My Manifesto.

            HAPPY DAYS       

   ARE COMING

No other touchstone can test the heart of man, the temper of his mind and spirit, till he be tried in the practice of authority and rule. For my part, I have always held the view and hold it still, that a King whose lips are sealed by fear and unwilling to seek advice is damned. And no less damned is he who puts a friend above his country. I have no good word for him. As God above is my witness, who sees all, when I see any danger threatening my people, whatever it may be, I shall declare it. No man who is his country’s enemy shall call himself my friend. Our country is our life. Only when she rides safely have we any friend at all.

(Creon; Sophocles)

We the people of Nigeria, united by a shared destiny of hopelessness foisted on us by a succession of inept people in governance since independence, who at various times and by various means have rigged elections or conducted Coup d’etats to impose themselves on us; whom, having proved themselves to be ineffective managers of people and resources and by their obvious impotence, greed and incompetence have kept us in  hunger and left us in darkness further compounded by broken down infrastructure, all of which make it impossible for citizens to pursue basic material well-being necessary for survival as members of the human race, do hereby declare as follows:

      ENOUGH

                IS

         ENOUGH

              AND

       TOO MUCH

                IS

       TOO MUCH

It is commonly said that a people deserve the leadership that they get. When you think of it, we the people far outnumber the small circle of people who though bereft of ideas and vision have held us in bondage of gross underdevelopment for over 50 years. However, for as long as the cabal can play on our tribal differences, our religious differences and regional differences, we, the people will continue to fight each other instead of focusing our attention on the issues responsible for our backwardness. Meanwhile, this small circle of people has always been united irrespective of religion and ethnicity in the collective rape of our destiny.

Well, it may have taken over 50 years, but we have traveled full-cycle and a great new dawn is upon us.

 The time has come ---TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK AND MOVE IT FORWARD.

Great people of Nigeria, it is time to wake up to the reality of the situation as revealed by two men in their twenties whom I encountered at the local international airport selling recharge cards for a living. For the purpose of this document, I will refer to them as—‘The People’ in the following dialogue:

The author; Where are you from?

The people; Katsina State.

The author; Are you Christian or Muslim?

The people ; Muslim.

The author; Did you go to school?

The People ; I am a University graduate. I have completed NYSC.

The author; Is this all you do for a living?

The people; Yes.

The author; Could you not get a job?

The people; There are no jobs because there is no electricity.

The author; Do you really care where the President of this country comes from? Whether he is Hausa, Ibo or Yoruba, Christian or Muslim?

The People ---

 We need a competent and knowledgeable person to take charge. Hunger does not discriminate between religions or tribe. If we are all hungry, then we all have a common problem. If we all go home daily to darkness, then we have a common problem. If we all have to travel on bad roads, then we all have a common problem.

If we graduate from school and we cannot get jobs, then we all have a common problem. If we go to hospitals that have no doctors and no drugs and no equipment, then we all have a common problem. If armed robbers wake us up at night to take the little we have worked for, then we all have a common problem. If my children cannot go to a well equipped school with real teachers who are paid enough to actually teach, then we all have a common problem. If we have policemen wearing slippers because they are grossly underpaid and undervalued and the policeman decides to create his own road block to collect a little bit to feed his family, then we all have a common problem.

I left the airport marveling at the wisdom of the recharge card entrepreneur.

Speaking on a visit to Jos in 2014, one of the most forward-looking and most respected monarchs in Nigeria, Sultan Abubakar Sa’ad said----

ALL OF US NIGERIAN CITIZENS HAVE COMMON PROBLEMS AS CHRISTIANS OR MUSLIMS WHETHER IT IS EXTREMISM, TERRORISM, POVERTY, UNEMPLOYMENT, CHILDREN DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL AND POOR INFRASTRUCTURE AT EVERY LEVEL AND THESE ARE THE PROBLEMS ALL OF US MUST COME TOGETHER TO SOLVE. WE MUST CONTINUE TO CLOSE RANKS FOR THE SAKE OF OUR PEOPLE. NO DOUBT, WE WILL BE ABLE TO SOLVE THESE COMMON PROBLEMS IF WE ARE UNITED AS A PEOPLE. WE CANNOT OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES IF WE ARE DIVIDED, HENCE OUR UNITY IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. 

Wise counsel, from the wise.

Nigeria needs a leader who will rise beyond ethnic, religious or regional considerations.

 We need a leadership that engages, we need a leadership that reads, we need a leadership that listens, we need a leadership that can feel the pulse and pain of the people, we need a leadership that inspires hope and confidence, we need a leadership that knows its right from its left, we need a leadership that desires power  for the common good, we need a leadership that puts the country first and self last, we need a

leadership that will give us the right to dream dreams that are possible to achieve because it is our God-given right to dream of a better life and a better future for us and our children yet unborn. Ladies and gentlemen, we need a leader to take us on a journey of hope.

NEED FOR CHANGE:

Are we better off now than we were four years ago? Do we want more of the same? Do you believe we as a country are going in the right direction? Do you even think we have a direction at all? I believe that there is unanimity on the need for change in Nigeria. People desire great roads, great hospitals, great schools, free enterprise, fair judicial system and above everything else, peace and security. All of these have been elusive under the PDP leadership for the last 15 years.

 IT IS THEREFORE OBVIOUS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THAT WHAT HAS BEEN GOOD FOR THE PDP AND APC FOR 15 YEARS HAS NOT BEEN GOOD FOR NIGERIA.

POWER DEVELOPMENT:

It is difficult to develop without power and we do not need government to give us electricity because they cannot. One of the things we need to do at this point is find a way to influence the National Assembly to change the Act that governs the generation and distribution of power. Government intentions to develop the power sector have been good but designed to fail. China built the -Three Gorges Dam- on the Yangtze river at a cost of $22 billion. It generates 22,500MW.

 It is on record that Nigeria spent $16 billion in the same world and in the same century that China built its own dam and we did not achieve 1MW of power generation.

What kind of people are we? Do our leaders love this country at all? Power generation and distribution ought to be deregulated the same way that telecommunications was deregulated------- totally.

States, Communities and private companies should generate and distribute power and be allowed to sell any excess power to other communities.

 It is a well known fact that the current incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan whom I seek to replace said at a forum in 2013 that over 60 million Nigerians already own generators, spending approximately N2 Trillion Naira annually to purchase and maintain them. What he did not tell us was that the use of generators adds over 80 percent extra cost to all goods produced and services rendered in Nigeria.

 On the day I am sworn in as President, I will send a bill for total deregulation/liberalization of the power sector to the National Assembly to amend the Electricity ACT OF 2005 and open the space for full-blown competition.

It is interesting that anyone would think that privatization of the power generating and distribution companies can be the solution when government is still part of the power supply chain. Let me explain.

There are four steps to travel before power gets to the consumer. The generating Company, X, for example generates 10MW of power and sells mandatorily to a government Company called NBET (Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading). NBET then gives the power to TCN, (Transmission Company of Nigeria) which is another government agency.

TCN has old and obsolete equipment. The result of this arrangement is that TCN is only able to give 3MW to the DISCOS (Power Distribution Companies). The DISCOS then report to NBET that they only received 3MW and so X gets paid for only 3MW.

