The inaugural speech of Nigeria’s new president, Muhammadu Buhari, may not rank in the league of the finest speeches delivered by world’s renowned charismatic leaders, it is however mission-focused and laced with distinct, instructive messages. From the very beginning, the speech, though with an average delivery pass, sets out to enumerate the plans of the administration and in some cases, hints on how the government intends to achieve the targets it has set for itself.
Analysing the speech, a few have though described it as illusory and vague, for others, however, it does not take out the fact that the president made conscious effort at preparing the minds of the Nigerian people and indeed, the world for what is to come, both in terms of roles and responsibilities.
“Having just a few minutes ago sworn on the Holy Book,” he starts, “I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all Nigerians. I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody. A few people have privately voiced fears that on coming back to office, I shall go after them. These fears are groundless. There will be no paying off old scores. The past is prologue,” he says.
The line that talks about belonging to all and no particular person, really strikes a chord in the minds of a majority of the people, who reckon the message was for the political class. But other areas of the speech which tend to address critical concerns have since been subjected to stringent content analysis.
“Here, I would like to thank the governments and people of Cameroon, Chad and Niger for committing their armed forces to fight Boko Haram in Nigeria. I also wish to assure the wider international community of our readiness to cooperate and help to combat threats of cross-border terrorism, sea piracy, refugees and boat people, financial crime, cyber-crime, climate change, the spread of communicable diseases and other challenges of the 21st century.
“At home we face enormous challenges. Insecurity, pervasive corruption, the hitherto unending and seemingly impossible fuel and power shortages are the immediate concerns. We are going to tackle them head on. Nigerians will not regret that they have entrusted national responsibility to us. We must not succumb to hopelessness and defeatism. We can fix our problems,” he admonishes.
Alluding to history in fixing some of the problems was also instructive. “In recent times Nigerian leaders appear to have misread our mission. Our founding fathers, Mr. Herbert Macauley, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Malam Aminu Kano, Chief J.S. Tarka, Mr Eyo Ita, Chief Denis Osadeby, Chief Ladoke Akintola and their colleagues worked to establish certain standards of governance.
“They might have differed in their methods or tactics or details, but they were united in establishing a viable and progressive country. Some of their successors behaved like spoilt children breaking everything and bringing disorder to the house.
“Furthermore, we as Nigerians must remind ourselves that we are heirs to great civilisations: Shehu Othman Dan fodio’s caliphate, the Kanem Borno Empire, the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire and King Jaja’s formidable domain. The blood of those great ancestors flow in our veins; what is now required is to build on these legacies, to modernise and uplift Nigeria.
“Daunting as the task may be, it is by no means insurmountable. There is now a national consensus that our chosen route to national development is democracy. To achieve our objectives, we must consciously work the democratic system. The Federal Executive under my watch will not seek to encroach on the duties and functions of the Legislative and Judicial arms of government. The law enforcing authorities will be charged to operate within the Constitution. We shall rebuild and reform the public service to become more effective and more serviceable. We shall charge them to apply themselves with integrity to stabilise the system.
“For their part, the legislative arm must keep to their brief of making laws, carrying out over-sight functions and doing so expeditiously. The judicial system needs reform to cleanse itself from its immediate past. The country now expects the judiciary to act with dispatch on all cases especially on corruption, serious financial crimes or abuse of office. It is only when the three arms act constitutionally that government will be enabled to serve the country optimally and avoid the confusion all too often bedeviling governance today.”
Buhari’s position on the relationship between the state and the federal government is also worthy of note, particularly his allusion to how local governments are run.
“Elsewhere, relations between Abuja and the States have to be clarified if we are to serve the country better. Constitutionally, there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal Government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments. Not least the operations of the Local Government Joint Account.
“While the Federal Government cannot interfere in the details of its operations, it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked. As far as the constitution allows me, I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.”
His recognition of the labour unions, the organised private sector, the press and civil society organisations, shows his deep understanding of the workings of government. “I appeal to employers and workers alike to unite in raising productivity so that everybody will have the opportunity to share in increased prosperity. The Nigerian press is the most vibrant in Africa. My appeal to the media today – and this includes the social media – is to exercise its considerable powers with responsibility and patriotism.
