Nigerians to Buhari: Fix security, power, unemployment

President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Wednesday took their oath office for another four-year term, with some former leaders, including Olusegun Obasanjo conspicuously absent at the event.

Also not in attendance at the Eagle Square, venue of the event, were former President Goodluck Jonathan, General Abduslalami Abubakar, Ernest Shonekan and General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

No reason was advanced for the leaders’ absence at the event, which was attended by Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara and former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon.

Others present at the inauguration were National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and pioneer chairman of the party, Bisi Akande.

Buhari was sworn-in for a second term in office as Nigeria’s president having defeated the former vice president at the February 2019 poll.

The event which was mainly symbolic saw both Buhari and Osinbajo  being inaugurated, but without the usual speech making characteristic of such occasion.

The federal government had during the pre-inauguration press briefing, said the event would be low-key while the main celebration was slated for June 12.   

Expectations

Meanwhile, Nigerians of all shades and opinions have set agenda for the Buhari administration in the next four years.

On their wish list were fixing the power sector, tackling unemployment and security challenges as well as implementing the new minimum wage for workers.

IPAC   

On its expectation, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) said President Buhari should give priority to power generation and job creation in his second tenure.

IPAC national chairman, Peter Ameh, said this Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Ameh also advised the new governors to work with the federal government to improve power supply, create jobs and bring in investors in the country.

“Government should concentrate on power generation because if you solve power problem, you would have solved over 60 per cent of the Nigeria’s problems.

“There are still people who run computer centres and some have other Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) that have closed up because of epileptic power supply.

“The new government should look at how we can unbundle power supply by not totally relying on national grid, so that states can generate power effectively. Local government and industries can do that as well.

“Look at what Dangote is doing. He is now generating independent power. These are some of the industrial revolutions that we need to be able to generate employment, reduce poverty and crime level in Nigeria.’’

The IPAC national chairman also advised the newly inaugurated government both at national and state levels to offer good governance and revolutionalise the civil service, saying such would also help reduce corruption.

“If you are paying a worker N30, 000 minimum wage and there is no housing scheme to accommodate him, no bus terminals, no intra-state rail system like we have in the UK, where you can buy a ticket and use for one month, the N30, 000 will not take him home.

“So we must concentrate on housing scheme for civil servants. This will make them to be more dedicated to work.’’

He said both the president and the governors “must do things without ill wills or favouritism. You must protect the interest of the people at all times without putting personal interest first.

“Listen to both friends and critics. One of the key ingredients of democracy is that opposition is created to put elected government on its toes. With their opinions, you have a better window of governance.

“We wish them well and we wish the president and the governors will run this nation as an indivisible nation by carrying everyone along.’’

Cleric

Also speaking, Chief Imam Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque Sheik Muhammad Nuru, said Buhari should give more attention to addressing insecurity in parts of the country.

“I advise him to be more concerned with security issue.

“He should not be deceived by the so-called reports that he is receiving. He should take adequate action,’’ Nuru said.

He also advised new and returning governors to swing into action by implementing developmental programmes that would improve people’s living condition.

Similarly, District Head Garki-Hausa Umar Abubakar advised elected officials to remember that one day they would give account of their stewardship.

“God has chosen you and the people from the grassroots have voted you into power, remember that one day you will give account before your creator.

“Try and have it at the bottom of your heart that you were elected to serve the country, not to serve yourself or for your country to serve you,’’ Abubakar said.

NLC harps on unemployment, insecurity

Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said the president should create jobs for teaming youth to reduce insecurity in his second term in office.

General Secretary of NLC Peter Ozo-Eson told Blueprint it’s the responsibility of government to provide employment and ensure security of lives of the citizens.

“Well, deliberately, I am not talking about this agenda setting. We know the problems of the country when we have rulers or leaders who has a job of solving these problems and get the country to function properly. 

“The insecurity is a glaring one, the security situation in the country is horrible and the work of the government is to solve it. So, the economy is in shambles and this is in fact related to the insecurity situation because no economy is going to function properly if you have this massive insecurity challenges that we have. 

“The unemployment situation which derives from poor performance of the economy is clearly one of such. All these are intertwined, if you have massive unemployment of youths, you are going to have insecurity, and if you have insecurity the economy is going to perform poorly.”

NULGE

Also in an interview with Blueprint, National President, National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Ibrahim Khaleel said the president should not back down on the planned autonomy for local government.

