business0521

BUSINESS DAY
NEWS
YOU CAN TRUST I THURSDAY 21 MAY 2015
LIBERAL VIEW
As Buhari prepares to hit the ground running
STEVE AYORINDE
Ayorinde, a journalist, author
and media consultant is the
Vice-President (West) of the
Nigerian Guild of Editors.
stevo@businessdayonline.
com
A
two-day conference
aimed
at unveiling its
policy roadmaps,
which ends today
in Abuja by the All Progressives
Congress, is a good way
to further kit Muhammadu
Buhari as he takes over government
next Friday.
An initiative of Policy,
Research and Strategy Directorate
of the APC Presidential
Campaign Council,
the conference hinges its
objective on the theme “Implementing
Change: From
Vision to Reality”. The sense
in this type of talk-shop is
obvious – the president and
his core team should be well
kitted with ideas and realistic
execution of vision in order
to hit the ground running.
With expectation among
Nigerians very high, the
change mantra through
which Buhari earned victory
at the polls must translate
into quick deliverables
without excuses. Using the
type of conference that is
holding in Abuja now is a
way of wading through the
gale of election promises
and settling down to some
early wins that must reassure
the citizens that this General
really means business.
It is remarkable that a
Buhari, who understands
governance being a tested
hand – as a former head of
state, military governor and
petroleum minister – could
subject himself to this type
of intellectual fortification.
It speaks volumes about
his readiness to lead a team
that debates and why it is
imperative to make his advisory
template robust by
expanding the quantum of
discussions that will shape
his government.
It is unlikely that anybody
in his shoes, particularly
elected governors, will easily
wade through the haze
of governance in these economically-challenging
times
if he does not encourage and
subject himself to a rigorous
intellectual immersion and
the culture of debates that
should interrogate the vision
and policies to be executed
in government.
Buhari’s example of generating
good content that
will drive his administration
is therefore commendable.
And it shows not just in the
robust manifesto of his party
or the elaborate discourse of
the Abuja conference, but
also in welcoming the Strategic
Report by the Obasanjo
think tank last week.
Many people have hastily
picked faults with former
President Olusegun Obasanjo’s
decision to constitute
a committee that will assess
the economy and produce
a document that aims to
guide the president-elect.
Not a few have read political
and ethnic meaning into
Obasanjo’s gesture. Those
who hate the former president’s
guts say his intention
is at best suspect, knowing
his penchant for control
and vainglory, and at worst
perfunctory since he is the
longest-serving president
Nigeria ever had, having
spent three-and-a-half years
as head of state in the 1970s
and as an elected president
between 1999 and 2007. If he
had fixed the rot, the naysayers
say, the need would not
have arisen for him to present
a manual of operation
to any of his successors.
Given Obasanjo’s largerthan-life,
often overbearing
influence on those he
chooses to assist, one might
be tempted to query his
intention. One might even
question his moral qualification
considering that just
one week before his intervention
to the presidentelect,
he was forced to fire a
trustee and London-based
chief executive officer of his
foundation after the United
Kingdom Charity Commission
raised concerns over
allegation of money laundering.
It turned out that
the lady, Anne Welsh, was
culpable. But rather than
look the other way, as others
in his place may have done,
Obasanjo gave the CEO the
boot.
And so, it will be harsh
to pick holes in his strategic
intervention to Buhari just
because it shouldn’t have
come from him. Sure, helpful
thoughts such as this
could have come from anybody
with an abiding interest
in the Nigerian Project or
anybody who wants Buhari
to succeed. It will be
the new president’s prerogative,
however, to implement
which advice best suits his
purpose. But to reject strategic
interventions based on its
source will amount to a snub
and will be in bad taste.
In any case, it is not just
Obasanjo’s idea. The thinktank
was made up of eminent
personalities like the
former minister of finance,
Idika Kalu, who served as the
vice-chairman of the committee;
Akin Mabogunje,
chairman of the Governing
Board, Centre for Human
Security of the Olusegun
Obasanjo Presidential
Library; and Christopher
Kolade, who headed the
Power Committee in the
think-tank and who once de-
scribed President Goodluck
Jonathan as lacking requisite
leadership quality. These
are well-meaning Nigerians
whose opinions shouldn’t be
discounted.
What are they proposing
to Buhari anyway? The
things that most Nigerians
already know: concentrate
on economy, security, power,
education and infrastructure.
They could not have
suggested a bogus plan on
how Nigeria should send
people to Mars or the need
to develop nuclear power.
The things that are holding
the country down border on
those five key areas identified:
the need to truly free the
economy from the shackles
of corruption and transform
it into a job creator, which of
course can only be helped by
a secure polity and 24-hour
economy made possible by
constant power supply.
All these must have
been captured in Buhari’s
roadmap already. What are
needed from the strategic
document are specific recommendations
on how the
challenges in those areas can
be effectively tackled. Buhari
has already welcomed the
initiative as one of the efforts
to help him hit the ground
running. The only thing left
is to ask Obasanjo to assist by
detailing the unsaid reasons
why his own administration
was unsuccessful in fixing
the power sector after $16
billion expended on it and
the late Bola Ige had to be
removed from that ministry
abruptly. Granted that the
Jonathan administration
has eroded most of the gains
from the Obasanjo years; yet,
the former president ought
to help with information on
why the petroleum sector
still defied solution under his
reign even when he directly
supervised that ministry in
his first year in office and
had to increase petroleum
pump price a record 14 times
without successfully fixing
the four local refineries.
