The All Progressives Congress (APC) will form the new government in Nigeria as from 29th May, 2015. The party won the election with a campaign on a change agenda. Before the election of the APC, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been in power for sixteen years. There are many lessons to learn from the failure of the PDP regime which led to the victory of APC. These lessons should be taken into cognisance by the APC from the beginning. The first is that the development of a country is a complex issue and is much more than a rendition of activities and projects of Ministry, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). There is also the need to focus on the big issues of political, social and cultural change. Secondly, the voice of the people is important. For instance, the majority of the people cannot be arguing that corruption is a major problem and the political leadership is insisting that corruption is not a problem. Thirdly, government must learn to put the people at the centre of development. The Nigerian economy has grown. The economic growth rate is high but poverty is increasing at the same time. There is the need for policy intervention to deal with this. In addition, any party that operates and portrays itself for the sole purpose of patronage is digging its own grave. According to the former chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, Alh. Bamamga Tukur “PDP is all about patronage. We are going to dole out patronage to all our members who remain in the party….Let me inform you. We are going to give patronage to all our members who have contested elections and lost. There is enough in the party to go around everyone. There is no need to leave the party.” Political organising need to be a continuous process involving political education of party leaders and members. The think tank of the party is very important here. Furthermore, lack of engagement with critical stakeholders of the society is political suicide. There is the need to engage with critical sectors such as civil society, labour and the private sector. Moreover, poor co-ordination of government activities and poor monitoring and evaluation can lead to failure of a government.
The APC has come to power to implement a change agenda. Nigerians are anxiously waiting for that change. It is necessary to carefully craft the change agenda in the four key areas of economy, politics, social and technological. The economic agenda should address the issues of structures and institutions of economic management; diversification of the economy; promotion of transparency and accountability and promotion of pro-poor policies (Policies that will lead to good macroeconomic environment, improve access to financial services, improve governance and increase access of the poor to basic infrastructures and social services). The political agenda should address the building of institutions and mechanisms; review of the 1999 Constitution; institutions of horizontal accountability; reform of the Electoral system; building of democratic culture; regulation of party financing and campaign finance and reform of INEC. There should also be a social agenda because over the years the social fabric of the Nigerian society has been destroyed. A lot of people become wealthy overnight without questions about the sources of the wealth. People who embezzle public funds are rewarded by their communities with chieftaincy titles. There is brazen display of wealth in the midst of widespread poverty. The extended family system is being destroyed. The get rich quick syndrome has caught up with a great number of the population. The social agenda should focus on re-orientation on social values; re-orientation on work ethics and corporate Social responsibility and investment. The technological agenda should focus on building of technology infrastructure and use of technology to promote transparency and accountability.
In order to implement the above change agenda, there are certain immediate issues that the new administration must focus upon. They include the immediate production of a strategic plan to replace the vision 20:2020 document. It will also be a process to engage Nigerians in the change process. There is also the need to train the elected party officials on party philosophy and programmes. In addition, the regime must have an immediate plan for co-ordination. In the past, some form of co-ordination only took place in the economic sector. There is the need to divide the whole governance structures into four co-ordinating units: Finance and Economy; Social Services; Infrastructure, Science and Technology and Governance. Luckily, the public service has already been divided along those four lines. Finance and Economy will encompass Finance, Industry, Trade and Investment, Budget Office, Office of Accountant General, Office of Auditor General. Social services will include Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Education, Health, Sports, Women Affairs and Social Development, Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Police, Youth. Infrastructure, Science and Technology will be made up of Communication, Science and Technology, Environment, Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Power, Water, Transport, Niger Delta, Petroleum and Agriculture. Governance will include the State House, SGF, HOS, Defence, Foreign Affairs, Information, Interior, Justice, Labour and Productivity.
Another important area to focus upon is monitoring and evaluation. The vision 20:2020 demanded that all tiers of government and MDAs should have a robust M & E system. This needs to be operationalized. Finally is the very important issue of public administration reform. There are several issues that require reform in the Public Service. A few of them is examined below:
· Cost of governance: It is well known that the cost of governance in Nigeria is very high. Over 70 percent of the federal budget is devoted to recurrent expenditure. The political and bureaucratic classes are over bloated. Cost of doing business with government is high. Most of the procurement in the public sector is inflated.
