Clement Ojobanikan
The truth of the matter is, successive governments have failed us in Nigeria. This government inclusive. There are some policies the governments at every level should make to make things better for Nigerians:
1. Cut the size of civil service employees and make those left to be more efficient
2. Stop funding either fully or partially, pilgrimage to Mecca and Israel
3. Work in collaboration with each other (federal state, local governments), communities and alumni associations to repair and provide infrastructure to primary and secondary schools throughout the country.
4. Collaborate with each other, federal, state, local governments and communities to repair and provide infrastructures to health centre’s and hospitals
5. Declare a state of emergency in the educational sector. Do the same in the health sector. Set up a panel of professionals to help reform and develop our education sector.
6. Fire many of the underperforming Ministers especially the Ministers of Education, Health, Power and Agriculture. The state Governors should fire their Commissioners for Education, Health, Rural Development and Agriculture too. They are all not performing
7. Make provision of electricity to all a priority
8. Cut costs of governance including duplications of agencies and positions.
9. Governments at every level should put a one year pulse on the purchase of new vehicles. Divert the savings to revive our education and health sectors
10. Put a stop to unnecessary travels by government officials especially the Governors for owambes, political meetings etc with their retinue of aides and security details at the expense of the state. Such saving can be put to good use. With the numbers of social events the Governors attend and visitors they receive daily, you wonder when they have the time to attend to serious state issues.
11. Promote made in Nigeria goods.
12. Rather than spend several millions of dollars seeking for foreign investors, invest such money in providing the enabling environment locally for small and medium sized businesses to start and thrive. Provide electricity, water, ease of doing business policies, confront corruption by government officials that frustrate local businesses.
13. Shun political decisions that damage the confidence of people in investing in a local government, state or country. Take the example of PMB Estate in Abeokuta, Ogun state that Amosun took several millions of Naira from individuals to buy into the estate. Amosun did not provide the promised infrastructure to enable purchasers to move into the estate. Some that started their construction had to abandon such given that there is no infrastructure including security. Almost 10 years thereafter, the current state government has not communicated with the buyers of such lands. Some of the buyers of the lands had bought to build their homes and thereafter build factories nearly. The lack of movement, communication and commitment to providing infrastructure have all made the purchasers to have a rethink about the seriousness of the Ogun state government in honoring contracts and promises through successive governments. I hear it is the same in most states. Governments simply don’t care about the loss of investments by the citizens. Yet, they travel around the world seeking for new investments.
14. If Nigeria’s healthcare and educational sectors are well developed, they can earn top dollars from the citizens and foreigners.
15. Government officials, politicians and businesses people should for once shun corruption. Let’s develop Nigeria together.
The needs of Nigerians are not much: food, education, security , enabling environment to thrive. Hopefully, our government at various levels will rise to the occasion and make a difference.
*Clement Ojobanikan, a public affairs analyst, writes from Lanlate, Oyo State