2013

2013: Obasanjo’s Letter, Jonathan’s Response And The Transformation Agenda

Haruna Manu Isah

“We praise a man who is angry on the right grounds, against the right persons, in the right manner, at the right moment and for the right length of time”….Aristotle

It is a trite to say that the letter written by former president Obasanjo to President Jonathan has again polarized the country along different inherent fault lines. Ours is a country where all issues, no matter how objective or germane, must be viewed from regional, religious, ethnic, trade union, or gender prisms. All depend on who is the victim. Sad. Some saw the letter as ranting of a neglected godfather by his prodigal godson. Some viewed it as one of such evil mechanization of the former president whenever his whims are subdued and his caprices chained. Within the same gamut, there are some who saw the now infamous letter as a subtle threat to national security amongst whom is President Goodluck Jonathan. However, some posited that the former president has no moral right to express his thoughts on national issues to the extent of exposing the rot in the present administration. Their reason was that the former president was a Lucifer while in office and now he cannot claim sanctimoniousness.

While on the other hand, there are those, amongst whom this writer, who opined that indeed the former president Obasanjo was never a saint and was equally culpable of what he accused President Jonathan of but if we entangled ourselves with event of the past, then we would end up throwing the baby with the bath water. Obasanjo had his faults while in office but his letter has its own merits. Looking at the letter irrespective of who wrote it, one can indeed agree with most issues raised therein. Methinks, that should be the focus of all objective minds. The merit of the letter should be the epicenter of our national discourse especially as it touched on cardinal issues of governance. For instance, it is in public domain as President Jonathan acknowledged in his response that corruption has eaten deep into our national firmament, now the question is: what has the present administration been doing to check this monster? How many high profile corruption cases have been prosecuted so far by this administration? Why has been there been cover up of corrupt individuals within Aso rock?. We can’t continue to trivialize corruption cases under the pretense of due process. In fact, we are all in this country when friends of the president involved in corruption issues are shielded from the long arms of the law. These hard facts will remain with us as long as the cord of memory lengthens. As I write this, the N2billion naira pension scam is still unresolved as Stella Odua continues to parade herself as Minister of Aviation despite the House of Reps’ resolution that she should be sacked due to her involvement in a large scale corruption right under the nose of the president. Somewhere we were told that N500billion naira developed wings from SURE-P coffers. Sad!

Now to the kernel of this write up. Having read the Obasanjo’s clarion call to the president, I was pushed to a reverie. This administration came on board with high hopes and expectation on itself and from Nigerians. It came to office by providence but now betrayed the fateful circumstance that brought it to office. The deliberate refusal to declare assets by the president in the first instance was a brutal betrayal of providence. These hopes and expectations were well encapsulated in the now jettisoned Transformation Agenda. I never knew for the life of me that this document exists but thanks to a visit to a colleague’s office recently.

On a close look, a content analysis of the transformation agenda will not only do well to the president’s sworn enemies like the APC sweeping brigade but to the administration itself. I want to think that indeed Jonathan just like other presidents before him meant well for the country but he is most probably overwhelmed by events and arm twisted by dangerous buccaneers within the corridors of power. Some at his bosom exploit his inherent weakness of control to the detriment of his administration and to the country at large. Unfortunately, the man at the helm of affairs at the moment cannot say NO!. The ability to say no is a mark of leadership for it is very difficult to say so than to say yes.

The transformation agenda with a captivating caption “My Covenant with Nigerians” is full of lofty ideals that any president desirous of any meaningful development for his country should have. But let me quickly add, it is one thing to have a sound development blueprint and diametrically different thing to have the political will to actualize it. Alas, ours is an administration that lacks both the political will and the needed brains to move the engine of growth forward. This is more so if the engine room of that blueprint is peopled by weaklings, inept worn-out technocrats and partially transformed thugs as its drivers.