· Effective Budgeting: The budget is perhaps the most important instrument in any modern state apart from the constitution. The focus on budget has assumed greater prominence in recent years with increasing democratization, civil society participation and the desire to respond to the development challenge of poverty. Budgeting is very crucial for the economic development of any nation. Good budgeting can lead to economic growth and development. But to prepare a good budget requires a responsible leadership, special staff assistance, broad, accurate and reliable information, complete plan, a financial calendar and effective monitoring and control over the execution of the budget plan. Meanwhile, the budget has been described as the most important document for the development of any country. It is the most powerful way that a government can meet the needs and priorities of the citizens. The budget process is crucial to good development outcomes. Corruption in any country starts from the budgetary process. In very corrupt countries, the budget is done in secret. Releases are done without the knowledge of citizens. Procurement information is not made available to citizens and corruption is guarded and protected. Effective budgeting requires an open budget system. A budget is regarded as open if citizens have access to the key budget documents; have high level of involvement in the budgetary process and have access to procurement information. The Open Budget Index 2012 scores Nigeria 16 out of 100 which is a poor rating of the quality of budgeting in Nigeria.
· Public Finance Management: There is still opacity and lack of transparency in the oil and gas sector. Oil theft continues unabated despite the effort of government and security agencies. According to NEITI Audit report 2009-2011, Nigeria losses N578.990 billion annually to oil theft and NNPC owes government $5.8 billion from Liquefied Natural Gas which has not been paid into the federation account since 2006. There is still late releases of funds to ministries, departments and agencies. There is improper project design, costing, monitoring and audit. The end result is low capital budget implementation and unsatisfactory public expenditure outcomes.
· Civil Service Reform: In the civil service today, there is the culture of self-interest and patronage. The recruitment process does not supply the right people in the right numbers to the right places to meet the service needs of citizens. The civil servants are not managed, promoted or rewarded based on objective measures of performance. The end result is that the civil service functions as an employment mechanism and not a service delivery mechanism with the with over 70 percent recurrent expenditure. Consequently, there is poor delivery of public goods and services.
· Planning: There is no systematic planning framework for the country that ensures that adequate data and research, good information system, monitoring and evaluation and tracking of results. In addition, there is no integration of planning and budgeting. The end result is abandonment of projects, poor plan implementation and poor service delivery. For instance, it has been documented by the Presidential Assessment Committee report that 11, 886 projects worth N7.7 trillion have been abandoned across the country denying citizens of the benefits. Also, the Ajaokuta steel plant was planned in 1978/79 to be completed in 1986 at US$650m but government has spent over US$5 billion and it is not completed as a result of poor planning and corruption.
· Policy: There is no process or criteria or mechanism for filtering policy ideas in the country. Policy proposals are often not evidence based because ideas that enter into the policy agenda are based on the private interest behind them. The result is that the policy ideas are not strategic and implementation do not give the desired result leading to wastage of resources due to duplication and failed programmes and projects. The World Bank Resource Allocation Index and Global Competitive Index rate Nigeria very poorly in terms of policy.
· Sectoral Issues: The ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) in the different sectors such as Trade, agriculture, education, health, and security are expected to deliver government services to meet the needs of Nigerians. But the poor recruitment and posting, lack of motivation, poor allocation of resources and poor management has resulted in weak capacity, weak accountability and poor performance of the MDAs.
· Constituency projects: Constituency projects constitute a huge challenge to organizational effectiveness in the public sector. Most of the projects are put in the budget without proper design and costing. The nature, location and choice of contractors for the projects are determined solely by political considerations. The end result is abandonment of projects, poor execution and poor service delivery to citizens.
