Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo, spoke with Festus Keyamu, and legal activist and Hon. James Faleke, a member of House of Representatives
Keyamo:
Festus Keyamu listed power, corruption, insecurity, NNPC and Niger Delta as the top five priorities.
Power
“The first and foremost challenge that President Muhammadu Buhari must confront headlong is power. This is because, without power, you cannot create jobs, which is also one of the cardinal programmes that were promised by the incoming administration during the electioneering campaign.
If this problem is solved, the existing Small and Medium Enterprises would employ people in addition to jobs that would be created by new SMEs.
Corruption
The second priority area should focus on tackling corruption in all facets of our national life. Without successfully fighting corruption, you cannot fix power or tackle insecurity in the country. It is all embracing. In fact, in my opinion, tackling corruption is as important as fixing the power sector.
Insecurity
The primary duty of a government is the protection of lives and property, so the incoming administration must give this problem all the seriousness it deserves.
With effective security, no government can attract foreign investment into the country. Insecurity in one part of the country directly or indirectly affects the entire country and most importantly the perception of the international community of the country.
Nigeria National and Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
The incoming administration must urgently address the challenges confronting the Niger Delta region. This is very important. The degradation in the region must be given the priority it deserves. The restiveness in the region has led to the blowing of pipelines and kidnapping for ransom, so, I believe very strongly that a Marshal Plan must be formulated to properly address this challenge.