Culled: vanguard
A retrospective look at the last two
years of the Jonathan administration
with a match of his promises and his
performance in office.
THE key imprint of the transformation
agenda heralded at the onset of the 2011
presidential election campaign was that
Nigeria would be transformed into a new
nation in various aspects of endeavour.
Two years into his term, an analysis of
the specific promises of transformation
shows the administration succeeding in
some sectors and also struggling to
attain key parameters of the agenda in
some strategic sectors.
Jonathan it would be recalled, had
during his whistle-stop campaign across
the 36 states of the federation ,
pledged to fix the following sectors;
power, economy, energy & gas, education
security, agriculture, water resources
among others. He also promised a better
deal on the Niger Delta issue, women
empowerment, and reforms where
necessary.
Infrastructural development
Accordingly, the President promised
among others; to revive the rail system
in the country, complete Lagos to Jebba
rail project, intervene and revitalize
the moribund Nigeria Machine Tools and
other infrastructure owned by the
federal government, modernize the ports,
complete the second River Niger bridge
before the expiration of the tenure,
make the Minister of Works to
immediately start repairs of the road
leading to Murtala Mohammed
International Airport, and assist in
resuscitating all the collapsed
industries in Kano state.
Others are to work towards making Akanu
Ibiam airport in Enugu an international
airport, seek alternative funding means
to repair the Benin-Ore road, give
Sokoto-Kotangora road unfettered
attention
Verdict
Two years on, there is a consensus that
the President has made remarkable
achievements particularly on road
construction, as many federal roads are
now receiving attention. However, no new
sea ports have been proposed while many
of the country’s major airports have
been rebuilt. Remarkably, the contract
for the construction of the 2nd Niger
bridge, was recently awarded to Julius
Berger Nigeria Plc.
Power
The nation was promised constant supply
of electricity, stable power supply by
the year 2015 so that small and medium
scale industries can thrive again,
exploration of the coal deposits in
Benue and Kogi states, construction of
more dams, building of more hydro-power
stations.
The electorate was also assured that
Nigerians would not use generators more
than two times in a week, increment in
power generation to about 4,747
megawatts by December 2011 and reduction
in the importation of generators by at
least 90% by the year, 2015.
Verdict
Though the government promised about
4,747 megawatts by December 2011, the
nation surpassed that mark mid last year
when power generation rose to about
4,307.7MW with an additional 170MW,which
served as spinning reserve.
But after the resignation of then
Minister of Power Prof. Bath Nnaji, the
power situation worsened as supply
dropped to 3,224.3MW. At the moment, the
nation is reportedly generating about
3,443MW, as power supply has remained
unreliable. However, further
investigations revealed that
transmission among others, remain the
current challenge in the sector given
that most transmission infrastructure
are obsolete.
Also power generation companies that
emerged successful in the bidding
process of the privatization of the
sector received their certificates on
April 22nd this year. But all these are
yet to translate to relative stability
in power supply, thereby leading to
doubts on the possibility of a stable
power supply by 2015.
Economy
The president pledged to work with the
private sector and all the relevant
agencies to stimulate industrial growth,
introduce 5-year term budgeting,
diversify the economy, to revive the
Ajaokuta Steel complex and Itakpe Iron
Ore Company, address the issues of
unemployment through diversification of
the nation’s economy to that of
sustainable agricultural development
across the 36 states of federation,
reduce production cost by inviting
manufacturers of high demand commodities
in the country to set up production
factories in the country and get
industries in Lagos up, bring industries
to the Niger Delta, create 1.5 million
jobs within 2 years, constitute a
special committee drawing experts from
the MAN, NACCIMA and related bodies as
well as key government officials to
deliberate regularly on policies that
will improve the nation’s economy among
others.
Verdict
While the administration is claiming
economic growth of 6.5 per cent in the
first quarter of 2013 with inflation
down to single digit, fiscal deficit of
1.8 of GDP and foreign reserves $48
billion, others have argued that the
reality is to the contrary. An
estimated 70% of the nation’s budget is
spent on servicing paraphernalia of
government, while foreign debts are
accumulating.
Energy & Gas
The President pledged to make Nigeria go
beyond producing and exporting crude oil
to exporting refined petroleum products,
create 600,000 new jobs in the gas
industry , boost gas supply from 1.0
billion cubic feet per day to 10 billion
cubic feet by the year 2020, facilitate
the enactment of the Petroleum Industry
Law with emphasis on local content such
that jobs are created for Nigerians
among others.
Verdict
Actualisation of the promises have been
largely unfulfilled. The Petroleum
Industry Bill, PIB is still stagnating
in the National Assembly, Nigeria is
still largely dependent on imported fuel
even while a large amount of money is
still spent on refineries that are not
producing at capacity. The
administration has been dogged by its
failure to fully address the corruption
emitting from the payment of petroleum
subsidy to importers and the continued
insinuation of the sector as a nest of
corruption.
Security
Following the general insecurity in the
country, Jonathan promised to make
anyone caught breaching the public peace
to face the full wrath of the law, make
sure that no part of the country is
allowed to be a sanctuary for criminals,
confront headlong ethno-religious
violence in the country, ensure there is
no sacred cow in the fight against
corruption, strengthen EFCC and ICPC to
fight crime , eradicate kidnappings
impeding entrepreneurship in Eastern
Zone , pursue all bombers and terrorists
among others.
Verdict
Despite the recent declaration of state
of emergency in the states of Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa, observers still argued
that enough is not being done to curb
insecurity.
This is one area that there seems to be
a general consensus that the President
had not done well. While kidnapping was
at one time only prevalent in the
Southeast, it has in the last few years
fully spread into a booming industry in
some other parts of the country
especially in Delta, Edo and Lagos
States. Similarly, the administration’s
war against graft, has been generally
described as weak and unproductive.
Education
At the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile
Ife Osun State, Candidate Jonathan on
12th March 2011 promised a holistic
review of the nation’ education policy.
He also pledged to establish at least
one Federal University in each state by
the end of 2012, improve on hostel
facilities across the nation, revamp
Almajiri system of education, work
towards improving the education sector
as a prelude to transforming economy and
as means of empowering the people. He
also promised to improve on teaching and
learning environment in schools and to
make every Nigerian of school age to
have access to education.
Verdict
The administration initiated a programme
to provide 400 schools for itinerant
scholars in Northern Nigeria known as
Almajiri. There is also a reported 15
percent increase in pass rates in school
leaving examinations in Nigeria in 2012.
The number of Federal universities in
Nigeria was increased by 12 as well,
just as blocks of classrooms in 15
states were completed as part of efforts
to meet Millennium Development Goals,
MDGs.
However, the increase in the number of
federal universities has been met with
criticisms over the administration’s
failure to improve on the standard of
the existing universities all of which
have fallen out of global reckoning. The
condemnation is buttressed by the
allocation of N426.53billion to the
sector, which at about 10%, is grossly
below the UNESCO recommendation of 26
percent.
Agriculture
Jonathan also promised to boost
agriculture through irrigation and
maximizing vast mineral resources in the
country, revive the marketing boards to
ensure that farmers are no longer
cheated on the sales of farm produce
while more silos would be built to help
farmers preserve their products, provide
farmers with information on agricultural
production and move towards mechanized
agriculture and make each state to
specialize in two crops; cash and local
crop.
Verdict
The administration’s strides in the
agriculture sector have been largely
commended and the sector is after many
years of stagnation again looking up ,
while the country’s agriculture experts
are now the toast of their peers around
the continent.
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