Year 2017 mercifully crept into history at midnight on Sunday and a bright new year, 2018, dawned on humanity. Gone, hopefully, with last year are its many problems and challenges that endlessly buffeted many Nigerians. Most sectors of our national life failed to experience the respite we all expected in the security, energy, educational, health and economic sectors, and it can be safely said that not many Nigerians were happier at the end of the year than they were at its beginning.

Beyond the experiences and feelings of individual Nigerians, statistics from the government’s agencies, themselves, confirm that last year was a very difficult one. Many Nigerians lost their jobs, and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put the number at over four million. Fewer jobs were created as the manufacturers association confirmed that many industrial concerns either folded up or moved their operations outside the country. The health sector was a mess as the tertiary health institutions were not able to discharge their responsibilities to the satisfaction of many Nigerians on account of their poor funding and attitude. Even the Aso Rock Clinic lacked syringes, as confirmed by no less a personality than the First Lady herself, Aisha Buhari. Many Nigerians who could afford it travelled abroad for medical treatment while those who could not died in silence with their anger interred with their bones. Even President Muhammadu Buhari was out of the country for over a hundred days on account of ill health for which he sought treatment in London. The legendary poor funding of our health institutions was a big issue, while the education sector did not fare any better than it did in 2016.

Security and power supply were big challenges throughout the year as the Boko Haram group that was said to have been technically defeated resurged and killed many Nigerians in its murderous campaign against the government and people of Nigeria. Armed robbers and kidnappers did not reduce their activities either, and many Nigerians lost their goods and even their lives to the criminals. The herdsmen challenge was a serious one in many states, leading to the enactment of the anti-open grazing law in Benue State while a number of other states are also considering the option. The nation’s power supply crisis did not abate.

The economy, however, proved the biggest albatross for the country as the nation’s revenue base collapsed and many states could not pay the salaries of their workers as due. Collapsed oil prices played havoc with the nation’s finances until the closing months of the year when oil prices inched towards $70 per barrel. In spite of all the promises on the diversification of the economy, the little achievements in the agricultural sector, especially in the area of rice cultivation, were not able to make the sector a mainstay of the economy. There was improvement in mining, but again, not enough to change the story of the economy for the better.

Now that 2018 is here, the time has come for the government to get a handle to these problems that are circumscribing the ability of most Nigerians to attain their potential. It is time for the president and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government to rise up to these challenges that have been making life difficult for many Nigerians for several years now. Instead of abating, the problems are rather increasing while the best of the government’s efforts appear not to be making the desired impact.

The government, if it hopes to retain the confidence of Nigerians, must get the economy right in 2018. It must develop an enabling environment for job creation and industrial revolution. It must go beyond entrepreneurial development to industrialisation. It must address the forex problems and be creative in its diversification of the economy. Getting the power sector on track is something this government must do if it intends to do more than scratch the surface of the nation’s economic problems. With electricity, there are so many things that Nigerians can do by themselves without relying on the government.

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Beyond the economy, the much talked about restructuring of the country should be on the to-do list of this government. Its objectives should be to return the country to true federalism. This will help to reduce all the hue and cry about marginalization of some groups in the country and engender competition and greater development of the different regions. This restructuring is germane as next year, 2019, is an election year and it may be difficult for the government to contain the instability that the agitations for restructuring may bring. 

The fuel supply situation is a shame to an oil producing country like Nigeria. The government should determine its course of action to make fuel readily available at a reasonable cost. Beyond the planned turnaround of the nation’s four refineries, it is obvious that something more creative needs to be done to address the problem. This is because the turnaround maintenances of the refineries have gulped billions of dollars over the years, yet the obsolete and dilapidated refineries that are operating at about only 30 per cent of their installed capacities are not giving the country the amount of production that it needs to sustain its operations. All the talk about the building of modular refineries and all such other structures have never fully gotten off the ground in spite of all the hoopla that attended their announcements. Let government frontally tackle the fuel supply challenge. It should look beyond the promise of the Dangote Refinery on which it appears to have placed much of its hopes for adequate fuel supply. It will be dangerous for a country to pin its hope on improved fuel supply on the project of a single individual, no matter how gargantuan it may be.

The government must solve the Boko Haram riddle this year and restore peace and prosperity to Northern Nigerian. That it has been unable to solve this problem is one of the biggest disappointments of the Buhari government. The herdsmen’s attacks, on which it has been burying its head in the sand, should also be resolved once and for all.

Above all, in case there is confusion on any issue, the government should take another look at its plethora of campaign promises and strive to fulfill them.

This is a pre-election year. What this means is that the president and his government will pay much attention to re-election matters. Although the president has not categorically said he is going to seek re-election, his body language glaringly points in this direction. He should not allow this matter to distract him from the onerous tasks for which he was elected. Indeed, his success or failure in fulfilling his 2015 campaign promises will go a long way in determining his chances of re-election.