Halliru Sani Danhassan
6 October 2008
opinion
During his campaign, Alhaji Umaru Yar'adua came up with the programme of action to advance the life of the public as the president of Nigeria and this was tagged the '7-point agenda', which is the blueprint for the packaging of the most sensitive areas of consideration if he became president.
No sooner was he sworn in than he began to advertise and propagate the enumerated elements of the agenda which are: power/energy, security and Niger Delta, food security, wealth creation, education, land reforms and transportation.
The main objectives and principle of the agenda are to improve the general wellbeing of the Nigerian citizens and make the country to become one of the biggest 20 economies in the world by the year 2020. In its quest for economic growth, Nigeria as a nation has for long had the necessary means to aid the proceeding, as it is bestowed with abundant human, solid and petroleum resources. If the president and his lieutenants are truly meant to achieve the brilliant ideas and huge ambitions in the agenda, they have all the means, unwilling leadership on the part of the government, indiscipline on the part of the followers and diplomatic dictatorship on the part of the developed nations. These are the main reasons for our underdevelopment.
If the fixers and pretenders of the 7-point agenda will have a sense of duty, patriotism and work on the principle of checks and balances, there is going to be steady recovery and record of developmental changes even before the stipulated period of expectation. In the agenda, however, power or energy is the first item to which the Federal Government should base its emphases. Of course, it is the bedrock of the existence of our manufacturing industries and hence industrialisation is the most modern and quickest way of attaining economic stability. But the erratic supply of electricity, poor state of infrastructure, lack of raw materials and dilapidated road network remain the constraints militating against the efficiency of industrialisation in Nigeria. The enormous potential of our oil and gas industries from revenue generation and provision of mass employment have never been prioritised.
Food security is another vital icon as far as the 7-point agenda is concerned. It is defined at micro level by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations as the access by all members at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum the ready availability of nutritionally-adequate and safe food in socially-acceptable ways - that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, begging or any other coping strategies.
Now to eliminate the present abject food insecurity in Nigeria, there should be an authentic benchmark and genuine initiative in the agricultural sector. Nigeria has hundreds of dams mainly in the Northern region holding around 40 billion cubic meters of water. They're purposely for irrigation activities, fish farming and watering livestock. There are abundant investment opportunities in the sector, especially in the area of arable crops, tree crops, livestock, poultry and horticulture and fisheries production. The Nigerian government must note that the primary purpose of the agricultural sector to individual farmers and the entire citizens is to achieve food security and economic prosperity. Therefore, a cursory look at the state of Nigerian agricultural sector will be a good beginning in its journey towards food security for the standard of the Nigerian nation.
Transportation however is also another element in Yar'adua's package of agenda. It is indeed the only medium through which goods and services are enormously carried across the country. Very unfortunately, the transport system on our highways and local roads, aviation and waterways is occupied by commercial operators. If we are to achieve 7-point agenda without hindrances, there must be a master plan and proper implementation, reconstruction and general modernisation of the nation's various means of transportation.
As the president articulated as well as presented the agenda, it raised public expectation and hope, because the contents and intents of the programme are really excellent for the people and the nation of Nigeria. But meeting the expectation is now a major challenge. The implementation of this welcome agenda really calls for patriotism, sacrifice, sense of duty, commitment, honesty, total dedication and willingness to serve the country. And these must be on the part of the president and his team. Yet, for over a year, the downtrodden masses of the country have not felt a single impact of the agenda. When will the rest of Nigerians start enjoying the abundant wealth which only five percent of the population are benefitting from?
Dan Hassan wrote from Court Road, Gyadi-Gyadi, Kano.
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