The much anticipated election 2023 is finally here with us as it will finally be held on Saturday 25 February, which is just a few days time.
And the redesigned naira swap with some of the old denominations that is now the rarest commodity to come by in Nigeria (second only to air) has become the number one defining factor for 2023 elections.
That is followed closely by the persistent and debilitating petrol scarcity crisis which despite the 2022 national budget allocation of over N4 trillion towards subsidizing the pump price of the commodity (in some quarters it is believed that N6 trillion was actually sunk) the electorate has been pinning away in petrol stations for days and weeks in search of the commodity in the manner that Mungo Park the Scottish explorer and his fellow adventurers searched for River Niger until they found it in 1796 after two expeditions.
The third challenge which is the registration and collection of Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs by voting age Nigerians, especially the youth demographics has been trounced by the more pressing maladies of demonetization and the attendant difficulties in sustaining livelihoods and petrol shortage with debilitating effects on the populace.
The new development highlighted above is contrary to the situation about a year ago when who is more corrupt amongst the front running presidential candidates or the four leading contenders for the office of the president of the federal republic of Nigeria had taken the centerstage in Nigerian political theater.
The switch from corruption and related issues to existential issues such as the catastrophic effects of lack of access to the redesigned currency notes and non availability of petrol, both of which are essential guarantees for the survival of Nigerians, is so stunningly surprising that no pundit or soothsayer could have predicted it until it happened.
And that is in contrast with the view that l had canvassed in an article published in the mass media, particularly in Daily independent newspaper of 13 September of last year titled:”Presidency 2023: A Contest Between Three ‘Sinners’?”.
In that piece, l had drawn attention to the fact that the frontliners for the 2023 presidential contest are ex-public servants and in light of the fact that Nigerians regard all public holders, especially of the political hue, as corrupt.
While emphasizing that having been public servants they are all ‘sinners’ in the eyes of Nigerian masses, I then made the case that the presidential candidates are likely to “let the sleeping dog lie” by not anchoring their campaigns on who would fight corruption in government better.
In my view, making fighting corruption the number one objective in the agenda of the incumbent government is counterproductive, shallow and akin to shadow chasing as evidenced by the disappointing outcome of the outgoing regime that anchored the administration’s core goal on fighting graft.
The assertion above is underscored by the fact that even before independence from British colonial rule, going as far back as 1943, successive regimes or government administrations have been wagging futile wars against corruption.
Instead of winning, the various successive governments even pre independence have been losing the war as corruption has gained more grounds in our socioeconomic and political environment as demonstrated by the monumental level of corruption currently thriving in our society.
So, if our current leaders had bordered to test their hypothesis of making fighting corruption the centerpiece of their governance policy, it should not have been rocket science for them to learn or enlighten themselves about the fact that corruption in government has grown exponentially from the demand by public servants for bribe of 10% of the value of a contract pre 1960 independence, (which the military adventurers had often touted as the excuse for the coup d’etat of 1966) to the current level of corruption in the new dispensation where entire funds for contracts can be received with no work done and no consequences suffered for the embezzlement of public funds.
The pervasive culture of corruption prevailing in our clime,especially in the public sector today extends beyond the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC where it is legendary that contracts worth billions of naira were awarded and never executed, but money was paid to the contractors.
The Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF and similar government agencies where snakes either swallowed money that was supposed to be in government coffers or termites chewed up vouchers that would have evidenced money in the vaults as well as the recently sacked accountant general of the federation, AGF Mr Ahmed Idris’s heist of one hundred and nine (N109) billion from workers payroll. The hideous levels of graft suggesting that corruption has become unbridled in our country include the case of billions of naira also recently declared as unaccounted for by Mr Abdulrasheed Maina, chairman of a Task Force on the recovery of pensions funds that got convicted and jailed for the fraud.
It is therefore not surprising that all of the acts of corruption in the course of the past eight years would make mockery of the much vaunted anti corruption mantra of the incumbent government.
And the current scenario or culture of corruption makes what the founding fathers of modern Nigeria- the trio of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Sir Ahmadu Bello that were arraigned for corrupt practices during colonial rule,pale into nothing.
In light of the highlighted reality above,how long would corruption and the fight against it continue to define our political process?
Before answering the question,allow me take you down memory lane by delving a bit into our historical archives to exhume some epic fights against corruption targeting our foremost and iconic leaders.
