The Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to run an open, inclusive and transparent system of governance that combines competent technocrats with seasoned politicians who are of proven integrity.
The group stated this weekend in a communique signed by its President Prof. Hassan A. Saliu issued at the end of its meeting in Abuja.
It called on the federal government to come up with policies that would ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians occasioned by the recent removal of fuel subsidy, currency swap, inflation among others.
“In the past few years, Nigerians have passed through very difficult periods of CoronaVirus pandemic, Currency Swap introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), hyperinflation, unemployment, high poverty level and others. The effect of all the developments, in our view, are still being felt in the country, coupled with the recent removal of fuel subsidy on PMS. All these, no doubt, have piled up financial pressures on Nigerians.
“There is an urgent need to come up with action plans in addressing the inevitable impacts of all these developments on Nigerians for the urgent task of re-positioning their country,” it said.
On security challenges facing the nation, NPSA advised the federal government to adopt an all of society approach by putting more emphasis on preventive measures.
“NPSA recognised that the popular notion of national security and defence that focuses mainly on big boots and kinetics would only serve short-term goals.
“However, to address the medium and long term issues, there is an urgent need to approach the management of security matters from a more holistic and comprehensive perspective by putting greater emphasis on proactive strategies to prevent where possible, and contain where inevitable, emerging security challenges in the country,” it said.
NPSA also tasked the Tinubu led administration to cut down the cost of governance by reducing remuneration of all political office holders.
It said, “Our Association is also deeply concerned about the rising cost of governance in Nigeria, which is extremely high, especially in comparative terms with other democracies both in and outside Africa.
“While the NPSA is fully aware that some of the issues involved might require amendments to the constitution, there are others on which immediate administrative steps can be taken to roll back the cost of governance in the country.
“The starting point is to re-examine the remuneration of all political office holders in order to cut down the cost of governance. We believe this is likely to be a difficult and unpopular policy but it is doable, especially if there is political will to do it.”
