Daily Independent (Lagos)
29 May 2011
Abuja — Nigerians – individuals and groups – have told the in-coming governments at the federal and state levels to give them good governance as a way of justifying the millions of ballots they cast for them during the April general elections that brought them to power.
They have also set agenda for the political leaders; the criteria they would want to use to measure the success or failure in office of both the president and the governors at the end of their tenure.
Nigerians across political, ethnic, cultural and religious divide did as President Goodluck Jonathan and 26 State Governors take fresh oaths of office today to steer the affairs of the country for another four years (May 29, 2011-May 29, 2015).
The several groups and prominent Nigerians have, in un-mistaking words, tasked the president and the governors on what are expected from them in the next dispensation.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), for instance, fired the first shot, advising President Jonathan and the governors on the areas they should focus their attention in the next four years, charging them to tackle the problem of insecurity and corruption headlong in the country.
The apex Northern socio- cultural organisation said: “The priority of the government should be the security of lives and properties of the governed which is sine qua non for any socio-economic development of the country to take place.”
In their own advice to the elected officers, the Igbo apex socio-cultural group, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, apart from tasking the president on infrastructure development for the South East region which they said has suffered since the 1970 civil war, also called on him to focus on oil and gas development in the zone in line with the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere while speaking through its leader, Reuben Fasoranti, pleaded with the president to urgently tackle the problem of the energy sector which, according to him, has affected the development of local industries and aggravated unemployment in the land.
“Jonathan should work towards boosting the megawatts of electricity being generated across the country to allow for a stable electricity supply for industrial and domestic use.
“He should be more proactive now that he has been elected as the president of the country. What should pre-occupy his mind in the next four years is how to ensure that the power sector is fixed.
“The moment the power sector problem is addressed, many industries will come to life. Many Nigerians rely on electricity to earn their daily living,” the Afenifere leader said.
Speaking on the issue of corruption, the ACF tasked Jonathan to take the issue of corruption as a priority saying, that “it has distorted our value system and our sense of what is right and what is wrong.”
The ACF National Publicity Secretary, Anthony Sani in a telephone conversation with Sunday Independent in Kaduna said: “As a result of corruption, the empowerment of our youths had been stolen.”
He noted that in ACF’s congratulatory message to the president-elect and all winners as well as all losers: “ACF called on Mr. President and all state governors to enable the people of Nigeria unleash their synergies and live up to their collective challenges for common good.”
While tasking the incoming government on security, ACF said that the sources of insecurity in Nigeria range from criminal to socio- economic, ethno-religious to political, adding that “unless government has realistic appreciation of what are the causes of the prevalent insecurity in the land, it will not be able to find the solution to it.”
While deploring the high level of corruption in the country, the northern umbrella organisation said
a situation where former public officers indicted for corrupt practices are allowed to walk free and many of them get back to government offices offend the people’s sense of justice.
Speaking with Sunday Independent, the Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ralph Ndigwe made a case for the South East zone.
Ndigwe said the South East deserves a gas turbine to boost electricity generation in the zone and propel its economic growth and rapid development.
He added: “The pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation has serious concerns for infrastructure development in the zone, which has suffered since the end of the civil war in 1970, with all its roads turned into death traps,” adding that, “the major concern of Ohanaeze is to see that the Jonathan administration redresses this anomaly.
Ndigwe said: “In the few meetings we have held with the president, he has shown magnanimity to develop this country.
“We have gotten promises of improved electricity supply, water, energy, roads and development of transport infrastructure. The president also promised to do something about our ailing education sector.
“In the case of electricity, we think that is what will fast-track progress of Igbo land which has large investment potentials. We have a coal fired power plant in the South-East. It should be made functional. “There should be a gas turbine somewhere in the South-East to generate electricity. There should also be an oil and gas plant in the South-East in line with the new petroleum bill.”
On the issue of political appointments, he said that, “although it is an affair of the political parties, it doesn’t mean Ohanaeze cannot come in where there is a problem.”
He said that Ohanaeze would come in after the sharing of the appointments for the sake of equity and if it was not done in fairness to the South-East, then the organisation would definitely seek audience with the president to iron things out with him.
Also, one time Minister of Finance under President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, Olu Falae has advised President Jonathan and the governors as they take the mantle of leadership of the country today, to do their best in normalising the charged situation in the country and stop the killings going on in several quarters under different guises.
Falae said “the post-election violence that erupted after the presidential election has created tension, distrust and a division in the land among others,” adding that “the president has to do much to restore the confidence of the people in the unity of the nation.”
On the economic platform, Falae, also former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, called on the government at the centre to adopt an articulate and well developed planning mechanism for the country, adding that “we needed a proper national planning that can guide our systems and officials if we are to get the best from our policies in all sectors of governance.” He words: “No country can develop without a well articulate planning as it is the tool that will guide the functionaries and the ministries on policy implementation and also enable the president to control his ministers.”
Falae said the various killings going on in the country cannot allow development to thrive and pleaded with President Jonathan and the governors to work hard at stopping ugly trend.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dubem Onyia, tasked President Jonathan and the in-coming governors to venture into the rural areas and tackle the problem of graduate unemployment.
Onyia suggested that the problem of unemployment could be tackled by encouraging the private sector and the establishment of industrial layouts that could catalyse development in the states.
His advice: “Unless you reduce unemployment, you will not reduce crime and promote economic development.
“So, I hope that the in-coming administration will give jobs to the teeming unemployed youths in the country by supporting the private sector and making the states an industrial hub.”
Also, former President -General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dozie Ikedife, former Nigerian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Mathew Mbu as well as Joe Ifedi, one of the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are in agreement that the issue of power, security, infrastructural development, empowerment of the people, health care delivery, education, among others must be tackled with all sincerity both at the federal and state levels for Nigerians to feel the impact of good governance.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Continued here:
Citizens Demand Good Governance From Jonathan, Governors