To begin with, President Jonathan declared in his transformation agenda or those he hired with his monetary/moral consent have said that... “Under my leadership, Nigeria will dedicate significant resources to the rehabilitation, maintenance and expansion of its infrastructural assets….” Heavens know that this administration is doing the exact contrary. You can’t claim to expand national infrastructural base by selling same national assets to cronies and incompetent foreign companies to the detriment of the nation. A case in point is the recently sold PHCN. In the Transformation agenda, the president pledged … ‘in specific terms, I commit to the following: the minimum target set for power is 16,000MW by 2013…..’ This pledge irrespective of what the president’s foot soldiers would want him to believe is far from being realized. In fact it only realized 28% of the said target as at December 2013. This is not a good score even in the newly established Almajiri schools. At the moment Nigeria generates a total of about 4000MW for its 167 million populations. This cannot drive the needed growth nor realize the tenets of the transformation agenda. In other serious climes, for instance, South Africa generates about 40,000MW for its just 50million populations and Brazil has about 100,000MW with a population of about 192 million. Since this is a government well known for shifting blames and fudging responsibilities, one should not be surprised to hear.. ” that is how we made the generation capacity”.

Secondly, the transformation blueprint made further pledge thus: ‘rehabilitation of 3500km of the existing gauge rail and the completion of Ajaokuta-Warri standard gauge rail line and concession of the Lagos to Kano and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri rail lines”. Yes indeed, even though a protest writer, one must give some credits to this administration for resuscitating rail transport in this country. From my office as I scribble this piece, one can hear the blaring of the refurbished locomotive engine on its way to Kano from Lagos on almost bi-monthly bases. Equally, one must take a road diversion along Kaduna –Abuja express way due to ongoing construction of level crossing of Kaduna –Abuja gauge rail project. This is a feat worthy of commendation and we pray the tempo would be sustained. We were also told that the Port Harcourt – Maiduguri rail line has been awarded and will be ready for plying this year 2014. We pray it come to fruition even though it has elapsed it execution period of 2013.

Thirdly, the transformation agenda made the usual noise about revamping the manufacturing sector to boast employment generation thus…“The manufacturing sector is crucial for employment generation, wealth creation and raising the quality of life of Nigerians.” Therefore the President made this commitment……”in this regard, my vision for the manufacturing sector is to establish a technologically driven and globally competitive manufacturing sector, with a high level of local content and contributing more to GDP”. This could have been a meaningful drive toward economic empowerment of Nigerian youth. Alas, youth unemployment, according to Bureau of Statistics is about 52%, this is not surprising as the Manufacturing sector is comatose contributing barely 9% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Fourthly, the president as clearly stipulated in the transformation agenda that…” I intend to continue with the dredging and reclamation of rivers Niger and Benue, and rehabilitation and construction of key river ports, jetties and wharfs in Baro, Lokoja, Onisha, Oguta, Degema and Yenagoa by 2013”. He reneged on that. On this the administration has done the opposite by suspending the dredging of River Niger and diverted the money to other areas of preference to the administration in the Niger Delta. This is a sad reminder to the effort of late President Yar’adua’s commitment to that project.

Fifthly, on the oil and gas sector, the President in his transformation agenda states that “in our bid to achieve balanced national development therefore, my administration will focus on increasing our crude oil production and refining capacity”. This has equally not being realized for the simple fact that our production capacity per day has dropped from 2.5million barrels per day to 1.8 million barrel per day largely due to activities of pipeline vandals and oil bunkering despite the concession of the security of the coastline to a renown ex-militant. One may not forget in a hurry the recent revelation of industrial scale theft of oil in the Niger Delta. And on expanding the refining capacities of refineries, the administration has rather put them on sale. And the total refining capacities of our four refineries still remain at 445ooo barrels per day.

Sixthly, on Housing Development, the administration pledged…”in specific terms, Iam committed to the construction of 600,000 housing units by the Federal Ministry of Housing,240,000 units by the Federal Housing Authority and 500 prototype units by the Public Private Partnership(PPP) across the federation”. This also remains a pipe dream for now, for only in November that the government approved $300 million loan facility from International Development Association to boast housing supply in the country. At the moment, the country has a housing deficit of about 16million and this requires about N59trillion to tackle.