· Corruption: As noted above, corruption is widespread and endemic in Nigeria. But we know that the problem of corruption is as old as society itself and cuts across nations, cultures, races and classes of people. It is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges of our times leading to underdevelopment and poor service delivery in Nigeria. Corruption has a lot of negative consequences on every sphere of societal development whether social, economic or political. Corruption not only leads to poor service delivery but loss of lives. Corruption is pervasive in Nigeria with serious negative consequences. Despite the plethora of legislations and agencies fighting corruption in the country, corruption has remained widespread and pervasive because of failure to utilize universally accepted and tested strategies; disconnect between posturing of leaders and their conduct; lack of concrete sustainable anti-corruption programming and failure to locate the anti-corruption struggle within a broader struggle to transform society. Some scholars have recommended that the anti-corruption fight must be guided by legislative framework for transparent and accountable government; political will and commitment to fight corruption; comprehensive strategy that is systematic, comprehensive, consistent, focused, publicized, non-selective and non-partisan; protection of Whistle blowers; political reform to curb political corruption especially election rigging; reform of substantive programmes and administrative procedures; mobilisation for social re-orientation; independent media; adequate remuneration for workers to reflect the responsibilities of their post and a living wage; code of ethics for Political office holders, business people and CSOs; independent institutions especially electoral, human rights and gender commissions and a movement for Anti-corruption.
The Buhari Administration will be starting on a firm footing if these issues are taken seriously and implemented with efficiency, effectiveness and professionalism. The administration should have a clear change agenda that is incorporated into a strategic plan with clear plan for monitoring and evaluation and public administration reform. In particular, the administration should focus on the challenges of implementation by addressing the issues of strategy, operations and people.
The writer is the Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD). otiveigbuzor@yahoo.co.uk
Nigeria’s outgoing agriculture minister Akinwumi Adesina has risen from humble origins to become the head of the African Development Bank at a time of economic transformation on the continent.
The son of a poor farmer earning 10 US cents per day in Ogun state, southwest Nigeria, 55-year-old Adesina gradually climbed the social ladder, according to friends.
He earned a first-class honours degree in agricultural economics from the southwestern University of Ife and a doctorate in the same subject at Purdue in the US midwest in 1988.
Before becoming a minister in 2011, he worked for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and held senior positions in agricultural bodies around the world.
In 2013, Adesina was named African Person of the Year by Forbes magazine for his agricultural reforms. “He is a man on a mission to help Africa feed itself,” the publication said.
“My goal is to make as many millionaires, maybe even billionaires, from agriculture as possible,” he said while accepting the Forbes award.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and biggest economy, and a leading shareholder in the AfDB.
The appointment of Adesina, after months of intensive lobbying across the continent, breaks the unwritten rule that the top job should go to someone from a small to medium-sized country.
The new chief said in late March that he wanted to “finish off the white elephants,” in a reference to useless luxury projects that are often financed using international aid and built by foreign businessmen, and which reek of corruption.
He called for “intelligent infrastructure that is more productive, more competitive”.
He also urged more cooperation across borders, pitching ideas such as an “African Google,” a transnational electricity market, and a regional stock exchange.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, has long been urged to reduce its reliance on crude by diversifying its economy, including in agriculture, which supports more people.
Official data indicated food imports fell from 1 trillion naira ($5 billion, 4.6 billion euros) to 466 billion naira in the last three years on Adesina’s watch
Admirers say transparency has improved in the administration and distribution of fertilisers, which had long been riddled with inefficiency and corruption.
Adesina said last year his aim was “to cut out all the crap within the system” to forge policies that allowed private investors to make money from agriculture in the same way as energy.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon described Adesina as an “eminent personality” who had shown outstanding leadership in his role since 2009 in the UN Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group.