“My appeal for unity is predicated on the seriousness of the legacy we are getting into. With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts, the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and will require careful management to bring it round and to tackle the immediate challenges confronting us, namely; Boko Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment especially among young people.
“For the longer term, we have to improve the standards of our education. We have to look at the whole field of Medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical infrastructure,” he states.
But he never forgets to add that “The most immediate is Boko Haram’s insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces but victory cannot be achieved by basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja. The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.
“This government will do all it can to rescue them alive. Boko Haram is a typical example of small fires causing large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox preacher with a tiny following was given posthumous fame and following by his extra judicial murder at the hands of the police. Since then through official bungling, negligence, complacency or collusion Boko Haram became a terrifying force taking tens of thousands of lives and capturing several towns and villages covering swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory.
“Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who are as far away from Islam as one can think of. At the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued the Government intends to commission a sociological study to determine its origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connexions to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence of this evil. For now the Armed Forces will be fully charged with prosecuting the fight against Boko haram. We shall overhaul the rules of engagement to avoid human rights violations in operations. We shall improve operational and legal mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human right violations by the Armed Forces.”
Knowing that Boko Haram is not the only security issue bedeviling the country is another intelligent part of the speech. He notes that “The spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air of insecurity in our land. We are going to erect and maintain an efficient, disciplined people – friendly and well – compensated security forces within an over – all security architecture.
“The amnesty programme in the Niger Delta is due to end in December, but the Government intends to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place. I call on the leadership and people in these areas to cooperate with the State and Federal Government in the rehabilitation programmes which will be streamlined and made more effective. As ever, I am ready to listen to grievances of my fellow Nigerians. I extend my hand of fellowship to them so that we can bring peace and build prosperity for our people.”
Whilst noting that “No single cause can be identified to explain Nigerian’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation,” Buhari adds that, “It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less.
“Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20b expanded since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.”
Analyzing the nexus between insecurity and unemployment, he notes that “Unemployment, notably youth un-employment features strongly in our Party’s Manifesto. We intend to attack the problem frontally through revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining as well as credits to small and medium size businesses to kick – start these enterprises. We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure.”
In rounding off, he is of the opinion that “Nigeria therefore has a window of opportunity to fulfill our long – standing potential of pulling ourselves together and realizing our mission as a great nation. We have an opportunity. Let us take it.”
The APC Manifesto
Whilst Buhari’s inaugural speech was merely a reassurance of the policy thrust of the administration, the manifesto of the APC is another document houses in details, other plans of the administration. No doubt, a majority of members of the APC took a lot of pride in the content of the party’s manifesto, which they have variously described as the way out for Nigeria’s backwardness. During the unveiling of the manifesto, the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, said his party came up with the document as a message of hope to be shared “With all those who genuinely care about Nigeria.”
And he added that “Political manifestos in Nigeria were hardly different from mere platitudes and general statements to which parties could not be held accountable;” but that “the APC manifesto is different,” adding that “We have clearly stated what we will deliver to Nigeria when elected into office.”
According to him, it focuses on six priority areas; national security, good governance, human capital development, economic development, land and natural resources and foreign policy.
Explaining how the party came about the document, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who said the party took up the challenge of carving out a unique ideological difference for itself with the manifesto, said the party chose to make its manifesto drafting process innovative by hiring the service of a reputable foreign consultant, KA Research Limited (KARL), based in Brussels, Belgium, and Istanbul, Turkey, to conduct an opinion poll, which he said informed the party’s programmes for Nigeria.
He said the public opinion poll made revelations about the strengths and weaknesses of the APC as well as what Nigerians wanted from government. While highlighting the critical aspects of the survey, Mohammed said: “Most Nigerians, who responded to the enquiries agreed that governance priority must be on dealing with unemployment and issues of corruption.”
The immediate past Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola simply described the APC manifesto as “Something completely new in Nigerian politics.” But in spite of the high optimism expressed about the viability of the manifesto in fixing the Nigerian problems, President Buhari, in one of his speeches, made it clear that it could still be subjected to modifications if required.
