Hope for a new dawn

The new President and most of the new governors are of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), having won the election against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates that included outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan. The new leaders are going to take office in a period of drastically reduced revenues but amidst huge expectations of […]

The new President and most of the new governors are of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), having won the election against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates that included outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan. The new leaders are going to take office in a period of drastically reduced revenues but amidst huge expectations of what they can do differently to achieve the result that everyone yearns for. The expectation is largely because of the sorry state of affairs in most of the critical sectors of the economy and society. A clear example of this is that in spite of the huge infusion of money into the power sector, considered to be the engine room of any future development, all you have are megawatts of excuses rather than improved power supply. More than the shocking official statistics of around 1350 megawatts that is currently available, no one who lives in Nigeria, that is almost everywhere, running on generators can mistake the sad story of the power sector.
It is probably the handling or mishandling of the security situation in Nigeria that singularly contributed the most to the perceived failure of the outgoing government.
The security challenge that included oil theft, kidnapping and insurgency got so bad that Nigerian soldiers, the powerful symbol of the Nigerian state, became a laughing stock in the course of their engagement with the Boko Haram insurgents. Indeed, Nigeria’s smaller neighbours, notably Chad, Niger and Cameroun, had to step in to assist us. We now have a situation whereby statutory security services are being sidelined with security contracts handed to mercenaries or militias in different parts of the country.
In the energy sector, fuel queues have become the byword for the scandalous situation we find ourselves as a crude oil producer that imports fuel in the most inefficient manner and  hand over about a quarter of our budget to a tiny elite while exporting jobs abroad. It is against this background that Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler now elected with a resounding mandate, is expected to step in, stop the freefall and chart a new direction for Nigeria. Daily Trust expects that the change mantra of his party will not be limited to a change of personnel but also that of orientation and goals.
The incoming President should understand that even with the lack of cooperation he has had from the outgoing government, Nigerians will expect to see results from that first day after he is sworn in. It is already clichéd to hear analysts saying they expect him to hit the ground running.  All this is not because any one imagines that the new president is a magician that will wave some wand and everything will change overnight. What people expect to see at the beginning are the clear signs of a new day, including some symbolic things that reassure all Nigerians that this is an administration that will serve them to the best of its ability and in the words of the oath they will take, without fear or favour. It is therefore important for the incoming government to set timelines and operate within them. In the tradition of the American Presidential system, there will be a lot of expectations of achieving certain goals within the first 100 days. The new leaders should be conscious that the length of their honeymoon may be commensurate with the public perception of what they are doing or plan to do and whether there is proper communication with citizens. It is noteworthy that incoming President Buhari is conscious of the need for keeping people informed that his administration will tell the Nigerian public what they have taken over.
According to him, his plan is to tell Nigerians the truth and then ask for their understanding and support to allow us to see how quickly we can improve power, security, economy, employment and infrastructure.
That is why the most important task, aside from understanding the true state of affairs, is to assemble a competent team. We are glad to note that in an interview with Sunday Trust and published yesterday, the incoming President said that he has been around long enough to know how to assemble a competent team. He has already indicated that he will not be beholden to nominees of governors and that his cabinet will include those he called ‘’competent people, dedicated people and experienced persons to head ministries.’’ This is certainly important, given the incoming President’s record of delegating power to trusted aides. An important area for the incoming government is to build consensus and nurture a cordial working relationship with the legislature to ensure that it keys in and support some of the tough decision that the new government may have to take especially because of the limited funds that may be available to it. Both sides should move quickly on key legislations like the stalled Petroleum Industry Bill that the legislatures since 2007 have failed to pass. Some of the needed surgery may affect the legislature, which has been literally getting away with murder in terms of the resources that go into the comfort of the legislators. It is important that the Buhari government in consultation with the legislature finds a way of making the running of our legislature cheaper than it is now because even as we agree that it is a separate arm of government, it does not have to cost so much to maintain, especially when it ends up doing so few new laws and its oversight functions do not appear to save cost in the running of government.
Both the executive and legislature will need to work out ways of amending the current Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation Fiscal Commission legislation and other laws that provide such cushy allowances for officials while the ordinary citizens, who are the reason why there are governments, end up so poor because over 80% of national resources are just for maintaining such a costly edifice to the detriment of capital expenditure that impacts on peoples livelihood. Daily Trust hopes that the new administration will make the best use of the enormous goodwill it has garnered both locally and internationally in order to put Nigeria on the mend. Daily Trust yearns for a more confident Nigeria that is always there for all its citizens, especially the weak and vulnerable. We also want a Nigeria that works alongside the international community to achieve its goals while asserting itself where this is required.
With Muhammadu Buhari’s moral authority and a competent vice president to boot, Nigeria may be theirs to mould if only they can nurse and nurture the momentum that brought them to power and mobilise the resources of the country in order to mend Nigeria.
As we wish them all the best in the task ahead, for the rest of the week until their inauguration, this newspaper will consider in greater details some of the areas that will need their attention and some of which they have already pledged to tackle during their campaign.