In his acceptance statement  of 1st April, 2015, the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), outlined the challenges facing Nigeria and told Nigerians that their obligations do not end with casting their votes; rather they should speak out and contribute inputs to the solution to the various challenges. In light of this, I offer insights into aspects of the Nigerian condition based on the  premise that the President-elect is coming into governance at his age for one reason: to sanitise Nigeria’s governance system, rebuild the destroyed institutions, put  the economy back on the path of sustainable growth and development, and re-orientate Nigerians to promote values which place the public good above any private, primordial, ethnic, religious or sectional interests. I believe that General Buhari has the will to achieve this considering that, at his age, he is not looking for property or monetary accumulation.The primary purpose of his second coming should be to lift Nigeria out of the present state where the rulers behave like the characters in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” and kleptocracy had almost destroyed the economic and social fabrics.

Fighting Grand and Systemic Corruption

Corruption is the abuse of office for private gain or unofficial ends and is manifested in several forms: theft of public assets, bribery in government procurement, kick-back in award of contracts, embezzlement of public funds and international donor funds, bribery to shorten the time of processing and for “greasing”, bribery to “purchase certain public positions/offices, etc. Some people and institutions/organizations find good company in corruption because they profit from it. But General Buhari and other well-meaning Nigerians, and most other societies consider it as a public enemy. This is because corruption undermines the rule of law and the legitimacy of a state, and destroys confidence in the integrity of institutions. It also accelerates crime, hurts investment, stalls economic growth, bleeds the national budget, burdens the poor disproportionately, diverts scarce resources from basic human needs, and generates social and political tension. In Nigeria’s circumstance, corruption has led to bad roads, and decaying infrastructure, inadequate social services, and disappearance of foreign aid. Corruption in the country is both petty and grand, systemic and deeply entrenched. It has been a major element of the poor governance and instability of the country.

General Buhari is thus right to focus on fighting corruption. Effective fighting of corruption will free resources for economic and social development. To this end, there are a number of things that the President-elect needs to do. First, he must continue to lead by personal example and give clear signals to his team and associates as to his zero tolerance for corruption. One thing the President-elect must know is that Nigerians have confidence in him but they do not have confidence in some of the people around him, especially some of the  highly corrupt persons who helped him to power. He must stress to such people that a new dawn has arisen and that from May 29th 2015 corruption will no longer be an instrument of state policy. Second, there is the urgent need to strengthen the anti-corruption agencies, EFCC, ICPC and Bureau of Public Procurement, and make them truly independent. These institutions had been compromised, misused and abused in the past rendering them ineffectual. They need to be allowed to do their work unhindered. Thirdly, the government must be firm in punishing proven cases of corruption. This would serve as a deterrent to others and enhance the government’s image and credibility. Fourthly, there is need to reform institutions, economic policies and incentives geared towards preventing corruption.

Aspects of Economic Management

As at today, the Nigerian economy is in bad shape. The government had taken delight in celebrating economic growth rates that have not resulted in improved development outcomes. Rather paradoxically, high growth rates were accompanied by rising incidence of poverty and unemployment.Most elements of infrastructure have been in a parlous state. The mismanagement of the economy has been such that fiscal buffers, in the form of Excess Crude Account, have been squandered by the government. Since the crude oil market collapsed in 2014, the economy has been tottering with the federal and lower tier governments battling to contain  fiscal crises exacerbated by lack of fiscal prudence and monumental waste and corruption. The Federal government has found solace in massive devaluation of the naira as an instrument of domestic revenue mobilization but without minding the macroeconomic and social consequences of very high prices of goods and services, reduction in the purchasing power of the citizens and increasing poverty level.  The era of salary arrears to public officers has returned at the lower-tier government level.Now, what can the in-coming  government do? A number of things can be done beginning with institutional reforms.

Reform of the Economic Management Team (EMT). EMT is a key economic governance institution that is composed of relevant ministers, key government economic managers and a host of business leaders. The inclusion of business leaders is anomalous in that they take active part in policy decisions that affect their businesses and this creates a moral burden.This has a tendency to compromise policy making and effectiveness. Therefore, the President-elect should compose the EMT with relevant key government officials, technocrats and professionals who have deep knowledge of economic policy making and implementation.

Macroeconomic Policies. Today, the naira exchange rate adjustment has become the lifeline of the government in its bid to balance the budget as against its primary purpose of ensuring external balance. The exchange rate has depreciated to its present level of abut N200 : $1.0 because the fiscal buffers in the form of Excess Crude Account (ECA) and foreign exchange reserves have been depleted to intolerable levels. Also, the productivity of the real sectors has ebbed due to hostile operating environment. Under the circumstance, the exchange rate cannot be strengthened appreciably in terms of appreciation. Therefore, the in-coming government must take as priority the building up fiscal buffers, especially when crude oil prices rebound. Given the current level of expenditure of the various governments, it is most unlikely that the exchange rate will appreciate significantly, even after the elections.

MIKE IDI OBADAN