President Muhammadu Buhari takes the oath for the second and final four-year term today, May 29, 2019.
For Buhari, the oath-taking ceremony is significant, being his final as elected president. For the citizenry, the occasion means much, marking the 20th anniversary of unbroken democratic rule and presenting a fresh hope for the delivery of the benefits of participatory governance.
Having secured the victory that entitles him to another four years in office, the president must work harder to justify to Nigerians that he indeed merited their mandate.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) headed by President Buhari had made security, war against corruption and rebuilding of the economy its primary focus in its first term in office. Four years down the line, while the government has recorded achievements in certain tasks it set out to accomplish, there is much more to be done still.
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The government had inherited a frightening security situation in 2015. The terror group, Boko Haram, was then controlling more than half of Borno State, killing innocent citizens as well as destroying property in the North-east states and in other parts of the country.
Although the government had succeeded in reducing the capacity of the Boko Haram to spread terror, the war appeared to have been stalemated with the insurgents still conducting occasional destructive raids, not just on residents in previously liberated communities, but also on military formations in Borno State.
But much more disturbing is the festering menace of armed herdsmen attacks on farmers; and banditry by Fulani militants in several states in the North-west and North-central, resulting in the killings of many Nigerians. The bandits are also beginning to make incursions into states in South-west and South-south.
These developments are destroying the harmony among the ethnic groups besides the huge negative impact on the drive to redirect the economy away from oil to non-oil sectors, particularly agriculture.
The government has so far failed to demonstrate the capacity to curtail the deteriorating security situation.
After the second term inauguration, President Buhari must endeavour to restore the confidence of the citizens in his ability to secure their lives and property. He must do more to disabuse the minds of those who allege that he is condoning the excesses of the Fulani herdsmen because they are his kinsmen.
Furthermore, the government’s efforts to provide employment for the teeming youths and increase the prosperity of millions of Nigerians, struggling for survival has not yielded appreciable impact. There is an urgent need to rethink current policies and programmes to reduce unemployment and idleness among youths, one of the reasons encouraging kidnapping for monetary gains.
To rejuvenate the economy, the APC-led Federal Government had also promised to increase electricity generation and distribution capacity to, at least, 20,000 megawatts in the first four years. It was only able to increase the generating and peak distribution capacities to 7,450 megawatts and 5,375 megawatts respectively in four years.
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Even with the achievements in electricity sector, a large population of citizens in urban areas do not seem to feel the gains because of the inadequacies of distribution companies. Government must ensure that recent fund interventions for the needed equipment are judiciously used to remove the impediments that make benefits unrealisable.
The government anti-corruption agencies have kept the fight against corruption alive and successfully recovered stolen funds. However, we believe that the anti-corruption fight must go beyond fund recovery to entrenching measures to make stealing public funds impossible. Government must also focus on corrupt civil servants, who frustrate governance for their selfish gains, as well as extort money from members of the public. Nigerians generally are yet to imbibe the culture of shunning corruption. The Buhari government must instill this, for its anti-corruption to be enduring.
It is important to note that the ruling party promised in its manifesto to initiate amendments of the Constitution to devolve powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments to entrench true federalism in the country. This promise has not been fulfilled. Treating restructuring as irrelevant will not help this government and the nation, as we strongly believe that devolution of powers holds the solutions to the myriads of challenges confronting the nation.
