With Nigeria’s presidential election just five days away, many analysts believe that whoever becomes Nigeria’s next president will be decided by undecided voters. Voters are undecided because they want the best for the country and to have better life, but not yet sure who will deliver the public good.
Typically, politicians make promises and present manifestos, which, without doubt, woo voters to cast their votes in their favour. But to which extent will politicians’ promises turnaround Nigeria’s dwindling economic fortunes?
Almost all the presidential candidates, especially those at the pole position: Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP); Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have released their manifestoes.
Kwankwaso
Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso released a 152-page document titled: “My Pledges To You” as his manifesto, containing some promises as shown below.
Local Government Autonomy
Kwankwaso said there is the need to look at the constitution with a view to making provisions for local government authorities to get allocation directly from the federal government’s coffers.
Nigeria’s Maritime Sector
He also promised to transform the nation’s maritime sector, which he said, had been neglected by successive administrations.
Education
Also, Kwankwaso pledged to ensure that all entry examinations into tertiary institutions were free for Nigerians.
The document said, “Examination bodies are service agencies that facilitate access to higher education and training for our teaming young population.
“For our administration, no Nigerian child shall be denied the opportunity to write WAEC, NECO, JAMB, etc., because of their inability to pay exorbitant registration/examination fees. These examinations shall be free and all application forms for admission into Tertiary Education Institutions shall also be free.”
Tinubu’s Promises
Bola Tinubu, who is a former two-term governor of Lagos State, has made some promises too. In October, Tinubu released an 80-page policy document titled: “Renewed Hope 2023 – Action Plan for a Better Nigeria.” Below are some of the promises:
Igbo Businesses
Tinubu promised to protect Igbo businesses if elected president in the 2023. He said, “I believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of the Igbo. I encouraged a lot of Igbo businesses and investments in Lagos and will even do more if I become president.
“If elected, there will be no discrimination. Igbo interests will be respected and protected.”
Industrial Revolution
Tinubu also promised to establish an industrial hub across the nation and mordenise the existing ones if he is voted into power. He also promised to create an IT hub for young people.
He said he was trained by his mother who was a trader and a market leader, saying that “I’ve been progressive in governance, not a backward thing. I want to give us our tomorrow.
Job Creation
Tinubu also promised to renew the hope of Nigerian youths by creating thousands of jobs if elected president of the country.
He said, “The Poverty Development Party, you know them, has collected your money since the creation of this state, and couldn’t provide the roads. Where is the job? I will create thousands of expert employment, technical hub to link you to the rest of the world.”
Petert Obi
Peter Obi has also released a 62-page manifesto document titled: ‘Our Pact With Nigerians: Creating A New Nigeria,’ containing some promises some of which are as follows:
Nation Building
Obi promised to rebuild the country if elected president. He promised to make Nigeria productive, not consumptive. “We will stop people from looting the nation’s treasury,” he said.
ASUU Strike
Obi promised to bring a permanent end to the incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) if elected president.
“The 50 months of ASUU strike in Nigeria since 1999 was a disaster against actualising a productive nation through good education,” he said.
Poverty
He also promised to utilise the human and natural resources to end poverty in Nigeria. He said the insecurity in the country is persisting due to lack of job opportunities. “I will bring the country back to her days of greatness and the citizens will smile again,”he said.
Atiku Abubakar
Atiku Abubakar released a 5-point policy document tagged: “My Covenant With Nigerians.’
Some of the promises contained in the document include strategies to end insecurity, speed up economic growth, as well as create jobs.
Economy
He said, “If you look at the thriving economy in the world, they allow the private sector to run the economy. If you see the amount of work the government has to do in terms of constructing and decongesting our ports, railway, and you have to borrow, I will rather concession most of these projects to the private sector and give them tax incentives. This will bring progress, prosperity and peace.”
Employment
Atiku promised to revisit the Oronsaye report on merger of federal agencies and remove the fuel subsidy that had been a drag on the economy.
He said, “I was the chairman for the removal of fuel subsidy committee and I recall how we removed the phase 1 and phase 2 of fuel subsidy.
“I will continue from where we stopped, remove fuel subsidy totally and channel the subsidy funds back to the economy. In other words, it’s just a fraud.”
At a point in time and in accordance with their manifestos, each of the candidates promised to end insecurity, which is one of the serious challenges facing the country.
Rabiu Kwankwaso makes two strong points that could alter the Nigerian economy positively, namely local government autonomy and revival of maritime. There has been plenteous observation among experts that the 774 local governments in the country are starved of federally allocated funds. Currently, the federal government gets 56.00 per cent; the state governments get 24.00 per cent; the local government councils get 20.00 per cent.
But analysts and civil society stakeholders have long decried the injustice in the sharing formula. For example, primary healthcare, universal basic education, and 65 per cent of the country’s roads are Trunk C, built and maintained by the local governments, which gets a paltry 20 per cent of federal allocation. Worse still, the allocations to the local governments are allegedly held by state governments.
Also, Kwankwaso’s plan to revive maritime is laudable. The nation’s maritime industry remains an important segment that contributes trillions of naira revenue to the national economy annually. It employs thousands of Nigerians formally and informally. The maritime industry is adjudged as next to oil in terms of revenue generation for the economy. Its annual revenue as of last year totaled N4trillion with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) leading the way with N2.3trillion.
Godwin Bongo, an maritime stakeholder, observed that if the federal government could succeed in ridding the maritime industry of bureaucracy and rampant corruption, the industry could generate more than double the current revenue generated for the federal government.
Peter Obi’s refrain of making Nigeria a production economy from a consumption economy sinks well with economists. There can be no gainsaying the fact that one of Nigeria’s most pressing problems at the moment is the widening exchange rate disparity. When Nigeria was relatively self-sufficient in food production and other goods in the 1970s and 80s, the country’s currency in relation to other countries was fairly stable and healthy.
The chief executive of Anthill Concepts Limited, and member of the Board of Economists, Dr. Emeka Okengwu, hailed Obi’s manifesto of transforming the Nigerian economy from consumption to production. He said production is not limited to goods, but also includes services such as knowledge, banking, arts & culture and fintech.
Affirming that position, chief economist at PwC, Dr. Andrew Nevin, said Nigeria should focus more on investing and exporting services than investing in the production of goods.
Bola Tinubu plans to create industrial hubs and to mass employ Nigeria’s youths. Dr. Nelson Nkwo, a lecturer at Ebonyi State University said Nigeria’s future rests with its almost 70 per cent youth population. He said with the world transmuting into virtual workplaces, Tinubu is on point by having as part of his manifesto, creating IT and industrial hubs. “In so doing, Tinubu is preparing the Nigerian youth for global responsibilities,” he said.
On Atiku Abubakar’s plans for the Nigerian economy, a renowned economist who pled anonymity said he thinks Atiku Abubakar leans solidly towards the private sector, which is a good thing for the country, if he wins the election and is sincere. The anonymous economist said Nigeria needs to reduce the cost of governance to move forward. He said Atiku Abubakar, has remained the most vocal about a private sector-driven Nigeria.
One thing is certain, whoever wins the election, Nigerians will keep tabs on the promises made by such candidate to see how they will be fulfilled.