Despite the present boom in the culture and music industries of Africa, the major challenge facing the industries remains how to find ways to sustain the growth and spread the benefits to larger layers of the society through significant job creation and poverty alleviation. This submission was made by the President/Executive Producer, All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, Mr. Michael Dada, during his presentation at the 4th Pan African Cultural Congress, PACC4, on May 26, 2015 at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa. Organised by the African Union Commission, AUC, in collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture of the Republic of South Africa, the three-day PACC4 with the theme “Unity in Cultural Diversity for Africa’s Development”, opened on Monday, May 25 and was brought to a close on Wednesday, May 27. The congress featured thematic presentations and plenary and panel discussions encouraging participatory interactive discussions moderated by carefully selected moderators. The presentations were prepared by expert in each of the themes and sub-themes. Addressing participants on the theme: “All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA: A tool for promoting African Culture and Identity for Development”, Mr. Dada described music as an integral part of African culture to promote brotherhood, solidarity and the struggle for liberation. He referenced history saying African musicians over the years had produced rich and inspirational songs on political independence for African countries, the problem of apartheid in South Africa, the need for African countries to unite, and ultimately, the development of the continent. “African musicians have also composed different songs that challenged hegemonic nations and organisations such as the United States, France, United Kingdom and most importantly the United Nations on policies which affect Africans at home and in the Diaspora. They also support the campaign for enthronement of democracy in Africa and sing against any policy of governments that is anti-people.” The AFRIMA President emphasised that this decades long effort by African musicians has resulted in economic growth in Africa as shown in a report produced by PricewaterHouseCoopers (PWC): On the continent, South Africa is the biggest media and entertainment industry valued at $10.5 billion in 2013; Nigeria is in second place at $4 billion and Kenya is in third place at $1.7 billion. Said Dada: “The report projects that by 2018, these industries will haverisen dramatically to $17.1 billion, $8.5 billion and $3.1 billion respectively. However, the economic growth must be transformed into economic development and thereby create a new Africa. It is the positive aspects of music, which are immense, that All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) seeks to promote. AFRIMA is a combined effort to recognise, award, promote and preserve Africa’s rich music culture. Besides, it is a platform to communicate the unique image and culture of Africa to the world for global competitiveness. In AFRIMA, we believe music can play a wonderful role in fulfilling this historic task. The economic revival has unleashed a wave of creative energy and inspired hope. We strongly hold that music and cultural industry can help create good jobs and raise consciousness about developments and the needed change in Africa.Thus, working in partnership with the African Union Commission, AFRIMA has set out to contribute to the realisation of the objectives of those laudable plans of the AU through music, culture and tourism.” He revealed that already, in preparation for the 2015 edition of the continental awards project, AFRIMA and African Union Commission held a Joint Conference/Roundtable Discussion in Addis Ababa on April 29, 2015 under the theme: “Using Music, Culture and Entertainment as tools for a new Africa.” Other distinguished speakers at PACC4 included: Commissioner for Social Affairs, AUC, H.E. Dr. Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko; Minister of Arts and Culture, South Africa, H.E. Mr Nathi Mthethwa; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture, Zimbabwe, Dr. Thokozile Chitepo; Director General, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, CBAAC, Sir Ferdinand Ikechukwu Anikwe, Independent Curator, Ms. Ngone Fall; Secretary General, Arterial Network, Mr. Peter Rorvik; Executive Director, Godown Art Centre Kenya, Ms. Joy Mboka and Director General, Afro-Arab Institute, Dr. Mohamed Salem Soufi, amongst others. The congress also featured exhibitions, music and dance as well as a celebration of the ‘World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development’-a United Nations sanctioned international holiday for the promotion of diversity issue marked on May 21 each year.
Nigeria’s outgoing agriculture minister, Akinwumi Adesina has been voted as President of the African Development Bank. He was elected with 58.10 percent after six rounds of voting, beating the finance ministers of Chad and Cape Verde to the role.
A total of 80 AfDB shareholders — 54 African states and 26 non-African countries — took part in the election in Abidjan, in which eight candidates were vying for the presidency.
Adesina, 55, will succeed Rwandan Donald Kaberuka, chief for two consecutive terms since 2005, at a time when the institution is trying to diversify from its traditional role as a development bank.
Adesina inherits a financially sound institution, which was awarded a prestigious AAA rating by US ratings agency Fitch in 2013 — a year in which it lent a total of $6.8 billion for 317 operations.