In the twilight of colonial era,the great Africanist, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, when he was premier of the Eastern Region and later governor general of Nigeria, got accused of corruption-ACB saga.
Dr Azikiwe was not only indicted but basically convicted by Foster-Sutton Tribunal of Enquiry in 1956 for having a stake in African Continental Bank, ACB which was in contravention of the law precluding public officers from having beneficial interests in private business and worse of all, promoting the business through government patronage while also obtaining loans from the bank.
Mr Peter Obi’s family interest in Fidelity Bank where he domiciled $50m Anambra State funds and his family’s investment in SABmiller, the brewery in Onitsha in which the state had substantial investment echo the corrupt practice for which Azikiwe was found guilty in 1956/7 by the British colonialist.
Corruption in public office saga was also used to embarrass the great Yoruba sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
That is when he was Western region premier.
According to records, he was investigated for his improper interactions with funds belonging to Western region produce marketing board.In plain language, he was accused of enriching himself with public funds.
It happened in 1962 when the Coker Commission of inquiry found chief Awolowo guilty basically because the funds he borrowed from the produce marketing boards to develop some infrastructure were not well accounted for. Does that not bear resemblance to the allegations against Bola Tinubu that he is having less than transparent links to Lagos State treasury via the tax consulting firm-Alpha Beta that is engaged to collect revenue for the state since his tenure as governor,1999-2007 till date ?
The case of corruption levied against Sir Ahmadu Bello, who is one time premier of northern region that was well respected and even still revered in the north till date, is not dissimilar.
His arraignment is the oldest recorded corruption case against a high level public office holder in Nigeria. And it actually happened in 1943 when the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello who was in charge of the Sokoto Province was tried by Sultan Siddiq Abubakar III for allegedly misappropriating cattle tax (Jangali), and was found guilty, then sentenced to a year in prison.
But according to reports from the archives, the British colonialists who were in sympathy with him provided Sir Ahmadu Bello escape route from the one year sentence by establishing a Magistrates Court to which he launched an appeal and got judgement in his favour. There are parallels that can also be drawn between recent corruption cases involving notable Hausa/Fulani men such as Col.Sambo
Dasuki former National Security Adviser, NSA indicted for converting $2.1 billion designated for the purchase of arms for this military and Mr Ahmed Idris, disgraced one time Accountant General of the Federation, AGF earlier referenced who was convicted for embezzling over a hundred billion naira workers’ salaries via illegal deductions.
Now, l had to go down memory lane to resurrect historical accounts of corruption and its role in shaping the politics of Nigeria to drive home the point that allowing it to define our political recruitment process in the coming elections on 25 February and 11 March would not only be a throwback to pre independence, it would be re-enacting 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari (touted as having zero tolerance for corruption) was ushered into office by being packaged as the messiah that would clear up the proverbial Augean stable and save Nigeria.
But rather than deliver our country from the stranglehold of corruption, in a space of eight years, see how the nation has literally degenerated into a cesspit of corruption with a present and clear danger of her going into oblivion, if the correct leader does not take over the reins of power from president Buhari from 29 May 2023.
To be fair to President Buhari, he never actually claimed to be a development expert. He only wanted to whip Nigerians into line by getting them to shed their damnable penchant for indiscipline.
That is why during his infamous rule as a military dictator (January 1984 – August 1985) his main policy plank was anchored on War Against Indiscipline, WAI.
Having been acclaimed to be a forthright man by his followers he was compelled by them to vie for the presidency for the fourth time in 2015, even after he had vowed when he lost the third time in 2011 that he would no longer contest for the presidency of Nigeria.
Unfortunately, that singular quality of being ‘Mai gaskiya’ (Man of truth), which was the sole motivation for his supporters goading him to contest for the office of president until he prevailed, does not confer sufficient ability or capacity to turn things around for good in a country estimated to be more than 200 million people with multiple religions and cultures, as well as about 500 tongues and 250 tribes, plus diverse geographical environments ranging from desert to savanna to rain forests and mangroves as well as creeks.
It is rather disheartening that we seem to have just identified Buhari’s shortcomings in political and economic leadership after colossal damage had been done.
The inconvenient truth that those who facilitated President Buhari’s emergence on the fourth try would not admit is that the man was just a darn good soldier, period!
And as time has proven, being a no nonsense soldier would not necessarily make a good president in the way that a hood does not make a monk.
