Presidential promises: Can candidates deliver?
It is common now that election year has come: Politicians on the VIP stand regally clad in flowing gowns, an aspirant or party bigwig on the podium reeling out promises of prosperity, hope, transformation and change. In the spectators’ stand are the usual hordes of party supporters who erupt in cheers at each promise made. […]
It is common now that election year has come: Politicians on the VIP stand regally clad in flowing gowns, an aspirant or party bigwig on the podium reeling out promises of prosperity, hope, transformation and change. In the spectators’ stand are the usual hordes of party supporters who erupt in cheers at each promise made. This is the season when promises are made in profusion, some of them empty because such promises do not come with any real commitment or road map that would indicate the party or candidate has given any serious thought to them. It is a common omission which dates back to the early sixties and eighties since the first democratic elections were held when brazen politicians promised their electorate taps gushing not just with water, but with milk and honey.
But with increasing awareness among the electorate and five decades after independence, new words have entered into the lexicon of political promises. Now politicians and party bigwigs, all of them carrying the unmistakable sign of good living on their cheeks, promise to eradicate poverty completely and fight corruption to a standstill, a tall order even by the standards of advanced democracies. Promises to provide world-class infrastructure like fast rails, roads, constant electricity and create new industries and even an ambition to go to the moon. Others include job creation and the promise to fight crime.
“The days of political promises are over,” says Dr. Usman Mohammed, who teaches political science at the University of Abuja. “Let them come and say all they want to say. I bet you people are laughing at them. They have made the same promises for twelve years. They know that people are frustrated. The issue of electricity is a good example.” Analysts say even though campaign promises matter and the manifestoes of political parties are important yardsticks, Mohammed added that they are empty words. “Nigerians are going to vote personalities this time, not empty promises,” he predicted.
A look at each of the candidates reveals a mix of records of their past performance in office, people’s perception of them and their political associates, much of which do not offer a clear-cut idea of the kind of leaders they would be, nevertheless offering some glimpses.
Goodluck Jonathan
His promises are legion, something that is easy for him to make because he is the present holder of presidential power and thus could point out to programmes and developments which are ‘in the pipeline’. At his recent campaign in Owerri, he said: “We will transform the economy of this nation…For Nigeria to look after the future, we must encourage agriculture and industrialisation. That is why we are emphasizing on power and by doing so, we are ensuring that all the power plants across the country are completed and put into use, so that when there is power we do every other thing, including going to the moon.” Jonathan’s other promises include provision of security and job creation.
But security alone has made a big dent on Jonathan’s promises. His tenure has witnessed a new wave of bomb explosions targeted at civilians where scores were killed or maimed. Not a single worthwhile arrest has been made since. And while a notable arrest was made in the person of the leader of the Niger Delta insurgency group MEND, the whole action was mired in controversy as Jonathan accused his political opponents of being the sponsors of the bomb explosion that erupted on Independence Day at Eagle Square in Abuja.
Under Jonathan’s watch, the spate of kidnappings across the country, especially in the South-East, became more brazen with ordinary citizens kidnapped. In the North-East, the Boko Haram Islamic sect is yet to be stemmed.
On the corruption front, Jonathan’s party, the PDP, even while promising to fight corruption just a little more than a month to the polls, celebrated with fanfare the release of a party bigwig, Chief Bode George who was released after serving prison time for corrupt enrichment while in office. George was granted a hero’s welcome by PDP leaders.
As for the promise on power, Jonathan’s administration has poured in more money into the project than any significant improvement has been recorded on it. Being part of an administration that made power generation a pivotal part of its programme, there were expectations that Jonathan will see the project to a stage of remarkable improvement. But no significant improvement has been achieved. These failings make the promise of economic transformation look like a pipe dream. “His track record is nothing really promising,” says Dr. Mohammed.
Nevertheless, the PDP is likely to deliver on its promise of economic reform going by the performance of government agencies under the control of its administration like the CBN and the FIRS. Jonathan may also deliver on his promise to calm the restiveness of the Niger Delta.
Muhammadu Buhari
General Muhammadu Buhari is making capital out of his previous record as military Head of State where his administration introduced the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) programme. His campaign promises are basically two: to revamp the power sector and address the problem of insecurity. His campaign usually points to the fact that as a former Head of State and having held several positions before then, including that of a petroleum minister, he left office without enriching himself as is the norm in the country.
But Buhari’s biggest challenge is not himself but the people surrounding him and the various politicians that have trooped into his party, some from the ruling PDP when their ambitions there were thwarted. The congress held by his party, the CPC was rife with allegations of corruption bandied against party officials and allegations of money changing hands to buy the votes of delegates. Buhari himself has admitted the party’s crisis: “Our problem is that both caretaker committees and the substantive committees were not following the party’s constitution and guidelines. This is unfortunate. It shows indiscipline, the lack of commitment and the prevalence of corruption.”
CPC’s attempt to address some of these lapses by barring some candidates it alleges corruptly won its elections from flying the party’s flag probably gives some foretaste of Buhari’s promise to fight corruption and how much capacity he now has as a politician as against a military man to succeed in that promise.
At the convention of the CPC where Buhari was elected unopposed as the presidential flag bearer of the party, he talked of restoring internal democracy to political parties and adhering to basic tenets of democracy while giving reasons why he had to leave his former party, the ANPP. The General believes solving the problem of power failure and tackling insecurity will pave the way for jobs to be available, address the problem of poverty and a host of other national problems facing the nation. This he explains is because many job opportunities are now blocked due to unavailable power to run industries and other business that depend on the energy. Reviving the sector therefore automatically creates this opening and many others, which the CPC has at various times promised to address.
