By Richard F. Olusegun

Let me commence by appreciating the almighty God who made the 2023 Presidential Election possible and successful. Congratulations sir on your emergence as the President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after very keen contest. You emerged because you were destined to lead Nigeria and her citizenry at this very crucial moment. In other words, mercies and grace found you and singled you out. I know you have rolled up your sleeves and getting set to hit the ground running when inaugurated as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come 29th of May, 2023; God willing. Bearing in mind expectations and yearnings of the electorates across the length and breadth of the country are high and require prompt and decisive attention.
You were one of the patriots who sweated for survival of the democracy we have today. So, beyond doubt, you will do well based on your antecedent and proven track records assembled from your selfless struggle for the advancement of humanity. Your experiences as career accountant with Mobil Nig. Ltd. in the 1990s, Senator of Lagos West Senatorial District in the botched Third Republic, two terms Governor of Lagos State, sterling performance as National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), and the capacities of men and women you built over the years who are making applaudable impact across the nation and abroad, among others, have no doubt prepared you well ahead and positioned you for the humongous leadership responsibility now placed on you.
At this juncture, I will highlight seriatim some of the basic tasks that should be pursued vigorously and efficaciously. Your call for government of national unity is admirable. It will pacify dissenting voices in the just concluded presidential election and circumscribe fake news to the barest minimum. In this regard sir, some members of political parties can be quartered in the political space to contribute their quota to the progress of the nation. It will be a national therapeutic strategy that will no doubt douse tension and give everyone sense of belonging, considering the same faith ticket upon which both of you were popularly elected by majority of the electorates across religions, which apparently makes you Pan Nigerian leader.
The primary responsibility of government is protection of lives and property of its people. However, Nigeria has long been grappling with the problem of insecurity and it is very disturbing. It is rife in some parts of the country, in the North, banditry, terrorism and kidnaping hold sway. In the South there are militancy, kidnapping and some acts of terrorism. Some Nigerians cannot sleep with their two eyes closed. The attendant effect is sharp rise in prices of consumable items and reduction in investment. These dire security challenges need to be addressed swiftly and frontally. Thank God, insecurity is gradually receding due to the commendable efforts of the various security apparatchiks and the cashless policy being implemented by the incumbent Government.

Flowing from the above, there is no gainsaying that President Muhammadu Buhari and his security cabinet recorded appreciable success in stemming insecurity, but there is still much to be done. It is expected you will pick up from where he will stop. You may wish to set up team of security experts with mandate to diagnose the immediate and remote causes of the lingering problem of insecurity in some parts of Nigeria and proffer lasting solutions. Also, only officers and persons who have integrity, proficiency and duly certified for that purpose should be appointed to head different security formations on merit and they should be made to relate with the masses based on rules of engagement and global best practices.
In the economic sector, seasoned economic pundits and technocrats are needed to rejig and boost the economy. In so doing, priority should be accorded to expansion of export commodities over import. For instance, policies that will upsurge production of Nigerian export commodities such as crude petroleum, petroleum gas, refined petroleum, cocoa, desiccated coconut, gold, cashews, oily seeds, among others, should be initiated and implemented to the core to increase local production and employment. Conversely, importation of commodities such as refined petroleum, wheat, frozen fish, rubber tires, sugar, cars, medicaments, telephones, and vehicle parts among others should be reduced gradually. Sustainable efforts should be directed towards production of some of the mentioned import commodities in Nigeria. In this manner, there will be more companies and assembly plants in Nigeria, and more jobs will be available for the unemployed in the labour market, especially thousands of graduates who are churned out by universities, polytechnics and colleges of educations in the country on yearly basis.
There is compelling need to identify areas of economic waste and prune them down considerably. For instance, the Financial Statements released by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd in 2022 showed total loss of N69.03 billion by Nigerian three refineries due to reduction in general administrative costs. By necessary implication, most of the staff retained by the refineries are paid for doing little or nothing. The administrative cost is very huge, yet they are not refining any petroleum product. It is a big waste. I advocate rehabilitation of the existing refineries and put them to effective use, so that crude petroleum and allied products can be fully refined in Nigeria as against refining them abroad and importing them back to the country at very huge avoidable cost. If they are operational and well utilized, the harsh effect of possible removal of petroleum subsidy will be very minimal on Nigerians. Also, more jobs will be created for the unemployed, if the refineries are well rehabilitated and put to optimal use.
