Atiku Abubakar. |
Just like every other seasonal
activity, it is predictable that the 2019 election cycle will dawn. What was
not predictable, perhaps until recently, are the characters whose faces will be
the emblem of this particular political season. In terms of the configuration
of the political parties that will jostle for votes, there isn't much
difference from what was in 2015, as the two leading political parties remain
the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) -
safe for the fact that this time around, the erstwhile opposition party is now
the ruling party.
And,
this time around, President Muhammadu Buhari is the incumbent and he's being
challenged chiefly by the candidate of the opposition PDP, former Vice
President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar. There is motley of other political
parties with candidates also campaigning for president.
However,
if popular opinion amongst Nigerians is anything to go by, the 2019 election
will be won and lost on the merit of the plan of action that each of the
presidential candidates is able to articulate to the electorate.
Perhaps
this is the thinking in the camp of Atiku Abubakar, the PDP candidate who
recently announced the kick-start of his campaign with the launch of his policy
document. The document, which is a compendium of proposals on action plan of
the former Vice President if he is elected president, was unveiled on Monday
after a live social media interaction with Nigerians.
A
press release from the campaign organization of the PDP presidential candidate
had quoted that "The intention (of the Atiku Campaign Organisation) is to
take (its) policy directly to Nigerians and to register the belief of Atiku
Abubakar that it will take the collective efforts of every Nigerian to rebuild
the country. That is why (they) want Nigerians to access the policy directly
and ultimately take ownership of it."
A
review of the document shows that the policy covers a wide area of concern
including jobs creation, infrastructure development, agriculture,
restructuring, youth and women development, technological innovation,
education, healthcare, security and foreign affairs.
The
entire compendium is tied around the JOBS acronym of Atiku's presidential
campaign, which essentially entails employment generation, creating opportunity
for all-inclusive prosperity, being united and security. The plan supports the
encouragement of the private sector to create employment through an initiative
called National Entrepreneurship Development and Job Creation Programme.
It
also provides specific finance and strategic support for job creation in the
entertainment industry; transformation of the culture and tourism sectors into
one of the big earners of foreign exchange and job creation and review of
corporate tax rates and capital gains tax in order to lower transaction costs
in the capital market.
Under
infrastructure, the policy proposes by increased investments in road and rail
construction, water supply and sanitation, power and oil refining; reforming
the power sector with goal of producing 20,000 megawatts by 2030 and 50,000MW
by 2050; create Special Infrastructure Office to help speed construction and
implementation; using private sector, establish an Infrastructure Debt Fund
(IDF) with an initial funding of US$20b, mobilizing domestic and international
private resources to finance and deliver large projects across all sectors of
the economy; build small refineries in the northern parts of the country,
increase oil refining and oil products from under 0.5% to 2% of GDP; construct
up to 5,000km of modern railways through privatization, PPPs, and public
investments; more than double investment funding from 15% to 35% of GDP in
addition to licensing of mini-grids, including solar as solutions for power
generation.
On
infrastructure, the policy seeks for an ambitious increase of the nation’s
stock of infrastructure from $150bn to approximately $600bn (contrary to the
$90bn being reported in a section of the media), which will require a
commitment to invest a minimum of $35bn annually for the next five years.
However, funding for infrastructure development will not come from public
budgets only. Government will incentivize the private sector to set up an
Infrastructure Development Fund with an initial funding (privately mobilized)
of $20bn while many more projects will be birthed via PPPs
In
agriculture, the policy suggests the construction of farm to market roads;
improved farming with modernization and mechanization of small-scale
agriculture; transforming agricultural sector into a viable enterprise creating
rural wealth and farmer prosperity; investment in local agric-processing
clusters by offering concessional financing, tax breaks and seed funds and
reviewing import duty on machinery and equipment for agricultural processing
and for export production.
Perhaps
the most ambitious component of the policy is on the knotty issue of
restructuring. Under the Atiku's plan, within the first hundred days of his
administration, his government will put in place a National Committee for the
Devolution of Powers.
There
is also a plan to mobilize the legislature to effect constitutional amendments
to allow greater powers to states and local governments. Relocating the Niger
Delta Ministry from Abuja to the Niger Delta making it closer to stakeholders
and beneficiaries.
There
is also a recommendation for an increase in the number of government
appointments made to young people and women to 40 per cent. It also targets
youth, including graduates, early school leavers, and the massive numbers of
uneducated youth not in schools for employment or training and provision of
microfinance and financing schemes specifically targeted at youth and women.
The
education plan of the PDP presidential candidate includes the development of an
all-inclusive nationwide educational system with focus on young girls and
special needs students.
There
is also a provision for the utilization of technical colleges and vocational
schools to produce skills and competencies for innovation and idea creation.
Also, the development and promotion of science and technical education to
create skills for the new economy.
On
a general note, the Atiku policy document dubbed the ‘Peoples Policy’ appears
robust and well articulated. It is however expected that policy experts within
and outside the country will begin to interrogate the policy which, according
to the PDP presidential candidate, had taken 18 months of rigorous
brainstorming to incubate, on its merits and demerits. But beyond the
narratives that will trail the review of the policy document is that its very
existence has set the ball rolling for an issue based campaign in the 2019
election season and that is a very welcome development.
Dr
Garba Umar wrote from Abuja and can be reached via ugpella04@gmail.com.
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