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Campaign Promises And The River Between by chinae(m): 9:26pm On Dec 05, 2015 |
I am not certain if the English aphorism
which says, ‘it is easier said than done’ was
coined with the attitude of politicians in
mind. But over the years, it has become
verily descriptive of the attitude of Nigerian
politicians especially when it comes to the
fulfillment of promises made during
electioneering campaigns. In the last 16
years, I had formed a habit of gathering
and keeping all campaign literature,
brochure and booklets of many politicians.
And when, at the end of their service years,
I assess what they promised and what they
achieved, there is usually a very wide
yawning gap.
The sad thing is that too often, the
politicians get away with such electoral
deficits essentially because many Nigerian
electorate dwell largely on short term
benefits, and have also come to pay little
attention to what politicians promise
because they really do not expect them to
fulfill their promises. Nigerian electorate,
so-to-say, prefer the paramedics and not
the medical doctors to attend to their
pains.
Were it not so, politicians in search of votes
will not promise to fix the bad roads,
provide water, upgrade schools, equip
hospitals, provide employment, ensure
security, etc etc., and at the end of the day,
fulfill none of the promises. Yet, they will
come back again, four years after, facing
the same audience and making the same
unfulfilled promises, and still get the votes
of the electorate.
That is why I was excited with the question
of one of the senators from Adamawa
State, Senator Binta Masi Garba (alias
BMG), whose focus during the ministerial
screening exercise, was on how the then
ministerial nominees will help the All
Progressives Congress (APC) fulfill its
campaign promises.
Not many people paid attention to the
promises made by the various parties
during the campaigns.
Of course, nobody reckons anymore with
the promises of the party that lost the
election. So the PDP is out of consideration
in this case.
As for the APC, it regaled the nation with
the quest for change. Nigerians who were
really choking from the gross misrule of the
PDP quickly embraced the APC. The PDP
had seemingly taken Nigerians for granted:
doing as it pleases without recourse to
meeting either the needs of Nigerians or
even fulfilling its own warped promises.
Amidst the many promises of the APC, I
shall dwell on just three: the promise to pay
N5,000 monthly allowance to unemployed
Nigerian youths; the promise to provide a
meal a day to school children and the
promise to provide 3,000,000 jobs every
year.
On the first promise, the Buhari-led
government is already struggling to work
out the modalities of fulfilling the promise
by next year. First, it is had contemplated
paying the NYSC allowance (of N19,800) to
unemployed youths, but recently settled for
N5,000 per month. The Federal Government
had gone further, during the week, to
compute the cost of this promise by
declaring that it would cost the government
the sum of N125 Billion every month.
Really? What figure was the FG using to
compute the cost? For a country with no
reliable statistics, how did the government
arrive at the quoted figure? Is there any
database of the unemployed in the
country? Let us assume it is true, it means
that the FG will be doling out N1.5tr every
year to service the unemployed persons.
How much would it cost the FG to establish
companies and industries that can absorb
these youths and make them contribute to
the nation’s GDP instead of merely waiting
for the Abuja manna? N1.5tr per annum….
for just one of the promises!!!
On the second promise, there is yet no
indication of whether the government is
planning to fulfill this promise. Again, it is
not certain there is a reliable school
enrollment figure. And pray, how really
does the government plan to fulfill this
promise? It will be interesting to see how
such lunch packs will get to my village folks
in Emonu-Orogun, Delta State, or are they
not part of the Nigerians so promised?
I shudder at the complexity of the logistics
associated with this scheme. This is full six
months gone. The template of executing
this promise is still blank.
Perhaps the most troubling promise is the
third: to create 3,000,000 jobs per year! In
four years, the scheme should have created
12 million jobs. But this is five months
gone, not a jot of a job has been created.
Rather, jobs are being lost because of a
crushing and shrinking economy.
The PDP, I remember, had promised to also
create 3 million jobs per year, and the APC
adopted it pronto and their campaign
machinery lapped it up sufficiently so much
that it became a sub theme of the
campaign mantra.
