Four years fly like four days
The late strongman of Kwara politics Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, who installed during his career installed many Governors, Senators and other elected officers, once had an interesting encounter with his daughter Sen. Rukayyah Gbemi Saraki. She came to thank him after winning the Kwara Central Senatorial seat. In a crowd of people, the kingpin asked […]
The late strongman of Kwara politics Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, who installed during his career installed many Governors, Senators and other elected officers, once had an interesting encounter with his daughter Sen. Rukayyah Gbemi Saraki. She came to thank him after winning the Kwara Central Senatorial seat. In a crowd of people, the kingpin asked her to close her eyes for four seconds. When she opened them, he said, “The four years of your tenure will pass just like those four seconds that you closed her eyes.”
For the recently reelected President Muhammadu Buhari, four years would pass just like four days in political space. As the President’s first four-year tenure 2015-2019 draws to a close, many of the administration’s principals must be amazed at how time flies. As a Mechanical Engineer who studied Physics for almost fifteen years, I can understand their conversation from theoretical Physics about ‘time’, its compressibility and speed in terms of light years.
Time even though abstract and absolute, is still determined by complex movements and interactions between terrestrial bodies. since time exists in space and space is ever expanding, then time can be “compressed” even though it is absolute in nature. In a multi-story building for example, the time on the basement is different from the “times” on the first and second floors by fractions of seconds. The number of days in a year on Earth is different to those in various planetary bodies. While on earth 365.3 days makes a year, on Pluto it is 90.6 days, on Jupiter it is 4330.6 days while Mars rotates around the Sun in 697 days.
President Muhammadu Buhari has during the last four year gone through a very eventful period, with enormous challenges on security and economic wellbeing of Nigeria. One aspect that we have not been talking about is the character content of the country i.e. the morals and attitudes of majority of the citizens. He did his best to bring back the country to its senses in view of the 16 years of PDP’s governance brigandage. For his second and last tenure he is not going to run against anybody but against TIME and HISTORY. PMB must leave a legacy in view of the circumstances that made him to join politics; the three attempts for the Presidency, the final victory and how it happened.
The next four years, which will fly past like four days, require President Buhari to not only triple efforts but to also think and act outside the box in all ramifications such as quality of his lieutenants, associates and time space for work and focus areas. The tasks are Herculean and whatever needs to be done must be accomplished within the first two years before the 2023 succession struggle sets in.
After four years of Buhari, the country is on solid paths of Irreversible economic growths, peaceful coexistence amongst Nigerians, guaranteed food security, adequate and stable power supply, well established foundation for cottage/medium scale industries, unemployment and poverty reduction.
So then within the first two years, President Muhammadu Buhari must lift at least 50% of the poor population to the next level of at least lower middle class from the level of those on the edge of the cliff. And as he consolidates towards the final exit, more and more shall continue to join the alright bracket of the rich.
There are straight forward universally accepted feasible plans and strategies to achieve reduction in unemployment. President Muhammadu Buhari has done it before in PTF, he still can do better now with reasonable amendment to that concept and strategy. On the educational and health sectors, the quality of primary education and health sectors must be dramatically improved within the next two years.
The tertiary institutions must be refocused, rationalized and streamlined; few should be selected and worked upon to achieve the desired result within the four years. Other key areas like Water Resources, Transportation, environment etc. should have a solid plan and secondary increase in budgetary allocation and attention.
It is important to establish an agency under the office of Mr. President with slim and focused structures in the following areas: Agriculture, Education, unemployment, Power sector, Industrial parks (Human resources development, Poverty alleviation (Skills acquisition) and startup businesses.
It is not like establishing new government agencies, but collaborating with already existing ones to make them more focused, down to earth, that must implement decisions within time frame and proper use of funds. Examples of these collaborating agencies are NDE, SMEDAN, BOI, BOA, NIRSAL and CBN for skills acquisition and poverty reduction; CBN, extension service providers, BOA, NIRSALs and Agric Cooperatives for massive Agriculture; as well as SMEDAN, BOI, N-Power and Ministry of Education for job creation.
This is a brief framework that if operationalized can enable Mr. President to leave a lasting legacy within the first two years of his second. By the end of the term, if religiously implemented Mr. President shall be a very proud person in terms of what history shall record for him, happy and content with his achievements for Nigeria.
Lawal is a member of the NNPC Board