10 Voices From BudgIT: The Failing Economy, Illegitimate Candidates, Leadership In Tough Times (And More)
1. The (F)ailing Economy — Adejoke Akinbode (Program Officer, Extractives)
The year 2015 went down in history as an epoch of mixed blessing - to most Nigerians - as as a new political party, All Progressive Congress (APC), was ushered in to run the country after a 16-year sway of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). But how has the economy fared in the past three years?
The country’s inflation rate was 9.2% year-on-year for May 2015, while the GDP growth rate was 2.35% in the second quarter of the same year. As of today, the inflation rate has risen to 11.28% year-on-year as of September 2018, while the GDP growth rate fell to 1.5% in the second quarter of 2018. All these figures put together mean only one thing — the economy is still not in good shape.
Government spending on salaries and emoluments of office holders must be cut down. Also, urgent steps are needed to be taken on how Nigeria manages its mineral resources so that they can be attractive exportable commodities. The government needs to support new sectors with the potential to provide large-scale employment and value. It needs to take decisive steps on opening up its markets to international investors by making (and implementing) private-friendly policies.
The labour market in Nigeria is enormous and affluent enough to run large production units but is poorly skilled and again undermined by weak energy system, one of Nigeria’s yet insurmountable challenges. The Federal Government needs to yield the transmission and generation of electricity entirely to private investors whilst setting up a timeline and regulatory body to manage it. With this, we can eventually diversify public revenues and our foreign currency receipts. As 2019 unfolds, it’s never too late to start with a clear long-term vision of what Nigeria ought and needs to be.
2. Illegitimate Candidates — Abel Akeni (Lead, Extractives)
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Fifth Schedule, Part 1, Section 7(b) forbids the president or any public officer from accepting “benefits of any kind” from any company, contractor, businessman or nominee or agent of such.
Notwithstanding this law, at least four high-ranking public officers/aspirants have willfully breached the aforementioned section of the constitution in what appears a quest to score electoral points by receiving gifts of Nomination Forms worth between ₦6m and ₦45m to participate in (primary) electoral processes of both All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP). By accepting and utilizing gifts of Nomination Forms for participation in the 2019 general elections, which is unallowed by the constitution ab initio, beneficiaries of such gifts are technically illegitimate candidates.
INEC should call a spade a spade, and is supposed to do that early enough. The violators need to repeat their primary elections even if that means amending the current electoral timetable. Besides, all presidential candidates receiving donations via private accounts, other than that of their political parties, should halt such practice as they’re exposing themselves to avoidable litigation in the run-up to (and even after) elections. For the sake of our democracy, it’s time we had some sanity in the way candidates and elections are financed in Nigeria. Without fixing campaign finance, we’re paying lip service to the fight against corruption and by and large democratic values.
3. Nigeria: A Nation of Paradoxes — Adeniyi Soleye (Human Resources Lead)
Hardly is there any nation on the planet so endowed with rich mineral, natural and human resources as ours. But after about 5-plus decades since we ceased making obeisance to the Queen, there is little to show for the affluence. We’re a nation of paradoxes; a giant with barely noticeable footprint. Corruption looms; brain drain escalates; human capital wastage is commonplace; poverty fills the land from coast to coast. In politics, bullets, not ballots, determine who rules. Consequently, puppets are enthroned fuelling leadership mediocrity. This, in turn, has imposed severe restrictions on our forward and upward growth.
Unfortunately, the average Nigerian is a BDNP holder — Bachelor of Diagnosis of Nigeria’s Problems. Some have even mastered the art of scripting elegiac pieces portraying the nation’s problems in graphic detail. As the 2019 elections approach, it’s not enough to lament the nation’s woes. Everyone is to use their greatest weapon (the Permanent Voter’s Card) to install credible persons into offices. To give in to despondency, thinking our votes won’t count, is to give in to the plethoric challenges holding us back.