It gets more interesting.  NBET, being a government organization, it will sooner or later be plagued by corruption which will make it difficult for X company to get paid on time.

Translation: You will need to bribe to get paid.

At this point, the World Bank then steps in with a PRG (Partial Risk Guarantee), an arrangement that says, if NBET is unable to pay you, come to us and we will pay you a portion of what they owe you. The World Bank has a fixed amount of money in the pot of $400 Million dollars. What then happens when the pot runs out?

If you give me your vote, I will uproot the NBET, TCN and the World Bank from the power supply chain and have you deal with X company which generates the power directly. He will build his own transmission line and get the power to you in your local government area. All power generation and supply will be localized. Let those who believe a national grid would work compete for our business.

Let me ask a question. Is there a middleman between you and MTN? If not, then why do we need three middlemen in the power supply chain?

Read article titled: Power supply worsens as five transmission lines fail by Stanley Opara (Punch, May 28, 2014)

 The only role for government to play is to prevent exploitation of the consumer which the NERC (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission) is set up to do, very much like the NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission) does for communication.

One major cure to the power problem lies in gas availability to power the IPPs. Question:  Which one is easier and cheaper?---- To generate power at the point where the gas is produced and send the power to the  National grid or to pipe the gas hundreds of miles to a power station?

The IOCs, I understand would rather flare the associated gas and pay a penalty to the Federal government than spend so much money to refine it to pipe to a power station at a loss.

WRONG POLICIES CREATE PROBLEMS FOR EVERYONE. GOVERNMENT HAS FOR YEARS IMPOSED AN UNREALISTIC PRICE REGIME ON GAS PRODUCERS (IOCs) SUCH THAT THEY STOPPED DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL GAS FOR LOCAL CONSUMPTION.

A simple cure would just be to encourage the IOCs to generate power at source with the associated gas with forward contracts for power purchase. (Paper presented by Dr. Raphael Awoseyin  at the Nigerian Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, 2009, titled: Developing gas and power infrastructure franchises and associated gas as solution).

 Another major cure to the power problem would entail the government encouraging the proliferation of alternative energy like solar and wind across the country. Germany for example set a target to generate 50% of its energy from solar by 2020. That target was exceeded in early 2014 when solar power began to contribute over 210,000MW to the national grid. This was achieved by introducing a mix of incentives upon which the private sector was able to ride. Wind power already contributes about 40,000MW to help power the German economy. Germany with grey skies has a third of the Nigerian land size and a fraction of the sunshine by intensity and length of time in a day and months in a year, yet they are able to achieve these feats which we are better equipped by nature to achieve. One state in Northern Nigeria has the capacity to generate all the solar power Nigeria needs. Government should think policy first before it thinks---Where will we find the money? Money always follows good policies.

Yet another way for us to begin to experience better power supply would be to remove four strong states like Lagos, Rivers, Kano and Ogun from the National grid. Give them one year to generate their own power and get off the grid. These four states combined, consume over 80% of power currently generated. The rest of the country will be lifted up immediately.

According to the power allocation formula, Lagos State is supposed to receive 1,000MW from the National grid but Lagos needs 5,000MW to have stable power supply. Kano is supposed to receive 213MW from the National grid but Kano needs 600MW to have stable power supply. This power is supposed to come from an inefficient National Transmission grid and so Kano gets just about 50MW. This is certainly not a way to develop our country.

INDUSTRIALIZATION:

If there is no electricity, there will be no industrialization and therefore, no jobs. In 1983, the Shagari administration commissioned the Ajaokuta steel company when it was 95% complete.

 In the last 31 years, we have had, Buhari, Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha, Abdulsalam, Obasanjo, Yar’ Adua and now Goodluck all of whom have not seen the need to complete the remaining 5%.

My administration will embark on the speedy completion of the remaining 5% which current estimates put at N42 Billion that will help launch us into the league of powerful nations.

This will help create over 20 million jobs across the steel value chain as one steel job provides three more jobs in other sectors and transform the entire middle belt region of Nigeria into an industrial hub for Africa.

South Africa is currently the biggest producer of Steel in Africa with yearly production of 7.2 million tonnes making them the 21^st largest producer in the world. Nigeria’s installed capacity can quickly outpace that of South Africa if we get electricity working and we have the will to complete the complex. We can grow to outpace China as the world’s biggest and most efficient producer of spare parts to the auto industry worldwide whilst developing our own auto industry. My administration will declare Ajaokuta a National security issue and treat it with dispatch.

ROADS:

Nigeria needs to evolve a sustainable way of building roads to help unleash latent potential. In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower of the United States created the Federal Aid

Highway Act. The Act mandates the Federal Government to build roads every year and this is funded by a GASOLINE TAX.

The result is the interstate highway system you find across the United States which changed America forever.

In the UK, they have a ROAD TAX.

 Good roads will improve commerce which means more jobs for the people.

 My administration will initiate a bill to have a Nigeria Highway Construction Act which will give birth to a corporate body with the power to go to the Bond market to raise huge sums of money to embark on huge public works. This will have the ripple effect of creating jobs in all geo-political zones. Payback will come from taxation on all petroleum products; gas, diesel, petrol, engine oil, kerosene, etc. This is the sustainable way to embark on road construction which will help open up the country.

Private companies will also be encouraged to pool resources and build roads that they can toll to recover their investment.

On January 12^th 1966, the Balewa government commissioned the Niger Bridge. It was built at the cost of 5 Million Pounds and it took exactly one year from start to finish. The bridge is approximately 2 kilometers long.

 For 48 years, we have been talking about a second Niger bridge and we are still talking. The question is----How many more years will it take to build the second Niger Bridge with the PDP in power?

The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind (Bob Dylan).

We must change laws that vest everything in the hands of the Federal government if this country must grow. If a company wants to build a bridge across the Niger, they should be encouraged to do so with a basket of incentives.

 This is the role of governments-----To create a policy framework that enables and empowers individuals to thrive to their optimum.

STATES’ RIGHTS:

Long years of Military rule have redefined us as a people who think one size fits all. This is the kind of mindset that makes the Federal government dictate how states should be run. If a state thinks they do not need a Ministry of sports, then they do not need it!! If a state which generates IGR (internally generated revenue) of N250 Million has a monthly salary bill of N2.5 Billion, then, we have a problem.

 Obsolete laws and decrees that encourage this mindset must be jettisoned from our polity. We will never be a country that builds infrastructure and creates jobs if we do not think differently.

REVENUE ALLOCATION:

If ever there was one thing that we agree on, it is that the Federal government is bloated and therefore takes a huge chunk of the revenue without looking for creative ways to grow the pot. I believe that the revenue allocation formula should be Federal, 40%, States, 35% and local government, 25%.

 All levels of education should strictly fall in the concurrent list for local governments and states to cater to. We must do away with Federal Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Universities.

Total autonomy is required to grow higher institutions. They must be allowed to make their rules and charge economic fees. Those who cannot pay will be entitled to student loans backed by the Federal government which they will pay back over a 20 year period after graduation.

 There is no reason for uniform pay for all professors all over the country just as there should be no reason for every university to run every course under the sun. Laws that presently shackle the university system from functioning optimally should be done away with.

