| Temple Chima Ubochi |
 | ubochit@hotmail.de Bonn, Germany  |
Continued from Part 19So, I am telling every Nigerian to be happy in any situation they find themselves. Don't be faster than your shadow because so many things will go wrong. Sometimes things get bad because people want to be like others. All fingers are not equal. It is true that God promised those who serve him riches, but people should be careful how they go about it. I am telling people to have pa-tience. It is because people want quick money that is why some people become thieves (Ms. Josephine Ugwu, a mere airport cleaner, at MMIA Lagos, who found forgotten $28,000 and other foreign currencies totaling about N12m and returned it to the owner)Politics, though often denigrated, remains a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity, inasmuch as it seeks the common good. Where, then, should a healthy economic policy being? What are the necessary pillars for public administration? The answer is precise: the dignity of the human person and the common good. Unfortunately, however, these two pillars, that ought to structure economic policy, often seem to be a mere addendum imported from without in order to fill out a political discourse lacking in perspectives or plans for integral development. … Please, be courageous and do not be afraid, in political and economic projects, to allow yourselves to be influenced by a broader meaning of life as this will help you to truly serve the common good and will give you strength in 'striving to increase the goods of this world and to make them more accessible to all (Pope Francis)  uhari was in Lagos on Monday February 2, 2015, to meet the Organised Private Sector (OPS), and to unfold his economic agenda, and there, he pledged to effectively mobilize human and material resources within the country to revive the nation's economy, if voted into power in the coming election. He didn't explain, in clearer terms, how he plans to go about it, if he gets a chance to rule Nigeria again. Buhari then repeated the same words, over and over again, that the issue of corruption would be frontally tackled to cleanse the Augean Stable and position governance on a sustainable path of transparency and accountability. Buhari also pledged to put an end to the menace of the Boko Haram sect and restore the lost glory of the country if elected president. We have heard these words again and again. But, with the corrupt ones hanging around him, who knows how he can be effective here? Even if Buhari claims to be clean, what of his lieutenants? As Dr. Tunde Ali noted, Alhaji Shehu Shagari was described as an honest man, but he surrounded himself with corrupt political associates and he end up with a disastrously corrupt government. It's most likely that Buhari will be handicapped by fanatical and corrupt lieutenants, if he becomes the president. In February 2011, Buhari was one of the three former heads of state who exonerated their friend and former colleagues, Abacha, of stealing our commonwealth, even when the money Abacha stole and banked outside the country was been repatriated to Nigeria. Abacha was accused of stealing nearly £5 billion while in office, out of which over $1 billion has reportedly been recovered from various sources around the world. But Buhari, in Feb. 2011, described the allegations of looting against Abacha as "baseless", because according to him, "ten years after Abacha, those allegations remain unproven because of lack of facts", despite the fact that foreign countries are returning some of the stolen money back to Nigeria. Is this the man who would fight corruption for Nigeria? WS, who calls himself revered Prince of Mushin, wrote: That is really the challenge before this APC Buhari gang.Unless somebody is going to tell me that Buhari will import his aides from overseas, I don't see how he slaughters corruption. Everybody in APC is as corrupt as the guys in PDP. All those that Buhari would eventually appoint to do meaningful work were either expelled from PDP for their corrupt ways or ran away from PDP because they were about to be expelled. Buhari's supporters should really tell us where Buhari will hire these corruption busters? For the common post of VP he was cudgeled into accepting a chaperon. Where are these Nigerians that are beyond corruption that would work for Buhari?" Ubong Obot supporting, wrote that "A man who with a wave of hand declared late Sani Abacha uncorrupt cannot fight corruption. One who cried and blamed FGN for fighting BH cannot fight insecurity. Buhari is on secret mission and God willing he will never become an occupant of Aso Rock. GMB is not the leader we need at this time; he lacks what it takes to lead a multi-religious democratic Nigeria". On Power sector, Buhari told his OPS audience that he would accord the sector the priority it deserved to resuscitate the economy. In his words "Power supply is the minimum that we can seriously commit to in order to quickly galvanise the economy back to productivity. We agree with the privatisation of the power utilities, but we believe it must go further to transmission. After the signing and handing-over ceremonies of the power assets, the real work of producing, transmitting and distributing power is really just beginning. The reason why the success seems elusive is that apart from the signing ceremony and handing over of the power assets, the hard work to connect the various parts of the power chain, supply gas, install transformers, complete substations has not been done. Our studies showed that we will require no less than 200,000 trained personnel to support the initiative to provide power and light up Nigeria. Apart from the inherent direct employment that this will give, the reduction in cost of production, the savings from self-generation by Nigerians, who currently spend a lot of their income on purchase of diesel and petrol to generate their own electricity, will reduce the burden on their disposable income. The savings to Nigerians from reliable electricity will help the average Nigeria spend money on other basic necessities of life and reduce poverty". We have to ask Buhari if it is as easy as he has postulated, and why he didn't build more power plants when he was the head of state. Has Buhari inquired from his latter-day friend, Obasanjo, how much he spent to fix the sector, and why he failed in 8 