He said: “For us in NULGE, we are already celebrating next level. When this agency of government came up with the guidelines, to us, is already a next level, so we are already in the next level before the president even takes oath of office to go into next level.

“So, for us it is a welcome development and we are happy, as well as urging Mr. President to stand his ground on this action by NFIU, the benefit is to the Nigerian people and not an individual. When you have better local governments in place, and an inclusive plan of development actively in place, you will be able to address a number of issues in the country and that would be for the good of Nigerians people.”

NUT on minimum wage

Similarly, the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) has asked President Buhari to match words with actions on the implementation of the N30, 000 new minimum wage by all tiers of government.

National Publicity Secretary of the NUT Titus Amba said this Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said the president should ensure total implementation of the N30, 000 new minimum wage across all tiers of government, saying this would improve Nigerians’ living standard.

“It is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that every state including local governments comply with the implementation of the new minimum wage.

“Civil servants don’t have any other source of revenue except through salaries.

“Hence, the N30, 000 new minimum wage should be implemented from the federal level down to the local government level. It is our hope that every Nigerian will see a better Nigeria in the next four years.”

‘Revenue drive desirable’

In a telephone interview with Blueprint, a development economist, Mr. Joseph Afolayan said the president needed to focus on infrastructure, ease of doing business and increasing its revenue base.

“Special focus should be providing more enabling environment for new start-ups; and existing businesses to flourish. This will lead to job creation in the private sector.

“We expect him to focus more on infrastructural development supporting industrialisation – energy, rail, good roads and issues of taxation — broaden the tax net to include everyone but give tax credits to the poor.”

He’s taken us out of the wood – Bulama

Meanwhile, a national secretary aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Arch. Waziri Bulama, has said the Buhari administration was gradually taking the country out of economic paralysis occasioned by 16 years of the PDP government.

He also said the APC-led government in its four years had embarked on capital projects worth over N4.3trillion, “a record that remains unsurpassed in the nation’s history of capital projects by any government.”

Bulama stated this in an exclusive interview with Blueprint in Abuja.

He said: “Without being told, one would see very clearly that the Buhari administration has in the last four years, been taking Nigeria out of the social, political and most pathetically, economic paralysis it was plunged into by the PDP administration.

“The truth is that the challenges before us are so great as a nation such that sinking N8trillion annual budget into a sector won’t make any difference.

“We, as a country have been faced with numerous challenges and issues, but today we are still standing and making a headway. My wish is to see that we all as a nation support the drive and passion of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to achieve more meaningful progress in the country, especially in this second tenure.

“The objective of the president is for votes and voices of Nigerians to count, to ensure Nigeria belongs to Nigerians and that their votes as deciders of who rules them. Leaders must be accountable to citizens which is the fundamental abiding philosophy held by President Muhammadu Buhari. The secret of the party has sustained it to stand the test of time and still waxing stronger by the day.”

On his aspiration as the party’s scribe, Bulama, who was deputy director-general (coordination) APC presidential campaign council in 2018, said, giving his contribution to the development of the party and his people back in Borno state, he was eminently qualified for the position.

“At our last convention, I was an aspirant but had to drop my aspiration for Mai Mala Buni following intervention from stakeholders. Now, he is governor-elect and the position has become vacant. So, stakeholders are requesting me to come back and this is a call to service which I am humbly obliging. I can tell you that I have the buy-in of major stakeholders in APC and in sha Allah, it will go well.

“For us in APC, our fundamental ideology is for advocacy of people’s right, fighting for democracy and freedom of Nigerians like the common man, the rights of the ordinary people, youths and women.”

Speaking on APC and what it stands for, the party chieftain said, “Although APC was born out of sacrifice by its founding fathers who neutralised the previous parties to form APC like the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu and others to rescue the nation back then on the issues that bedevilled Nigeria’s progress and this can be achieved through a holistic support.

“Our party should be a platform where to present meaningful programmes and progress to the Nigerian people; we should assist the leaders in every possible way to strengthen this party, to make this party stronger, more responsive to members’ wish and more responsive to its undertaking, to challenge and change the status quo in Nigeria, to make governments in Nigeria work for all its citizens. All these noble beginnings, noble aspirations and noble gains of the party inspired me, to sit in the heart of the party as the leader of the administration of the party to help our leaders in this visionary objective,” he said.

He further advised party members to continue supporting its programmes aimed at moving the nation forward, saying, “Let us support the drive of 4+4 next level of President Mohammadu Buhari.”

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