Once these restrictions are lifted, every university should be able to run itself. I would go further to explore the possibility of floating all Federal universities on the stock exchange. Let the public own it and let them compete and let them set up their own management systems to operate the institutions. Excellence will return to the university system immediately. Does anyone doubt that?

BANKING REFORM:

The idea to consolidate our banking system was a good one, but poorly executed. The big downside was massive job loss in the system and forced marriages. Much of that has unraveled already. Our banks have no incentive to lend money to the real sector.

 Why should banks lend money to you and I when all they need to do is wait for the Central Bank to borrow from them safely at 12% through the monthly exercise of mopping up excess liquidity which they create every month in the first place by printing  new Naira notes to back dollar receipts? Why should they when all they need to do is wait for the next week to buy foreign exchange from the government and make their spread?

 I believe that the federation account should be distributed in dollar certificates to the states. Let them buy Naira from the banks to pay their workers and conduct state business. If we have the courage to do this, our banking culture will change, the Naira will be a stronger currency and inefficiency in the system will disappear, our standard of living will immediately improve as our Naira gathers power.

Plus, I believe we have tilted toward over-regulation in the banking and broader financial sector, thus creating new issues of basic survival for some of these institutions with the attendant job loss. For example, what is the hurry in compelling the entire sector to conform to new IFRS accounting rules?

What is the rationale for increasing the CRR (Cash reserve ratio) of banks from 50 percent to 75 percent in an economy where banks do not lend to the productive sector?

Why did the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) increase the capital base of Brokerage firms from 70 million to 300 Million Naira?  Why did the Central Bank increase the capital base for Bureau D’ Changes (BDCs) to N35 Million? Were all these matters open for debate? Do the policy makers know how their policies will impact job creation at all?

If you vote for me, I will strive to encourage constructive engagement between regulators and operators so that workers do not suffer because of poorly thought out and ill-conceived policies and regulations.

As President, it will be my stated policy thrust to the Central Bank and the Economic management team to:

·       Drive down inflation.

·       Bring down interest rate to single digit

·       Raise the value of the Naira to 50-1 in the short term.

·       Make long term funds available for long term lending

·       Deepen Free unshackled enterprise

·       Make the man on the street feel the impact of great governance.

·       Promote policies that create jobs, jobs and more jobs.

ECONOMIC MODEL:

WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM MAY NOT BE GOOD FOR NIGERIA. WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE UNITED STATES IS NOT NECESSARILY GOOD FOR NIGERIA.

The Bretton Woods economic model was bred and nurtured in an industrially productive environment. We, on the other hand are net consumers and importers of everything, especially the things we can produce.

We only produce raw materials. A devalued currency can never be in our national interest. Devaluation as monetary policy must be discontinued.

What we do not know is that we actually lose money every time we sell our raw materials in a devalued currency environment. Let me explain. In time period A for example, Mr X pays $10 for a barrel of crude oil when the exchange rate of my Naira is One Naira to one dollar. Mr X now sends his friends to come and tell me that I should devalue my currency in order for me to qualify to get some benefits from him.

 I am dumb enough to receive his friends.

The next day, my currency is now worth Ten Naira to One dollar. Now, Mr X is getting my barrel of crude oil for free. A few months down the road, he sends new friends to me and I am dumb enough to receive them again.

The result is that I now need One hundred and Seventy Naira to buy one dollar. Mr X is now not only getting my crude oil for free, I am actually paying him to buy my oil.

 My administration will keep promises made to the banking sector by having them participate in the management of our reserves.

 When this is done, it will change our banking culture as long term funds will now be made available to unleash latent Nigerian potential and spur the emergence of long term mortgages and single digit interest rate.

 It is game changing policies like this that I will be seeking to achieve as President to give meaning to the term - Free enterprise.

SOCIAL SECURITY:

 When good men and women have given their youth in the service of this country, they must not be left to fend for themselves when they can no longer be productive. It is immoral and just plain wrong. We must create a safety net, not only for the aged beginning at 65, but we must also take care of the disabled and the least amongst us.

These are the hallmarks of great societies. Everyone who turns 65 and does not have a home should be provided government subsidized housing. It ought to be a right, not a privilege.

We must not allow circumstances to force young men and women into crime to fend for the family.

 We are actually very fortunate that thus far, we have had the extended family system that makes us our brother’s keeper otherwise we would not be able to live freely in this country because of crime.

However, the extended family support system is gradually eroding due to new economic realities and demographic shifts. We must as a country plan to be ahead of the curve in evolving a Benefits system that takes care of young girls and young unemployed men.

 PATRIOTISM DOES NOT GROW FROM SLOGANS. IT GROWS FROM THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE CITIZENS FUNCTION TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY.

Many wonder why the people in the Western world tend to love their countries so much that they are willing to lay down their lives to defend their way of life. It is simple. The society goes all out for them and affords them the opportunity to aspire to be the best that they can be.

Translation----Society cares and so the people care in return ---No Quid, no Pro and definitely, no Quo.

INTERNAL TRADE:

The big three auto manufacturers in the United States produce over 18 million cars every year and all of these are purchased annually within the United States plus an additional 6 million cars which are imported every year. What makes this kind of figures possible?

 Answer----The democratization of capital and opportunity. The country having been opened up through massive public works through the building of Dams, Railways and the passage of the Federal-aid Highway Act in 1956 by the Eisenhower administration, the creative energy of the populace was unleashed.

 An integrated planned development is one that is able to feed on itself to propel growth. Developing countries should have development plans. The last time we had one in Nigeria was about 40 years ago. Since then we have been in reverse gear.

The only growth we have really experienced is natural growth. It takes some serious work, pumping iron to build the kind of muscle that comes from adding value to a natural process. When you go to Sokoto, you can buy a Chicken for N200. That same chicken gets to Lagos and you must pay N1500 for it.

How is this possible? Again, the answer is not far-fetched. The Chicken travels from the small farm in a basket with 30 other chickens from a village in Sokoto to the main market on very bad roads.

 By the time it gets to the main market, 15 of the thirty would have died because of the bumpy road and unbearable heat in the transporting vehicle, having spent 6 hours for what would have been a thirty minute trip under normal circumstances.

The Chicken arrives in the main market costing N400 each if the middleman is to remain in business.

Now, the chicken gets on a trailer to begin its journey to Lagos. On its way to Lagos, the driver stops to buy diesel at a petrol station. He sees a notice that reads, ‘No diesel’

However, if he goes behind the station, he will get the officially unavailable diesel at two times the price. The chicken now costs N800. The driver continues his journey on the terrible pot-holes we call roads in this part of the world.

 When he gets to a checkpoint, he has to settle the boys.

The chicken now costs N900. The journey continues on the bad roads. He falls into deeper ditches and loses the front tire and the shock absorber develops a fault.

He spends three extra days on the highway fixing his vehicle. The chicken now costs N1200. By the time he gets to Lagos, the chicken is only one of 9 chickens left in the basket. It must be sold at not less than N1500 for the middleman to remain in business.

Now, because it costs so much, only a few people can afford to eat chicken and so it takes the merchant longer than necessary to sell his consignment.

