While we await PMB to announce the cabinet for his second term, it is important to note that the South African Rand appreciated by about 0.5% upon the announcement of South African gender-balanced cabinet by the President, Cyril Ramaphosa 96 hours after his inauguration. As a week is about to elapse, we earnestly pray that we will not wait for months as we did in 2015 before the cabinet and other key members of the government are appointed. Given the litany of our development quagmires, these key appointments should have been made and announced about two weeks ago. With an imminent recession and negative outcomes in almost all other development indicators, our position as the poverty capital will worsen with our uncontrolled and exponential population growth. In the face of such a dire situation, what is expected of PMB in his second term is a pro-active and effective approach in the governance of our beloved country. With only two quarters remaining in 2019 and a shrinking GDP as revealed in the first quarter, there is no better time to demonstrate urgency and commitment to addressing our development crises than now: a quick and good start of the second term.
As the type of cabinet PMB assembles will determine the seriousness of the government and the extent to which our development quagmires will be addressed, it is important to plead that they should not resemble the last cabinet that even as at last month when the cabinet was dissolved, many of the ministers remained unknown, unheard of and largely ineffective. As many of the past appointees are just realizing and lamenting that four years is short, it is imperative that those to be appointed this time are determined and focused Nigerians that appreciate the enormity of our development problems and the rapid passage of time.
I earnestly pray that God will guide PMB as he strives to complete this most important task that has immense consequences for living and unborn Nigerians. As it is PMB’s last opportunity to have a remarkable legacy, I implore him to have a deep retrospection on our rapidly escalating failures and crisis. The challenges are numerous and complex and as such, it has to be a first-class competent and committed team, painstakingly, strategically and most importantly, patriotically selected. As PMB pencils down the names as he is currently doing, I pray that utmost in his mind will be about the state and future of Nigeria. May God help him to appreciate that he is assembling a team that will understand and deeply appreciate what it means to be poor and rated as the poverty capital of the world with over 90 million brethren classified as extremely poor. A team that will be driven by their deep dissatisfaction that our beloved country is the 6th most miserable country in the world and ranked together with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen as the most insecure countries in the world. A team that will be pained that over 150 Nigerians are now violently killed almost every week with pervasive signs of genocide in many towns and villages of our much-loved country.
A team that will love Nigeria and work to create jobs for over 22 million compatriots through effective formulation and implementation of robust fiscal, monetary and supply-side policies. A team that will be truthful to themselves, to Nigeria and to the President. A team that will disagree and agree among themselves and with the President and determined to stand for the truth and good of the country, including the overwhelming need to restructure Nigeria. A team that will truly serve with all their heart, mind and body for the betterment and growth of the country.
Mr President, we need a good team please! A team that will meticulously re-read and review all or parts of our 1999 constitution, particularly Parts 1 and 2 of the Second Schedule. And driven by their abiding love for a better Nigeria, they will patriotically tell and committedly help Mr. President and Nigerians to move certain items from the exclusive list to the concurrent list. Going through the 68 items on the exclusive list, a key question that should be asked is if Nigeria can be better with a reduced number of items on the list. As our development challenges have worsened over these years that we have had the 68 items on the exclusive list, I think that it is time for us to try a different option of moving some of the items from that list to the concurrent list to see if better development outcomes can be achieved.
With a focus on the ones that might have the highest possible positive development impacts, a suggestion will be to move items such as railway, trunk A roads and Power to the concurrent list. This will allow our railways, trunk A roads, power generation, transmission and distribution to be developed by the states either individually or jointly. Imagine a situation where Lagos can now do a proper rail line from Epe to Victoria Island or where Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Edo can collaborate to do a rail line from Lagos to Benin. Imagine a situation where there will be no Trunk A roads and every state will be held responsible for the repair, maintenance and management of all roads within their jurisdictions. During a strategy retreat that I facilitated for one of the Electricity Distribution companies (Discos), it was clear and unanimously agreed that a key cause of our electricity problem is the control of some significant components by the federal government. This results in a significant loss of generated power during transmission from the Gencos to the centralized transmission company of Nigeria on the one hand, and from the transmission company to the Discos on the other hand. Imagine the situation where states can individually or jointly generate, transmit and distribute electricity without recourse to the unnecessary, unhelpful and complex bureaucracies of the federal government. The benefits of having a good team is immeasurable. While Niccolo Machiavelli (The Prince) cautions that the effectiveness of a government can be deduced from the kind of individuals appointed into the cabinet, Proverbs 29: 2 states that “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice but when the wicked rules, the people groan”. Mr President, while I wish you the best, be assured of our prayers that God of creation will in his infinite mercy and wisdom guide you right and help you to know the truth to build a nation where prosperity, peace and justice shall reign and reign and reign!
Franklin Ngwu
Dr. Ngwu is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy, Finance and Risk Management, Lagos Business School and a Member, Expert Network, World Economic Forum.
