The All Progressives Congress,
APC, candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, who won the contest, in line with
pre-election prognosis, was known to have remarkably deflated the current state
of many key sectors during his campaigns.
That informed his vow to
prioritize many areas that have become increasingly important to the
electorate.
Retrospectively, the areas
Buhari, who received substantial jabs from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
in the days leading to the poll, promised to focus on include: Security,
education, unemployment, economy, health care, social security, infrastructure,
energy, environment, human capital development, politics and governance.
A breakdown showed the then
presidential hopeful being specific on how some of these sectors would be fixed
within time frame, while time line was not attached to others.
Security
Buhari had, during his various
campaign stops, said the present government had not responded appropriately to
the wave of terrorism in the country.
Hence, he said the Boko Haram
insurgency would be tackled before any other thing.
''The fundamental problem facing
this country now is security. I pledge to tackle the Boko Haram crisis if
elected, '' he noted.
Economy
On the nation's economy, rated the
largest and fastest growing in Africa, he pledged to create a market-based
economy.
Buhari said such economy would be
operated with clear unambiguous regulatory framework and effective enforcement
mechanism.
The then APC presidential
candidate envisaged that it would help Nigerians participate and engage in
productive economic activities, in order to revamp the economy.
He promised to ensure diligent
implementation of annual budgets to guarantee accountability and transparency
in public resource management.
Stablization of the Naira
There was also the promise of
stabilizing the naira if elected. He pledged to do that by ensuring that the
country's currency is equal to the dollar.
Health
The blueprint for the health
sector involves the transformation through the provision of modern equipment,
qualified personnel and adequate drugs.
His party also pledged free
maternal and child health care.
Corruption
The president-elect, who is a
known anti-corruption crusader, at most campaign stops, assured that he would
wipe out corruption.
He was of the opinion that if
Nigeria doesn't kill corruption, it would kill the country.
Unemployment
At a campaign rally in Kano and
other places, he promised to create three million jobs yearly to solve the
problem of unemployment.
In addition, his then running
mate, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, at a campaign rally in Akure, pledged 20,000 jobs
yearly totaling 720,000.
He also wants to make all who
looted the treasury return what they allegedly stole.
Energy
He hopes to ensure steady power
supply so as to resuscitate local industries which he described as dying.
Infrastructure
Buhari plans to complete moribund
road projects and improve infrastructural development nationwide especially in
the war ravaged North-East.
In line with these and other
assurances, expectations are rife about the feasibility of achieving some
within the life span of the incoming administration.
Eminent Nigerians, who spoke to
Sunday Vanguard, differed on how best to achieve some of the key goals, while
others were unanimous in their belief that Buhari would bring to reality most
of the pledges.
Those who made their positions
known include Professor Tam David-West, former Minister of Petroluem; Dr. Sam
Ekeh, Presidential candidate of Citizens Popular Party, CPP; Alhaji Abubakar
Tsav, Commissioner of Police (rtd), Dr Yunusa Tanko; Chairman of National
Conscience Party,NCP, and President Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC; Prof
Idowu Sobowale, a former Head, Department of Mass Communication, University of
Lagos and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, and Mr. Olumide Akinatyo.
President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN Walfare and better equipment
Speaking on Buhari's promise of
defeating terrorism, Tsav said: “The issue of equipping the military should be
taken seriously. He should ensure that the military is well equipped and well
motivated. That would ensure better results from them. The Mobile Police should
also be better equipped to carry out their duties. The senior officers should
always visit those in the frontline to boost their morale.
“It is important to not to always
allow the troops to stay long when they are deployed. They should be changed
every three months. Contracts for military equipment should be strictly handled
by the military because they know what they want. Civilians should not be
involved in the contract execution. I am hopeful that he will do well.”
LGAs should be involved in job
creation
On job creation and the oil
sector, Tanko stated: “His promise on job creation is the simplest thing to do
if he would put round pegs in round holes.”
Highlighting how that can be
achieved, the NCP leader said: “For him to achieve, he must make sure that job
creation is not done at the state capitals alone. We have about 774 local
governments in Nigeria. All that he needs to do is to allow local governments
create jobs at their level. If that is done, I am sure the unemployment
challenge will be reduced drastically.
“People, who supervised
employment processes in the past, did it on sentiment; now that he has been
elected, the removal of all the challenges that had made the unemployment rate
alarming should be done if he must achieve his objectives in that area. I
believe he can do that.”
Challenges in health sector
On his part, Akintayo said: “The
starting point for anyone that wants to fix the health sector is to address the
avalanche of problems arising from appointments in the sector. The other one is
the supervisory role of the Ministry of Health where the current administration
appointed two medical doctors as ministers. That is wrong because it reduced
the ministry to a ministry of doctors. It did not carry other health workers in
the sector along.
“Appointments in health sector
should be done to do justice to every professional in the sector. The business
of health is like every other one where everyone is carried along for good
results. If he is going to succeed in his targets in the health sector, there
should be universal health coverage which encompasses social health insurance.
It depends on how he wants to achieve his goals. “
The PSN boss added: “The normal
practice all over the world is to embrace preventive health care. That should
be his cardinal goal but it can only be achieved through a functional primary
health care system. Unfortunately, the primary health care system in the
country is skewed in a manner that it will not disturb the status quo. If he
must succeed, all professionals must be involved.”
Building four refineries possible
On the possibility of building
four new refineries in four years, David-West responded thus: “That is very
possible. All he promised to do in that sector are possible.”
Eke, the CPP presidential
candidate, who contested last weekend's poll, in his submission, said: “I want
to congratulate Buhari irrespective of how any body feels. His victory is as a
result of consistency and perseverance. His victory shows that our democracy
has arrived like that of Ghana. Nigerians were not fed up with the President,
but the way things are being done by those around the President. The issue now
should not be on his promises, Nigerians should brace up for the times ahead.
We must not deny the fact that oil which is the mainstay of our economy is no
longer selling at high prices. And his government will face that challenge.”
Bracing up for the times ahead
He added: “There is no government
that is Father Christmas, so he will face so many challenges. Therefore, for
him to be able to do the things he wants to do, our currency must be devalued.
Buhari's promises should not be the issue now, because he has got a lot of work
to do. The first thing I want him to do is to reduce the cost of governance.
That should be done by reducing the recurrent expenditure for there to be economic
growth and developmental growth. If we achieve this, the common man will feel
the impact of the country's economic growth rather than the statutory figures
of economic development that we are being deceived with.
“Buhari should be given a chance
because he is going to start his administration with a budget he did not
initiate. As a true democrat, he has to implement it. I don't expect him to
perform miracle in the next one year because he has a tough job ahead.”
He will do well on education
When confronted with Buhari's
pledges on the education sector, Sobowale was upbeat that the duo of Buhari and
Osinbajo would revive the sector.
He said: “ The Buhari /Osinbajo
administration should revisit the education policy of the country. The sector
must be steered to meet the 21st century demands. The educational
infrastructure across the states of the federation should be of utmost
importance.”
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