Do something! Step out! You never know, performing this civic duty might just set in motion a series of events that would reclaim our country from wolves in sheep’s clothing, those who see politics as a money-spinning business and cheap means to feather their nests. Yes, Nigeria is truly a nation of paradoxes but we can turn the tide if we choose not to be paradoxical ourselves, hoping for change while doing nothing. Adolph Monod said, “Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing.”
4. Leadership in Tough Times — Folasayo Onigbinde (Officer, BudgIT Business Unit)
Perceptions of the greatness of national and/or political leaders are largely determined by the toughness of the challenges they face and the sagacity they display in dealing with those challenges. And it’s expected of this class to possess a unique skill set capable to draw and fulfil the aspirations of the people. History remembers more fondly those who, beyond living, impact the era they live in than those who did not. Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, for example, are both perceived as great leaders largely because of the times in which they lived and their roles therein.
Since 1960, which of Nigerian politicians is an indisputable great leader?
Leadership, in democracy, is service-centric. It’s a matter of altruism in the face of national development. Over the past fifty years in Nigeria, the challenge of national leadership has been difficult to overcome thanks largely to the special character of Nigerian party politics. As it is, Nigeria’s political structure precludes sincerely progressive leadership. The evidence is out there! Until we address, aggressively so, the prevalence of political violence, militarization, self-centered godfatherism, electoral fraud and slow, manipulatable judicial process that defines our polity, the search for heroic leadership will remain futile. For a truth, the current political system is a turn-off. It doesn’t reward any well-meaning politician let alone ordinary citizens.
5. The Crawling Giant — Adeola Fatoki (Officer, BudgIT Business Unit)
Nigeria is bedeviled by a host of problems with corruption as the nucleus. On insecurity, it’s ranked the 15th most dangerous country in the world according to the 2018 Global Peace Index, a report based on three indices: level of safety and security in society, the extent of domestic and international conflicts, and the degree of militarisation. It has the highest rate of extreme poverty in the world, dethroning India. It has about 13.2 million out-of-school children. That’s a country with the highest paid lawmakers in the world.
The problems are, but not limited to, corruption, unemployment, poor education system, crime and terrorism, prominently the Boko Haram insurgency. It’s obviously impossible to explore all these issues in this piece, but one thing remains Nigeria’s biggest problem — corruption. Taking many forms, it infiltrates and cripples all institutions including the economy. Corruption has shattered the “Nigerian Dream” rendering the country virtually big for nothing.
Nigeria needs to get serious as a country. We need to come together as a people to make our country work by standing against systemic political corruption, inequality and inept, opaque, bad governance. Nothing is as disheartening as seeing every index - from poverty to maternal health to terrorism - put Nigeria in the lowest rung of the ladder. In the midst of affluence, why and how’s Nigeria the poverty capital of the world?
6. Democracy’s Doppelganger — Adewole Adejola (Programme Officer, Tracka)
Perhaps democracy has come to stay in Nigeria, but obviously in a grappling manner. With the election being a vital metrics of democracy, lots of effort are consistently made to ensure the populace understand the importance of voting and carry out the civic duty. However, these efforts are not duly manifested during elections, at least not in the right ways. “He who owns the stomach owns the brain” remains the order thanks to widespread poverty. More so, electoral violence still instigates voters apathy. Fraught with impunity, inequality, nepotism, corruption, poverty and so forth, Nigeria’s democracy still has a long way to go.
In brief, Nigeria must be constitutionally restructured to function more efficiently as a true federation. We also need a radical change in political leadership allowing competence, character and credibility to take the centre stage. While doing this, how do we refocus the public mindset, raising the bar of expectations without the people frittering their voting rights? That’s going to be a long walk. At BudgIT, we’ve already set out.
7. Information Symmetry — Fauzziyah Abdulrahman (Graduate Intern, Accounts)
In Nigeria and the rest of the world, general elections have direct effects on the economy. For instance, the path that fiscal and monetary policy will take in future years will depend a bit on the outcome of the 2019 general elections. But the outcome itself is dependent on voters choice at the ballot. To make the right decisions thereby paving way for the right candidates with right policies, the electorate must be fully informed about the variety of candidates before them as well as their respective manifestoes.
