It must be obvious to every honest and patriotic Nigerian that all is not well with the ways that affairs of this country are being managed. It would be wrong to think that there are no capable persons in the country who can put things right, without victimising or granting licence to any section in the process. Neither is it necessary that such capable persons would have to be “mad” in order to correct recalcitrant situations. Astuteness in governance demands a thorough and clear understanding of the sectors that need drastic changes and then having the political will to effect them urgently.
For the next President of Nigeria, such tasks would and must include the following: Drastic cut down on the official and extra-official remunerations of political office holder. We cannot pretend not to know who, political office holdes are, in the three tiers of governance, neither can we pretend not to know that there are extra-official remunerations. Gifts for favours done and “lobbies” to influence and induce favours, including “stomach infrastructure” to influence nomination, are gross abuses which perpetuate corruption in governance. Nigeria’s wage bills for elected officials are the highest on earth, deliberately put in place by departing military regime.
Next President of Nigeria should set up a probe into the mafia system of governance called the Presidency or cabal, made up of faceless official and extra-official pressure groups, often acting arbitrarily, in the name of the President. Again, we cannot pretend that no such mafia system, cabal or parallel government exists in Nigeria’s Presidential system of democratic governance. Democratic governance cannot operate that way. A third task for the next President of Nigeria is to reshuffle, restructure and reorganise the nation’s security and intelligence architecture and institutions, to make them truly nationalistic and patriotic. Again, no honest Nigerian would pretend to be ignorant of the fact that these agencies deserve some serious search-light. From Professor Omo Omoruyi, to retired General T. Y. Danjuma, Nigerians have been told times without number that these agencies are compromised and seen to be serving sectional interests. Add these allegations to the absorption of repentant Boko Haram insurgents into the nation’s armed forces!
Nigerians would want details and conditions of Nigeria’s membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) made public, in order to remove any misgiving in the minds of the public. It was during retired General Ibrahim Babangida’s leadership of Nigeria that the country joined the Islamic Brotherhood. Not only is Nigeria a secular state, but the impression must not be created that one religion has an advantage over others. Add this to the increasing fanaticism of public lynching of “those who disrespect the name of the Prophet!” Similarly, Nigerians would want the next President to publish names and details of known sponsors of insurgencies in Nigeria. The case of Kaduna State is of significant importance, especially with kidnappers who hold travellers hostage and demanding for ransom, telling us that the Government of Nigeria knows what they are demanding. Groups of insurgents in the South are asking for referendum and resource control where other bandits and marauders in the North have not told Nigerians what their demands are. Must Nigeria go the Afghanistan Way or be held to ransom by local and foreign insurgents?
The sixth task of Nigeria’s next President, whoever he may be, is to revisit or review the country’s foreign policy and all international agreements, to ensure that there are no hidden agenda or booby traps anywhere. We are often told by experienced diplomats that the international community is a shark-infested environment, where fair can be foul and foul fair. From the construction of a gas pipeline from Nigeria to Morocco, to international trades and movements or taking of foreign loans, there is a need to place the interests of this nation first, now and in the future. Military and security pacts may be shrouded in secrecies but they should be reviewed, to ensure internal stability. The issue of reduction of the number of political parties in Nigeria is a vital task which the next President of Nigeria should address, without sweeping it under the carpet. Like rapid increase and growth of universities in Nigeria, the number of political parties in the country is obviously too much. Political parties are supposed to articulate and represent ideological leanings, orientations and relevance for a nation and its aspirations. Global ideologies and worldviews cannot be as numerous as the number of political parties in Nigeria, unless we want to promote frivolities in the name of ideologies. Nigeria does not need more than three or four political parties.
To address and resolve issues of census or the nation’s population, is and should be an urgent task for Nigeria’s next President. We cannot pretend to be unaware of the truth that census issue was one of the causal factors of the first military intervention in Nigeria’s polity. Even though serious allegations and objections were swept under the carpet and denied, no honest Nigerian can say that census figures are flawless. Neither can any honest Nigerian deny the fact that revenue sharing formula in Nigeria uses population figures as vital instruments, coupled with land mass. A situation where resource generation and control are over taken by population and land mass, is it not possible to distort census figures for political and economic advantages? Obviously Nigeria’s political economy is skewed towards parasitism and the encouragement of duplicity, all of which give rise to national instability. A part of the challenges which the next president should address is census controversy. To say that Nigeria’s economy is in a precarious state is an issue that the nation’s leadership must address with serious diligence. Ranging from unemployment, job losses and under employment, to the gross diminution of the value of the naira, the state of Nigeria’s economy deserves to be addressed immediately. Arising from the state of the nation’s economy is also the challenge of food security, which is further undermined by clashes between farmers and herders in various communities. Engagement in food production activity demands that farmers should not be the targets of attacks.
The tenth task for the next President of Nigeria is the issue of drastic reduction of family size. It is no longer a pride for couples to boast of having as many as nine children, no matter how wealthy the family may be. There should be a policy to limit the number of children which a woman should have, to three, so that family size be placed under control. As much as possible, vasectomy should be encouraged among men and women also educated properly on family planning, with provision of facilities to terminate unwanted pregnancies. The masses are marginalized in money politics oligopoly.

By: Bright Amirize

Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.