Looking through the APC manifesto, it reflects prioritisation of job creation, the fight against insecurity, corruption, free and quality education, agriculture development, housing development and healthcare plan for children and adults featured very prominently. It contained well-articulated roadmap for social welfare for the less privileged, roads, power and infrastructure, people-oriented management of natural resources and strengthening of peace, security and foreign affairs.
The party, which noted that lack of jobs is the most critical challenge in the country, promised that as part of measures to address the problem of unemployment, it would create at least 20,000 jobs per state immediately on assumption of office.
The jobs would be for those with the minimum qualification of secondary school leaving certificate and who underwent technology and vocational trainings. It says APC government would direct conditional monthly cash transfers of N5, 000 to about 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens, who are able to show evidences of children enrollment in schools and immunisation.
Still under its job creation plan, the party says it would provide allowances to discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members for 12 months, while encouraging them to acquire training and skills for job placement and entrepreneurship.
On the scourge of corruption, which has been responsible for stagnation in the country, the APC promised zero tolerance for official or private sector corruption. The party which pledges to pursue a legislation expanding forfeiture and seizure of assets laws and procedure with respect to inexplicable wealth, regardless of whether there is a conviction for criminal conduct or not also hopes to remove all legal bottlenecks affecting corruption trials and guarantee the independence of anti-corruption and financial crimes agencies by legislation.
The party also promises to stop electoral fraud by making the Independent National and Electoral Commission (INEC) truly independent and free from political interference.
In the area of security, the party promises to urgently address capacity building of law enforcement agents in terms of quantity and quality as this is critical in safeguarding the sanctity of lives and property and establish a well-trained, adequately equipped and goals-driven Serious Crime Squad to combat terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, militants, ethno-religious and communal clashes nationwide.
It also promises to establish a Conflict Resolution Commission to help prevent, mitigate and resolve civil conflicts within the polity. The party envisaged that the commission could help bring about permanent peace and solution to the Niger Delta and other conflict prone areas such as Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Abia in order to engender national unity and social harmony.
The APC vowed to implement policies that would ensure that Nigerians are free to live and work in any part of the country by removing state of origin, tribe, ethnic and religious affiliations and replace those with state of residence policy.
On job creation and economic growth, it assured Nigerians that the administration would restore and strengthen financial confidence by putting in place a more robust monitoring, supervising and regulating of all financial institutions; make the Nigerian economy one of the fastest growing emerging economies in the world with a real GDP growth averaging 10% annually and to embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition scheme for graduates along with the creation of Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to create at least 1 million new jobs every year.
Agriculture is to be given a boost as the party pledges to aid subsistence farmers in increasing food production by providing soft loans for farming. In the area of housing development, APC laments the challenge of inadequate houses for poor and working class families. As a means of ameliorating the situation, the party is undertaking to construct one million low-cost houses within its first four years in office.
On healthcare delivery, the party says in addition to implementing free quality comprehensive healthcare based on a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and it would stop all travels abroad for medical treatment at government expense.
Infrastructure development is not left out in the roadmap, as the party committed itself to power supply, building an integrated gas pipeline across Nigeria and constructing interstate rail line and highway system that would link major cities in the country.
On the issue of management of national resources, APC says it would make sure people at the local level benefit from mining and mineral wealth by vesting all mineral rights on land in states.
In the aspect of industrialisation, the APC manifesto gave a roadmap to formulating robust policy and provide environment conducive for a private sector-based economy, promote entrepreneurship that would help usher in new industries, new jobs, new knowledge and utilisation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
In the oil and gas sector, the APC says it would modernise the NNPC and make it the national energy champion. It is considering breaking it up into more efficient, commercially driven units and strip it of its regulatory powers to enable it tap into international capital market and to also enforce the government master plan for oil companies to end flaring.
It further assured the people of speedy passage of the delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), ensuring that local content issues are fully addressed and making Nigeria the world’s leading exporter of LNG through the creation of strategic partnerships.
Other very important contents of the document includes the promise to generate, transmit and distribute from current less than 5,000MW to at least 20,000MW of electricity within the first four years and increasing to 50,000MW with a view to achieving 24 hours uninterrupted power supply within ten years, whilst simultaneously ensuring development of sustainable-renewable energy; construction of 3,000km of superhighway including service trunks and building of up to 4,800km of modern railway lines – one third to be completed by 2019.
