Yar’Adua’s Seven Point Agenda

This is a historic period for our nation. A period that marks an important milestone in our nationhood and in our march towards a maturing democracy. Just as the Nigerians were aglow with praises to the Almighty God for giving us a true democrat and humane person as president of the nation, death struck.

Wednesday, 5th May 2010, will go down in history as a day Nigerians will not forget in a hurry.

About 9 pm of that day, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua joined his ancestors. As william Shakespeare says “Death is the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveller returns?”. Truly, President Yar’Adua has embarked on a sojourn of no return.

Late President Yar’Adua’s ascendance to the office of president marked the first time the nation successfully managed an orderly transition from one elected government to another since we cast off the shackles of  colonialism almost a half century ago. The occasion of his presidency was historic also because it marked another kind of generation shift, when the children of independence assumed the responsibility of running the country at the heart of Africa.

 Many Nigerians may find it hard to believe now, but before late President Yar’Adua assumed office, the national conversation was whether Nigeria deserved to remain one country at all. But today we are talking about the nation’s potential to become one of the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020. That is a measure of how far we have come. The administration of Yar’Adua has laid the foundation upon which we can build our future prosperity.

Over the past eleven years, Nigerians have reached a national consensus in at least four areas: to deepen democracy and the rule of law; build an economy driven primarily by the private sector, not government; display zero tolerance for corruption in all its forms and finally good governance as well as electoral reforms. Late Yar’Adua  committed himself to these tasks by relying on the seven-point agenda that formed the basis of his contract with the Nigerian people.

This seven-point agenda included education, power, Niger Delta, health, anti-corruption, rule of law and electoral reforms. He committed himself to each of these points. In education, there is no gainsaying the fact that the sector witnessed changes in some areas. The funding of institutions improved and university lecturers got an increase in salaries. Above all, Yar’Adua showed political will by increasing the nation’s budget allocation to education.

The power industry also witnessed some form of transformation. He devoted his best efforts to overcoming the energy challenge. In the last three years, the nation has seen dramatic improvements in power generation, transmission and distribution. Although much remains to be seen, the 6,000 MW of electricity targeted for to be generated will soon be realised.

The crisis in the Niger Delta commanded his attention when he assumed office in 2007. Ending it was matter of strategic importance to the country. The importance of this task was captured in his words. “I will use every resource available to me, with your help, to address this crisis in a spirit of fairness, justice and co-operation.” Through  the amnesty programme, for the militants,  bewildered Nigerians saw how the dreaded Niger Delta crisis came to an end.  Efforts were on to carry out massive development in the region before his demise.

Nigeria’s health status was sorely deplorable. The revised health policy document admits that preventable diseases account for 70 per cent of Nigeria’s health burden and that poverty is a major cause of these problems. Our maternal mortality rate was one of the highest in the world. These indicators fired the patriotism of late President Yar’Adua into action, to end the show of shame. Thus, Yar’Adua’s administration witnessed improved health services. Although funding of the sector did not accord with internationally prescribed standard.

Under late president Yar’Adua, the anti-corruption war received a boost. The appointment of Mrs Farida Waziri as head of the anti-graft agency ensured that the fight against corruption was done in line with the rule of law. As a result of the encompassing fight, some high profile persons have fallen victim to the fight. Several other celebrated cases involving top politicians are in court.

One aspect of Yar’Adua’s administration that received commendation was the policy of the administration to be guided by the rule of law. Nigerians can attest to the fact that late Yar’Adua’s administration never disobeyed any court order. Not only that, the administration entrenched the virtue of constitutionalism in Nigerians.

Most reasonable people recognised that election did not take place in Nigeria. Yar’Adua admitted this when he said: “We acknowledge that our elections had some shortcomings”. In recognition of this, the late president constituted Justice Uwais electoral Reforms Committee to fashion out ways the nation can democratically elect its leaders.  Recommendations of the committee have led to the on-going efforts to amend the constitution as well as the Electoral Act.  It is, however, believed that late Yar’Adua’s effort in this regard will pay off in the 2011 general elections.

As the servant leader departs, Nigerians will live to remember him with his own declaration.  when he took the oath of office: “No matter what obstacles confront us, I will set a worthy example as your president.  Will Goodluck continue from where he stopped?  Nigerians are watching.

Arnold Alalibo