2012: Our Expectations (2)

Before funfair of the yuletide dies down, we want to quickly wish all our readers a prosperous, peaceful, joyful and happy New Year and to welcome everyone back to work.  This year,  people should not just wait for anything to happen, but join to set goals and expect to meet them.

It is becoming a sorry life style in Nigeria for some people to look to every other person, the organisations and government but themselves to do something and make the country better.  In 2012, we expect that the citizenry would become more proactively involved in governance, productively and patriotically.

As this is being done, people can in good conscience expect from the government, good governance based on the rule of law and respect for mankind.  The era when everything in Nigeria was reduced to politics and governance should be over.  The country must fire on all cylinders to meet the expectations of the people.

For a start, it has become most imperative that Nigeria removes the subsidy on petrol and save the country from the falsehood on which the economy had operated for so many years.  Even in the face of protests, the true Nigerian knows that any ailment that demands surgery should not refuse the surgical blade.

Even as we restate our support for the removal of the subsidy on petrol, we know that the initial realities after the removal may not be too palatable, but this is when the true resilience of the Nigerian should be seen, because the consequence would be to the benefit of the country now and in the future.

While the people deal with the post-subsidy removal pressures, government should be sensitive and ready to provide palliatives to cushion the effect with a view to saving some people from having their back-bones broken.  Similarly, steps should be taken to regulate prices demanded for goods and services in the country.

The removal of subsidy makes it incumbent on all levels of government to cut the cost of governance in the country.  For a country that needs money to provide the essential infrastructure needed to run the country, the number of ministers and their assistants that impact on the system are too many.  In fact, the number of MDAs and the overheads alone constitute a deliberate waste on the system.

Also worrisome is the remunerations and sundry financial payments made to members of the National Assembly.  We want to see that 25% of the nation’s resources are no longer expended on that arm of government alone.

Indeed, the salaries of everyone in the public sector should be fixed by the National Wages Commission, so that the Revenue Mobilisation Commission does not fix salaries for legislators again.

Still on the removal of subsidy, government should encourage private sector participation in the building and operation of petroleum refineries. Indeed, the enabling environment should be provided for such investments with a view to taking advantage of the benefit of mobilising the down stream sector for popular participation.

On the other hand, it must be noted that transportation is central to the execution of any transformative agenda.  The country should begin to develop all the means of transportation, especially the ones that affect the masses most.

While there seems to be a national emergency on roads across the country, Nigeria cannot afford not to develop her railway system. Apart from its safety, and dependability record, it is most suitable for moving bulky goods even petroleum products and many people in one trip.

But perhaps, the most important is the re-engineering of the education sector of the country.  While we call attention to the nursery and primary levels with a view to making the system lay the best foundation for the children, the authorities should keep a watch on private schools with a view to avoiding sharp practices.

Finally, we expect that citizens would take time to act on facts and not emotions.  Nigerians must consciously take hold of their fate and shame agents of disunity, disinformation and disgrace.