Seventhly, on education, President Jonathan had this to say as his commitment to the sector “my vision for education is to establish a modern and vibrant education system that ensures the maximum development of the potentials of individuals and promotes knowledge-driven society that propels the nation’s development”. It chokes me to comment on this because Nigerian students are in a better position to assess the administration. Indeed, it is to the credit of this administration that nine federal universities have been established, but my opinion may not be different from ASUU’s which said that it was a mere increase in quantity without corresponding increase in quality. Equally, the 2014 budget did not speak well of the intention of government towards education in this country. In a budget of about #4.64trillion, the education sector received a total of #493.45 billion which represents 10.6 percent which is a far cry from the UNESCO stipulated of 26% for the sector. The other day, a report indicated that there are about 500 Nigerian students studying in Turkey as at 2013, but no Turkish citizen studying in Nigeria. Your thinking as to why this is so is as good as my pondering of the situation.

Eighthly, on Health care provision, the president made a very bold statement…” reduction in the maternal mortality which ranges from 300 per 100,000 live births in the south west of Nigeria to 75 in 1000 live births by 2015 and 50 per 1000 by 2020”. This is remained to be seen as the current mortality rate is about 630/100,000 live births. The president also promised to increase life expectancy rate from the current state of 47 years to 70 years by 2020. Nigeria has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the world due to self-imposed poverty occasioned by unbridled corruption from the leadership class. As if to give credence to this assertion, Doctors working in our public hospitals are embarking on national strike to press home their demand for better working conditions. Sadly, whenever a Nigerian big man falls sick and taken abroad, he will be attended to by a Nigeria Doctor who left the shores of his country for greener pasture and better working condition. They are disgraced at home and honored abroad and ditto Nigerian Lecturers. That is Nigeria for you!

The ninth component of the President Transformation agenda is climate change, on which the administration states amongst other things…. “I will put in place mechanism to: support strategic framework to understand climate change and build response capacity among various stakeholders including farmers, private sectors, universities and other research institutions” . Climate change is cause by anthropogenic factors which brings about increase in atmospheric temperature. It is noteworthy that this human induced climate change is largely from industrialized countries who contribute about 80% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Effort towards mitigating the impacts of climate change, whose effect is more noticeable in developing countries like Nigeria, have been anchored by United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) through the Clean Development Mechanisms toolkits. Funds have been set aside by Annex-1 countries to support projects that mitigate climate change or projects that serve as carbon sink in Non-Annex-1 countries. Projects exist that countries like Nigeria could assess funds for, but Nigeria, despite the stated commitment of the administration, has no any single project worthy of financing by the UNFCCC. This is a source of concern simply because the rural poor communities are at the receiving end of the negative impacts of climate change for they have the least resilience capacities. Jobs are at risk of climate change just as human settlements and natural resources. The current effort of the administration in the development of Great Green Belt project within the eleven frontline states must be encouraged for it will check the prevailing 0.6km desert encroachment per annum.

The tenth commandment of the administration as promised in the Transformation agenda is the development of the Niger Delta and on this the President states….”in this regard, I commit to the deepening of our engagement in the Niger Delta. The amnesty programme will continue to enjoy priority attention in order to curtail youth restiveness and the sustenance of peace in the region”. Indeed, this is obviously the darling of the president for the ex-militants are not only “reformed” but have been given juicy contracts in the oil and gas sector. This is coupled with the fact that some have been sent abroad on different scholarship schemes and skills acquisition programme and this is even on the verge of excesses. As a byproduct, youth in other regions are grumbling and exhibiting such in various avenues like kidnapping, arm robbery in the East and West and insurgency in the North. In retrospect, Daily Trust in 2012 reported that about 80% of Federal Government projects were spatially skewed in favor of the Niger Delta region. Anyway what do you expect from the son of the soil!

Peace and security came eleventh in the President’s Transformation agenda and on this the administration pledged amongst other sundry commitments….”immediate measures will be taken to urgently tackle existing threats that have manifested in the form of regional agitations, as well as ethno-religious tension…..”. Despite this avowed statement, the mirage of security problems bedeviling the country continues to defy the nation’s security apparatus. Death tolls from both insurgents and soldiers with no arrests from the flash points are on the increase and despite these sad developments, security votes are on the rise. If one is to be brutally frank, the official mascots of our security outfits have failed in their constitutional responsibility of defending the Nigerian nation state. This is more so if the recent allegation of moles and carefully positioned fifth columnists within the military is confirmed. And the recent attacks on military formations in the North East suggest so to a great extent. The North is sadly under military occupation with humiliating consequences on the generally of the people through ubiquitous military checkpoints that obviously check nothing.