The CPC looks likely to deliver on the promise to provide adequate security for the nation from the records of Buhari and his experience in the military. Though corruption will prove to be a challenge, the party is likely to entrench some measure of discipline in the way public funds are used.
Nuhu Ribadu
Nuhu Ribadu is another anti-corruption candidate riding on the waves of his previous record in office when he was the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). His major promise is to tackle corruption. At the flag-off of his campaign in Dutse, Jigawa State recently, the chairman of his party, the ACN, Bisi Akande told a mammoth crowd: “I bring to you the victory of Nigeria through a new brand of leadership today in Dutse. We have the materials in Ribadu, our presidential candidate, who has spent the greater part of his career fighting corruption.”
But the irony of the promise is the top chieftain of the ACN in Jigawa State and a former governor of the state, Saminu Turaki who was among those Ribadu went after for embezzling public funds while he was still at the EFCC. Turaki was taken to court and still has corruption charges to answer. In his defence, Ribadu has said: “It doesn’t mean that your past official life will foreclose you from working with people in the future. I believe that human beings can make mistakes.”
This new stance brings into the fore the new image of Ribadu the politician who now says corruption is a mistake.
Ribadu’s platform, the ACN, apart from the corruption charges hanging around its top officials also has the reputation of having a strong man, in this case Bola Tinubu and other party elders wielding enormous powers over its members who hold public office. Even though Ribadu said, “I will draw a line. I will say that is it,” it looks like a herculean task, especially in the light of a similar attempt by the ACN’s brightest star, Lagos governor Babatunde Fashola to assert himself. In the end, despite Fashola’s laudable performance in office he has to kowtow, some reports said he begged, before he could get the party’s elders to grant him another ticket to go for a second term.
Other promises by Ribadu are to build one million houses a year across Nigeria, a programme he says will guarantee the provision of about 30 million jobs. Another area of focus is power generation and economic reform. The ACN looks likely to deliver on the economic front with the presence of Fola Adeola, a man well-entrenched within the Nigerian business and investment class and by the records of performance of the party in states where it is the ruling party, like Lagos for instance where a tax drive to generate funds that will make the state self-sustaining and reduce its reliance on federal allocation is working.
Ibrahim Shekarau
Ibrahim Shekarau’s promise is to restore the confidence of the ordinary Nigerian in governance. He told a national daily in a recent interview: “People keep saying that the dividends of democracy, social services are being provided: schools, electricity, water and so on. But where you are busy doing these things fraudulently, where a road of N100 million is being given out at N500 million, then that is not democracy. My own mission is to restore the confidence of the ordinary Nigerian in governance. Once you do that, all other things will fit in.’’
To see how feasible it is for Shekarau and his party, the ANPP, to deliver on his promise the answer probably lies in Kano State, where at the moment Shekarau is governor. At a time when some members of his cabinet were alleged to have been embezzling public funds he came out not to say they would be investigated and punished if found guilty, but that he has left them to God. If there is any statement meant to shake the confidence of the electorate in governance, this is one. Where he is likely to deliver on his promise is probably by presenting the image of a president who shuns ostentation, one of his chief qualities.
Professor Pat Utomi, Dr. John Dara and Dele Momodu
These three candidates were lumped together because they represent a bloc of politicians driven by idealism in politics, which remains no less important than the motivations of the other candidates. Prof. Utomi is contesting the elections on the platform of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP). He said about his ambition: “Criss-crossing Nigeria puts my conscience to the test regarding what must be done to rescue our country. After some challenging reflections, I have had to conclude that the rest of my life will have to be dedicated to directing Nigeria away from the road to serfdom that we currently travel, unto navigating the lanes to liberation. The least I can do, in the circumstance, is quit my day job and dedicate the rest of my life to this struggle. I am convinced that the struggle as my life is a worthwhile venture.”
Dr John Dara, presidential candidate of the National Transformation Party (NTP), said if elected, he will promote true democracy in Nigeria by ensuring that the nation conduct free and fair elections. He also promises good governance, empowerment of women and youths, provision of good roads, good hospitals, potable water, good education and reliable power supply.
Mr Dele Momodu who is seeking the presidency on the platform of the National Conscience Party (NCP) said if elected his major preoccupation will be fixing the nation’s deplorable infrastructure. His other promises are tackling corruption and the Niger Delta problem, improved security, provision of quality education and economic reform.
What will hamper their ability to deliver on their promises is most likely their idealism. Dr. Mohammed of the University of Abuja says of them: “I can classify them as people who are entrapped in an academic cocoon. They are still dwelling in the illusion that modernization can be translated to an underdeveloped state overnight. It is like they are in dreamland. These are people that can come and promise thousands of megawatts of electricity within one tenure which is practically impossible in a state like Nigeria. They are not pragmatic and realistic.”
What will make it likely for them to deliver on their promise is the fact that sometimes it takes dreamers to build a new future, the kind of new beginning Nigeria is in need of at the moment. So, what is the yardstick for measuring whether a politician would deliver on his promises? Mohammed says: “We need people who are practical and realistic like late Murtala Mohammed, with or without promises. Action, commitment and patriotism is the key to achieving the desired change Nigeria needs.” Come May 29, Nigerians will be hoping to see how the promises will be fulfilled when the winner among these candidates gets sworn in as president.