There are some parts of the President’s report card that are mildly encouraging-he realises that the economy has to grow by double digits over a decade and beyond for Vision 2020 to be realisable; he says government has settled on an economic model-free enterprise with adequate regulation and identified the enablers that will facilitate economic growth, consistent with the seven-point agenda; the government is devoting budget resources to critical infrastructure as well as involving the private sector in transport concessioning-this columnist’s key concern about the absence of transparency in the Lagos-Ibadan expressway concession will not be repeated in future based on the provisions of the Procurement legislation, the President promises.
The President even recognises that attracting private capital into infrastructure will release resources for education, health and other social spending; the basic intent of the petroleum sector reforms is sensible-to make the NNPC a competitive national oil company, and to restructure the oil joint ventures into incorporated joint venture companies and so remove their dependence on the treasury for funding operations; generally a strategy seems to be in place for many aspects of transportation-roads, rail, aviation, inland waterways etc. The problem is that in almost every case, all you have are statements of intent, mid-way into a four year tenor! The test really is whether the regime will display enough political will and administrative acumen to see through its plans and commitments.
In several areas, the portents are not encouraging. I have already spoken about power, where it now seems clear that absence of political will (based perhaps on narrow geo-political reservations rather than economic considerations) have prevented the government from proceeding on a private sector led power strategy that is both compelling in its rationale and is also the law of the land as encompassed in the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005. In the Niger-Delta, you also see a similar absence of political will to make the required investments in the region to communicate to the people seriousness to address the region’s infrastructural needs- the pitiable allocation to the new Niger-Delta ministry compared with stupendous allocations to Abuja belie any commitment to developing the region.
The regime’s words are hardly aligned with its deeds regarding electoral reform as well! In spite of President Yar’adua’s stated commitment to electoral reforms, none of the elections held since he became President has been better than those conducted in 2007-in Adamawa, Kogi, Cross River and most recently the shame and violence visited on the people of Ekiti. These divergences between promises and actions further detract from the legitimacy and credibility of government.
The regime has developed a commendable legislative agenda. The proposed land reforms are a critical step in liberating the housing and mortgage sectors and making it easier for Nigerians to acquire and transfer title to land. The basic premises of the Petroleum Industry re-organisation bill make sense as well, even though the government has not engaged adequately with industry stakeholders and does not appear to have factored their inputs into the draft legislation. At the end of the day, if industry investors are unhappy with any law that emerges, the whole exercise would have been in vain. The government has also sent seven electoral reform bills to the National Assembly. But then there has been little or no legislative advocacy to push these legislations through Parliament.
If the government does not aggressively push its legislative proposals, of course opponents will stall them until the end of this legislative cycle-which is sooner than one may imagine as the campaign season and constituency activities increasingly engage the time of the legislators. The proposed downstream petroleum sector deregulation does not require legislation, but even that is stuck in the wheels of executive inertia, leaving Nigerians to contend with a return to debilitating fuel queues and petrol black markets. And while the President touts a commitment to free enterprise, his actions on the privatisation front do not match its claims. As one columnist puts it, the regime has appointed a self-acclaimed “novice” to oversee the privatisation process and from the gentleman’s early actions and pronouncements, it appears his mandate is to confuse rather than progress things.
The President appears to be drifting into an inclination to micro-manage and getting bogged down in operational details; there is no evidence of radical thinking and a comprehensive strategy in agriculture, (which is critical for food security, a key part of the seven-point agenda and job creation)-the recently launched big farmers’ scheme is like building the house from the roof! The priority should be providing land for millions of unemployed youths in smallholder farming schemes; and the worst part of the interview was when the President discussed Nasir El-Rufai, Nuhu Ribadu and his ex-governor friends. The “surrender” on the MDGs is also regrettable. On the whole, the chef appears now to have finalised some recipe, but he is still in the kitchen, dinner is yet to be served and the household is hungry! Unfortunately the taste of the pudding can only be in the eating!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment