Vice President (Prof.) Yemi Osinbajo, at the recent 10th colloquium for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the APC, harped on some home truths on the country’s governance, especially the gargantuan battle against the corruption cancer that has eaten deep into the national fabric. He told the august gathering at the Eko Hotels, Lagos, of the ruling’s party’s unbending commitment to changing the Nigerian narrative on the corruption scourge and ending its ravages of our economy.
Listing security, the economy, anti-corruption war and the welfare of the people as the special areas emphasised by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2014 campaign trail, Osinbajo highlighted the successes of the government, especially in the areas of job creation via agriculture; the N500 billion social investment programme; the N-power programme and the school feeding programme in 22 of the country’s 36 states.
His identification of grand corruption during the five-year Goodluck Jonathan administration as the critical factor that destroyed the Nigerian economy has, however, pitted him against the leading figures of the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their sympathisers. But Osinbajo proved, with the figures at his disposal, that the Buhari government has released more funds for public projects than the past government, in spite of its much leaner resources. As he explained it, when the country’s leaders do not steal, there will be more money available to address the problems of the people.
For instance, as he recalled, in 2014 , the Jonathan government only released N139 billion budget funds to five ministries – the Ministries of Power, Works, Housing, Transportation and Agriculture, at a time oil sold between 100 and 114 dollars per barrel, but coughed out N100 billion and 289 million dollars for “sharing”; between January and the 2015 presidential election.
On the other hand, the current ruling party, the APC, with oil prices between 50 and 60 dollars in 2017, released N560 billion for these ministries. Osinbajo also spoke of the money saved though the Treasury Single (TSA) and the administration’s commitment to ensuring that the money is used in the best interest of the people.
Being a sound intellectual, a Professor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Osinbajo’s optimism on the future of Nigeria is reassuring and infectious. He largely based his optimism on the fact that the country is heading in the right direction as its finances are being much better managed, and the government is focused on improving the welfare of the people.
The Vice-President’s engagement with different groups of Nigerians on the important issues affecting them is one of the things that have also endeared him to many knowledgeable persons in the country. Prof. Osinbajo has given a good account of himself and his principal on the assignments that have been given to him. He has ably handled his assignment as the President’s emissary to the Niger Delta. His efforts have largely contributed to the peace in that important part of the country. His fruitful engagement with the oil producing communities led to the relative peace, smooth operations and stable oil production that are helping to put the Nigerian economy back on its feet. He has also been the President’s emissary to other troubled parts of the country, with results to show for his efforts in these places.
The economic front is apparently one of the areas in which the country is enjoying the fruits of his diligent exertions. His efforts on the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) set up in July 2016 by President Buhari to remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria and make it easier to start and grow businesses the country are yielding good results. He chairs the inter-ministerial council. Since the inauguration of the Council, Nigeria has moved up 24 places in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking of November 2017. The Council has also introduced several reforms to ease business establishment and operations in the country. Under its auspices, the Vice-President, as Acting President during President Buhari’s absence in May last year, signed into law two bills passed by the National Assembly to facilitate access to affordable credit for Nigerians. There has also been a reduction in the number of Federal agencies operating at the ports to ease business operations. The Council, as part of the government’s medium term Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) in October 2017 kicked off the new National Action Plan (NAP) 2.0 which is targetted at helping to remove the challenges faced by small and medium scale enterprises when getting credit, paying taxes or moving goods across the country, by removing critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to business in the country.
These efforts are helping to increase productivity though industrialization, increasing exports and forex earnings, and creating jobs. The Council is also working with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to ensure they develop a sense of urgency. VP Osinbajo, also in May 2016, signed the Executive Order 1, EOI, which helps to ensure the clarity of all government requirements and processes, better cooperation and improved information sharing among MDAS relating to approval of all business applications.
These efforts are also expected to improve Nigeria’s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business in 2019. Already, the country has risen from 127th to 125th position in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for 2017-2018. Osinbajo has also demonstrated leadership in the various other assignments such as that relating to the NEC group to tackle herdsmen crisis, the one on human capital development, the safe school project etc.
In the Niger Delta, the Maritime University, Ogoni clean up and modular refineries visions that are becoming reality are testaments to how well he has been able to handle these important assignments given to him by Buhari. There is no doubt that the Buhari government, ably assisted by Osinbajo, is putting Nigeria back on track. It is also not surprising that these efforts are being made light of by those who have not been able to make the kind of free money from the public purse that they were used to during past regimes when the country had a lot of money to throw around. These people also hate any references to the past looting that brought the nation to its knees. It is, however, expedient that the misdeeds of the past are kept in focus to ensure that they never happen again.
The amount of money that was lost to corruption in the past is colossal. These are funds that could have been used to meet many of the nation’s infrastructural needs such as the Second Niger Bridge, and the reconstruction of critical roads such as the Aba — Port –Harcourt Road, the Lagos-Ore Road, Lagos- Ibadan Expressway and the Abuja – Kaduna Roads which the present government is only now struggling to fix at a huge cost, and sometimes with borrowed funds.
It is no wonder, then, that the current government is harping on the need to bring the looters of the treasury to justice. Anyone who may have contributed to looting the people’s commonwealth should be made to account for it while the efforts to reposition the country by President Buhari and the VP Osinbajo continue in earnest.