PDP, APC: Your promises are vague
on march 16, 2015 at 1:35 am in broken links
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During the student union election in 1979/80 at
the University of Benin, Mr. S.A. Tella, now a
professor of Economic and Statistics department
taught the university community how sacred facts
and effective statistics can be used for
electioneering campaign.
Buhari and Jonathan
Tella entered the race for the student union
election to the office of Student welfare two
weeks to the election. When he announced his
candidacy to the class, he was taken as a joker.
He neither printed posters nor embarked on
elaborate campaign like others.
He simply went to the library and took stock of
the seats available in the library. He did the same
for Hostel accommodation and the cafeteria.
What he did next was to ask from the authorities
the number of students in the school and what
was the ideal facilities the students were
supposed to have in the various places named
above. He got the data and was armed for the
manifesto night.
When it was his turn to speak, Tella just told the
student body the number of seats in the library
and how many were supposed to be there, he
said the same of the hostel accommodation, the
cafeteria and what the students were missing by
the university not providing adequate facilities for
them to study without tears. Before he finished,
the man who nobody gave a chance, was
endorsed by all the students with the chant,
“Tella, you have won, Tella you have won.”
I decided to reflect on this experience in my
student days based on the hollow nature of the
electioneering campaigns going on in the 2015 bid
for the various elective posts. Nigerian politicians
have left the substance and are chasing shadows
while our country men watch helplessly. These
politicians are not making any measurable
promise to the electorate. They are just dancing
naked to amuse the electorate.
Each time they mount the rostrum, they speak
vague and foul language devoid of facts and
figures. There is no new idea of how to deal with
the economic and social problems that have
plagued the nation. “I will deal with corruption.”
What is the level of corruption you plan to deal
with? In what sector or arm of government do
you have this high level of corruption? How much
is Nigeria losing per year due to corruption? The
parties have not conducted any study, they have
no idea how much is being lost and how to block
the loopholes. What are the new plans to deal
with corruption? Nigerians are not being told; yet
we clap our hands for vague speeches made on
soap box.
Nigerians know that the major development
challenges facing the country today are
corruption, insecurity, the economy –
unemployment/poverty, power, infrastructure,
health and education etc. The ongoing campaign
shows that the two political parties do not
understand the depth of the economic problem
facing the country. They both have no credible
agenda to deal with the issues, especially within
the context of the evolving global economy and
Nigeria’s broken public finance.
A look at what happens in other parts of
democratic world, party and leaders who do their
home work usually come up with policy
framework where programmes and policies they
intend to pursue ie Party manifesto, are fully
costed and strategies to finance and implement
them are spelt out. Neither APC nor PDP can
make such claim.
To any economist, any plan without the cost
outlay is nothing but a wish-list. They are not
telling us how much each of their promises will
cost and where they will get the money to run
them. None talks about the broken or near
bankrupt public finance and the strategy to fix it.
Each talks about agricultural revolution, what type
of agriculture are we planning to implement?
What are the value chains the agric policy will
pursue? What light industries are coming on
stream and where are they to be located? How
are they to be financed? What is the cost
estimate for such projects? How many jobs are to
be created from the sector per annum? These are
questions that they are not ready to answer.
What is the export strategy for the surplus that
will be created from investment in agriculture?
Which market is Nigeria targeting for export? And
what plans are in their manifesto to free Nigeria
from dependence on import especially petroleum
imports in order to save the naira from continued
devaluation?
In response to the question of where the money
will come from, some Nigerians, journalists
inclusive, are quick to say that the problem of
Nigeria is not money but the management of
resources. This is far from the truth. To deliver an
efficient national transport infrastructure alone
according to available estimate, will cost $3.05
trillion in the next 30 years, about $25 billion per
annum even by corruption-free, cost-effective
means estimated by National Economic Council.
These politicians should stop lying to Nigerians
and tell the nation how both parties would fund
their programmes. This crop of politicians should
learn a lesson from Chief Obafemi Awolowo who
was asked in 1978/79 electioneering campaign
about his promises of free education and free
medical services. He, Awolowo reeled out figures
about the amounts he would save from various
‘waste’ including the tea/coffee served in
government offices. The issue here is that he
would always do his homework before making
any pronouncement. Evidently, from what the two
major political parties are offering, it does not
seem that they are offering Nigerians any serious
deal.