Agenda for Jonathan's Ministers

I wrote “Agenda for Jonathan” four days before President Jonathan’s inauguration. With his cabinet in place (including Dr Akinwunmi Adesina whose selection appeared to have fallen through), I now adapt and drill it down to ministers who define policies and lead execution of the administration’s agenda. I retain the view that the President’s core objectives should centre on power and infrastructure; human capital and social sector investments; deepening economic reforms and improved fiscal and macroeconomic management; security and national reconciliation; legal and constitutional reforms; and corruption, ethics and national values. I also include land, housing and mortgage reforms.

The president’s power sector road map is a good plan and focus must be removal of obstacles to its swift execution, especially labour and geo-regional reservations, and ensuring that Nigeria has a private-sector controlled electricity industry. Unfortunately the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and government started by shifting the deadline for privatizing the power entities to February 2012!!! The minister must ensure no further missed targets and milestones! Beyond privatizing PHCN entities, a strategy for turning over the ongoing National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) to the private sector must be designed. I advocate movement towards decentralizing transmission and distribution, and reducing reliance on the inefficient national grid. The Yar’adua/Jonathan era witnessed large budgetary allocations to road infrastructure, but execution (and value-for-money) has lagged. President Jonathan must now ensure we see tangible improvements in our national road network. Nigeria should aim to be the air, sea, road and rail transportation hub in West Africa and Africa.

Government must focus ALL attention on social sector reforms-education; health; poverty alleviation and tackling unemployment. In line with the 2011 appropriation, we must increase investments in education and science and technology to redress the education sector disaster the nation is marching inexorably towards. We need better educational infrastructure; more emphasis on quality; better trained and motivated teachers; leveraging science and technology; and improved ethics and standards in our educational sector. While government must seek consensus around reform of the Almajirai educational system in the North, the minister’s proposal to build 400 Almajirai primary schools is problematic! Will the expenditure come from the federal budget? Will these schools belong to the federal government? Who will manage and bear the future recurrent expenditure of those schools? Does building religious schools not conflict with the Nigerian Constitution?

The key health sector challenges are sector reform to ensure we have the right management structures and institutional mechanisms and sustainable financing. The president needs a strong team of financial, insurance and health sector experts to review the current sub-optimal health insurance scheme and devise comprehensive reforms to ensure universal health coverage in a sustainable framework. We have a national emergency regarding poverty and unemployment. The report of the Dangote Committee on Job Creation already provides a “roadmap” for dealing with the jobs issue, but we need a similar “Marshall Plan” for poverty alleviation, social welfare, rural development and successful attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. Land reforms are central to two national priorities-development of a viable and sustainable mortgage market and increasing investments in agriculture as an option for generating youth and graduate employment. I believe that reforms should include removal of the consent requirements in the Land Use Act.

The thrust of economic policy and management should focus on diversification from crude oil exports, focusing on refining, petrochemicals, aluminum and other downstream activities; agriculture (investments in new farms and fisheries, food storage, transportation and processing); solid minerals development; manufacturing, transportation and tourism. Critical in achieving economic diversification are power, security, and appropriate sectoral policy reforms. The problems of Niger-Delta militancy, Boko Haram insurrection and general state of crime and insecurity MUST be laid to rest leveraging better intelligence, strong enforcement and dealing with underlying social issues. We also need a competition and anti-trust law to ensure what we get is a free market, not a free jungle; and continued regulatory and investment climate reforms to improve foreign (and domestic) investment. On the fiscal side, passage of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority Act is a big step towards institutionalizing better fiscal management. The establishment and management of NSIA must now be executed devoid of politics, cronyism and the “Nigerian factor”. I will also advocate an amendment to the Fiscal Responsibility Act to compel federal (and states/LGs) government to devote at least seventy percent of budget to capital expenditure by 2015, with the law mandating progression to that minimum on a year-to-year basis. Reform of the public services, compliance with procurement regulations; and a true anti-corruption war are also mandatory.

I also hope the administration will have time for legal and constitutional reforms to enthrone a true federal system, including devolution of powers to states and local governments; fiscal federalism; independent candidacy and Diaspora voting; a fair and accurate census and voters register; reform of the Land Use Act, and introduction of commercial courts. Finally I believe the president must focus on national values and ethical re-orientation. At the root of Nigeria’s development crisis and stunted growth is an underlying erosion of values and ethics; and unprincipled worship of money, position and power, irrespective of how they are attained.