He may then add an explanation
on why Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala was redeployed
from the Finance
Ministry to Foreign Affairs
before she resigned in protest.
Knowing the things
that got her removed under
Obasanjo may well explain
why the finances of this nation
won’t just add up under
a woman who purports to be
the chief driver of the entire
economy.
The type of economy that
Buhari should run must be
at variance with Jonathan’s
profligate type and several
notches higher than Obasanjo’s.
Having insider information
on why the former
president faltered in fixing
power and the petroleum
sectors and why he ignored
the corruption in road infrastructure
will be of value to
the Buhari administration.
Economy in transition (2)
As the presidentelect
has himself
already noted, attracting
FDI or a return
of Diasporan funds will
be critical to kick-starting
our moribund economy. To
do that we need to reduce
the barriers to entry, make
our economy more competitive
and allay the fears of potential
investors who clearly
have a choice of where to put
their money.
As I have noted, the importance
of an enabling
infrastructure has been well
documented. Muhammadu
Buhari has already made
tackling the problems of
security and corruption two
of his priorities. In last week’s
column I noted investors’
fears about their ability to
manage their investment
effectively, without undue
interference – what we call
the ‘ease of doing business’
question. So, how does the
new administration help
Nigerian industry become
more competitive by improving
the business environment
and thus our
competitiveness?
In several columns I
have argued the case for
implementation of Stephen
Oronsaye’s report. Earlier
this year I wrote: “It has
been recognised that this
duplication and regulatory
inefficiencies are a cost and
an administrative burden.
The Oronsaye report itself
recommended abolition of
38 agencies, merger of 52
and reversion of 14 agencies
to departments. A breakdown
of what could be saved
was quoted as N124.8bn
from agencies proposed for
abolition; N100.6bn from
agencies proposed for mergers;
N6.6bn from professional
bodies; N489.9bn from
universities; N50.9bn from
polytechnics; N32.3bn from
colleges of education, and
N616m from boards of federal
medical centres. This is
in addition to the increased
efficiency and savings in
the private sector. The CME
herself told This Day recently
that in reference to reducing
the nation’s recurrent expenditure,
‘you are right, we
should look at the Oronsaye
report’, but cited legislative
hurdles for the failure to take
action. She went on to say,
‘We have to bite the bullet
…. We have to look at those
agencies that are duplicating
efforts’. But over two years
on from the report, nothing
seems to have been done.”
This is not a new problem.
The Oronsaye report
itself noted that “the Ahmed
Joda Committee (1999) posited
that the challenge of
ministerial interference and
bureaucratic control needed
to be eliminated in order to
restore the effectiveness and
efficiency of parastatals in
the delivery of service to the
public. In addition, the Joda
report alluded to the challenge
of lack of managerial
competence in some of the
parastatals as well as the
incompetence and unnecessary
size of some boards that
had over 10 members”.
This then is a ‘win-winwin’.
The government reduces
recurrent expenditure
AND increases the efficiency
of our governance structure
AND improves the business
environment. I will not say
‘at a stroke’ because it will
have its difficulties. As the
CME herself noted, some of
these agencies are enshrined
in law. The fact that so many
administrative regulations
are enshrined in statute is
itself a problem and would
benefit from a thorough
overhaul but being realistic,
this would be a major
task and not achievable as a
quick win. So, somehow, we
need to be pragmatic and
push through these changes
by making an absolute case
for the reform. This will also
entail hurdling another barrier
in that it would require
a major programme of retrenchment
and redundancies.
No government will do
this lightly, especially one
that is prioritising employment
as a policy. However,
in the longer term, taking
the tough decision will free
up funds for investment,
increase efficiency and productivity
and will lead to
the creation of more jobs.
Employment not for pen
pushers and timeservers but
for people ready to provide
value add and productivity
to our economy. If this seems
harsh, I will take a longer
look at the issue.
In a 2013 paper on the
‘Civil Service and the Cost of
Governance’ for the University
of Nigeria, Okechukwu
Eme and Ogbechie Andrew
quoted some typical examples
of inefficiency: “The cost
of running the government
is also questioned in the incessant
and uncontrollable
duplication of government
agencies and its attendant
cost of funding. An example
of such duplication is the Nigerian
Maritime and Safety
Agency (NIMASA), whose
functions are duplicated
by the Presidential Implementation
Committee on
Maritime Safety and Security
(PICOMSS). Also, many of
the functions of the Nigeria
Police Force are performed
by other agencies. For instance,
the Special Fraud
Unit of the Police carries out
functions that are not exactly
dissimilar to what the Economic
and Financial Crimes
Commission and the Independent
Corrupt Practices
Commission carry out. The
functions of its traffic divi-
sion are duplicated by the
Federal Road Safety Commission
and Road Traffic
Service, also known as VIO,
while the National Security
and Civil Defence Corps perform
the security role of the
Police. Yet another example
is the Border Community
Development Agency and
National Boundary Commission.”
(Continues next week)
OUTSIDER
KEITH RICHARDS
Richards is a director of a number
of Nigerian institutions and
businesses and lives in Lagos.
outsiderinsideng@gmail.com
@Outsiderinside1
INSIDE
Published by BusinessDAY Media Ltd., The Brook, 6 Point Road, GRA, Apapa, Lagos. Business Day Ghana Ltd; ABC Junction, near Guinness Ghana Limited, Achimota – Accra, Ghana.
Tel: +233243226596: email: mail@businessdayonline.com Advert Hotline: 08116759801, 08082496194. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08022238495
Editor: Phillip Isakpa. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.