Tunde Babawale

By Tunde Babawale

In the aftermath of the recent 2019 elections and President Buhari’s subsequent victory, the need for a re-evaluation of the successes and failures of his policies in the last four years has become compelling. The re-evaluation would reveal those areas in which gaps exist between objectives and outcomes, promises and actual fulfillment, expectations and results.

The Buhari administration at its inception in 2015, promised to tackle corruption, enhance the level of security and improve the state of the economy.  It is therefore apposite to assess its performance based on the extent to which these promises have been fulfilled.  There is no doubt that so much has been done in these three sectors but, a lot still needs to be done to make those efforts worthwhile.

For instance, the economy went into recession, no sooner than the administration took over, even though it can be reasonably asserted that the foundation for recession had been laid by the previous administration especially because of its profligacy and failure to curb rampant corruption within its ranks.  Yet, it may still be said that recession was not unavoidable and would probably have been averted but for the present administration’s obvious missteps in the widespread denunciation of the country and its people as being almost irredeemably steeped in corruption.

Investors that could have brought in foreign direct investment avoided the country like a plague.  Those who had foreign exchange in their bank accounts repatriated it to other countries and the situation got worse with the devaluation of the nation’s currency.

There is no doubt that the security situation inherited by the administration was grave with several local governments in the north east occupied by Boko Haram insurgents.  Abuja, the nation’s capital was not spared from serial bomb explosions with the United Nation’s office in the city at one point being a victim of Boko Haram bombing.

However, with the ascendancy of the Buhari administration, Nigerians experienced some respite from the Boko Haram menace for about two years.  Tragically, recent events have shown that the menace is yet to be over as the Boko haram insurgents appeared to have regained confidence, attacking military formations, police stations and burning down entire villages, towns and cities with the attendant loss of lives and property.  The situation has been further compounded by a new security scourge epitomized in widespread farmers/herders conflicts in virtually all parts of the country, the increasing wave of kidnappings, ritual killings and of course the spate of violence that attended the 2019 elections.

All of these have shown that as the Buhari administration commences its second tenure, it requires a new template that would enable it confront these challenges headlong.  A new security architecture that involves communities in the process of securing the country is required.  The current leadership of the security agencies namely, the Army, Navy and the Airforce must give way to a new leadership with vision and vigour.

Although the economy is now out of recession, steps must be taken to ensure that the nation is cured of the perennial symptoms of economic underdevelopment – reflected in high rate of unemployment, drastically reduced purchasing power of workers’ earnings, increased economic inequality and inequity, double-digit inflation, etc.

It is heartwarming to note that President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved a new minimum wage.   This is good news for workers whose wages have stagnated for a very long time.

There is an urgent need to intervene in the unemployment crisis that is ravaging the nation.  Indeed, it would not be out of place for the administration to start-off by declaring a state of emergency in the employment sector.  Our investment in infrastructure and the establishment of industries must be given priority.  There is hardly any state in the country that has not been turned into a graveyard of industries that had thrived in the past.

Such collapsed industries can be resuscitated in phases to provide jobs for unemployed graduates and school leavers.  The idea of having multiple exchange rates created ample room for corruption.  This practice ought to pave way for a uniform exchange rate in order to curb corrupt practices in the forex market and enhance the value of the nation’s currency.

No nation can develop without a stable power supply system.  Smaller countries in Africa enjoyed more regular electricity supply than we do in Nigeria.  This is the surest way to develop both the formal and informal sectors of the economy.  The anti-corruption war must be put into higher gear and divested of all the drama and showmanship that has been its trademark till date.  More can be achieved in this realm through preventive measures such as ensuring that all financial transactions in MDAs are done electronically.  Secondly, new checks and balances must be introduced into the system to ensure that no single individual has the final say on financial or procurement matters.

The point should be made that any anti-corruption crusade that exempts the civil service will remain a dissolving mirage.  Indeed, the civil service in Nigeria is the epicenter of corruption in the public sector especially because of the important role the service plays in procurement matters.

A searchlight should be beamed on the civil service which at the moment is also neck-deep in corruption.  Yes, politicians and political office holders engage in corrupt practices but none of them can do so successfully without the assistance and support of the civil servant.  This suggests that the current war will continue to flounder and generate motion without movement unless we frontally tackle corruption in the civil service as well.

Furthermore, the Nigerian civil service is overdue for reform if we are to restore sanity and productivity into the system.  Our civil service as presently constituted cannot serve as the engine room of development for our nation.  It is too large, too cumbersome, phlegmatic, unproductive and corrupt to be effective.

President Buhari should know that the country is at the moment deeply divided and the fault-lines that amplify our differences have been magnified by inter-ethnic clashes, as well as religious and political intolerance.

Nigeria’s new cabinet must be an inclusive one that accommodates people not only on the basis of their political persuasion but rather on the basis of their competence, track record, pedigree and character.  Only then can we get the best that the country has to offer.  Nigeria’s deserves an A+ cabinet and nothing less.

Successive regimes have paid lip service to the diversification of the economy.  This administration in its second term must depart from this trend by showing concrete commitment to the idea of diversification such that Nigeria can reduce drastically its excessive reliance on crude oil as its main foreign exchange earner.  A nation blessed as we are, can afford to tap from its numerous God-given resources if it is determined to do so.  The culture and tourism sector is one that our governments have made so much noise about and done very little to exploit.  Culture as the expression of our identity and way of life ought to be elevated to such a level that it influences not only our revenue-earning capacity but also our international relations.  That sector at the moment lacks a compass which is the CULTURAL POLICY.

That policy is at the moment in a draft form and yet publishing the document has remained an uphill task.  Government should as a matter of urgency publish the cultural policy, revise the Tourism master plan and institute the endowment for the arts which has been gazetted but left inactive.

Many countries around the world have found the culture and tourism sector to be a veritable goldmine for revenue-generation.  Culture has indeed served as a useful instrument for diplomacy and the exercise of soft power.  We need to take full advantage of the sector by encouraging states and local governments to promote cultural competitions and periodic cultural fiestas.

The epileptic mode of funding government-owned cultural agencies must also change for a more sustained funding that is not just sufficient for mere housekeeping functions but also for organizing meaningful cultural programmes and activities.

This administration must avoid the temptation to continue with the blame game about how previous governments destroyed the country and its economy.  It should take itself by the bootstraps and embark on transformative policies that would serve as imperishable legacies in the annals of the nation’s history.  The people have invested their votes in the ruling party (APC) precisely because they wanted a change in the existing order to a new dawn where they could realise their hopes and aspirations and live a more meaningful life.  Their desire is to have results and not excuses.

-Tunde Babawale was Deputy Speaker, Students Representatives Council, University of Ife, former DG, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), former Dean, Students Affairs, Universiy of Lagos, where he is Professor of Political Science.