It promises the enactment of new legal and regulatory frameworks to establish independent regulation and incentives to accelerate public and private sector investment in seaports, railways and inland waterways; full implementation of the provisions of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act with emphasis on gender equity in primary and secondary school enrollment; improved medical care and care for the senior citizens.
Improvement of the education sector also features prominently in the opposition party’s manifesto. Apart from offering free primary and secondary education to Nigerian children, the party says it would grant free tertiary education to students pursuing courses in science and technology, engineering, mathematics and education majors.
The APC manifesto, no doubt, is comprehensive and such a long promises made to Nigerians before the elections. It touches practically all aspects of the national life. The overview, though an abridged version of the document, the complete document is even more extensive.
And for Nigerians, who are anxiously looking forward to living the promises by the APC, the earlier the Buhari administration begins to deliver, the better for the party. It is also important for Buhari to know that the people will start their assessment of the administration right from the first 100 days in office. It is therefore important that the government makes a good use of its time because no excuses, regardless of the situation at hand, will suffice.
The Promises at a Quick Glance
1. Public declaration of assets and liabilities
2. State and community policing
3. Ban on all government officials from seeking medical care abroad
4. Implementation of the National Gender Policy, including 35% of appointive positions for women
5. Revival of Ajaokuta steel company
6. Generation, transmission and distribution of at least 20,000 MW of electricity within four years and increasing to 50,000 MW with a view to achieving 24/7 uninterrupted power supply within 10 years.
7. Empowerment scheme to employ 740,000 graduates across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
8. Establishment of a free-tuition and scholarship scheme for pupils who have shown exceptional aptitude in science subjects at O/Levels to study ICT-related courses
9. 720,000 jobs by the 36 states in the federation per annum (20,000 per state)
10. Three million Jobs per year
11. To embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition schemes for graduates along with the creation of a Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to create at least 5 million new jobs by 2019.
12. Churches and Mosques would not pay taxes under national laws, but if they engage in businesses, the businesses would pay tax.
13. Provision of allowances to the discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members for Twelve (12) months while in the skills and entrepreneurial development programme
14. Making the economy one of the fastest-growing emerging economies in the world with a real GDP growth averaging 10% annually.
15. Creation of a Social Welfare Programme of at least Five Thousand Naira (N5000) that will cater for the 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens upon the demonstration of children’s enrollment in school and evidence of immunisation to help promote family stability
16. Recruitment and training of at least 100,000 officers into the Nigerian police force and establish a Federal Anti-terrorism Agency.
17. One free meal (to include fruits) daily, for public primary school pupils
18. Building an airport in Ekiti State
19. Eradication of state of origin, replacing that with state of residence to ensure Nigerians are Nigerians first before anything else.
20. Establishment of Crime Squad to combat terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, militants, ethno-religious and communal clashes nationwide
21. Working with the National Assembly towards the immediate enactment of a Whistle Blower Act
22. Economic stability for the ECOWAS nations and maintaining a strong, close and frank relationship with West Africa, South Africa, UK, USA, Canada, and other African countries
23. Establishing a conflict resolution commission to help prevent, mitigate and resolve civil conflicts within the polity.
24. All political office holders earn only the salaries and emoluments determined and approved by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission RMFAC.
25. Permanent peace in the Niger Delta and other conflict prone areas such as Plateau, Taraba, Bauchi, Borno and Abia.
26. No plans to Islamise Nigeria.
27. Nationwide sanitation plans to keep Nigeria clean
28. Preserving the independence of the Central Bank
29. Simplifying immigration process to foster faster visa processing at points of entry.
30. Special incentives to facilitate the education of the girl child
31. Full implementation of the National Identification Scheme to generate the relevant data.
32. Making Information Technology, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Entertainment key drivers of our economy
33. Balancing the economy across regions by the creation of six new Regional Economic Development Agencies (REDAs) to act as champions of sub-regional competitiveness
34. Putting in place a N300bn regional growth fund (average of N50bn in each geo-political region) to be managed by the REDAs.
35. Amending the Constitution and the Land Use Act to create freehold/leasehold interests in land along with matching grants for states to create a nationwide electronic land title register on a state by state basis
36. Reviving and reactivating the minimally performing Refineries to optimum capacity
37. Creating additional middle-class of at least two million new home owners in the first year in government and one million annually thereafter.