The turnaround time for the transporter is now much longer than anticipated. The farmer in the village in Sokoto waits in vain for the next buyer. This, my friends is the stark reality through which we live our lives in Nigeria on a daily basis.

 WE MUST EMBARK ON MASSIVE INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT INCLUDING CREATING ARTIFICIAL NEW RIVERS TO LINK UP PARTS OF THE COUNTRY IN ORDER TO DEVELOP INTERNAL TRADE WHICH CAN HELP TO UNLEASH MASSIVE LATENT POTENTIAL THAT WILL FEED ON ITSELF TO GIVE BIRTH TO A 24-HOUR/365 DAY ECONOMY.

We cannot continue to have our economic plans backwards. Right now, we make money from selling crude oil which we in turn use to import refined petroleum and goods from other countries to whom we sell nothing else in return.

For as long as we continue to ride this model, foreign currency will continue to be important in our daily economy.

 A critical look at the country would reveal some natural industrial belts which have developed by themselves over the years. In Lagos, we have areas like Ladipo for spare parts, Alaba for electronic goods, Shomolu for printing and Ikeja for technology.

We have other areas like Aba for garments, Nnewi for production of spare parts, Kano for textiles, Taraba for ranching and Edo for furniture making.

Areas that have developed into clusters should be given priority and declared special economic zones. They must have 24-hour electricity and other infrastructure necessary for their optimal functioning.

 A mere declaration as special economic zones with enabling laws which provide a basket of incentives would spur local investors to invest in providing embedded power to Alaba for example. This idea is not original. China did it successfully under Deng Xiao Ping and it helped lunch China into an industrial power. Alaba market may just be able to generate one million new jobs. Money would be saved that can then go into expansion and more hiring. By repeating this model across the country, we may just be able to create up to 10 million new jobs as a result. Imagine 10 million new tax payers in our system building 10 million new homes!!

RECURRENT VERSUS CAPITAL EXPENDITURE:

With a recurrent expenditure of 82% and capital expenditure of 18% how can we ever really hope to develop much needed infrastructure in this country? We can trim this immediately by introducing technology in all government establishments and diversifying the economy.

 If we grow the economy at 10% every year without increasing recurrent overhead we would be increasing the capital outlay for infrastructural development.

 A good goal to aim for could be 50% recurrent and 50% capital expenditure and I believe this can be achieved if we think deep and hard enough and are willing as a government to patiently engage labor and civil society groups.

 Why for example do we need a Federal Ministry of Sports, Aviation and Transport? Why do we need 54 Ministers? If you vote for me, I will treat Labor and civil society groups with respect and engage them constructively as equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project.

SHORT TERM PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY.

My administration will design short term plans for total power

 availability thus: In every local government, private companies will be given a basket of incentives including import waivers for the importation of industrial generators with capacity of 1,000-5,000 KVA powered by diesel or gas that can take care of hundreds of houses at a time.

Once this is done, demand on petrol will fall by an estimated 60 percent. There are about 7 million registered cars in Nigeria according to the FRSC, but we have over 60 million petrol generators. Do the arithmetic!!!!!!

This will help to revive industry currently reeling under the high cost of diesel and create millions of jobs instantly. More taxpayers equal more revenue for infrastructural development, equals more jobs. This is what is called sustainable development.

We have imported petrol for the last 23 years. This will no longer be necessary as the local refineries will then have the capacity to meet demand.

In China, over 53,000 MW of electricity is provided in small megawatts by tiny companies dotted all over the landscape generating power from small hydro that do not require dams (using run of the river technology), to Solar, to Wind and small Coal plants.

A mindset of over-centralization is what is bogging us down. We must open up the space. Total unfettered deregulation is what we need and now.

POLICE ORDERLIES AND ESCORTS:

Interestingly, every public official in this country including private individuals having achieved a little importance has Nigeria police officers guarding them.

This nonsense needs to stop. We can create 1 million new jobs for the private sector by banning this practice. Private security organizations should be empowered and trained to carry arms. Let those who need protection go to them and free our police officers to do the work of policing the country and keeping us safe. The Nigerian police should be well equipped and fitted to patrol neighborhoods, two to a patrol car or Power bike.

THE ARMED FORCES AND POLICE:

These young men and women whom we send into harm’s way must be well taken care of. Their total welfare must never be a matter for long debates. My administration will introduce a –JSEB (Joint Services Education Bill) to ensure that servicemen and their children get automatic scholarships to university level.

Policemen who run the daily risk of being killed by criminals, Customs men who have to confront deadly smugglers every day, Soldiers who lay down their lives to preserve our country along with the Air force and Naval personnel should not have to worry about how to pay school fees for their children. These are the folks to whom we absolutely owe FREE EDUCATION.

All wives of servicemen must also be equipped with skills to enable them contribute to the well-being of their families.

It is quite unsettling that we often have to drag our soldiers out to kill our own people and be killed by our own people after the politicians have messed things up badly. My administration will be very proactive in intervening and resolving internal disputes to stave off needless loss of lives.

    I will engage the National Assembly and civil society in a bid to have state and local government police to help nip problems in the bud before they become national embarrassments that require the intervention of the army. Our armed forces must be equipped in a first class manner if we want them to be a first class fighting force. I will pay special attention to all our armed forces and ensure that they are as proud of the jobs they do as we are proud of them.

With a population of 170 Million people, it is clear that we are under-policed with a force of 400,000 men. Clearly also, it is a dereliction of the highest responsibility to secure our borders for us to have a mere 100,000 soldiers as the country’s army. We will make the right investment to have a modern fighting force that will be the pride of our nation. In my administration, every Armed Forces personnel gets a Housing mortgage the day he starts work. His home secures the future of his family as much as the gun he carries helps to secure the rest of us.

INSECURITY:

Where we are:

Boko Haram has seized swathes of territory and scores of our children as human shield. They have hoisted their flags on Nigerian soil and they call our bluff.

Kidnappers have organized themselves into corporations. They have established training schools to train people in the art and many have graduated from their schools.

Young unemployed graduates have become experts in cyber crime and everyday, they are coming up with new inventions to perfect their acts of criminality.

Armed robbers have moved away from attacking homes. They go in broad daylight to attack Bullion vans and walk into banks with a daring and sophistication unknown 20 years ago.

Baby factories are springing up across the landscape as human trafficking has become one of the quickest ways to become rich.

Militancy has not abated as pipelines are destroyed everyday to steal crude. Foreigners have joined the bandwagon. They come with supertankers to join in the bazaar to steal our crude oil.

Why are we in the Current Situation?

We are where we are for many reasons but I will touch on just a few. Our education system has failed us because it was not  properly implemented.

The 6-3-3-4 system was supposed to create artisans and skilled personnel as part of its curriculum. That part was not implemented and so we have a pool of people who are unable to go to higher institutions and are also unable to get jobs at their level without necessary skills. They become feedstock for all the above listed crimes.

Our leadership has a tendency to ignore problems in this country until they become mountains and require surgery.

Our leadership through the years has embodied the policy of embracing criminals, giving them a pardon and giving them new national assignments. The message to the people is that –it is okay to be a criminal.

Our Justice administration is too slow. We need to train more judges, build more courts and put a cap on the number of adjournments a case can have to speed up the administration of justice.

