Pull Nigeria out of the woods
As we all know, the country at the moment is facing some fundamental challenges, including that of existential threat. The agitation from the young lads of the South-East, commonly called Biafra, the insurgency or terrorism in the North-East, especially in the three horns states of Adamawa, Borno and Yabe, the nationwide kidnappings, the daily reporting […]
As we all know, the country at the moment is facing some fundamental challenges, including that of existential threat. The agitation from the young lads of the South-East, commonly called Biafra, the insurgency or terrorism in the North-East, especially in the three horns states of Adamawa, Borno and Yabe, the nationwide kidnappings, the daily reporting of armed robbery, the persistent recurrence of farmers herdsmen clashes, to just assemble a few, call for a real and deep critical thinking that will bring about strategic approaches to finding solutions.
As a matter of urgency, this administration should shift away from its present posture of simplifying the problems as something that could be tackled easily and give it a second look for appropriate actions before the next national elections draw very nearer. Anything worth doing is obviously worth doing well. The high national expectations of Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari should spur him to address some of the existential problems of the country.
In my humble submission, I would like the President to give a critical look and consideration to the following: 1) The issue of poverty, illiteracy and general human underdevelopment in the country. For Nigeria to rank 152th out 188 countries in the UNDP Annual Report for 2015 is shameful, disgraceful and abuse on our faces. 2) Despite the current economic situation, the President should also look critically on the issue of corruption beyond the present fight against the menace. There should be a national agreement on the nature of punishment on each scale of corruption. Be it naming and shaming; national disgrace by denial of some privileges, such as International Passport to the culprit, his off springs and spouses; confiscation of assets; jailing (terms to be based on the gravity of the offense), etc. 3) There should be national restructuring in terms of states and geo-political zones.
We should have at least 23 geo-political zones. I am one of the advocates for state creation. Those who think the exercise is a colossal waste should think reflectively, what places like Abakaliki, Lokoja, Gombe, Ekiti, Yenagoa, Dutse, Damaturu, etc., and their environs could have been now without state creation. So, we have found a model for bringing development closer to the people, whatever are the shortcomings at the moment. The simple thing to do is by taking our current number of 774 local government councils and using them as a basis for the exercise without much committee wahala. We should henceforth have no state with less than eight LGCs and not more than 11. This will go a long way to address the issues of threats of secession, cries of marginalization and neglect, etc.
Aminu Anas is a Director with TETFund, Abuja