President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan deserves congratulation for his victory at the presidential polls last month. However, we also know that the congratulation will not take him very far. Nigerians elected him because he represented hope and the future of Nigeria that want to see.
The expectations of Nigerians from the president are huge because they represent fifty years of slow growth, excruciating poverty, growing unemployment, sporadic ethnic and religious violence, and a very shallow democracy.
We also believe the violence that trailed the president’s victory should humble him. The violence reflects everything that is wrong with Nigeria and the security of lives and property in some parts of the country. It reflects how . It reflects sometimes deep seated hatred that some Nigerians have for some other Nigerians.
This is the Nigeria inherited by the Jonathan presidency and the manner and shape he deals with all these problems will determine how posterity sees him.
However, Mr. President will do well to focus on Nigeria’s enormous opportunities, rather than the litter of problems. There are enormous economic opportunities for increasing employment, increasing foreign direct investment, and the building of first class infrastructure in the country. However, these opportunities will not be realised if the new president continues to behave like others before him who condoned corruption, waste, and inefficiency in government. Corruption, waste and inefficiency ensures that government resources are not optimally used and that Nigerians do not receive adequate value for the country’s resources.
Many Nigerians will see our greatest opportunity as the fact that we are the largest oil exporting nation in Africa. But that is not our greatest asset . Our greatest asset is our people, 150 million of them. We are the eighth most populous country in the world. Nigeria’s demographics also favour increasing and sustained growth rate, but only if the policies and economic conditions are right. The right economic policies and programmes will ensure that our economic growth is not a directionless one, as it has been.
The jobless economic growth we had in the last few years has fed into serious social problems that include severe income inequality, and platform for sometimes criminal activities such as armed robberies and kidnapping. These problems will not go away without a comprehensive social and economic transformation strategy. Our hope is that President Jonathan will lead that transformation in the next four years.
There are indeed enormous opportunities in oil and gas, solid minerals, manufacturing, energy and power, health, education and many other sectors. These opportunities are just waiting for the right government policies and programmes, some of which will not cost the government a dime. We wish President Jonathan well as his administration tackles Nigeria’s problems. But in doing so, it will help to look at the opportunities.