Years of operating the patronage system has meant that competent people are not put in charge for us to get best results. We put round pegs in square holes.

The morale of our armed forces has been decimated by years of corruption, abuse and neglect by their leaders to the extent that a police IG was jailed for stealing money meant for the welfare of the people he should be serving. It does not get worse than that. He may soon obtain his own pardon and run for governor.

PROGNOSIS:

We will continue to linger in this state of insecurity unless we change the old ways of doing things.

REMEDY:

Nigeria needs to build a brand new security architecture. We need an integrated Homeland security that gets information and data from all security agencies and is able to use the information to analyze where new threats are, where they might be coming from next and recommend quick ways to nip the issues in the bud. Electronic surveillance and new technology and research will be carried out by the Homeland Security to keep us safe. The old bureaucracy that has characterized our security system will become a thing of the past. Lazy security reports that only tend to demonize opposition will give way to modern techniques of threat assessment. This is the 21^st century and we must think like we are actually in the 21^st century. The governor is not the state. The President is not the country. The opposition is not the enemy.

Grassroots approach to CONFLICT resolution is a road worth pursuing. If the Niger Delta militancy was resolved through a grassroots approach, there is no reason why the Boko Haram insurgency cannot be resolved in the same way. There are people whom they trust to negotiate on their behalf. Read article titled. (How to get our girls back by Mama Boko Haram), in the Nation newspaper of June 24^th, 2014.

One more puzzle in solving problems of insecurity is individual responsibility. We must as a nation begin to watch out for and report suspicious behavior and we should be able to do this anonymously.

 I understand that one of the biggest fears people have about reporting crime is their personal safety because they do not trust that the people they are reporting to might not be complicit in the crime. To this end, the creation of an emergency 911 system will be uppermost in my plans to address insecurity in the land.

We are in 2014. We must rise to the security challenges of these times with technology. British society rose to the challenge of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) with technology. In today’s Britain, cameras can tell your story from the moment you arrive in the country until the day you depart.

To solve the immediate problem of our girls in captivity I would grant full, unconditional and unequivocal amnesty to Boko Haram. We need peace to develop this country. That would be my priority.

JUDICIAL REFORM:

A situation where a Judge barely passes four judgments in one year should be unacceptable to us as a nation. Our courts are over-burdened and Judges are too few. The administration of justice should be a speedy affair which takes into recognition, the right to fair hearing. We must build more courts and train many more judges. We may also need to have specialized courts to enhance the administration of justice. For example, we can have Constitutional courts, Land courts, Financial courts, Civil courts, Election courts and Criminal courts. Also, we may need to put a time limit on certain types of cases.

A murder case, because it involves life may have a one year limit while all other cases may not exceed 6 months. Caps should be put on the number of adjournments allowed in any particular case just as you cannot have more than a certain number of substitutions in a football game.

Another thing we can do is computerize our judicial system and introduce the use of lawyers as prosecutors at the lower courts instead of policemen. This will help create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the judiciary.

UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE BILL:

Nigeria needs to craft a universal healthcare bill. Nigeria ranks at the bottom of the ladder in the matter of maternal and child mortality rates.

Maternal and infant mortality rates hover around 10%. What this means is that we are at the bottom of the ladder in the world. This is unacceptable. Every man, woman and child should get a universal health card with all their relevant biometrics.

This card will also serve as the Social security card which entitles them to healthcare and social assistance in case of unemployment and of course tracks eligibility for old age assistance. This system will be designed to be sustainable such that people make contributions to the scheme according to what they earn.

IT WILL BE MANDATORY FOR ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS TO SEEK TREATMENT ONLY IN NIGERIAN HOSPITALS. FIRST CLASS HOSPITALS WITH FIRST CLASS DOCTORS REQUIRE FIRST CLASS WORK, THE KIND OF WORK AND DEDICATION ONLY A PATRIOT IS READY AND WILLING TO OFFER HIS OR HER COUNTRY.

It is necessary that all healthcare professionals are consulted toward making this a reality as there is the deep-seated fear that doctors alone seek to dominate. This is what has plagued the passage of a health bill for the last 50 years beginning with the first attempt at crafting one by Dr Majekodunmi in the first republic.

EDUCATION:

 My administration will enunciate a Bill of Rights on Education, making education available and compulsory to every Nigerian up to secondary school level. We will also have a National School Food program which guarantees two meals a day in school for the children who cannot afford it.

The industrialization process can only be driven by an educated and well trained population. We must build schools that build people who can build things.

There cannot be any shortcuts. The 1999 Constitution states that the Federal government should give free education when they think it is possible to do so. That is an ambiguous provision which must be changed to read-----

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHALL

 ENSURE THAT EVERY CHILD OF SCHOOL AGE IS GUARANTEED FREE EDUCATION ALL THE WAY TO SS3 LEVEL.

University education will be paid for. Students who cannot afford it, will be entitled to a student loan at 3% interest, guaranteed by the Federal government which must be paid back over a 20 yr period to make it sustainable.

My administration will also initiate a nationwide adult education program that goes beyond the walls of a classroom to radio, TV and Internet.

We will make serious investments in Science, Technology, Engineering  and Mathematics.

We will prepare our children to compete with the best in the world. Being the best is never something that happens by chance but by choice.

First class education is the surest ticket to the middle class.

Our teachers can be the best paid teachers in the world and they will be under my administration.

 The UNESCO appeal to nations is to strive for 25% as education budget. Ghana does 32% while Nigeria is at a paltry 5%.

WITH A YOUTH POPULATION OF 134 MILLION PEOPLE AND DISMAL YEARLY GRADUATION OF 200,000 PEOPLE FROM OUR HIGHER INSTITUTIONS, IT IS MY CONSIDERED OPINION THAT WE ARE NOT READY TO ENTER THE STADIUM TO COMPETE WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD. THIS MUST CHANGE.

We must as a country change our focus and invest in the development of human capital. In the early 1960s, South

 Korea had over 95% illiteracy rate. That number has changed to zero because of the massive investment in the development of human capital.

The result is clear for all to see. LG, SAMSUNG, KIA, HYUNDAI, PANASONIC. Each of these companies has an annual budget larger than Nigeria’s yearly budget. Samsung aims to make $400 Billion profit in 2015.

The most coveted job in South Korea is to be a teacher. Only 5% of people who apply for teaching jobs get it. It attracts the best brains from within and outside the country. This is a good model of how to transform a country.

BIG BOLD STEPS ARE WHAT WE REQUIRE FROM LEADERS WITH BIG IDEAS AND BIG VISION.

Margaret Mead, American anthropologist and writer said:

 WE ARE NOW AT A POINT WHERE WE MUST EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN IN WHAT NO ONE KNEW YESTERDAY AND PREPARE OUR SCHOOLS FOR WHAT NO ONE KNOWS YET.

In response to the educational backwardness of blacks in America, Arthur Fletcher, one time President of the United College Negro Fund coined the phrase---A mind is a terrible thing to waste ---whilst others down the road added--- And a wonderful thing to invest in. My Administration will declare an emergency on education in Northern Nigeria by setting up a Northern Nigeria Education Emergency Fund (NNEEF).

