Next year’s general elections is expected to be a tough one for President Muhammadu Buhari. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN asked some Nigerians on their expectations from the President in the last lap of his tenure.
WITH just one year to the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first tenure, there were mixed reactions on his performance. Some believe the government has achieved a lot in the last three years, given the battered economy it inherited from the previous administration. They commended the Buhari administration for working assiduously to rescue the nation from economic recession that had inflicted economic hardship on Nigerians within a record time; decimation of Boko Haram terrorists that had taken over certain parts of the country before it came to power; and its commitment to the fight against corruption. However, critics have berated the All progressives Congress (APC) government for what they described as reneging on its campaign promises. They cited insecurity all over the country and nepotism in political appointments.
Expectations of Nigerians for the remaining one year are varied. Secretary General, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr Anthony Sani, implored President Buhari to live up to his national broadcast promise that the 2018 budget would be used to improve the quality of life of the Nigerian people through provision of infrastructure.
His words: “My expectations in the last lap of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure is for him to live up to the promise of his national broadcast where he promised this year’s budget would be used to improve the volume and quality of infrastructural development and stem insecurity across the nation.
“Now that the budget has been passed, Nigerians expect works on infrastructure to start in earnest and move at a fast rate. This would enable Nigerians have confidence in his ability to live up to his promises and return him to continue as president for second tenure.”
He recalled that Buhari promised to fight insecurity, corruption and revamp the economy. The ACF scribe noted that of the three campaign promises, “priority is necessarily on taming insecurity and corruption. This is because no economy can thrive amid insecurity and unbridled corruption. In my opinion, the Buhari regime has done creditably well in weakening the capacity and capability of the insurgence to launch attacks across the North reminiscent of the past to now a level that normal life has since returned to most parts of the North, except perhaps in the fringes of Northeast where the insurgents still aim at soft targets.
“One therefore, expects government not to rest on its oars in its determination to extirpate the insurgence; though we all know that hard power of military might alone cannot cannot wipe away insurgence completely.”
Lawyer and human right activist, Mr Monday Ubani, upbraided the government over what he described as senseless killings of innocent Nigerians by the herdsmen. He acknowledged the government efforts in decimating the Boko Haram insurgents. He said: “The gains made in tackling Boko Haram had been wiped out by the herdsmen killings, especially in the Northcentral. The Buhari administration should sit down and tackle the issue of insecurity.”
Another lawyer, Mr Wale Afolabi, also called on President Buhari to focus more on security, particularly killings by Fulani herdsmen, adding that the primary responsibility of government is to secure lives and property.
Afolabi said the regime has spent most of the three years fighting insurgence and corruption and that the last year should be spent to provde infrastructure such as roads, rail and other important projects, in line with the change mantra of his administration.
He enjoined President Buhari to intensify the good work he is doing in the area of provision of infrastructure. He said: “If I have the opportunity of talking to him, I will tell him to brace up on security of lives and property, because there can be no development without peace.”
On clashes between herdsmen and farmers and kidnapping , Sani said he believes the Buhari regime has its own plan on how best it can give those inspiring the clashes and kidnapping the same treatment it gave to Boko Haram.
On the fight against corruption, he advised the government to step up efforts by ensuring quick investigation and prosecution of corrupt cases, in order to disabuse the minds of doubting Thomases.
Afolabi added: “The judiciary should be made to understand that no matter how good the laws may be, the usefulness to the society have more to do with the judgment of the people on the bench. Judges should deliver on substantive evidence rather than the prevailing technical justice that likens judiciary to a spider’s web which catches small flies and let go the big ones.”
On power supply, Ubani urged the government to lay a proper foundation for the power sector, with regards to generation and distribution. He said the distribution companies are frustrating government’s efforts in ensuring constant power supply. He said these companies were not ready to invest, but to make money at the expense of power consumers. He said government’s directives that all power consumers must be given pre-paid meters has been flouted by the discos because estimated billings favour them.
Ubani also advised the government to create enabling environment for foreign investments. He said the rate of unemployment in the country can be reduced if the foreigners are encouraged to come and set up business in Nigeria. “If there are job opportunities, the level of criminality and agitations would reduce,” he added.
But, an economist, Dr Abdullahi Aminu, said the Buhari administration should not be blamed for the country’s economic woes, saying it was an accumulation of mismanagement by previous governments. Rather, he said he enjoined Nigerians to applaud the government for taking the country out of recession. Again, he applauded the government for the diversification of the economy, through development of agriculture, saying Nigeria is producing rice in commercial quantity for the first time.
However, Aminu wants the government to create enabling environment for the local manufacturers to operate. He said the small scale and medium manufacturing companies are the largest employer of labour after government. The major problem of the manufacturers is power supply. They operate on diesel which is not profitable to them.
Sani also commended the government on the management of the economy. He said: “So far, so good in the management of the economy, considering the recession set in the third quota of 2015 and the government worked hard to exit it. Now that Nigeria has recession and both price and volume of production of crude oil have improved, one expects the government would use any increase in revenues to bring about improvement in the life of the majority of Nigerians.
Buhari was also commended for his unwavering attitude in the fight against corruption.
Aminu described fight against corruption as the hallmark of the Buhari administration. He said it was the first time the government is waging war against corrupt practices. He said government has recorded tremendous success in the anti-graft war.
He recalled that soon after Buhari assumed office, some officials of the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan started returning some of the loots they carted away. Some of them reportedly agreed to do so in the interest of Nigeria. Besides, he said, many discoveries have been made through the efforts of the anti-graft agencies.