Tag: currency of hope

By Ronke Bello

Between the last editions of my articles “Currency Of Hope” and now, a lot has occurred in the administrative space of our beloved nation-state Nigeria. There is absolutely no facet of governance that has not been affected by a new policy or ongoing reforms hopefully for better. After all the only hope in any reform lies in the expected better outcomes, speed in performance embedded in a constant and sustained engagement with the citizens.

These led me back to pick up the document “Renewed Hope: Action Plan For A Better Nigeria” (2023). That was our campaign manifesto for the Tinubu Presidency.  It is a 75 page document that covers major areas of governance from National Security, The Economy to Agriculture, Digital Economy, Women Empowerment, Education, Sports Development, Aviation, Arts ,  Culture and Tourism ,Judicial Reforms, Foreign Policies and much more.

In that well researched document lies the pact this administration made with the Nigerian people for the first four years and from whence many of these reforms are being introduced. I will encourage all managers of policies in this administration (whether they were part of the campaign or not) to have that document as a working tool on their tables as a guide for a clearer understanding of the pact, the journey and the hopeful destination. And these must be continually tracked, monitored and measured because it has automatically become the peoples’ scorecard of our performance in the next few years.

Thus it is with great excitement that the nation recently noticed a drop in the alarming rising prices of foodstuff. Many reasons have been alluded to this development. Daniel Bwala, one of the president’s spokesperson said “The reason the food prices are crashing is because we have dealt a heavy blow to insecurity, hence farmers enthusiastically go to farm and do what they do best. “

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While the well respected Waziri Adio,  the czar of Nigeria’s extractive industry in his recent article “The Savoury Fall in Food Prices” which should be read by all policy handlers in the agriculture industry writes “We need to fully understand the drivers of this positive trend, and ensure that we pay more serious, systematic and sustainable attention not just to food prices but also to the larger issue of food security.”

As he noted, this fall in food prices didn’t go unnoticed by both local and the international media. This is not only an ongoing achievement but one that resonates with our pact with Nigerians in the Renewed Hope document on pages 26 to 29: “Agriculture; plant the right seed, feed the entire nation”. “We vow to help the farmer and his/her community in new and significant ways that will usher in a true and complete rebirth of the Nigerian agriculture.”

Since food is only one  area of the essence of human life, Nigerians rightfully are hoping infact demanding for reduction of prices in other important areas especially  medicare because without mincing words,  medicines  is certainly out of the reach of most Nigerians! Though hope renewed, the ongoing promise made on Healthcare in pages 45-48 of our document that “Primary healthcare will remain the bedrock of our system. Deploying adequate infrastructure and Human Resources to address …all pressing issues of primary health care” is assured.

Most recently, President Bola Tinubu had approved the employment of 774 National Health Fellows, a pivotal initiative led by the Federal Ministry of Health to foster sustained improvements within Nigeria’s healthcare system.

On Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, we recognize that a great and prosperous nation is hinged on having strong and prosperous youths that make up a huge percentage of our population. Our pact with Nigerians on pages 57 to 59 of our document states that “Building the future, from day one our administration will partner with the youths “. This has been continually fulfilled by the number of youths in government which is unprecedented in our democratic history thus far. The president went further by inaugurating National Youth Confab Committee where he tasked them by these words:  “Look at me in the face, tell me whatever you think is wrong and the way you want things done. We’ll try to implement all of it as long as it is for the prosperity of this country.” Indeed a statesman “whose eyes are on the next generation”!

These are not to conclude that we are there yet; but we must be dealers of hope while working extra hard to bring our nation to that glorious height we all desire and can be proud of, that is why I agree with Rohini Nilekani who said “We cannot be mere consumers of good governance, we must be participants; we must be co-creators”.

As we approach the half time of our first tenure we must keep marching forward deliberately with huge steps embedded in high performances, formidable information dissemination, needed support of the sub-nationals and the huge contributions of ideas and opinions from the citizens which we must develop capacity to absorb and reflect on. For these are the very foundations of a strong and prosperous nation.

•Bello, Ph.D academic, policy analyst, publicist and author writes from Abuja.

By Ronke Bello

In the book “Learning How to Hope”, Sarah M. Stitzlein describes hope (especially in a democracy) as a relationship between the leaders and the led, between government and the people. I would add that naturally, such a relationship from the viewpoint of the led is measured by the impacts obtained from policies, actions and performances of government. While the government aims to continually woo the masses with its well thought out and achievable goals, be it in the shortest, medium or long term, backing it up with brilliant implementations activates hope in the masses.