38. Creating an additional middle class of at least four million new home owners by 2019 by enacting national mortgage single digit interest rates for purchase of owner occupier houses as well as reviewing the collateral qualification to make funding for home ownership easier, with 15 to 30 year mortgage terms.
39. Enacting a national mortgage system that will lend at single digit interest rates for purchase of owner occupier houses.
40. Injecting extra N30bn into the Agricultural sector to create more agro-allied jobs by way of loans at nominal interest rates for capital investment on medium and commercial scale cash crops.
41. You farm, government buys, guaranteeing a minimum price for selected crops and facilitate storage of agricultural products as and when necessary.
42. Creating a national infrastructural development bank to provide loans at nominal interest rates exclusively for this sector.
43. Construction of 3,000km of Superhighway including service trunks
44. Building of up to 4,800km of modern railway lines – one third to be completed by 2019
45. At least one functioning airport is available in each of the 36 states.
46. Ending gas flaring and ensuring sales of at least half of gas produce, within Nigeria
47. Speedily passing the much-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and ensuring that local content issues are fully addressed.
48. Establishing at least six new universities of science and technology with satellite campuses in various states.
49. Establishing six centres of excellence to address the needs of special education
50. Prioritising the reduction of the infant mortality rate by 2019 to 3%
51. Reducing maternal mortality by more than 70%
52. Reducing HIV/AIDs infection rate by 50% and other infectious diseases by 75%
53. Improving life expectancy by additional 10 years on average.
54. Increasing the number of physicians from 19 per 1000 population to 50 per 1000
55. Increasing national health expenditure per person per annum to about N50,000 (from less than N10,000 currently)
56. Increasing the quality of all federal government-owned hospitals to world class standard within five years
57. Ensuring timely payment of retirement benefits for all pensioned senior citizens and creating a poverty safety net for all aged citizens above the age of 65.
58. Amending the Constitution to require Local Governments to publish their meeting minutes, service performance data, and items of spending over N10M.
59. Requiring full disclosure in media outlets, of all government contracts over N100m prior to award and during implementation at regular interval
60. Amending the Constitution to remove immunity from prosecution for elected officers in criminal case
61. Initiating action to amend the Nigerian Constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties, and responsibilities to states in order to entrench true federalism and the federal spirit
62. Reforming and Strengthening the Justice System for efficient administration and dispensation of justice with the creation of special courts for accelerated hearing of corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism and similar cases of national importance
63. Establishing world-class sports academy and training institutes and ensure that Nigeria occupies a place of pride in global sports and athletics
64. Reviving the Nigerian football league and putting incentives in place to make it as competitive as other national leagues.
65. Putting in place measures to identify talents early and ensuring their participation in local and international games to enable them become professionals
66. Assisting Nollywood to fully develop into world class movie industry that can compete effectively with Hollywood and Bollywood in due course.
67. Ensuring that the rights of women are protected as enshrined in our Constitution
68. Guaranteeing that women are adequately represented in government appointments and providing greater opportunities in education, job creation and economic empowerment
69. Promoting the concept of reserving a minimum number of seats in the National Assembly for women.
70. Free maternal and children healthcare services
71. Stabilising the naira
72. Targeting up to 20% of our annual budget for this critical sector whilst making substantial investments in training quality teachers at all levels of the educational system (Some other APC policy documents had 15%)
73. Ensuring compliance with policies and measures to halt the pollution of rivers and waterways in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country
74. Adopting a holistic approach to erosion and shoreline protection across the country
75. ECOWAS currency by 2020 under Nigeria’s guidance and leadership
76. Maintaining strong, close and frank relationships within the Gulf of Guinea, the Commonwealth, South Africa and the rest of the world
77. Establishing a new special relationship with the leading emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and other strategic partners around the world.
78. Government intends to commission a sociological study to determine Boko Haram’s origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connexions to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence of the evil.
79. Strengthening INEC to reduce, if possible, eliminate electoral malpractices in Nigerian’s political life
80. Improving operational and legal mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human rights violations by the Armed Forces.
81. Free education at primary, secondary and tertiary institutions for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Education
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