The twelfth issue in the Transformation agenda is women and social affairs and the President states….”under the plan, my government will continue to strengthen the national machinery and institutional capacity for the advancement of women, children and the physically challenged. Effort will also be made to meet the 30% affirmative action, for women in decision making position in the political and public sectors…..” , on this, the government has done meaningfully well even to the risk of moving at crawling snail pace. With due respect to our women folks, the number of women in this administration is probably responsible for the inability of the President to take decisive steps against corrupt elements who are mostly women. The likes of Stella Odua and Dezieni Allison Madweke are indeed bad taste, one may agree.

On general Administration and Governance, which is the thirteenth on the series of commitment made by the President in his Transformation agenda and in which he states….. “to this effect, a wide range of institutional reforms will be implemented. These include…addressing the root causes of corruption through value orientation, consolidating the democratic process by ensuring a credible election process….etc” As I write this piece, corruption is, without sounding sarcastic, the hallmark of this regime and is largely the Achilles’ heel of the Goodluck/Sambo administration. It is an established fact that corruption is the bane of any meaningful national growth and development as is being witnessed in this era of misplaced priorities and bloated administrative vision. And on election and promotion of democracy, the administration of Goodluck Jonathan has equally underperformed. The intra-party wrangling within the PDP is a clear testimony of lack of internal democracy and now the umbrella is dangerously leaking to the detriment of its occupants. Today, we are witnessing the decommissioning of the largest Party in Africa.

My dear reader, I don’t want to comment on the administration’s foreign policy, even though the fourteenth in the transformation agenda, for I am still nursing the diplomatic bruises we suffered during the burial ceremony of Madiba of South Africa. I could not fathom why our country represented my Mr. President was not recognized for any speech. That was for certain a diplomatic descent into abyss under this administration within the Africa.

As I negotiate the sharp bend of conclusion, I came across the response, which I now choose to call a syllabus of Denials and Counter accusations, of President Jonathan to Obasanjo’s letter and I wish to make a certain correction with due respect to the office of the president which Jonathan only occupies. The statement in response to Obasanjo’s letter that…” while, by the Grace of God Almighty, IAM THE FIRST PRESIDENT FROM A MINORITY GROUP, I am never unmindful of the fact that I was elected leader of the whole of Nigeria……” (Emphasis mine) was indeed incorrect. This assertion is a fallacy for we all know that Gen. Yakubu Gawon was a leader of the whole of Nigeria from Ngas minority ethnic group from Jos. And if Iam to stretch by correction further, the first Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was also from Bageri tribe of Tafawa Balewa L.G.A and in case one wishes to know, it is also a minority ethnic group in Bauchi state. The President must have weaved up this sentiment to elicit sympathy from his region or kinsmen to further balkanized the country along that fault line and cover up his obvious weaknesses. Let it be told that, just because one is from the North does not necessarily mean that one must be from a majority ethnic group as some ethnic champions would want us to believe. The North’s granitic unity is in the capacity of its peoples to tolerate one another and others from other parts of Nigeria. In fact even IBB and Abacha can arguably be from minority ethnic groups from Niger and Kano states respectively. No sir! You could not be the first!!

Now, as the 2013 glides away and we usher in 2014, we wish to see a new brand president in action, fully dedicated to the good of all Nigerians. We wish to see a president engaging corruption headlong. We wish to see a president promoting democracy not only within the PDP but also in the country in general and equally tolerating divergent opinions and constructive criticisms. We wish to see a president that will muster the courage to say NO to his kinsmen whenever they make inflammatory statements against other Nigerians and put a stop to industrial scale oil theft. We wish to see a president re-applying himself to the security and well-being of all Nigerians. For one cannot agree further with Harvey Mackey who posited that .....”A good leader understands that anything that has been done in a particular way for a given amount of time is being done wrongly. Every single performance can be improved”