years to achieve anything for the sector? Buhari didn't tell us how he plans to deal with the mafia inhibiting the power sector's progress due to what the mafia members are gaining from the lack of improvement in the sector. Buhari needs to seek the advice or opinion of people like Prof. Barth Nnaji of Geometric Powers, Aba, who was the former Minister of Power, who the entrenched interests around the power sector forced to resign after he undertook sweeping reforms to re-position the sector. Can Buhari stand the heat from the "powerful" mafia pinning the sector down? Can he decimate the ubiquitous group? Buhari didn't say a word about this! Buhari didn't do any good for the sector when he was the head of state, when he ruled by fiat, who knows what he can do better for the sector as a civilian president, assuming he wins the election? On fuel importation, Buhari told his Lagos audience that he would halt the fuel importation saga through enhancement of local refining capacity. In his words: "There is already an initiative to build a refinery in Lagos. Our government will fully support this initiative because a local refinery means many things such as jobs for Nigerians; less pressure on foreign exchange through reduced importation and therefore enhancing the strength of the naira." Buhari didn't mention what he will do until he builds the new refinery, in order to prevent fuel shortages. Nigerians can't stay without fuel waiting for refineries still on drawing board. How will Buhari keep the fuel flowing while still building a new refinery, and how sure is he that the funds for the new refinery will be readily available? Does Buhari think that a refinery in Lagos will solve fuel shortage problems all over Nigeria? What of building more refineries in other parts of Nigeria, and fixing the already existing ones which are operating below capacity level due to lack of maintenance and sabotage? Buhari also told his audience, which included captains of industries, that infrastructural development was key to APC's economic development agenda, stressing that other areas of investment were roads and highway construction from one end of Nigeria to the other. In his words: "We will concentrate on the roads and highways that link up Nigerian states, while state government will be expected to connect. Road construction alone will unlock a value chain of opportunities in the built industry for construction companies, builders, engineers, architects, quarry operators, cement and iron rod production and supply. The successful opening up of Nigeria by the construction of new roads and highways will revive road transportation, truck manufacture, tyre manufacture, engine oil, brake pad production on one hand. It will also create a demand for jobs for mechanics, drivers and those engaged in transport support business. We expect a revival of all the inter-state economies that used to thrive across Nigeria, providing support to travellers by way of canteens, restaurants, farm produce, among others." Buhari should have told his audience that President Jonathan's national automotive policy is a step in the right direction that should sustained by him, if he wins. Because, almost all those things he mentioned above have been taken care of by President Jonathan through the national automotive scheme with the plan to make Nigeria self reliant in that field. President Jonathan even promised to start riding a fully made in Nigeria vehicles soon as the president. Buhari failure to acknowledge that President Jonathan has done a great job in the auto sector and in infrastructural development, even if he thinks that much is left to be done, is politics taken too far! Buhari should be grateful that parts of his economic plan are being implemented by President Jonathan already, so, even if he didn't win the election, at least, parts of his plan for Nigeria are being well taken care of. That should be more important to a statesman than winning the election, just as James Freeman Clarke (1810 -1888) wrote that "A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation", and, also as Albert Schweie (1875 -1965) wrote that "At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us". It's a mark of honesty to acknowledge a progress, even when it is from your political opponent, just as Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) wrote that "There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies". I really loved what Jimi Agbaje, the PDP governorship candidate for Lagos State, did when he acknowledged that Fashola, the incumbent governor of the state and a member of APC, is doing a good job, but, that he would sustain the progress so far made, while concentrating more on areas where Fashola had shortcomings. That's what we want to hear from politicians about their opponents. Buhari can't beat President Jonathan's record as far as vehicle manufacturing and infrastructural development in Nigeria are concerned. As you are reading this, about ten more auto plants have finalized plans to begin operations in Nigeria before the end of this year (Remember that Volkswagen, Peugeot, Nissan etc are already back in Nigeria). The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, disclosed this during a meeting with vehicles manufacturers, dealers and licensed customs agents in Abuja recently. He said, according to The Vanguard: "From the stakeholders meetings we have held so far, I must say that we are particularly encouraged by the level of interest and enthusiasm being shown towards the new automotive policy by Nigerians and also by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). The bottom line is that everyone is saying that so far, we have exceeded our expectations. If anyone had told us that about 22 OEMS would sign into the new auto policy in less than one year of its implementation, we might not have believed it. Currently, we have about four of them that are assembling vehicles in Nigeria. We are expecting another 10 OEMs to start assembling cars in the country before the end of this year. Since the commencement of the implementation of the policy in July 2014, we have been meeting with all the stakeholders in the auto industry. This is to ensure that we carry everyone along so that we can fast-track the implementation of the policy and achieve the overall objectives of the policy in terms of job