Citizens’ despair and Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary

That many of the pupils who will be participating in the annual traditional match pass today (October 1) to commemorate Nigeria’s  64th independence anniversary from Britain may be suffering from malnutrition and despondency emanating from the pervasive poverty and economic hardship, as well as the anticipated low key events lined up nationwide,  are eloquent testimonies that our country is far from attaining the destination envisaged for her by its founding fathers.

We are deeply worried about the current level of hunger and despair in the land due to the high cost of living caused by inflation as well as the pain and suffering many citizens are going through on account of the ongoing fiscal and economic reforms coupled with the cumulative effects of bad governance by successive administrations at all levels since October 1960.

Similarly, the troubling statistics that the country remains the global poverty capital home to 88.4 million people living in extreme poverty and an astonishing 18.3million out-of-school children, according to the  United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the highest number by any nation worldwide, clearly demands for creative and innovative leaders at the federal, state and local government levels with determination, patience, and resilience to overcome the daunting challenges.

In our opinion, the current leadership in the country should as a matter of urgency make the third stanza of the national anthem, “O God of all creation, grant this our one request: Help us to build a nation where no one is oppressed, and so with peace and all Nigerians shall be blessed”, their watchwords in renewed determination to tackle major challenges as insecurity, hunger, housing deficits, provide potable water, promote economic diversification, create jobs, and reduce the nation’s dependence on oil.

Though we welcome the federal government’s recent announcement that it is ‘very much” aware of the harsh economic challenges faced by Nigerians due to the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira

and working tirelessly to cushion the effects, it goes without saying the 64th independence anniversary’s theme,‘Reflecting on the Past, Inspiring the Future’ offers a rare opportunity for sober reflection for elected leaders at the executive and legislative arms of government to think outside the box to evolve short, medium and long term policies to address the people’s hardship.

It is also worthy of note that the claim by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, that President Bola Tinubu is implementing a series of transformative policies and reforms designed to correct the missteps of the past for Nigeria to emerge as a formidable economic superpower in the near future has imposed an additional burden on the federal government to speedily ensure that implementing its Renewed Hope Agenda comes with less pains.

A situation whereby the new national minimum wage of N70,000 monthly can’t buy a bag of rice for any worker as well as increasing prices of other food items like bread, maize grains, guinea corn, yam, irish potatoes, water yam, cassava tuber, garri, palm oil, vegetable amongst others with the inflation rate of 32.15 per cent in August certainly, has made life unbearable for many Nigerians who genuinely yearn that their suffering be ameliorated by government.

As we have argued in the past, the best starting point for the federal government to intervene and deal decisively with the suffering in the country is to address the current security challenges across the country through a revolutionary move that will birth State Police in addition to the existing Nigeria Police Force to guarantee the welfare and security of all citizens, the primary responsibility of government. It is a truism that no meaningful social and economic activities including farming and the very much sought foreign investment will flourish if there is no adequate safeguarding of lives and property.

This, as we maintained in the past, could be achieved through an accelerated amendment of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) with President Bola Tinubu initiating an executive bill that should be accorded urgent hearing and passage by both the National Assembly and at least two third of the 36 States Houses of Assembly while the proposed legislation should spell out the operational modalities especially issues of recruitment, training and discipline by State Police.

Nigeria’s founding fathers and nationalists such as former President Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, his counterpart in the former Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello as well as Chief Anthony Enahoro all of blessed memory as active players in the First Republic recognized the enormous merits inherent in true Federalism which engendered an era of prosperity in the country before the military struck in 1966.

In our opinion, one of the major factors that have stalled social, economic and technological development in the country has been the lack of political will by successive leaders to evolve and enforce true fiscal Federalism according to global best practices as obtained in the United States of America where Federal and State Police exist and discharge their statutory functions of securely lives and property seamlessly.

However, we commend the Tinubu administration for the landmark Supreme Court judgment which granted financial autonomy to the 774 local government areas, capable of accelerating social and economic transformation as well as good governance at the grassroots if implemented with utmost integrity, transparency and accountability by elected chairmen. That is feasible because the council bosses are aware that only a sterling performance in office in the form of concrete democracy dividends will guarantee their reelection.

We strongly believe that apart from safeguarding the lives and property of citizens, the federal and state governments should redouble their efforts and allocate more funds to agricultural production and the entire food value chain as part of measures to guarantee food security since a ‘hungry man is an angry man’ considering that such initiative will reduce the current high unemployment rate in the country as many hitherto idle hands will be engaged.

Similarly, the Tinubu administration should embrace the onerous task of improving the ease of doing business by making the business environment very attractive to investors, ensuring macroeconomic stability, stabilize the foreign exchange regime, repositioning the nation’s oil and gas sector to attract new investment, prioritize the health sector as well as work in synergy with governors to reduce the current high cost of governance in the country. In addition, the citizens should henceforth demand more accountability and transparency from elected public office holders to ensure that budgeted allocations are strictly deployed for the right purposes with value for money.

For a better society

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