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If I were Yaradua By Zainab Usman
Nigerians elected Yaradua in April hoping that he would somehow deliver on the seven point agenda promised in his campaign. Seven months after assuming office, Nigerians are still hoping and praying that he would deliver. Will he?
Early signs are not encouraging. In the first place, the seven point agenda is too ambitious. Why not prioritize and choose two or three issues to focus on for four years? If I were Yaradua, I will only choose two issues to focus on in the next four years. These two are corruption and electric power.
Corruption is public enemy number one. We need to reduce or even eliminate corruption if we want to get anywhere. Obasanjo did well by creating EFCC even though he used it to fight his political battles. In my view, creating EFCC was the best thing Obasanjo did in his eight years in Aso Villa. He made the fight front page news and provided EFCC with all the support it needs to fight the menace of corruption.
Unfortunately, Yaradua through the Attorney General have slowed down EFCC. Considering the fact that so many ex governors have lost their immunity, one would have thought some will be behind bars by now. Alas, progress has been slow. With each passing day, I loose confidence in EFCC getting a guilty verdict against the very guilty ex governors.
If I were Yaradua, I will give Ribadu all the backing he needs to ensure some of these ex governors serve some jail time. This will serve as a deterrent to serving governors to keep their hands off public funds.
The second priority I will focus on if I were the president will be electric power. Nigerians have suffered for so long. Businesses of all sizes are groaning under the crushing weight of energy costs. Nigerian manufactured goods simply cannot compete with imported goods due to the high energy costs in Nigeria. The quality of life of Nigerians is compromised due to the poor electricity supply. It is not surprising therefore to find out that when two Nigerians meet, they more often that not spend time lamenting about the lack of electricity supply.
Although Yaradua claims that fixing the power sector is one of his priorities, I doubt if he really is the messiah Nigerians have been waiting for to deliver them from darkness. It is my view that when something is a priority, it should be properly funded. Alas, the power sector did not get what it needs in the 2008 budget. Yaradua made some noises about using alternative sources of funds. Consequently, the Independent Power Plants (IPP) being built by NNPC JV partners will be starved of funds yet again. Apart from Agip, none of the JV partners have been able to deliver on the power plants. This is due to no fault of theirs as NNPC to date has failed to provide its own share of the IPP costs. Without the required funding, these plants will not come on stream as planned. Thereby prolonging our stay in darkness.
Yaradua needs to wake up to the fact that if he wants to really solve the power crises, he needs to provide the required funds. In addition, the power sector is very complicated, it needs to be handled by experts who know the business inside out. Yaradua therefore needs to strengthen the sector with competent hands. Otherwise, he would spend the next four years without achieving much in the power sector just like his predecessor.
If Yaradua can concentrate on corruption and electric power and get results, Nigerians will forever be grateful.
I sincerely hope Yaradua will realize the enormity of the tasks facing him and begin to do what is required to change things. Otherwise his four years will pass swiftly without much being accomplished. That will be a shame indeed giving all the fanfare that greeted his swearing in as the first Nigerian president with a university degree.
Yaradua, we are waiting and expecting. |