I will send a bill for establishment of the (NNEEF)  immediately I am sworn in as President and I am very sure it will pass in record time as I do not see any member of the National Assembly opposing such a laudable project. It will be the set objective of this fund to find children in every nook and cranny in the North and prepare them for the future whilst doing the same with adult education.

We shall push and we shall pull to encourage that young man and that young woman to pick up the pieces of their broken dreams, climb over that mountain, ford that river and follow every rainbow until they are able to walk down that aisle to pick up that certificate and shout—Thank God Almighty---We did it!!!

This is the Nigeria I will give to you if you give me your vote.

 I will set a six year agenda to wipe out illiteracy in the entire Northern region as we attack it from both ends. We will compress a curriculum for adults to complete primary education in 2 years whilst spending another 4 years to complete secondary education. With skills acquisition built into the curriculum, the North will be ready to live up to the billing of the foremost patriarch of the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, as--- the Giant in the Sun.

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

Things do not just happen. Victories are won through intense work. Preparation is the conveyor belt that delivers success. In the sixties and seventies, the government of the then Midwest State built facilities across the state and the results showed clearly as Midwest which later became Bendel shone for many years at yearly sports competitions and international events. The writer learned to swim and play tennis at facilities provided by the state government in 1971. In 2014, we want to pray and fast our way to Olympic and World cup victories. It will not happen.

There is work to be done before we pray. Endemic corruption and cronyism has bedeviled our sports in much the same way as it has destroyed everything else and so we may need to come up with a new model of Public –Private Participation in development of sports in Nigeria.

A take-off grant for a Sports Trust Commission could be a starting point after which it must be left purely in private hands. The job creation potential of such an approach can only be imagined. It is estimated by experts that over 400,000 jobs could be created over a 5-year period.

The UK with a population of 64 million which is about a third of the Nigerian population has a thriving football industry that employs over a million people in the entire value chain from ticket agents to broadcasting rights, travels, hotels, pub licenses for soccer viewing crowds, etc.

 In 2013, the Sports industry contributed over 20 Billion pounds, about 2% of GDP, exceeding the contribution of the auto industry, insurance, telecoms, legal and accounting services.

NYSC

The NYSC scheme needs to be re-tooled after 40 years of its existence to reflect the dynamics and economics of the times.

The youth need to have in-depth training on skills acquisition and entrepreneurship to help transform a sizeable number of them into job creators instead of job seekers. A cursory look across the geo-political regions of the world would reveal to the keen observer that we have indeed entered a century of joblessness.

Every year, an estimated 200,000 people enroll for the NYSC program. In a country where we have not been creating jobs for 30 years due to bad management, the result is about 190,000 of these youth who will join the unemployment market alongside another 1.8 million young people who will become unemployable adults thereby creating a steady pool of people whose idle hands must find ‘work’ to do

TO HAVE A CRIMINAL YOUTH IS ONE THING BUT TO HAVE AN EDUCATED CRIMINAL YOUTH POPULATION IS SHEER ANARCHY

We are turning the corner into the realm of anarchy.

BRAIN DRAIN:

It is a well known fact that Nigerian professionals who have fled to the diaspora excel in their chosen fields. Can we ever hope to bring these people back to work in Nigeria on the basis of patriotism only? How many people reading this manifesto want to be a teacher in Nigeria?

How many want to be practicing nurses, doctors and pharmacists in Nigeria? How many want to be policemen in Nigeria?

The answer is zero for many reasons, the top of which is poor pay. Now, how many readers want to be legislators and senators? I bet, everyone!!!! This is a distortion and aberration in our society and it must not stand!!!. If we want to build a first class country then we must think and do things differently.

IT WILL BE A CENTRAL POLICY OF MY ADMINISTRATION TO HAVE THE BEST TRAINED AND THE BEST PAID TEACHERS, NURSES, DOCTORS, PHARMACISTS, POLICEMEN, JUDGES AND ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL IN THE WORLD.

These groups constitute the bedrock that hold society together and make it cohesive, yet, they are the least paid and least appreciated. This will and must change.!!

 CORRUPTION:

This is the number one problem of Nigeria. It is estimated that over $400 Billion (N64 Trillion) has been stolen by public officials in the last 30 years. Let me tell you what this could have done for Nigeria. At present rates, Lagos-Ibadan Express which is 100 Km long costs N100 Billion Naira to fully construct with eight lanes, therefore we could have constructed 64,000 roads like that across the country. Think about this for a minute.

 Many reasons have been given why corruption is so pervasive in our country. We cannot eradicate it by slogans.

CORRUPTION IS A VIRUS THAT FEEDS ON AND IS POWERED BY THE ENVIRONMENT. SCARCITY FUELS CORRUPTION, INEFFICIENCY FUELS CORRUPTION INSECURITY FUELS CORRUPTION AND CORRUPTION FUELS INSECURITY.

 A slow justice system fuels corruption. Insufficient pay for our law enforcement agencies help to fuel corruption, wrong policies fuel corruption. It will not go away for as long as we have a very inefficient environment.

We can begin to reduce and ultimately eradicate it by making society work and making government smaller. A good way to eliminate corruption is to develop a sectoral approach. Does anyone remember how we used to stay in line for hours at NITEL to make phone calls abroad?

Does anyone remember how much bribe had to be paid to obtain a phone line in the home or office? Corruption has disappeared in that sector for good!!!

 Let me explain further. A bank advertises to hire 10 people. 200,000 people show up for the interview.

The premium to get that job has just gone through the roof. Now, the beautiful women among the unemployed must find a way to know who is making the hiring decision. The well-connected among them must make calls to find who knows a friend who knows a friend who knows the decision maker.

The human resource manager sees a great opportunity to complete the house he has been building in Lekki and so he puts a price on your interview appearance, if you must be shortlisted for the next stage of the interview.

Good, hardworking Nigerians cannot thrive in an inefficient and patently unjust system. Injustice not only consumes its victims like an avalanche but ultimately destroys the perpetrators.

We cannot eradicate corruption by taking it head-on.

CORRUPTION IS AN ECONOMY BY ITSELF. IT HAS ITS OWN INDICES OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. WE MUST ERADICATE IT BEFORE IT ERADICATES US.

 My administration will carry out sector by sector analysis and remove the factors that make corruption thrive in those sectors.

In 1960, Nigeria with a per capita income of $95 ranked higher than China at $76 and South Korea at $92. Fifty four years later, Nigeria ranks at the bottom with a per capita income of $2,500, China, $9,000 while South Korea is at $33,000.

Our foreign reserves have declined over the last 7 years from $68 Billion to $37 Billion, whilst South Korea stands at $400 Billion, Thailand, $200 Billion and China, $4 Trillion.

CHINA EXECUTES ITS OFFICIALS FOR CORRUPTION. IN SOUTH KOREA, THE OFFICIALS GO TO JAIL IF THEY DO NOT COMMIT SUICIDE FIRST. IN NIGERIA, WE CELEBRATE THEM. THEREIN LIES THE DIFFERENCE.

