A common saying goes thus; when one’s path is obstructed by a heap of logs
which must be cleared for passage, the topmost logs must be removed first
in the dislodgment process. Or, as the renowned economic historian David
Landes would suggest; whenever there is ambiguity, then the first duty is
to clearly define the term in question.
Prioritize is defined as “to organize (things) so that the most important
thing is done or dealt with first”, according to Merriam Webster
dictionary.
And Nigeria is swarmed by burning issues. It would be trite to begin to
list the varied ills that ail Nigeria. Even a grade schooler can count
them off his/her digits, proffer insightful remedies and warn you that
implementation of the solutions has been the Achilles’ heel.
To be sure, corruption, insecurity/Boko Haram terrorism, diversification
of economy, unemployment, derelict infrastructure, Healthcare crisis,
absence of a manufacturing base, and Institutional decay – Education,
Civil service etc., are no less burning issues that are in dire need of
attention. If the aforementioned issues are to be prioritize, the question
then is, in what order should this administration tackle same?
For the current Buhari’s administration in Abuja, therefore, to prioritize
in this sense refers to the selective urgency with which some burning
national issues are delivered to the “intensive unit” for appropriate
attention with respect to others. A drastic downturn the country’s
earnings purse from Oil (with low prices in the international market), may
further count as a motivational factor towards the need for an effective
prioritization strategy.
Few would disagree that corruption remains the singular virus that has
infected every facet of Nigeria, systemically, and its eradication or at
least, reduction of its ‘viral load’ to the barest minimum is a task that
must be accomplished with immediacy.
Fortunately, Buhari administration is right on target on the war against
corruption, placing it on top of its list of priorities.
Because corruption enervates, degrade and finally destroys any/all good
intentions of any project irrespective of significance, the failures of
past administration have their roots in this menace. In “The Real
Housemates of Corruption”, I suggested some enablers of the practitioners
of corruption that government should take a closer look at, and action
against; but the advice obviously meant little to the Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration which has now been exposed as deft architects of the temple
of corruption.
In the prioritization strategy, certain “vitals” must be stabilized before
any measurable improvement in other sector is even possible. Because of
their synergetic linkages, issues like Security/Boko Haram terrorism and
Power infrastructure (electricity) take precedence over essential
priorities; there hardly any point in constructing first class hospitals
all over the country for healthcare, if the equipment cannot be powered,
or fatalities inflicted by marauding terrorists, and armed gangs that have
no use for emergency rooms.
In “With Light Most Things are Possible”, permit me to reproduce a part here;
In the boring spat between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former
military President Ibrahim Babangida, the former waxed strong about his
administrations power development achievements;
“Because it was important, you know that power is the driving force for
development and for any developing country. But since the building of
Egbin power plant, until I came back in 1999, there was not any generating
plant for almost 20 years and Babangida spent eight years out of that.
Now, he has the audacity to talk about anybody; I think that is
unfortunate.”
“I started five of what they called Independent Power Stations which were
stopped for two and a half years when I left office. Now the present
administration has started building a new power project at Uyo.
“As a country, Nigeria should be adding nothing less than 1,500 megawatts
annually. South Africa with a population of 50 million generates 50,000
megawatts. Nigeria with a population of about 165 million we are not
generating.
As at 1999, I met 1,500 megawatts before we took it up to 4,000 megawatts.
What we started they are now allowing it to go on. I believe if they
continue with the programme that we left, in another two years, we will
get to 10,000,” he said (Vanguard 19 August 2011)
Sixteen years later, billions of dollars “expended”, electricity
generation currently fluctuates between 1,500 and 5,000 megawatts (as at
March 13th, 2016), with intermittent nationwide blackouts – situation
that emphasize, the time to declare a national emergency on the power
sector is way past due.
And even after a temporary relief is achieved in stable electricity,
sustaining the growth in the power sector cannot be assumed to be secured
in the hands of incoming administrations. Hence, I has suggested in the
same article that “Perhaps, time has come for a constitutional amendment
that requires any incoming administration to increase the existing power
capacity by a minimum of 5,000 megawatts for every 4 year tenure in
office. Failure to abide or execute such a requirement should result in
impeachment. If our leaders can’t dream, perhaps the constitution can
force-feed dreams to them”.
Next up, the industrial sector which touches the entire spectrum of the
country’s well-being – employment, improved living standards, wealth
creation, food security, and global competitiveness. Without a vibrant
manufacturing sector, Nigeria continues to engage in the pretense of
economic growth without development, and wear the cloak of a developing
economy without the substance. Make no mistake about it, “without
industrialization, development will not happen” is a well-documented fact
both by United Nations agencies, and top researchers worldwide.
Whatever compass the Buhari administration employ to design its chain of
priorities, the manufacturing sector is a recurring enigma that should not
be ignored. For Nigeria, the old knee-jerk policy responses to
socio-economic fundamentals, should be confine to the dustbin of history.
Emma Adoghe.