From what I saw on the performance of some of the presidential candidates during interviews or debates on television or read about them in newspapers or online, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Professor Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), are the best and most suitable for the office.
Atiku who has been a politician for about 32 years or so and was Vice – President in the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo (May 29, 1999 – May 28, 2007), is a big – time businessman with international connections with major companies and entrepreneurs in all the continents in the world. He is also an industrialist and the proprietor of the globally recognized American University of Nigeria, Yola founded in 2004 and an employer of thousands of men and women who work in his various establishments in different parts of the country.
On his part, Professor Moghalu, who came into partisan politics about two years ago is an economist and one who had served with the United Nations in the area of his academic qualifications and a retired Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. But in this piece, it is President Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), rather than Moghalu, that I am assessing with Atiku. And this is because they are the candidates of the two foremost political parties, with one of them likely to win the election.
For 23 years of his adult life (1962 – 85) Buhari was a soldier in the Nigerian Army. He retired in 1985 as a General and since then has been in cow breeding and selling business, having maybe 50 or less workers in his employ. Although he was Military Head of State from January 1, 1984 – August 27, 1985 he has little understanding of how to run the nation’s economy efficiently. As stated in last week’s column, the country has undergone recession twice since independence and these were under Buhari.
In the budgets of 2016, 17, 18 and this year’s he promised to grow the economy by 3% each year. But according to the information released last week by the National Bureau of Statistics the economy grew at 1.93% last year and by 0.8% in 2017. With the poor economic situation in the country, increasing and worrisome insurgency and the fact that less than two million barrels of oil are produced everyday instead of the 2.3 million as the budget is premised upon, the growth rate for 2019 is expected to be worse than the 1.93% for last year.
A basic problem of Buhari in handling the nation’s economy in 1984/85 and since May 2015 is that he has never had an Economic Management Team and a Chief Economic Adviser. These are a group of experts on economic matters working under an internationally renowned economist who can give professional and honest advice to the government.
Since independence on October 1, 1960 (58 years, four and a – half months ago), only Buhari has not worked with such distinguished economic experts either in full or part – time capacity. People old enough will remember those who had served in the position. It started with Dr. Pius Okigbo (1960 – 66) and Professor Adebayo Adedeji who was one from 1966 – 71 and Federal Commissioner for Economic Development and Reconstruction from June 1971 – 75. He was later Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa from June 1975 – July 1991.
Professor Akin Mabogunje served as one during the administrations of General Murtala Mohammed and General Olusegun Obasanjo from August 1975 – September 1979. Professor Emmanuel C. Edozien was one from 1979 – 83 while Professor Ojetunji Aboyade did the same from 1985 – 93 and Professor Samuel Aluko from 1993 – 99. The others were Professor Charles Soludo who served from 2004 – 09 and Professor Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala from 2011 – 15.
Both in 1984/85 and since 2015 President Buhari has been known to prefer giving non – cabinet appointments mostly to northern Muslims and especially from Daura, his hometown. As all the Chief Economic Advisers since independence have been southern Christians, some have come to the conclusion that Buhari has never had one, because he did not find a northern Muslim especially one from Daura fit for the position.
The inability of President Buhari to handle the nation’s economy competently saw Nigeria late last year declared as the poverty capital of the world. Several companies have closed down in the country in the last three and a – half years while unemployment which was seven million when he assumed office on May 29, 2015 is now said to be 13 – 21 million.
Given this parlous situation, the president Nigeria needs as from May 29 is one who can competently revive the economy to good level by 2020 or 2021 and create millions of jobs every year. Alhaji Atiku and his running – mate Mr. Peter Obi who are renowned businessmen and industrialists, with vast international connections, the latter is also a banker, are therefore the suitable ones for the office of president.
In one of the television programmes I watched recently, Atiku told the story of how a bank he brought to Nigeria from Pakistan empowered 45, 000 women in Adamawa State with loans that has now made them financially comfortable. Within two years 90% of them repaid their loans.
If he becomes President in May he can replicate this with greater numbers of men and women in Abuja and the other 35 states in the country. In fact, one of his aides on a television programme last week said Atiku’s government will create at least six thousand jobs every year and get the country’s growth rate to reach 10% by 2021.
Another thing I want to draw attention to on why it is good to elect Atiku on Saturday is his promise to give 30% of his appointments to women and 40% to the youth. This I take as people from the ages of 20 to 40. In other words, if he has a cabinet of 40, sixteen of them will be younger people, 12 will be women and the other 12 will be older ones from the age of 41 to the 60s or 70s. The eighth Prime Minister of Britain, William Pitt, The Younger, came into office in 1783 at the age of 24 and left in 1801 when he was 42. He was the son of William Pitt, The Elder the premier Prime Minister who served from 1756 when he was 48 and left in 1762 at 54.
There is also Atiku’s promise to facilitate within six months of his administration the restructuring of the country in the areas that do not require constitutional amendments. Space constraint does not allow me to go into the details of this. But with the alarming situation of insurgency and insecurity in the country he can even succeed in getting the National and State Assemblies to amend the constitution for the creation of state and local government police.