But is this the practice in Nigeria? Absolutely no. Instead of policy-based campaigns and voters education, vote buying, violence-induced apathy, security harassment and other forms of electoral malpractices are the common norms. As a remedy, bridging the knowledge gap and voters literacy is a dire need. The government can also create innovative ways of linking voters civic duty to social benefits thus encouraging participation and contributions towards nation building. In all, electoral choices must be information and policy-based.
8. The Pledge - Ama Bassey (Program Officer, Institutions & Open Government)
“I pledge to Nigeria my country to be faithful, loyal and honest.”
That was my favourite part of the Nigerian pledge back then in primary school. But for as long as I can remember, the disloyalty of our leaders is as constant as the disrespect for the people who defy all odds to elect them. The plights of the masses are overlooked — including the lack of basic amenities, especially in rural communities. If you follow Tracka, you’d agree with us on this. While ballot boxes are at all costs supplied to these local communities, there’s almost nothing to show for the civic responsibility in terms of dividends of democracy. The people are remembered during elections, but quickly forgotten until another election year. What a cycle!
“To defend her unity…” What unity is it that we speak of? Is it the inter-tribal wars or the bloodbaths across various parts of the country? There’s a long way to go in the quest for a united Nigeria where, in spite of tribal and religious differences, fairness and equality prevail in all aspects of life. Beyond abiding hope and prayer, we’ll put in more effort until the desired change falls in our hands. As your comrade in struggle, I say: “So help me God.”
9. Our Words, Our Bond — Esohe Oshinoiki (Manager, Monitoring & Evaluation)
I’m one of the Nigerians who grew up hearing our nation called “The Giant of Africa.” But fast forward to the present day Nigeria, the giant has fallen, descended downhill and virtually become a laughing stock. And I often wonder: How did we get here?
The demise of value is one of the most consequential factors. For one instance, honesty in today’s Nigeria is almost out of reach. Meanwhile, everyone grows up right from early school days with the national pledge glued to their lips only for the moral effect to fade quickly into the thin air the moment they fall victim of the society. When we chant “To be faithful, loyal and honest,” how many Nigerians are committed to these words? Faith. Loyalty. Honesty.
As the 2019 general elections draw closer, the main yardstick - on both sides of voters and candidates - must be integrity. It’s high time we did better as a people and held firmly to the values that bind us with that Giant of Africa.
10. Civic Ambassador — Gabriel Okeowo (Principal Lead)
We’re in relentless pursuit of answers. We seek answers to the emblem of autocratic regimes and dysfunctional democracies that keep the populace in obscurity about data and acts of public governance. We are desperate to see a reverse to the long system of opacity passed on as normalcy. We are looking for clues to the lack of access to information on the dispensation of public funds, opaque government activities and non-accountable practices that have resulted in the underdevelopment of Nigeria. Approaching the 2019 general elections in Nigeria bring to bear the need to pen a piece to share our opinion on what should be the ideal, what Nigerians truly desire, what would turn around the title of the world poverty capital that Nigeria has acquired.
As we go into general elections again in 2019, our driving force is to see enlightened citizens who understand that the trend which the people are caught between two political parties, between “the pot” and “the kettle” are mere hallucination if we truly take our stand to make our votes count. Let every citizen seek understanding. Let everyone be a civic ambassador. Let’s all understand the value of our votes and the values to vote for, understanding that the Nigeria we breed today is what we’ll live in tomorrow. That the leaders we chose today are same that will shape the future of our children.
At BudgIT, we remain resolute to our vision that a nation where citizens make effective use of public information to demand accountability, geared for institutional improvement, efficient service delivery and equitable society is possible. Let’s join hands to press some more on what the ideal should be. Let’s come together to form a force that the few political class will find hard to suppress. Let’s bridge the gap between the vast knowledge at our disposal in the urban cities and the strength to rally round political candidates that abound in the rural areas.
Let’s build a new Nigeria. Become a civic ambassador!
