Atiku’s Covenant With Nigerians

January 18, 2019 Nigeria , Opinion , OPINION/NEWS , POLITICS

Reuters photo

By

Abba Dukawa

Many Nigerians are anxious to get a glimpse of how the elections will look like, unlike in 2015 when change battled continuity. 2019 is most likely going to be a case of maintaining a change versus changing the change. Nigerians are overwhelmingly awaiting the February 2019 presidential polls to vote for a far-reaching departure from politics of subservience to snobbish overloads paying lip service and crass insensitivity towards the people’s material and spiritual well-being.

I have read Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar‘s policy documents titled ‘Let’s Get Nigeria Working Again’. The document dwells on many issues which are critical to the development of the country, emphasising the need for reviving a moribund economy, economic empowerment for millions of Nigerians, bridging the nation’s infrastructure deficit, “improving access to qualitative as well as industry-relevant education”, transparency, building a savings culture, promoting multilateral trade and restructuring.

The policy document states that his administration will enhance private sector access to credit and regulatory institutions will be strengthened, their independence shielded from political interference.

Atiku’s policy document has promised to grow Nigeria’s GDP with his administration building a broad-based, dynamic and competitive economy with a GDP of US$900 billion by 2025, the private sector gaining access to credits. Atiku promised to deliver 20,000MW of electricity compared to the current Nigeria only being able to generate 7,000MW of electricity while transmitting a little over 5,000MW, at the best of times. Atiku promises by 2025 that Nigeria will make giant strides in diversifying its sources of power and delivering up to 20,000MW, the policy document read.

In the area of job creation, Atiku promises to create 12 million jobs, the policy document focusing on creating jobs, ensuring security, growing business, developing power and water infrastructure, agriculture and education, in addition to how we will empower women.

His administration plans to build a dynamic and competitive economy. Nigeria’s economic growth shall be inclusive, equitable and humane: ‘our dream economy shall create jobs for our youth’, while economic development will be people-centred and Nigeria’s new prosperity shall be for all. We shall enhance access to economic opportunities and consciously make the basic needs of life, including health, education, electricity, water and housing, readily available and affordable for everyone: our dream economy shall lift our people from poverty and narrow the income gaps.

Atiku Abubakar promised Nigerians his administration will recognise the central place of the rule of law and ensure the supremacy of law over all persons and authorities. The Nigerian constitution will be the anchor on which the independence of the judiciary, personal liberty and democratic and other fundamental rights rest, the administration emphasizing the prevention, detection and certain, swift and severe punishment of corruption. Consequently, we shall build institutions and encourage a national culture of accountability, efficiency and transparency.

Atiku promised to guarantee to the Nigerian people a progressive and focused government with a vision and positive notion of development, aided by professionalized and result-oriented public service by repositioning the public sector to become more accountable, disciplined and performance-oriented. Service delivery shall be more efficient and effective by ensuring a increase in the public-private sector interface for the financing of joint development projects.

His administration will promote politics of inclusiveness that will reduce citizens’ frustration and alienation and that way, eliminate the motivation to take up arms against society or fellow countrymen. In addition, they will restore citizen’s confidence in Nigeria as one indivisible, indissoluble, ethnically diverse but strong country that will protect and secure socio-economic benefits for all by rigorously enforcing judicious use of public resources, with zero tolerance for nepotism, corruption and poor management.

On reducing the prevalence of corruption in Nigeria, Atiku said he would establish a reward system whereby a comprehensive review and increase of salaries of all public officers within the federal services, law enforcement and armed forces would be executed and the concept of “Fair Pay For Fair Work” would be emphasized from the highest levels of government, while also promising that all public workers would be adequately rewarded and compensated, thus providing the government with the moral authority to sanction errant public workers.

He also promised Nigerians that his administration would create special tribunals to try corruption cases sent to it by the relevant anti-corruption agencies as well as speed up judgments on outstanding cases of corruption and ensure plea bargains are not abused, this achievable by ensuring that judgments on corruption cases are fully followed through and enforced by the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

To make perpetrators of corruption serve as deterrents to others, Atiku promised that he would ensure adequate punishment is meted out to whoever is caught. Atiku Abubakar also promised to review and expedite action on the passage of all existing and pending new laws or amendments to all anti-corruption laws currently in the National Assembly and encourage all anti-corruption agencies to enjoy a seamless and rancor-free relationship with the office of the Attorney General of the Federation in order to improve the efficiency of the anti-corruption drive of the Federal Government.

The PDP presidential hopeful promised to expunge any avenues for wastages through a transparent and accountable administration as well as implement his agenda for a robust self-reliance policy that will enable his administration to create multi-faceted job opportunities for the masses, especially the teeming youth population in the state via massive local and foreign direct investments.

In all fairness, the flag bearer, the PDP presidential candidate in the upcoming 2019 election is an experienced leader going by his exploits being a former vice president and indeed a man of high-grade intelligence fully prepared for the task ahead. Despite the smearing of Atiku’s image, Waziri remains the most fearful politician in the country.