deficiencies, thus improving the quality of life of the ordinary citizen. It will also facilitate the process of building a national consensus on key developmental challenges and desirable reforms.
The event which will hold from March 8th – 9th at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre in Abuja, obviously, has gotten the approval in principal by some presidential candidates like Mr Nuhu Ribadu, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Professor Pat Utomi, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau to mention a few.
Now that the presidential candidates mentioned above have signed up for this historic presidential debate, this discourse provides the Presidential candidates with an avenue to explain their public policy processes within the wider political system. I expect them to focus on what their governments will do in policy terms, why they do it and what difference they hope it would make to the citizenry. This is an essential aspect of any sustainable democracy. It would enable the citizenry to hold them accountable if their actions fall short of the stated policy. It does become a conceptual framework upon which decisions of the government revolve around. This is good for the government as well as its citizenry.
No doubt, public policy includes the role and contribution of economic analysis in public policy and governance in the country. I wonder therefore, how these politicians arrive at their economic conclusions when in government. Are they just going along on an ad-hoc basis? These are the issues that alienate the citizenry from their governments. Such discourse as MMF has organised would enable Nigerians to better understand how mainstream economists think and how they advise governments and other organisations involved in public policy and broader governance issues.
Our relationship with foreign players such as other governments, the United Nations, World Trade Organisation, international aid agencies and indeed the World Bank, needs to be addressed also. How does each of these presidential candidates intend to enhance the standing of the nation in its dealings with these organisations, when they become the government? How do they intend to build our institutional capacity and extend civil society to derive maximum benefits from these relationships? How for instance, will they improve the role of our non-governmentat organisations (NGOs) and their scope for participatory approaches to development? These are policy areas that need to be addressed for Nigeria to become competitive. How do they ensure that our foreign and defence ministries respond effectively and efficiently to evolving international and political events in this modern era? This is important as we are currently witnessing events in Ivory Coast, Libya, Egypt and beyond.
It is evident that youth unemployment is one of the major issues confronting Nigeria as a nation. Every region in the country has witnessed this issue as seen in the Niger Delta, Boko Haram and indeed every social phenomenon in the country. Youth unemployment not only damages the lives of the citizens themselves, but also the social fabric of the community itself. We have seen incidences of youths being used as political thugs, just because they are available to be used. By ensuring that the level of youth unemployment is minimised, we not only ensure that their skills and productivity levels are utilised for our national economic growth but also minimise the social menace associated with such phenomenon.
Nigerians therefore need to know the intentions of these candidates towards reducing youth unemployment. How do they plan to manage people in paid or voluntary work? How do they plan to equip our youths with new skills and increase their knowledge of human resource management, including: industrial relations and employee relations, HR strategy, HR systems, employee resourcing, performance management, rewards training and development?
Our public sector is in dire need of an overhaul. The accountability framework governing the Nigerian public sector needs to be looked at carefully. From the provision of power, education, health facilities, infrastructure and other social facilities, the Nigerian state has failed abysmally to meet the aspirations of its citizenry. There is need for these presidential candidates to inform the citizenry of the intended accountability framework they plan to govern our public sector. Such framework should include external controls on administrative discretion (legislative, executive and judicial) and internal controls (ethics and codes of conduct, whistle blowing).
They should also explain the nature and process of these controls and their impact on administrative behaviour and public sector accountability. We have had enough of the personalisation of the Nigerian public sector. What every true Nigerian demands is the institutional provision to ensure that these services are available to us when needed. We are a rich nation and hence, desire the dividends of democracy to be available to all Nigerians. It is in this vein that we welcome this wonderful initiative by the Murtala Muhammed Foundation to have this discourse with the April, 2011 presidential candidates. They deserve our commendation. The Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF) is a Nigerian non-profit organisation set up to fulfil the ideals of the late General Murtala Muhammed who was head of State of the country from 1975 to 1976. It is dedicated to the improvement of the quality of life in Africans. It specifically focuses on engendering self-reliance and fulfilment through policy and advocacy issues that impact on ethics, equity, good governance and economic empowerment, encouraging partnerships for development and providing medium term disaster relief.
Enwezor, a commentator on National issues, writes from Enugu