creation, industrialisation, local content development and reduction of pressure on our foreign exchange due to massive importation of vehicles into the country. Together with the major players in the sector, we have discussed and agreed on ways of accelerating the local production of automotive component parts on a product by product basis. Also, we have focused on how to establish an affordable vehicle financing scheme as quickly as possible. In this regard, we have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with WestBank, (the bank that finances one out of every three cars produced in South Africa) to finance the purchase of new cars for Nigerians at a very low interest rate. The bank will commence operation very soon. The whole idea is to make finance available for Nigerians who are buying new cars assembled in Nigeria, with an option to pay back within a period of four to five years". Buhari didn't tell us or his audience where he will get the money to do all those things he promised, and he never acknowledged that the big slip in oil price can pose a big problem for his economic plan. Buhari also assured that his government would not tolerate any act that would undermine the nation's integrity or impoverish the citizens, pointing out that he would run a government of Nigerians and not a government that belonged to party or a region. Words are cheap, and according to a Chinese Proverb "words doesn't cook rice". Buhari's words were better said than done; we know his antecedents and where his loyalty lies, so he needs not to hoodwink anybody here. Check out Buhari's PTF record below! Buhari also told his audience that the country's dwindling economy was as a result of unfocused leadership and lack of vision which he blamed on imposition of candidates by political parties. Look who's talking. Buhari didn't tell his supporters that his vice presidential candidate was also imposed on him? Continuing, Buhari told his audience that a robust regime of job creation, with adequate reward system, that focused on restoring dignity of labour among Nigerians would be enthroned through a well-diversified economy. Buhari didn't explain further how and when he will achieve this. Buhari also stressed that the security situation in the country would be tackled through a strategic approach with potency to address the socio-economic causative factors, with positive impact on the economy. In his words: "Equipping and resourcing our security personnel, for example, will not be limited to provision of arms alone, but uniforms, boots and accoutrements, are enormous opportunities for textile production, garment making and shoemaking". Buhari thinks that his predecessors are dunces, and that only he has this idea. He must first of all find out if such has been tried before and why it didn't work. Buhari doesn't have to be the president to pass on any idea he finds useful to the presidency or the military institution he once led, as that can bring about positive change, if he think he has one, even if Nigerians reject him again at the polls. To be continued! Read more: After Buhari's Monday February 2, 2015 meeting with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in Lagos, the ALL PROGRESSIVES GRAND ALLIANCE (APGA) released a statement rejecting the so called economic proposals presented by Rtd., Major General Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, in Lagos, Nigeria. The Party wrote:"A so called Buhari economic plan released to the press yesterday, Thursday 2/2/15, is highly bereft of any pragmatism in our contemporary economic world. Idealism does not work in Economics. Picking at faults does neither constitute a strategy. A plan highly stagnant on contemporary Nigerian economic developments and socio-economic standards as may benefit the average Nigerian may not be admitted into the economic debate. It is simply an SS4 proposal paper. A Presidential candidate highly criticized for his lack of a fundamental vision and understanding of the Nigerian economy and its Peoples, Buhari may not rule by a committee of technocrats. They 'economic committee' failed us the first time, with the leader lacking a fundamental understanding of their explanations, and falling back strictly on his traditional knowledge of rural economics. An economic plan that has difficulty articulating and accounting for the lifestyles of Nigerians and how that may be interwoven into a contemporary World economy may not be accepted by Nigerians. A plan that seeks to unilaterally ban goods and services without asking the trickle down effects of such a draconian posture on the economies of South-East, South-West and South-South Nigeria may not be accepted by Nigerians. Consistently focusing on corruption does not account for how a project may be initiated and finished. Any revisions during the project, or imbalance in accounts may be perceived as corruption under any regime. You may then talk to the birds on that issue. How would a Buhari government account for such sudden revision? Or will we have the nation in uproar, blame the contractor and impose another burden on our National Psyche, when actually the practical demands of the project demand such revision and infusion. We are being very practical here. Unfocused leadership is not the bane of Nigeria. Rather inconsistency in sustaining the focus laid by any Government in power. A country with very vibrant, exotic, multifarious ethnic groups and lifestyles may not easily be governed from a narrow focus, that is the bane. Understanding our different perspectives in the Federalist Nigerian economy is a big asset in devising any economic plan under any leadership. Buhari may really conduct his opinion poll on that. http://www.thetrentonline.com/exposed-uk-think-tank-links-apc-boko-haram-warns-us-stay-clear-apc/ http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/national-news/200058-president-hinges-nigeria-s-unity-on-confab http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/exclusive/buhari-ptf-days-untold-story/ TIT BITS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npJfbsTE3Ws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5og4CqZnJg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VEdPCvcOcc&list=PLB66F1C7707BB3B88 THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!! Continued from Part 19  |
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