The Nigerian was voted African of the year in 2013 by Forbes magazine for his agricultural reforms, and he represents a country considered to be the new economic powerhouse of Africa.
His appointment breaks the unwritten rule that the top job should go to someone from a small or medium-sized country — Nigeria is the leading oil producer and most populous country in the continent.
Despite multiple conflicts, health crises such as Ebola, and staggering poverty, Africa is today seen as “a new frontier in world economic growth”, Amethis investment fund founder Luc Rigouzzo told AFP ahead of the election.
Adesina will now have the job of managing the continent’s financial attractiveness — without losing sight of the need to fight poverty and develop infrastructure.
Chad’s Finance Minister Bedoumra Kordje came second in the election with 31.62 percent of votes, and third was Cape Verde’s Finance Minister Cristina Duarte with 10.27 percent.
She would have been the first woman and the first Portuguese speaker in the job.
The United States — the AfDB’s second-biggest shareholder after Nigeria — had a central role in the vote, as did Japan and China. France had been hoping for a champion of Francophone Africa.
After a failed coup in Ivory Coast in 2002 that threw the country into crisis, the bank’s headquarters was relocated to Tunis in 2003. It returned last year to the Ivorian economic capital.
Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo has charged the new Board of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to surpass previous standards on hajj operations, assuring members of the board that they were chosen based on their wealth of experience and diligence.
Namadi Sambo who performed the inaugurat5ion of the board today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja said that their duty is not only bound by the governing rules of the Board but also that of Almighty Allah.
“I charge the new members to be steadfast in their responsibilities by not only meeting the high expectations of the Muslim Ummah on Hajj Operations, but by surpassing such expectations by discharging their duties diligently and to the best of their ability and conscience.”
Vice President Sambo commended NAHCON for delivering on its mandate in improving the standards of Hajj operation in the country since its inception in 2007, which he acknowledged has facilitated smoother hajj experience for the average Nigerian pilgrim.
“Our pilgrims now enjoy better accommodation and better facilities during Hajj operations. The management of the Hajj operations has been greatly enhanced to face contemporary challenges and to accommodate the increasing number of intending pilgrims that apply annually for this spiritual obligation.”
Vice President Sambo congratulated the erstwhile board members for successfully completing their tenure and for the various developments they brought to the commission.
Speaking on behalf of the Board members, the Chairman, Abdullahi Mukhtar Mohammed thanked President Jonathan and Vice President Sambo for given them the opportunity to serve their country and pledged their commitment to live up to expectation of all the stakeholders particularly the pilgrims.
NAHCON was established in 2007 and its board is consisted of nine members including the Chairman. The tenure of the board is four years. Since its establishment the board had been inaugurated twice on May 25th of 2007 and 2011, while for 2015 it was done today.
Members that were inaugurated were Abdullahi Mukhtar Mohammed, who is the chairman, Yusuf Adebayo Ibrahim, Abdullahi Modibbo Saleh, Alhaji Ibrahim Ezeani, and Adeyemi Ademola Fuad as well as Alhaji Enenwary Zikey, Hajiya Aisha Maidubu Mohammed and Danjuma Salihu Usman. The ninth member, Hajiya Ramatu Bala Usman, is still awaiting National Assembly confirmation.
The American President, Barack Obama has announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to Nigeria to attend the inauguration of the Nigeria’s President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, tomorrow at the Eagle Square, Abuja. This is even as a delegation of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) United Kingdom Chapter, under the leadership of Dr. Phillip Idaewor has arrived Nigeria to witness the inauguration of the President-elect and his Vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
According to a statement from the US, the American Secretary of State, John Kerry, will lead the Obama Presidential delegation with Honorable James F. Entwistle, U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Department of State and Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Department of State as members of the team.
Also in the team are General David M. Rodriguez, Commander, U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM), Honorable Grant T. Harris, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council and Mr. Hakeem Olajuwon, NBA Legend and Olympic Gold Medalist.
Meanwhile, a statement signed by the deputy chairman of the UK Chapter of APC, Tunde Doherty said the delegation flagged off their trip to Nigeria with a visit to one of the APC leaders, Chief Wale Osun, who is also the leader of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG).
