Ministerial retreat and the challenge of new order

To me the new Federal Executive Council has been led in defining the moment, taking a critical look at issues which have built on the recent past with more challenges ahead. Worldwide, economic issues are worsening and presently the world is in a critical point. Global issues have added to the traditional challenges that face […]

To me the new Federal Executive Council has been led in defining the moment, taking a critical look at issues which have built on the recent past with more challenges ahead. Worldwide, economic issues are worsening and presently the world is in a critical point. Global issues have added to the traditional challenges that face us as a developing nation; issues of poor infrastructural facility, yet to improve governance, and the challenge of corruption in high places with attendant vices. These issues have met with present national peculiarity and each day new and more challenges are springing up. Issues of our nation are grave especially as some were not envisaged in the Constitution and therefore wisdom had to be saught  for solution. Wisdom itself becomes a subject of controversy. I dare say the situation seems tense.

Developmental issues seem to have been placed on hold. The target of the Millennium Development Goals is five years ahead and indices are reporting a frightening plunge from an already bad situation. The signs of our time includes:  high poverty rate, hunger, maternal and child mortality rate that is alarmingly soaring. Malnutrition is on a dangerously high level; leaving a gruesome burden on the health sector. General life expectancy is in a low ebb. Education is nearing comatose as our own National Examinations Council (NECO) returns a frightening one – digit per cent success rate verdict and the Niger Delta issue cries for genuine attention. In almost all spheres of the economy, affairs seem to be in a lamentable state, particularly regrettable and inexcusable. We seem not to have been governed yet we have been. Our approach / emphasis have been more political than developmental. The nation is in a critical point now. The barrels of operational intervention seem fast depleting and time, which incidentally is a resource we cannot regenerate, is fast running out.

Coming as administrators at a time like this, we should therefore brand the new FEC  ‘a team of peculiar circumstance’. This is not the first time this sort of change is being carried out but the peculiarity of the moment forces political leaders and economic analysts to view the scenario, the personnel and assigned portfolio with cautious optimism. Having been constraint time-wise in this lull and with election time further reducing the tenure in the face of daunting challenges, conventional wisdom demands that you move with precision.

The new council must be further assisted to come to terms with the realities of their tasks and enabled to adopt best strategies. They have little time to take stock but they must realign. They must scrutinize issues properly. Failure in each sector should be carefully analyzed so as to come up with a workable action plan for its success this time.

Generally, goals cannot be attained without spending time on planning. One might think we do not have the luxury of time, but time spent planning is never time lost. The two weeks of retreat is a time well apportioned and the fall out confirms the effort. Having been led to rightly define the moment, what therefore are the goals to seek?

The goal of the Ministerial retreat should be to chart a new and workable prospectus for the nation.  Like the school, it should be selected to solve present and future problems of the society, with a glimpse of the future in mind. Issues must be prioritized, putting what is most important in perspective.

The focus must be on issues that are developmental and they must strive to hit hard on key pressure point that promises multiple benefits to the economy. They should device and adopt other innovative ideas, support programs, policies and strategies to advance the nation forward. A new resolve is that the populace must be saved by us all; led by this team. This is the time to act.

Nnenna Nwoke Kalu is the publisher of Food Security Magazine and coordinator, Vulnerable Empowerment Initiative Network, based in Lagos.