A critical look at the petroleum industry will actually reveal that what we call subsidy is payment for inefficiency, corruption and laziness. The new Port Harcourt refinery with a capacity to process 150,000 barrels per day employs 1,200 engineers and 6,000 other staff whilst a refinery with an equivalent capacity in Indonesia hires 7 engineers and 600 other staff.

Whereas, the refinery in Indonesia produces at 100% capacity, its Nigerian counterpart has never crossed 30% in capacity production. Where does the difference lie? They are strike free, sabotage free and corruption free.

Another major problem with our oil industry is wrong policies or policies which are self serving, designed to fuel corruption. Why for example should a refinery in Nigeria buy oil that is locally produced at international prices? For the sake of argument let us even use the international price of crude at $100 per barrel.

 This translates to N16,000 per barrel. From every barrel, you will obtain 150 litres of Diesel, 120 litres of petrol, 150 litres of Kerosene and 150 litres of Black oil not to mention other by-products. Once you sell your diesel alone, you would have recovered your costs and everything else is profit. Where then is the subsidy?

The President we need must have the depth and capacity to ask the tough questions and make tough decisions to get Nigeria working for everyone and not just for the few.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE.

Has it occurred to anyone that anytime we talk about the good old days, we are actually referring to a correlation between the strength of our currency and the happiness/ satisfaction quotient of our people?

Nigeria began to experience massive exodus of our professionals as the value of the Naira plunged, thus eroding the standard of living of the people. The professor has a skill for which institutions around the world are willing to pay top dollar.

I will strive to pursue a very AGGRESSIVE NATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (ANEP) as follows:

1.    Nigeria spends $15 Billion dollars to import four items of Rice, Fish, Wheat and Sugar all of which we can produce locally. My administration will embark on massive investment in this sector thus creating in the process over 30 million new jobs down the value chain.

2.    Nigeria spends close to $17 Billion dollars annually to import fuel. My administration will deregulate the Petroleum industry completely which would encourage investors to build more refineries to meet local demand thus creating millions of new jobs.

3.    The speedy completion of Ajaokuta Steel would save close to $3 Billion annually spent on importation of raw steel and finished products made from steel. Over 20 million jobs could be created by this action.

As we embark on this aggressive national economic policy, market forces of supply and demand would kick in, thus making the Naira a desirable currency, increasing the local purchasing power of the Naira, while simultaneously making local manufacturing more attractive and thus leading to increase in hiring.

Read Henry Boyo at: (www.punchng.com/opinion/viewpoint/advantages-of-stronger-naira).

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS:

It was Jean Jacques Rosseau that famously said, ‘Man is born free but everywhere, he is in chains.’ Leadership must not equate itself with the state.  My administration will promote and institute Freedom without shackles.

A vibrant press and unshackled population are necessary ingredients for the entrenchment of ----

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE—

  (Abraham Lincoln, at the Gettysburg address)

THE NIGER DELTA: 

We need constructive and direct intervention on multiple-fronts---- Educational, infrastructural and dialogue to confront this hydra headed monster which we created through half a century of neglect. We should turn the entire region into a construction yard. People who have viable options will not carry guns and risk being killed. We must give the region 25% derivation immediately and set a time frame to graduate it to 50%. The PIB bill must be passed and a sweetener added to build a gas pipeline to the North whilst enhancing exploration activities in the Chad basin.

This, I believe is a fair and just solution. We must stop trying to play the ostrich with this matter.

 WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO IGNORE GRIEVANCES IN THIS COUNTRY UNTIL THEY GET OUT OF CONTROL.

Every Nigerian needs to pay a visit to Oloibiri, the first place in Nigeria where oil was discovered and exploited for 40 years to understand the magnitude of the injustice and deprivation that oil bearing communities suffer.

Now that the oil has stopped flowing there, the oil companies have moved on and all we have left there is a borehole commissioned in 2006 and a signboard which reads---Welcome to Oloibiri, land of the goose that laid the golden egg. 

ALMAJIRI PROBLEM:

In March 2013, I traveled to Minna, Niger State where I witnessed for the very first time the depth and magnitude of the Almajiri phenomenon. I saw a horde of young boys ranging in age from 6 to 14 scavenging for food from the dumpster of a major fast foods company.

THEY WILL NEVER KNOW LOVE, EXPERIENCE THE COMFORT OF A HOME, FIGHT WITH SIBLINGS OR CELEBRATE ANY BIRTHDAYS.

Many of them will die of disease and malnutrition whilst a great number of them will be used for rituals by our ever ready club of the greedy and power seeking elite.

Those who make it to adulthood would be soul-less and therefore ready at a whim to be cannon fodder for politicians and religious bigots.

 WE ARE DIMINISHED AS A COUNTRY FOR ALLOWING THIS SORE TO FESTER FOR THIS LONG. CAN’T WE SEE THAT A CHILD NEEDS A HELPING HAND?  (In the Ghetto; Mac Davis, made popular by Elvis Presley).

Clearly, the identical twin brothers, PDP and the APC cannot see that. It is estimated that we have close to 30 million of these children in the country.

 We could solve this problem by creating a foster care system for the younger kids and group home system for the older kids.

Families would be paid to foster these children across the country and they would grow up like normal children.

The older ones would be integrated into group homes of 6-10 children managed by a retired police or army officer. In every local government, there would be skills acquisition centers to assist these boys to transit into responsible adults.

The girls must be part of this arrangement also, but in their own designated group homes for girls only and managed by women. This system, if well implemented could help create massive new employment and a whole new industry. The group homes need cooks and security and care staff.

AN ORGANIZATION, STATE OR COUNTRY IS ONLY AS STRONG AS ITS WEAKEST LINK.

That visit to Minna, Niger State remains indelible on my mind.

 I SHUDDER TO THINK OF CHILDREN ROAMING FREE TO SCAVENGE TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES IN A COUNTRY WHERE NORMAL WORKING ADULTS CAN BARELY GET BY. THIS IS AN ATROCITY AND IT MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO STAND.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the biggest reasons why I am running to be the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and I ask for your support.

We must field candidates for every House of Assembly, National Assembly and governorship seat across the nation.

We must have volunteers numbering over 10 million people to canvass door to door for votes and to act as agents in every polling booth in every nook and cranny. We must get the vote out and then we must stand our ground after voting. That is the only way---–We the people can take our nation back and we will, this time!!!!.

FULANI HERDSMEN

Herdsmen are people just like the rest of us and they have a lifestyle. We cannot force them to become like us. We must find a way to accommodate them to stem the constant conflicts between them and farmers across the country that lead to needless loss of lives. In the UK, provision is made for Gypsies. They are nomadic people and can never be otherwise.

The Cattle herdsmen have leaders (Miyetti Allah) and they have legitimate demands.

Let us engage them and ask them what they want. My administration will engage their leaders and facilitate the creation of grazing grounds across the country on the Cattle trail.

These settlements will have good toilets, water and basic amenities including schools and hospitals for their children.

It is cheaper to do this than to fight a war that we cannot win. A good sense of history will teach us that the Fulani herdsman is a peaceful man. He just wants to take care of his herd. He is not attached to any other material possessions. As long term solution, we should strive to turn the next generation of Cattle Fulani into educated boys who become ranchers.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs:

A new approach is needed to change the trajectory of our country and the dire state of unemployment.