Still on economic profligacy sir, the Ajaokuta Steel Company Ltd. in Kogi State is another goldmine that has long been abandoned despite the huge sum of money – about N4.155 trillion injected into it so far. The cost of maintaining it is also very high with no relative output. Recall the Government of President Muhammed Buhari approved the sum of $2m dollars for technical audit to ascertain the condition of the Company before take-off but was allegedly frustrated by COVID-19. And nothing reasonable has been done since then. When fully completed and operational, the Company can absorb about 500,000 employees from the labour market. I crave your indulgence to intervene and fix the Company.
The erstwhile groundnut pyramid in the North (Kano), the cocoa plantation in the South-west (Ondo) and the oil palm plantation in the South-east (Imo) and part of South-south have become a fairy tale. The then Regions were self-sufficient to some extent and did not rely entirely on central Government as we have today. However, production of the commodities has almost gone into extinction, except for few cocoas and palm oil that are still been produced in Ondo and Imo States and skeletal production of groundnut in Kano. Meanwhile Nigeria thrived on the commodities and earned foreign exchange from them before now. Nigeria agricultural export is declining in relation to contribution to total export per year. Presently, Nigeria is the 50th largest Export Economy in the globe. According to the data updated by Commodity.com on 25th of April, 2022 Nigeria has annual trade balance of about -$10 billion after deducting imports of $52 billion from her export total of $42.4 billion. Value of her exports has fallen to $45.6 billion over the last seven years, falling from $97.6 billion to $52 billion.
Sir, it is advocated that Nigeria return to production of the agricultural commodities on a mechanized scale. People should be encouraged to go into production with incentives from relevant banks. Good road infrastructure will help facilitate access to farms and movement of the goods to point of storage and sale. And to complement it, there is no time to bring back and modify the defunct Agricultural Marketing Board than now.
Conterminous to the foregoing is high preference for white collar jobs by job seekers, especially graduates from tertiary institutions. According to Universityworldnews.com (Africa Edition), on 10th May, 2020 the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) mobilized 66,000 graduates for mandatory one year service. The number is higher in successive mobilization depending on the batch. Exasperating enough, after completion, most of them don’t get jobs. Some continue to burden to their parents who suffered to see them through school; some may even take to crime. It is an abnormality gradually becoming normal. To arrest the ugly trend, there is an immediate need to introduce vocational courses in to curricula of all tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria. It is expected that the vocational courses which will dwell mainly on practical, will be mandatory for all students to pass before graduation. Upon graduation and completion of National Youth Service programme, any graduate who applies should be given starter kits and financial incentive to set up his or her vocation. This will further reduce widespread joblessness.
Another very disgraceful but aided and celebrated trepidation, bothers on rampant cases of examination malpractices in educational institutions. The scourge is the harbinger of corruption. Anyone who perpetrates examination malpractice and gets good grade is seen as very bright student today, as against average student who studied well but could not get desired result. For instance, there are special centers in our secondary schools where examination malpractices are perpetrated on an alarming scale. Chunk of final students in secondary schools leave their schools in drove to special examination centers managed by those who connive with national examination bodies. It is more worrisome when some parents aid and assist their children to engage in it, yet yelling the government is corrupt. Some undergraduates in tertiary institutions are also involved in the grotesque menace. There is very high possibility that most perpetrators of examination malpractice will be more corrupt when they graduated and get employment. It is definitely the major spring of corruption that must be tackled to its root.

Furthermore, Foreign Direct Investment (hereinafter referred to as FDI) is pivotal and strategic to economic prosperity of a nation. Rise in FDI increases employment and tax base of a country. As beautiful and covetous the benefits of FDI appear, there can be no inflow of FDI in country marred by insecurity, impunity and reckless disregard for rule of law. No one in right senses will invest money or resources in a volatile atmosphere. To attract more FDI in to Nigeria, temperate atmosphere where lives and property are secured, rule of law prevails and where impunity is stampeded must be crafted to enhance the confidence of investors.
Information Communication Technology (hereinafter referred to as ICT) has become money spinner and made transactions easier across the globe. To treat ICT with kid glove is to go slow and risk living in isolation from the rest of the world. Such nation cannot match the wave of information processing and dissemination replete with the digital age, where pieces of information are processed and sent within seconds and where transactions are done online. It is imperative therefore to invest more in ICT and also train more Nigerians especially the youths to acquire the skill. Your input cannot be more needed than now.