Hope especially as a currency, whether as defined by Desmond Tutu as: “being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness” or in the words of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that “Without hope there is no life and without hope there is no salvation” or Paul Tremblay, “Hope is a desperate man’s currency”, one thing is certain, we all need hope!

The Renewed Hope Team to its credit in the past months have attempted in various ways to fly the hope flag. Hitting the ground running with policies on economy, agriculture, power, education, youth empowerment, entrepreneurship , healthcare, housing , national security and foreign policy and much more, have been initiated or reformed drawing largely from its Renewed Hope Campaign Blueprint which in itself was christened “Action Plan For A Better Nigeria”.

How have these policies faired?

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Undoubtedly, the administration is not taking public communication, information dissemination lightly. The belief that “communication is indeed the act of governance” is well understood. However disseminating information especially on public policies is one thing, whether the citizens understand the contents and its impact is another. On this, public communication strategies must be deliberate in breaking it down while also encompassing millions of citizens that neither read newspapers nor watch the news.

Furthermore, I agree with the academic and general rule that until citizens are indeed participants of public policies, there would always be an uproar or pushback against some if not all policies that the  people see as harsh and stifling. This can drive the government into policy reversals, policy suspensions or outright policy summersaults which in turn and by default “empowers” the masses even though these policies in themselves are excellent.

A major example recently is the suspension of the cybersecurity levy. Though better to have a leader who is present and empathetic than one frozen in indifference. Without doubt, the president and his team have good intentions and are in a hurry to deliver on mandates.

Picking few tips from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Policy Brief might be useful. “That citizens are engaged in Policy-formulation through Information, Consultation and Public Participation. That the benefits of these included strengthening relations with citizens which is a sound investment in better policy-making and a core element of good governance. That this allows governments to tap new sources of policy-relevant ideas, information and resources before or when making decisions and these contribute to building public trust in government and raising the quality of democracy”.

In a nutshell, citizens through their representatives and the leaders at sub national levels are more likely to understand and buy into these policies if they, the people are contributors to its formation. In a matter of days we shall be rolling out drums to celebrate our first year anniversary and naturally there shall be various opinions and viewpoints, applauses and knocks, cheers and jeers.

 We must be prepared and take all in good faith! It has been a fast year and suddenly it is here upon us… with three more years to go which mostly are progressively interwoven with political interferences and activities. Presently some will argue that a huge percentage of the masses are angry and disenfranchised. This is because their understanding of democracy and good governance is measured not by some intangible assets but by quality of daily life and living in general.

Yes, inflation especially on food items and medicine, power blackouts, unemployment rates, insecurity to mention a few are still issues of great concern. However, the Tinubu administration thus far has equally recorded some hope renewing and far reaching achievements that can be considered quick wins with far reaching impacts.

These include attracting short and long-term foreign investments to Nigeria, with the hope that such investments would stimulate and accelerate the job markets, increase productivity and fast track economic growth. These foreign investment drive according to the nation’s Minister of Information and National Orientation in a regular media briefing is in excess of $30 billion , across various sectors.

The Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF), a direct intervention in  the construction , repairs and upgrading of our nation’s roads, airports seaports, power plants etc. Targeted Economic Support Schemes: grants, education loans, food items, fertilizer distribution, cash transfers, health insurance and consumer credit.  Great examples are the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CrediCorp) and the Nano business scheme.

On foreign policy, Nigeria remains an active player at the sub regional level, on the African continent and on the global stage. With the foreign policy approach, dubbed the ‘Tinubu Doctrine: a ‘4-D Diplomacy Strategy’ which according to the government is a policy centred on promoting democracy, driving economic development, harnessing Nigeria’s demographic potential, and engaging with the Diaspora community.

These are by no way exhaustive as every MDA is indeed up and running even as the nation awaits a robust and encompassing profile of achievements as part of the anniversary.  Without doubt, the president by words and actions is determined to deliver on the Renewed Hope agenda. An agenda that  has moved past just being a mere slogan or policy theme to a call of faith ,knowing that the administration has a pact, in fact a covenant, with Nigerians and will not rest on its oars until our country is secured, prosperous, peaceful, envied and egalitarian.

•Bello, (Ph.D.), academic, publicist, policy analyst and author writes from Abuja.