But the powerful forces around him compelled the trained and dye-in-the-wool soldier to become a political leader of Nigeria-an occupation in which he lacks the required skills and the reason he has performed woefully.
And being an honest man,he has repeatedly admitted as the curtains fall on his reign that he has done his best, but regrettably his best has not been good enough.
Except he is able to quit the stage with a loud ovation if he is able to conduct the freest and fairest election which he seems to have resolved would be his real legacy, President Buhari would go down in history with infamy.
Before then,the next president which by the power of a perceptive and forward thinking electorate would be the former vice president Atiku Abubakar, should be prepared to inherit a country under the yoke of extensive ruins of economic, political and social dimensions which would take years of dexterous and assiduous work to pull back from the brink.
The underlying factors for the worries expressed above stem from the facts that the fabric of unity in our country has become so tattered that rather than Nigeria becoming a nation,it has remained a country in search of harmony as it is currently highly polarized along ethnic and religious lines.
And it is a situation made worse by a debt overhang estimated to be N77 trillion.
Since l predicted in the article titled: “How To Become President Of Nigeria In 2023” way before anybody else three years ago that the final contest for the presidency of Nigeria would be between Waziri Atiku Abubakar of PDP and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of APC which l reproduced in pages 331/332 of my book by same name- Becoming President of Nigeria: A Citizen Guide published and launched 10th May last year, a myriad of media attacks have been directed at me. They range from:as a young man, why are you predicting victory for two old and corrupt politicians who plundered our country, to: as a southerner why are you supporting a Fulani to succeed another Fulani, and finally: as a Christian why are you accepting those running in a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the presidency?
And the level of chicanery as reflected by the disrespect for federal character principles enshrined in the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria,resulting in the perfidies highlighted above is the reason for the hell hole that zero sum politics of exclusivity played by the incumbent government has dragged our country into.
That is as opposed to playing multi-sum politics of inclusivity that could have enabled our country flourish like Singapore and Indonesia, which are her peer countries that attained nationhood or were at the same development stages in the 1960s.
I have sustained the struggle to get critics to be more open minded by trying to get them to see that my vision of Nigeria is not just from the optics of being a southerner or Christian, but from the prism of a patriotic Nigerian that is tribe and religion neutral.
That is in the manner that owing to his quest to unify American voters,in a speech at the onset of his pursuit of the office of president of the United States of America, USA in 2016, the man that was to become the first and only black president of the most powerful country in the world, Mr Barack Obama made the following declaration aimed at bridging the racial divide amongst the American electorate during Democratic Party convention:
“There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America…we worship one awesome God”
By and large, the above statement by Mr Obama pretty much reflects my response to those gripped by the fear of another Fulani man riding roughshod with other Nigerians as had been the case with president Buhari.
And l would like to admonish all Nigerians to subscribe to the Obama philosophy or doctrine.
Although it is trite,l often like to remind those dividing our country based on tribe and religion that a former president of Nigeria, (1979-1984) Alhaji Shehu Shagari of blessed memory was Hausa/Fulani from Sokoto State who had Dr Alex Ekwueme an lgbo man from Anambra State as running mate?
They both won the presidency of Nigeria in 1979 and two of them led the country in a balanced government driven by equitable and commonsensical power sharing equation that saw the spread of development projects across the nation such as steel mills, and auto assembly aluminium smelter plants before they were toppled via military coup d’etat as they were commencing their second tenure in 1984.
Subsequently, another combination of a Fulani man Umaru Yar’Adua as presidential candidate and an ljaw from Niger Delta, Goodluck Jonathan also contested and won the presidency from 2007 to 2010. When President Yar’Adua from Katsina State suddenly passed away in office and then vice president, Jonathan picked up the baton of leadership of Nigeria from him.
It is worth emphasizing that in the short period (a little over 2 years) that Yar’adua was on the saddle in Aso Rock Villa, the rules of engagement as enshrined in the federal character principles embedded in 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria were duly observed and the principles of equity and inclusivity in governance of multiple nationalities that make up our country were also never neglected.
It is the incumbent regime that has destroyed the fabric of unity by breaching the federal character principle encoded in the constitution and which is the glue that had been holding our country together as one,basically because it is legislation against nepotism and other divisive tendencies.
