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This New Year is full of expectations. The year 2021 was like a carryover of 2020 when COVID-19 dealt with many individuals and countries. As we enter 2022 with optimism, it will be a very critical and decisive year for Nigeria in many respects. The ability of the Federal Government to resolve insecurity and other challenges will determine how the country fares in 2022.
On the issue of insecurity for instance, the past few years have not been palatable for Nigerians as far as the state of security is concerned. In the North particularly, thousands of innocent people have either been kidnapped or killed and millions of others displaced from their homes by bandits and terrorists. It has even got to the point where bandits now waylay innocent travellers, kill and burn them. Sokoto, Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Taraba and many other states are major flashpoints. Nigerians are tired of excuses and would want government to evolve new strategies that would completely rout these criminals in 2022. Government should begin by acquiring modern sophisticated weapons and seeking collaboration with foreign powers.
The festering insecurity is fuelled by poverty and unemployment. Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. Currently, more people join the poverty league on a daily basis. And this partly explains the upsurge in the rate of crime in the country. President Muhammadu Buhari has made a number of promises on how to end the scourge in Nigeria. Part of his promises is to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. To do this, government embarked on a number of measures such as employment of 20,000 graduates every year, N75 billion youth fund meant to support young Nigerians in business or with business ideas, and the recruitment of about one million graduates into the N-power programme. Obviously, government has tried. But it needs to do more. It needs to come up with new plans on how to lift more people out of poverty. With over 23 million Nigerians unemployed, government has to create the enabling environment for companies to create more jobs. It should not just fix the roads, provide constant power supply and tax incentives, it should also equip the youths with relevant skills to also create jobs themselves.
Unfortunately, our economy has not performed very well. Government’s approach to diversification is not good enough. Agriculture should be given priority attention. Focus should be more on biotechnology and encouragement of private sector partnerships. Government should also encourage farmers to plant genetically engineered seeds that will engender improved crop yields. It must support the seed companies to enable them to produce and supply quality seeds to Nigerian farmers.
In 2022, government plans to remove fuel subsidy. This is going to be critical. Government has to think twice before embarking on this policy. It should put necessary things in place before thinking of removing subsidy and it must de-emphasise profligacy in all ramifications.
We don’t also need to waste much money on medical tourism if government revamps the health sector. Government should beef up the budgetary allocation to health. The current average of five per cent is too infinitesimal to make appreciable impact. If we can’t budget up to 15 per cent as agreed upon by African countries in Abuja in 2001, at least we can settle for 10 per cent for a start. It is only when one is healthy that one can pursue other things in life. The budgetary increase should strictly be to acquire the necessary equipment that will bring our hospitals to world-class standard and also to give our medical personnel competitive salaries that will dissuade them from migrating to foreign countries for greener pastures.
In the area of education, the government also needs to wake up. It has not done enough to stem the tide of strike always embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and some other unions in the tertiary institutions. ASUU has particularly accused the Federal Government of reneging on its promises. In 2020, the union embarked on a debilitating strike that lasted for one academic calendar, putting both the students and their parents on edge. Such a strike should not be allowed to recur. Like health, education deserves a large chunk of the budget and must be given priority attention by the government. Government must use 2022 to resolve all outstanding problems with ASUU.
No doubt, the New Year will be for intense politicking. Political parties and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will be busy with preparations for the 2023 general election. The president and the governors should learn from our past mistakes. If government does the right thing, people will key in. For instance, if the President signs the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 into law, it will go a long way in curbing rigging and dousing political tension in the country.
Policy makers should tell the government the real truth. While we urge government to take sound advice and make amends where necessary, we implore it to have its eyes on the ball. We cannot afford to go wrong in 2022. If we do, 2023 will be a mirage. Government has to do things remarkably different in the New Year.
