Comrade Timi Frank raises pertinent questions in this article. Questions that I also expect Mr. President to give answers to while he declares in the coming weeks for another term in office. He may not have touched as I would have loved on the decay in our educational system. That to every Nigerian student - home and abroad - is already a lingering question that need not be asked. Below; Before Jonathan Declares By Comrade Timi Frank That Mr President is going to declare on November 11 is not the thrust of this write-up. After all, all presidential hopefuls in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that would have added lustre to the 2015 presidential contest have been silenced. President Goodluck Jonathan has been crowned the political ‘summum bonum’ by the party hierarchy. But before the gyration starts, I want to remind the president about critical sectors where he needs to show Nigerians what he has achieved so far to warrant his being re-elected. The first thing Jonathan should not forget in his declaration speech is the power situation in the country. How many megawatts of electricity was Nigeria generating before he assumed power in 2010 and how many are we generating now? If the power situation has improved, as Jonathan is likely to insist in his declaration speech, why have mega industries like Dunlop and Michelin abandoned Nigeria for Ghana and elsewhere? It is an open secret that Nigeria requires 12,800 megawatts of electricity to power the country optimally, but it unfortunately only has installed capacity to generate about 6,000 megawatts. Out of that, only about 3,600 megawatts are actually being generated (for a population of 158,259,000), according to the Presidential Task Force on Power on its website. Only last week, power generation in the country dipped by 1000 megawatts. This information was contained in the figures released by the Federal Ministry of Power. Today, all ministries and parastatals, including the State House, National Assembly and the judiciary run generators to be able to carry out their daily activities. So what has Mr President achieved in the power sector so far? What is happening in the industrial sector? What level of industrialisation did Jonathan meet and what has he added to sustain and increase it? What has happened to the textile industries for which Kaduna was once renowned? Where are the textile industries bailout funds that Jonathan promised? I believe Mr President should be able to contradict the national president of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr Mohammed Abubakar, who recently told the nation that the federal government’s N100billion Textile Intervention Programme has failed. It would be recalled that the federal government, knowing that the country’s hitherto vibrant textile industry had collapsed, decided in 2009 to make N70billion available as an intervention fund. This money was later increased to N100billion. Let Mr President not forget to tell Nigerians how well the factories are running today, after the ‘injection’ of the N100billion. Since 2009, the performance of capital budgets has remained as low as 25 per cent. I sincerely hope Mr President will not forget to name the accounts where the unspent funds are lodged. It is common knowledge that during the time of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) were compelled to return unspent funds into the treasury at the end of each year. Therefore, I think it would speak well of our president to tell Nigerians where the remaining 75 per cent of our capital budgets has been kept since 2009. In 2013, Nigeria was ranked 144th out of 177 countries by the Transparency International on its corruption perception index (CPI). In one of my previous write-ups on this page, I insisted that corruption in Nigeria has grown because it is highly encouraged. I think it would be wise for Mr President to tell Nigerians, during his declaration, how the nation has fared so far in the fight against corruption, with the pardon granted the former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamiesiegha, the appointment of Mrs Roli Bode George as the director-general of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the withdrawal of money laundering charges against the son of former head of state, Mohammed Abacha, withdrawal of charges against ex-minister of works, Mohammed Lawal and the dropping of similar charges against Ajudua by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Corruption in the oil sector is an open secret, yet Jonathan has failed to make the necessary changes to reposition the sector. For instance, despite the corruption allegations against the current minister of petroleum resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, the president has not deemed it necessary to sack and prosecute her. Some of the ‘sins’ of the minister include the missing $20billion, the squandering of N10billion on private jets, her refusal to appear before the House of Representatives to defend herself and the secret account with JP Morgan, opened by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Another area Jonathan must touch is the nation’s increasing debt profile. Despite the debt forgiveness the country enjoyed during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s era, the debt profile of the federal and state governments has been on the rise. According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), as of March 31 2014, the nation’s debt stood at $65.25billion (N10.16trillion). The domestic debt component of the federal government debt alone stood at N7.18trillion (or $46.12billion) as of March 31 2014. President Jonathan should be able to show Nigerians what is responsible for this, despite the parlous state of our economy and dearth of infrastructure across the country. Nigerians need an explanation, because the oil price on the international market has been relatively stable above $100 in the last four years. So what is responsible for the penchant for external borrowing, when there are no concrete projects on ground to show for it? The president should be able to advance cogent reasons why he refused to visit Chibok after the kidnap of over 276 girls from a government secondary school in the town on April 14. He should tell Nigerians why he hurriedly cancelled his planned trip to the town on May 15. He should be able to tell Nigerians the condition of the girls and when they should be expected home, following the ceasefire announced by government penultimate week. Are we winning of losing the war against insurgency? Again, what is the status of the $15billion allegedly meant for arms purchase that was seized in South Africa? Even though there are reports that the money has been returned, Nigerians want to know when and for what purpose it would be expended. Despite claims by the minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy that government has created jobs through its YOUWIN programme, Nigerians know that the contrary is the truth. Therefore, this is an opportunity for Mr President to convince Nigerians that he has actually created jobs Above all, Mr President should be able to tell Nigerians how much fuel cost when he assumed office about six years ago and how much it is today. He should tell Nigerians how many actors, directors and producers have benefitted from the N200billion Nollywood fund or how long it will take the intended beneficiaries to access it? Mr President should tell Nigerians why our economy remains mono, despite our abundant natural resources. Moreover, what is the state of our roads across the six geopolitical zones? What is the state of the East-West road, Abuja-Lokoja road, Lagos Ibadan expressway, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road, Enugu-Owerri-Port Harcourt road, Benin-Ore-Lagos road, Benin-Warri road, Benin-Asaba-Onitsha road, Bauchi-Yola-Maiduguri road and the Abuja-Lafia-Makurdi road? What is the condition of our hospitals and educational institutions? I have always argued that Nigerians don’t need adverts to know a leader who has truly served them. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe were not recognised and revered based on their ability to dramatise imaginary achievements on television, radio and in newspapers. Finally, as Jonathan declares, it will do him a lot of good to show Nigerians verifiable achievements of the last six years upon which he wishes to seek re-election, rather than the cosmetics he is parading in the media. What has been his record of justice, development, and social engineering? Has he ruled progressively or retrogressively? With the level of unemployment in the land, pesky power supply, insecurity, dwindling revenue to states, poor healthcare, poor educational facilities, social collapse and biting poverty, Nigerians will surely decide for change when the time comes. God bless Nigeria.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:48:26 +0000
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