My point is that it is the character and world view of the person who has been at the helms of affairs and calling the shots from Aso Rock Villa in the past nearly eight (8) years that is the current bane of our country manifesting in ethnic strife and separatist movements now tugging at the very soul of our beloved country.
The culprit is not necessarily the ethnic identity or the tribe of the leader in Aso Rock Villa seat of presidential power where some aggrieved Nigerians are directing their anger and frustration, but the personality and his world view.
Hopefully, Atiku Atiku Abubakar would prove to be more like ex-presidents Shehu Shagari and Umaru Yar’adua of blessed memories who are Fulani men and known to be unifiers than president Mohammadu Buhari, also a Fulani that is leaving a sordid legacy of being tagged a divider-in-chief instead of unifier-in-chief by the chroniclers of the Buhari era in the annals of political leadership in Nigeria.
Prior to the anti corruption conference held in London in 2016 under the prime ministership of David Cameron,the first and only British leader to have ever said to the face of a Nigerian president or to the hearing of the Queen of England, “we have the leaders of two of the fantastically corrupt countries in the world Nigeria and Afghanistan” as Mr Cameron did with President Buhari.
Yet,at the inception of the incumbent government in 2015, it is known to have adopted the mantra “Let’s kill Corruption before corruption kills us”
Is it not such a paradox that corruption is on the verge of killing Nigeria after nearly eight years of ‘killing corruption’ mantra of the government in power?
In fact,Nigeria’s current ranking by the global corruption tracking agency -Transparency International,Tl lays bare the fact that the anti corruption posture of the incumbent administration is more of a farce than fact and more of a scam than substance.
The Corruption Perception Index CPl of Tl for the year 2022 released this January indicates that Nigeria dropped five spots from its 2021 record by scoring a mere 24 out of 100 points.
That is why it is ranked 154 out of 180 countries rated.
The above data indicating a worsening perception of corruption in our country is evidential of the fact despite electing a presumed anti corruption tzar as president in 2015, Nigeria has (to borrow a street lingo) fallen from frying pan to fire as far as corruption is concerned and by extension,in all measures of human development.
Before being elected president,General Buhari had a reputation of being as straight as a fiddle,hence he was known by his kith and kin as ‘Mai Daskiya’ which is roughly translated from Hausa language as the man of honesty.
But today that mystery of being a corruption intolerant leader has been erased by the reality of a leadership that is reveling in corruption as our country is now corruption personified by all standards of measure.
And it is such an irony that the problem of Nigeria is really not just corruption,but lack of patriotic leadership.
So,a pertinent question that l would like to pose to readers who still believe that only a candidate who is corruption-scandal free should preside over our country is: since 1943 when sir Ahmadu Bello was tried for corruption,perhaps as a result of a set up by his political antagonists,and 1956/7 when Nnamdi Azikiwe battled his own corruption charges for violating the law that prohibits public servants from having equity in private business concerns to 1962 when Obafemi Awolowo was also found culpable of financial malfeasance arising from his dealings with the regional produce agency’s funds ,and even when subsequent regimes(both military and democratic) have made anti corruption the fulcrum of their administrations: has the future of Nigeria become brighter?
As the current dire situation in our country reflects, we need a leader that would wage a war against poverty, not just corruption that is a mere symptom of the trouble with Nigeria, which is basically lack of patriotic leadership as the renowned novelist, late Chinua Achebe, had enlightened us in his seminal book: The Trouble With Nigeria.
Take Singapore and Indonesia, which did not make anti-corruption the main criteria for choosing their leaders,but settled for leaders with positive visions and blue prints to lift out of poverty the largest number of people in the country, men as the apple of their eyes.
Today,Singapore is in the first world with a superlative GDP of $397 million having a paltry population of only 5.64 million people.
The adult population of the country holds a total estimated wealth of US$1,627 US$1.63 trillion which makes it the 12th wealthiest country in the world, compared to an adult Nigerian that is said to be carrying a debt burden of about N750,000 each,if our country’s N77 trillion naira debt is shared equally to her over 200 million population.
On its part, Indonesia is on the borderline to becoming a first world club member with a GDP of an impressive $1.1 trillion with a population of nearly 276 million which is higher than that of Nigeria.
The Asian country is more prosperous than our country simply because men of vision and patriots have been leading her and Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world basically because the government in power made the number one item on the agenda of governance fighting corruption as opposed to fighting poverty.
