President Muhammadu Buhari, obviously fatigued, is eager to exit Aso Rock. The man who rode to the Villa on a high tide in 2015 has been singing ‘I want out’. And once outside Aso Rock, his destination would not be Kaduna, the power capital of the north. He once teased that Kaduna is too close to Abuja and may not be the best place to retire after a stressful timeout in the Presidency. He would head straight to Daura, a place he readily calls home and where he would enjoy the comfort and warmth of his kinsmen. Daura looks more like it because once out of office, Buhari would have a lot of queries requiring his explanation by the new occupant of Aso Rock, whoever that is.
His performance has been underwhelming. His grasp of administration in the 21st century horrendously poor. He spent more time travelling the world, either on health grounds or attending international conferences, some he didn’t have to attend. Questions would be asked on corruption, nepotism, insecurity, the upheavals in Aso Rock involving his immediate family and a horde of extended family members who nested in the Villa constituting both nuisance and noisome inconvenience. Buhari, himself, has warned that nobody should come looking for him to answer questions because everything he did, as he claimed, was transparent. But he’s the minister of Petroleum and all is not well, has not been well in that sector.
Under Buhari, supply of petroleum products, especially petrol, stanched; prices took a flight to the moon. And the people suffered and suffered. He should explain to Nigerians how he mismanaged that sector; why he promised so much but delivered so little. Let’s not even mention that he threw the naira under the bus and invited the global monetary community to feast on the national currency. Let’s not also mention his bloody gift of ‘EndSARS’ riot that almost consumed the nation. And please, don’t add the sore fact that under Buhari, this same naira suddenly became scarce, that banks had to shut offices nationwide because they have no cash to give to customers, that men and women had to strip, fight and cook in the banks in a fit of rage and extreme angst because they could not access money for their daily needs from banks. Let’s not add more to this ignoble list. It’s inexhaustive.
Perhaps, aware of his abysmal failure, Buhari appears determined to quit the stage on a high note; at least add a redemptive veneer to his dour scorecard. Mr. Buhari, by any human barometer, a good man wants to bequeath two legacies which he believes would calm already frayed nerves of a nervous nation. He wants to deliver credible elections and a credible and reliable census. Already, he looks the path to delivering both with an unprecedented degree of efficiency.
Buhari’s credible election cause is being heavily helped by Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the most engaging INEC chairman in recent history. Yakubu, a former student union activist, is successfully building on the tech foundation laid by his predecessors in office: Professor Maurice Iwu and Professor Attahiru Jega. Both introduced the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machine and the card reader respectively. Both technologies were not perfect but they set the tone for integrated automation of the nation’s electoral system. Both are forerunners of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the IREV (INEC Result Viewing Portal). Buhari does not really have a choice. He profited from a free and fair election in 2015. He should reciprocate. That’s fair enough.
Where Buhari would be making a huge leap forward is in the 2023 census which he calls ‘digital census.’ Truly, Nigeria has behaved badly when it comes to census, the otherwise simple exercise of headcount. Whereas, a 10-year frequency is generally accepted as standard, the last headcount in Nigeria was in 2006, a good 17 years ago. Even that was controversial. Some dubbed it a ‘censored census.’
But Nigeria needs a credible census to help in her planning. Lack of credible population data stymies effective planning; and where there is no planning, development is a mirage. One of the complaints of foreign investors about Nigeria is the lack of current and reliable data on Nigeria’s demographics. At international conferences and business meetings, many investors have bemoaned the absence of contemporary data on Nigeria that would help them make intelligence-based decisions on where, what and when to invest in the country. This makes the 2023 census both crucial and critical.
Billed to hold between March and April, the 2023 census is already up to a flying start. The National Population Commission (NPC) seems to read Buhari’s mind clearly. The Commission is determined to make the first ever digital census the most credible and reliable headcount ever. By picking Zinox, an indigenous tech conglomerate with global affiliations, as technical partners, NPC has taken the first giant step to making Buhari happy ever after.
Already, NPC Chairman, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra, and his team have taken delivery of the first 100,000 units of the digital devices otherwise known as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). The PDA is a smart handheld device and it is the difference between the 2023 census and previous censuses captured on papers and subject to human manipulation.
The PDAs are smartly encrypted with census questionnaire and maps to direct enumerators to assigned enumeration areas. They will not only guaranty the conduct of an exercise that would not only meet global standards but equally ensure accuracy of data collated.
Kwarra is optimistic that the 2023 census would signal a new dawn in housing and human headcount in Nigeria as there would be no over-counting or under-counting.
One distinguishing feature of the 2023 census is the high-level local content deployed. Aside the hardware being sourced and supplied by a local company, the software (App) that would be configured to enable and activate the PDAs was locally-developed thus fulfilling President Buhari’s Executive Order on local content, as well as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) regulation on local Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the procurement of the PDA devices.
If President Buhari delivers these two national projects, he would have written his name in gold on the marble of time. He would be returning to Daura a happy and fulfilled man, albeit with a legacy of a broken economy, polarized polity and a cocktail of insecurity woes.
History beckons on Buhari to silence his critics. Delivering a credible census and general elections at the twilight of his tenure presents him the brightest opportunity to wear the badge of a statesman worthily, and not the mere epaulet of the man from Katsina State.