They also paid a courtesy call on the Chairman of APC in Lagos State, Chief Henry Ajomale and his deputy, Cardinal Odunmbaku at the party’s secretariat in Lagos before they stormed the studios of the Television Continental (TVC) where the group’s deputy chairman, Mr Tunde Doherty appeared on the news live.
The group later left for Abuja on Tuesday and were at the APC National Secretariat where they met the Director of Organisation, Alhaji Abubakar Kari and the Deputy National Chairman (South) and former Ekiti State Governor, Chief Segun Oni.
Earlier, Prince Hilliard Etagbo Eta, the National Vice Chairman, (South-South) had hosted Dr. Idaewor led APC, UK Chapter to lunch in Abuja.
The Vice President of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), Jeffrey Webb has been named amongst those that were earlier arrested and indicted for corruption involving million dollars. Webb is also President of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation (CONCACAF).
They are facing corruption charges at the United States Justice Department.
Others are the executive committee member and Costa Rican soccer federation (FEDEFUT) president, Eduardo Li; attaché to the CONCACAF president, Costas Takkas; and FIFA vice-president, executive committee member, Eugenio Figueredo, former president of the South American football federation (CONMEBOL); Rafael Esquivel, CONMEBOL executive committee member and Venezuelan soccer federation president, FIFA development officer, Julio Rocha, Former Central American Football Union (UNCAF) president and Nicaraguan soccer federation (FENIFUT) president; and Jose Maria Marin, member of the FIFA organising committee for Olympic football tournaments and former Brazilian football federation (CFB) president.
Also indicted are former FIFA vice president, executive committee member and CONCACAF president, Jack Warner; and former FIFA executive committee member and CONMEBOL president, Nicolas Leoz.
Four other defendants in the case are sports marketing executives and one worked in broadcasting. Four individuals and two corporate defendants have already entered guilty pleas in the case.
They are: Charles ‘Chuck’ Blazer, the long-serving former general secretary of CONCACAF and former U.S. representative on the FIFA executive committee, and Daryll Warner, son of defendant Jack Warner and a former FIFA development officer. [myad]
President Goodluck Jonathan has agreed with those who insisted that the incoming government of Muhammadu Buhari should probe the activities of his government, but that probing only his government to the exclusion of others before him would amount to witch-hunting.
The President also admitted that so many things had gone wrong, adding that his administration recently uncovered huge judgment debts accumulated by previous administrations.
Speaking today at the Valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Presidential Aso Villa in Abuja, President Jonathan said that a lot of things had gone wrong in the country that have been ascribed to his administration, adding that his administration had done well in spite of the criticisms.
“Some people are even calling for the probe of the government. I agree that in Nigeria there are a number of things that will be probed; very many things; even debts owed by the states and debts owed by this nation from 1960.
“Up to this time, they say it is the Jonathan administration that owes all these debts. And I believe that anybody calling for probe must also ensure that this probe is extended beyond the Jonathan administration. Otherwise, to me, it will be witch hunting.
“If you are very sincere, then it is not only the Jonathan administration that you probe. A number of things have gone wrong, we have done our best.
“The Attorney-General is aware of massive judgment debts, if you aggregate all the judgment debts, the recent ones that we discovered is going into 1 billion dollars.
“How did we come to these kinds of judgment debts? These issues should be probed.
“How did we allocate our oil fields, oil wells, marginal fields and so on? Did we follow our laws?
“All these should be probed and I believe many more areas need to be looked at.”
The president said the cabinet had tried very well under a very difficult political situation, adding that there were a lot of criticisms, as “people talk different things at different times. Even those who make the statements know that they are purely political.”
Jonathan challenged those who criticize the administration to compare it with previous administrations.
“And I have always challenged those who criticize us should (to) compare what we have done in the various sectors with what others have done. May be, we don’t need to enumerate it but If you look at the rail system of this country, what we have done within this period. In fact, even in the oil industry that received so much attack, one thing that we have done was the Nigerian content law that has revolutionalised the oil industry.