Perhaps at this juncture,l should reveal that my disdain for the continued preoccupation of successive Nigerian governments with anti corruption fights, ostensibly to tame the monster,but of which the opposite has been the outcome with corruption growing in geometric progression in our country is altruistic. That is because my advocacy for war on poverty as opposed to war against corruption predates the current leadership election season during which l am predicting Waziri Atiku Abubakar’s victory at the polls on 25 February.
In an article titled: “A Call For A National War On Poverty”, published on the back page of Thisday newspaper and on multiple online platforms some three years ago, l compared our country’s war against corruption to China’s battle against the menace,and highlighted how and why China has succeeded in bringing corruption down to a manageable level in their country, while we have been on a slippery slope with respect to curbing the scourge of corruption in our country.
In chronicling how China emerged from the rear to become the number (2)world richest and even threatening to overtake the USA as number one in world power hierarchy,the following case was made:
“…China is only 11 years older than Nigeria in terms of nationhood and independence. But the East Asian country has grown from being an autarky (like North Korea trading with nobody) some 30 years ago until it joined WTO in 2001 and became a production factory to the world.”
Thereafter,l argued that:
“Subsequently, China assumed the position of the world’s second largest economy status with an estimated $12 trillion GDP, and it is now on track to becoming the largest economy by global ranking, Look at Gerry Augustine Church on Saturday because this car we’re gonna get in less than two decades,when it would have overtaken the USA’s economy which is currently the world’s largest.
“In contrast, Nigeria has degenerated from being a peer to countries like Singapore, Malaysia,Taiwan and South Korea, which it was at par at independence in 1960, to Banana Republic level, in terms of socio-economic standards of living and security of lives and property of citizens. The unfortunate and depressing descent of Nigerians into a vortex of misery, courtesy of recurring visionless leadership of our country is a much bigger malaise than the anti corruption rhetorics of governments from the colonialists to military and democratically elected civilians that have not yielded any modicum of positive dividends since independence some 59 years ago.”
In comparing China’s success via the long fight against graft with Nigeria’s failed war against corruption, l undertook a historical excursion by recalling how the need to get rid of corruption has been the raison d’etre for several changes of democratic leaders of government at the centre by military adventurers, and the core reasons sold to the electorate by rival politicians and political parties in the course of recruiting new political leaders also known as democratic electioneering process.Below is how l has put it:
“After the counter coup of 1967 where it was alleged that the plotters of the 1966 putsch were ‘corrupt’ and ‘fraudulent’ in terms of ethnic bias by assassinating only top military officers from a particular section of the country, and officers of a religious faith while preserving the lives of those from the ethnic stock and faith of the coup leaders, the Brigadier Murtala Muhammed led coup of 1975 was also mainly driven by the crusade against corruption in government.
“The fiery army general is famous for the mantra: “This government can not condone Indiscipline” which is a military euphemism for corruption.That interregnum was followed by the coup led by General Muhammadu Buhari on 31 December, 1983 which like the 1966 and 1975 coups was on a mission to dislodge the democratically elected government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the bid to clean the proverbial Augean stable by getting rid of corrupt politicians in the country.”
Furthermore, l pointed out that:
“The lbrahim Babangida led palace coup of 1985 that unseated Buhari’s 18 months spell in office was also launched to cleanse our country of corruption. This time the corruption was not so much bribery, but of the hue of fraud and double standards as reflected by the scandal of the infamous 53 suitcases allegedly belonging to the Emir of Gwandu which was illegally allowed into the country during change of Nigerian currency. That’s in addition to the case of an underage child of a member of the ruling military council going on the Muslim religious pilgrimage to Mecca which was against the law, amongst many infractions.”
I also threw light on the fact that:
“The fearsome army General Sani Abacha, who took over the reins of govt in 1993 after Babangida stepped aside, did not have an anti corruption agenda, rather successive governments had recovered billions of dollars stolen and stashed abroad by the late dictator. Similarly, General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s short tenure as interim military head of state 1998 to 1999 had no anti-corruption ideological inclination because it had no time for such luxury. But the democratically elected government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 was geared towards continuing with the anti corruption play book of the past leaders hence it established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to tackle graft shortly after he assumed office.”
Then l surmised by stating that:
“The assertion above is underscored by the fact that the Nuhu Ribadu led EFCC was basically primed to lead the charge against corruption both in the public and private sectors in the same old style that had always been applied in the checkered history of Nigeria even pre independence.