No doubt, the agriculture and solid
minerals sectors hold a lot of promise in
absorbing many of Nigerian youths. But
with the late activation of the ministries (by
the recent appointment of ministers), not
much can be expected from these sectors
in the next six months. That technically
knocks off one year (of unfulfilled promise)
out of the tenure of Buhari’s first term.
It is even remarkable that beside the three
million jobs, the Vice President, Professor
Yemi Osinbajo , during the campaigns had
further promised that the FG will assist the
states to create 200,000 jobs per year. Here
are states which are struggling to pay
workers’ salaries, even with their bail out
funds!
Hear Osinbajo last March in Ondo:
‘If by the special grace of God we win the
election we will support state governments
to create 20, 000 jobs to cushion the
unemployment crisis in the country”.
So Mr VP, how far? Time is ticking away
irretrievably.
You can imagine the tons of promises
across the land. How they go unfulfilled.
Already, I am hearing so much of similar
promises from the campaigners in Kogi and
Bayelsa States. The two leading combatants
in Kogi (Capt Wada and Chief Audu) have
governed the state before. How much of
their previous promises were fulfilled? In
the same way in Bayelsa, the two leading
contestants ( Seriake Dickson and Timipre
Sylva) have each governed the state for
four years or almost, … how much of their
previous promises did they keep?
All said, Nigerian politicians see campaign
promises as mere political verbiages to
which no seriousness should be attached.
Indeed, the electorate do not consider
campaign promises as political covenants
and when they are broken, as they often
do, they bath no eyelid. In fact, the surprise
is usually when the promises are fulfilled.
Sadly, the ready reason for failing to
uphold campaign promises is “we met
empty treasury” or as Femi Adesina,
Buhari’s spokesman now puts it, “ we could
not hit the ground running because we
landed on very muddy ground”. These
excuses, over the years, have become the
river between campaign promises and their
fulfillment.
Canticles...
Where are the Corrupt APC Members?
Did you hear that President Buhari ordered
the arrest of former National Security
Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd)?
Yes, I heard. He was not the only one
ordered (to be) arrested. And it is not for
nothing. Didn’t you hear that a panel’s
report that investigated the procurement of
arms indicted Dasuki and co? That the sum
of $2.6bn was stolen or missing? That there
were fictitious contracts, failed contracts,
and that some awarded contracts were not
executed but payments were made? Didn’t
you hear all these and more?
Why are you speaking as if the entire report
is true? Do you know that even Dasuki was
never invited to defend his action before
the panel? Is that how to do investigation?
Can’t you see bias? Where is the demand of
fair hearing? Can’t you see through the
silhouette and give the right interpretation
that this is pure persecution?
Persecution? How? Look, this is a new era.
The age of impunity and two set of rules:
one for the rich and influential and the
other for the paupers and helpless is over.
The law is blind. Everybody is equal before
the law. If you offend, you answer for it.
QED! All those of you who want the law to
respect certain individuals must either
reappraise your ways or face the
consequences.
Nobody is persecuting anybody. A man
stores a cache of arms without licence, in
his private house and you don’t want him
to answer for it? Large sums of hard
currency are found in his house and you
say if he is asked to explain, then it is
persecution? Look, the country must move
away from the path of perdition to the path
of probity.
My friend, I don’t care how much grammar
you speak. If you are discerning, you will
see the trend of the fight being
orchestrated by the APC-led government.
Can’t you see? Is it not obvious that the
fight and harassment is targeted at the
helmsmen of yesterday?
What is wrong with that? Do you want
those who had nothing to do with public
treasury to be harassed? Won’t that be the
persecution you are talking about? Let me
ask you: do you know how many former
chieftains of the PDP who were holding
public offices have secretly returned stolen
money? Just wait, it will all be made open
soon. Those who helped to deepen the
economic misery of this country must be
dealt with. The age of impunity and
recklessness is forever gone. Every man or
woman must answer for his/her deeds,
without minding whose ox is gored. That is
the new operating policy.