“There was a lot of fabrication going on in Lagos and other places that was never like this before. Nigerians are playing key role in the oil sector and people sometimes forget it and even with that probably we have offended some people.
“But the Nigerian content has really helped so many Nigerians to play big in the oil industry. In the Agriculture and power sectors, even in foreign relations, from 1960 to date, we have been members of the Security Council as non permanent member five times, out of these two times have been within these five years.
“We have been an independent nation for 55 years and been in the UN five times as member of the security council, out of that five times, two times were within this five times.
“That shows clearly that the rest of the world appreciates our little contributions to global issues. Even in education, the road systems, we have added Kashimbilla to our dams, sports we have done wonderfully well within this period.
“We have achieved growth in MSME’s, and of course the financial inclusion within this period is more than ever before. You can go on and mention almost all the sectors.”
He said that his administration witnessed the longest politically motivated strike in the education sector as well as Boko Harram insurgency even as he said that the current fuel scarcity was politically motivated as the nation had 31 days reserve. He added that those who wanted to bring the administration down refused to lift petroleum.
Jonathan said he was grateful that the nation had navigated out of the challenges.
He thanked the ministers, Nigerians and the media for their support, adding that the ministers were still serving and that the cabinet had not yet been dissolved until it completed the transition programmes.
At the meeting, the ministers took their turn to shower encomiums on the President for his stewardship and stressed the need for collaboration among them even when out of office. [myad]
President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari has made it clear that the era where executive would interfere in the affairs of the National Assembly is over. “Nigeria has indeed entered a new dispensation. My administration does not intend to repeat the same mistakes made by previous governments.” The President-elect, in a statement from the head of his media team, Malam Garba Shehu, reiterated his willingness to work with any leader of the National Assembly that the process throws up, irrespective of what part of the country he or she originates from. Buhari said that the clarification has become necessary in view of the continued name-dropping in some circles linking his name to some candidates. “I am prepared to work with any leaders that the House or Senate selects,” General Buhari said in the earlier statement two weeks ago. “It doesn’t matter who the person is or where he or she is from.” “There is due process for the selection of leaders of the National Assembly and I will not interfere in that process.” General Buhari urged the media and the public to begin to get used to no more “business as usual.” [myad]
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Nigeria’s outgoing agriculture minister Akinwumi Adesina has risen from humble origins to become the head of the African Development Bank at a time of economic transformation on the continent.
General Agenda For The Buhari Administration, By Otive Igbuzor PhD
The All Progressives Congress (APC) will form the new government in Nigeria as from 29th May, 2015. The party won the election with a campaign on a change agenda. Before the election of the APC, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has been in power for sixteen years. There are many lessons to learn from the failure of the PDP regime which led to the victory of APC. These lessons should be taken into cognisance by the APC from the beginning. The first is that the development of a country is a complex issue and is much more than a rendition of activities and projects of Ministry, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). There is also the need to focus on the big issues of political, social and cultural change. Secondly, the voice of the people is important. For instance, the majority of the people cannot be arguing that corruption is a major problem and the political leadership is insisting that corruption is not a problem. Thirdly, government must learn to put the people at the centre of development. The Nigerian economy has grown. The economic growth rate is high but poverty is increasing at the same time. There is the need for policy intervention to deal with this. In addition, any party that operates and portrays itself for the sole purpose of patronage is digging its own grave. According to the former chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, Alh. Bamamga Tukur “PDP is all about patronage. We are going to dole out patronage to all our members who remain in the party….Let me inform you. We are going to give patronage to all our members who have contested elections and lost. There is enough in the party to go around everyone. There is no need to leave the party.” Political organising need to be a continuous process involving political education of party leaders and members. The think tank of the party is very important here. Furthermore, lack of engagement with critical stakeholders of the society is political suicide. There is the need to engage with critical sectors such as civil society, labour and the private sector. Moreover, poor co-ordination of government activities and poor monitoring and evaluation can lead to failure of a government.