Skepticism about the altruistic value of the government’s persistent war on corruption was triggered at that point as cynics were convinced that the fight against graft under the Ribadu led EFCC was not only partisan, but weaponized by then President Olusegun Obasanjo to rein in his opponents across the aisle and also compel fellow party members to tow his line.”
From the copious reproduction of the nearly three years old article,it is clear that my aversion to the way and manner corruption was about to be allowed to define 25 February and 11 match elections has antecedents that go way back to over six decades.
That is why l was vehemently opposing corruption as the pre-eminent criteria for choosing our next president until the dynamics of politics in our country changed in these last few days due to the existential struggles of getting hold of the redesigned naira notes to put food on the table and the nerve racking process of finding petrol to facilitate mobility via vehicles,and as fuel for electricity power generators to for in our business planes and comfort in our homes.
These are the twin evils that have stretched thin the survival instincts of Nigerians in these last days to the elections and which are strong factors that must weigh heavily in the minds of voters as they cast their ballots for their favorite candidate for president next Saturday.
Without being told, the aforementioned issues have become the critical criteria for the recruitment of our next political leaders.
It is remarkable and instructive that when the chips were down,the British people were originally driven by ethnic nationalism and failed to elect Rishi Sunak of Indian descent as Prime Minister. Rather, preferring to elect as Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is native English from Oxford.
But the British parliamentarians had to face the brass tacks of going back to elect the current PM Rishi Sunak, a tested and proven manager of men and materials by virtue of having served as minister of the exchequer (finance minister) when Mrs Truss proved to lack the capacity to handle the enormous task of putting the United Kingdom,UK together, after it had a great fall off the wall like Humpty-Dumpty (in the famous kindergarten rhyme) following its hard exit from European Union, EU also known as Brexit a couple of years ago.
Like Britons, Nigerians should prioritize capacity, ability and experience over anti-corruption rhetoric in choosing their next president on 25 February which is less than three days’ time.
It is quite fortuitous that the present life and livelihood threatening calamities that have befallen our country men and women making it extremely difficult for a vast majority of them to enjoy decent living in the past three months to election D-Day, would shape their voting decision, which should be devoid of sentiments that are tribal or religion driven,but inspired by competence,capacity and experience to rescue our country from the hole of hopelessness that it has been sunk by the outgoing regime.
Fellow Nigerians ,you will agree with me that these are extraordinary times that require expert handling by someone with the cognate experience.
Remember, Waziri Atiku Abubakar, as vice president of Nigeria between 1999-2007 led the revolution of the telecoms sector that produced the GSM telephony symphony being sung by all and sundry in our country. If he had been given the opportunity to continue as the chairman of the Economic Council from 2004 to 2007, the electricity generation and distribution system currently in shambles-besetting the masses and hobbling economic growth would have been turned around through the unbundling of the services in the manner that the telecommunications sector was changed into a success story.
But even though he remained vice president from 2004-7, the mandate to continue with the good work that he did as chairman of the economic council was taken away from him by his boss at that time due to a nasty political fight.
Hence Atiku Abubakar as vice president did not have the opportunity to fix the electricity sector as he did the telecoms sector because competence and proven performance were sacrificed on the altar of vendetta.
The same applies to the petroleum production and distribution sector currently costing the nation multi trillion naira in subsidies as contained in our annual national budgets and which is causing the populace horrendous hardships simply because it is still under the control of government.
But the good news is that the former vice president Atiku Abubakar still has the blueprint and master plan to reform and recover from decay the ailing public utility services system such as the electricity and petroleum production and distribution sectors for the greater good of all Nigerians in the manner that GSM telephony benefits all. And he has promised that he would turn the sectors around when he and his party, PDP win the presidency through the efforts of you the voters and by the grace of God.
So, I urge you (voters) not to repeat the mistake of 2015 by electing expired or experimental president, but decide now to elect an experienced president-Waziri Atiku Abubakar with enormous wealth of composite public and private sector experience by casting your votes for him on 25 February, 2023 for Nigeria to be in better and safer hands for the unity and prosperity of all Nigerians and progress of our country
-Magnus Onyibe, an entrepreneur, public policy analyst, author, development strategist, alumnus of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA and a former commissioner in Delta State government, sent this piece from Lagos.
To continue with this conversation, please visit www.magnum.ng