Are you saying that the so-called new
operating policy is applicable only to PDP
members? Why are APC members not being
prosecuted as well? Or are you saying APC
is a haven of angels? I know you will argue.
But how do you explain that people like
Godswill Akpabio, Gabriel Suswan, Sambo
Dasuki, Diezani Allison-Madueke, Sule
Lamido, etc,…. all PDP chieftains are the
only corrupt persons that have to be
haunted and hacked down? How do you
justify that?
Were we not in this country when a panel
of enquiry also indicted former Governor
Rotimi Amaechi, now Minister of Transport?
What happened? Was he spared because
he is an APC chieftain? And pray, do we
not know how many APC chieftains have
virtually amortised the entire Lagos into
their own property and yet nobody is
talking about it? What kind of double
standard is this? Don’t mope at me. Speak!
Argue and defend them!
Hmmm, One thing I can assure you is that
you can neither intimidate me nor
successfully blackmail me. You don’t
muddle up issues. Take them one after the
other. As for former Governor Amaechi,
even new born babies know that his
successor, Mr Nyesom Wike merely wanted
to wreck Amaechi’s political career for
obvious reasons associated with political
differences. This is the same Wike who
borrowed N30 billion in 30 days. Can you
imagine that? It is that same Wike that is
promising to reward every goal scored by
the Nigerian players at the Cup of Nations
with $20,000. So if 20 goals are scored, he
will dole out $400,000! And that is
borrowed money! Isn’t it? And when the
searchlight is beamed at such reckless
persons later, you will begin to grumble.
Is it for nothing that the so-called panel
report did not indict Amaechi? Have you
read the panel’s report? Have you asked
yourself why it was only the Government’s
white paper, and not the panel’s report
that indicted him? Does that not tell you
something? Look, do you think if Amaechi
was corrupt that former President Jonathan
would not have crushed him? Have you
also forgotten that the EFCC also invited
and investigated Amaechi and found
nothing against him? Do you want him
prosecuted for prosecution sake, just so it
would seem that even APC members are
being prosecuted, even when there are no
substance to the wild and unfounded
allegations? Look, leave that man alone.
Those who battle him are troubling their
Chi.
And lest I forget, have you forgotten that
the number three citizen of this country,
the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, an
APC chieftain is being prosecuted now for
alleged wrong declaration of assets? Is he
not an APC man?
And as for whether some persons have
cornered everything in Lagos, I will advise
you to send in your petitions with clear and
investigatable evidence and watch whether
action will not be taken.
Look, I have always maintained that the
question to ask is: are the accusations
against the arrested people true or not?
Forget whether they are members of Party A
or Party B. That is the take off point in the
fight against mindless roguery that had
rattled the country in past years.
I am not surprised at your casuistic
arguments. I am not unaware that no
matter how sharp a knife is, it cannot cut
it’s own handle. So, that APC members are
being spared is understandable. All we ask
is that those being arrested are not merely
framed up and that the trials are not
powered by partisan considerations. And
above all, let what is good fort the goose
be good for the ganders. If APC members
are also proven to be corrupt let them go
for it.
Is it for nothing that Olisah Metuh and
Governor Ayo Fayose have been shouting
that this fight against corruption is as one-
sided as the look of the eagle on the EFCC
logo?
(a long hiss) How can you reduce the
seriousness of this conversation to those
partisan megaphones of the PDP? Don’t you
see how they run their mouths like broken
taps? You want to ascribe seriousness to
their pronouncements? Was it not this
same Fayose who quoted a certain fictitious
address in London as where President
Buhari has been admitted for treatment
during the campaigns early in the year? Do
you take such persons serious?
pix: Magus.jpg www.thisdaylive.com/articles/campaign-promises-and-the-river-between/227136/ |
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