I have discussed insecurity in paragraphs 4 and 5 above. I will turn briefly to rule of law. For rule of law to thrive, full judicial autonomy which will be implemented to the last letter is required. Also, it is vital to review welfare of judges upward to insulate them from mouth watery temptation of corruption. Appointment of more judges at all judicial strata based on merit to reduce neck breaking workload on the existing few cannot be overemphasized. Decisions of courts must be respected and obeyed by all persons and authorities, no matter who is affected or whose ox is gored.
It is also apparent that the Federal Ministry of Justice and its State counterpart are affected by shortage of prosecutors. The dire consequence is that some cases in courts are not prosecuted because the available prosecutors have many cases competing for their attention. Their case diaries are filled to the brim and they are not ready to take additional cases they have no spare time to handle. Affected cases are either abandoned at the registry of the courts or struck out. Persons who are not aware of the challenge believe the courts are delaying and denying justice. It is therefore necessary to employ more prosecutors to bridge the gap and enhance timely and diligent prosecution of criminal cases in courts.
Brain-drain in the health sector as a result of the alarming exodus by some doctors and health workers for better earnings and improved condition of living is a serious problem the nation is currently grappling with. Some of them are exiting the country in drove due to poor remunerations and obsolete working facilities. There is also the vexatious issue of incessant strikes by members of Resident Doctors Association. Sadly enough, patients are made to bear the brunt in the course of which some of them pass away, because few available doctors cannot serve all of them. Remunerations of doctors and health workers need to be revisited and reviewed upward to enhance better performance. Health facilities across the nation should be upgraded, and provision of free medical services for the poor will go a long way in ameliorating their plight.
Corruption is a killer scourge that has soiled and messed up the once spotless linen of the nation. Its infectious roots have overgrown and spread out in larger proportion and become seemingly difficult to defeat, simply because of its potent capability to fight back with fury. One may not be far from the truth to say most employees of government agencies and organizations are corrupt to some extent in one way or the other, depending on the agency and personality concerned. For instance, chunk of civil and public servants may not discharge their jobs well unless they are gratified. The gratification is seeing as complementary or subsidiary source of income to salaries allowances.
Some workers set bribe target they must meet on daily basis. Anything less than the target is ‘bad business’ for the day. The private sector is not exempted. Some of them push their way through to win contracts and execute the contract shabbily or even abandon some of them. Often, no one dare question them for poor performance or reckless abandonment due to compromise. More pathetic is the fact that appointments to governmental positions and offices are not insulated from gratification. It is gradually becoming normative for desperate applicants to purchase jobs with money, with the hope of recouping the money from corrupt practices when eventually employed or appointed by their collaborators through hook or crook means. Reason they perform abysmally poor when they get the jobs.
It has also become difficult for children of the poor to get admissions in to some public tertiary educational institutions. The private tertiary institutions are not option for the poor due to exorbitant cost of school fees and attendant charges. Indices for offering admission to applicants are jettisoned in favour of some children of the rich who have influence or who can buy their way through. According to the 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International, Nigeria is the 150 least corrupt Country out of 180 countries surveyed. Having pontificated the hydra headed challenges; all hope is not lost. The current administration is trying its best in fighting corruption and has recorded some remarkable achievements in that regard based on the number of corruptions that were prevented and the commendable number of convictions secured by anti-graft agencies in courts. For instance, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alone got 3,328 convictions from January to November 2022. However, there is still much to be done. It is a task you must confront and decimate to the barest minimum, such that a pedestrian on the street can vouch you have zero posture for corruption.
In conclusion sir, I applaud your call for government of national unity, it is the pathway to follow at this point in time. Issues of insecurity, economic bottlenecks, rising unemployment and corruption are to be confronted with vigor, modern techniques and technology. The judicial and health sectors need a facelift for optimal performance. To this end, employment of more judges and doctors to complement existing ones and upward review of their salaries and allowances are not negotiable. Brain-drain in the health sector due to emigration by some medical doctors and health workers is on the increase and allowing it to fester is like opening the pandora box. It is very essential for entrepreneurs to be motivated to go into local production of some import commodities. Also, harnessing comparative advantage in production of export goods is very expedient. More investment in technology and cutting down avoidable waste in critical sectors of the economy are to be pursued consistently and painstakingly. The above encapsulated basic agenda are magic wands that will no doubt create massive employment, improve the nation economy in geometric proportion and reposition Nigeria in the comity of nations. It may not be an easy ride, but it is time to fly the kite higher and cross the rubicon!

Richard F. Olusegun wrote from FCT-Abuja. He is a staunch believer in the personality of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (President-elect).,[email protected]