SURE-P, a federal government agency estimates that over 40 million Nigerian youths are unemployed. I put that figure at 60 million as about 80% of our population of 170 million people are between ages 1-35yrs. Conditions must be set in place to create up to 45 Million jobs in 4 years. This is a task to which I shall be dedicating myself every working day.

As things stand right now, there are no macro-economic actions that can be taken by this present administration to create jobs as jobs are not created in a vacuum.

A holistic approach is what is needed as follows:

·       Short term plan for immediate and total availability of electricity in rural and urban areas.

·       Massive injection of government funds into the banking system to help reduce interest rate to single digit. The biggest component of job creation is access to capital.

·       Tariff tweaking to encourage import substitution and simultaneously creating incentives for local manufacturing and subsidizing export oriented companies.

·       Creation of youth friendly agricultural communities to boost production of economic trees (read article on Chief Giwa Bisirodipe, The News, June 14, 2014), Cocoa, Rice, Palm Oil, Cassava and Wheat around the country to satisfy local consumption and for exportation.

·       Sustainable approach to massive road construction to open up the rural areas and ease transportation of goods and services across the country. This will be achieved through a tax on all petroleum products and toll gates on major highways.

·       Massive investment in solid minerals development by creating a Solid Minerals Development Corporation (SMDC) which, just like the NNPC will go into partnership with the private sector for massive exploitation of minerals.

·       Opening up the railways to private development to facilitate movement of heavy goods and help redefine how people live and work. My administration will complete a high speed rail project that runs from Lagos to Sokoto and Lagos to Calabar in 48 months and eventually form a ring road around the country.

·       Immediate completion of Ajaokuta steel project will create over 20 million jobs down the value chain.

·       Massive public works, water works, roads, dams, airports, seaports, new bridges, etc.

·       Re-opening of the banking sector to increase competition. Now that we have massive banks at the 25Billion capitalization level, we should have four other levels at 15Billion, 10Billion, 5Billion and 2Billion.

·       Redistricting the entire country and building first class schools in every district to ensure that every child can walk to school.

·       In co-operation with the Telecoms companies, we will wire up all the schools across the country and provide every child with a computer with digital textbooks

·       Re-tooling of the NYSC program to be an incubator for job creation.

·       Creating opportunities for the private sector to thrive by harmonizing the tax system to eliminate multiple taxation.

·       Digitalizing our health institutions will create over 1.5 Million jobs. (Read an article titled: Government can create jobs without spending in the Punch Newspaper of November 18, 2013 by Okechukwu Nnodim)

When these things are done, Nigerians in diaspora will begin the exodus, followed by FDIs to partake of the Gold rush in Nigeria.

Economic growth, job creation and educational improvements will be a sacred tripod upon which my administration will rise or fall.

HOUSING

Housing construction creates jobs and jobs give rise to new housing construction. They feed off of each other. The tendency for government to embark on housing construction must be resisted as actions like that tend only to satisfy short term political gains.

We can point to some of the massive housing programs of past governments across the country which ended with the administration and went into disrepair.

 In order to frame a sustainable housing industry, we must learn from some of the biggest housing institutions with the biggest mortgage portfolios in the world like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I will work with experts from all over the world to frame a policy that takes into cognizance the financial crisis that rocked these institutions in 2008 that was part of the big economic recession and the savings and loans crisis of 1992.

Once we can get this right, we will be on the highway to having a modern economy which feeds off of itself to create millions of employment in the entire value chain.

CAPITALISM VERSUS SOCIALISM:

People everywhere want to be free. Freedom is the antithesis to Socialism. People by nature like to acquire property. To impose by state fiat, a redistribution of wealth therefore goes against the grain of human nature. It is therefore a foregone conclusion that a Socialist ideology cannot solve our problem of underdevelopment as a nation. It has been tried, tested and

found to be unworkable.

 I believe that a thousand flowers must be allowed to blossom. The problem however with unbridled capitalism is that it tends always to leave many behind in the race to get to the top. It is therefore necessary to have a system that has a safety basket to capture the weak amongst us.

 That is the duty of governments and it is a duty my government would hold sacred.

Vestiges of socialism abound in our polity. We find it in over- federalization of services and institutions; Federal railways, Federal roads, Federal police, Federal education, Federal waterways, Federal airlines, Federal electricity, Federal Sports, Federal driver’s license, Federal License plate, Federal hotels etc, etc.  We should not be made to wait for an already over-burdened Federal government.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT:  

All politics ought to be local but we are in Nigeria. A situation where we do not have functioning local governments should be unacceptable to us as a people. It was a local government that hosted the Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles whilst another local government hosted the Olympics again in Atlanta, in 1996. Local governments run schools in the United States up to

high school level. We must make our local governments function by giving them clear responsibilities and direct funding free of interference from State governors.

As things stand today, we cannot hold them accountable. My administration will waste no time in fighting for and instituting full autonomy for local government administration.

We must build a society that cares and empowers its people. Every local government office ought to have a health center.

Skills acquisition centers must be put in place to enable citizens re-enter the employment market. A food center where the needy can get a meal a day is an absolute necessity whilst training people to acquire skills that can get them off food welfare.

 In order not to have a bloated government bureaucracy, existing organizations like the Catholic Church and Muslim Charity groups can be encouraged to help with this endeavor. No child or adult person in Nigeria should go to sleep on an empty stomach.

Provision of water should be a duty of the local governments. It is needful for us to find local solutions to local challenges. In the second Republic, Governor Jakande came up with policies that addressed local challenges with local solutions by building mini water-works in all local governments. This effectively addressed the water shortage experienced in communities at the time. A paradigm change in the way we think and address issues is needed at this critical time in our development.

CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS:

Nations are like families. Every country is not a nation. A nation is a group of people who not only have geographical and social contiguity but they must all share a common sense of destiny.

THERE IS NO SINGLE VISION OR PROPOSITION TO WHICH WE ARE DEDICATED AS A COUNTRY. WE HAVE FAILED TO DO THE THINGS THAT CAN BIND US.

The Preamble to the American constitution says---We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights------------------------------

This ingredient is glaringly missing in Nigeria. An Ibo man is born in Lagos State, grows up in Lagos State, begins a business in Lagos State, pays taxes in Lagos State but can never claim to be an indigene of Lagos State.

A Hausa man is born in Idi Araba, goes to school in Idi Araba, gets married, starts a business, pays taxes in Lagos  State and then you ask him to fill out a form and write that he is from Jalingo local government!!!! Where is Jalingo? Citizen rights must be re-defined by our constitution.

It is this kind of mindset that makes APC deport people from Lagos to drop them at the Onitsha bridge!!!! Is every Ibo man from Onitsha?

We must fix this immediately through a constitutional amendment. The settler/Indigene dichotomy must be jettisoned into the garbage bins of history where it rightly belongs.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS:

We must be a society that not only espouses women’s rights but we must also be actively involved in protecting our women and equipping them to survive abuse. On inauguration day, one of my first acts as President will be to send a comprehensive bill to the National Assembly pegging the minimum age a girl can be married at 18.

The bill will also seek to protect widows from abuse by relatives after the demise of their husbands and among other things deal with:

·       Inheritance rights for women

·       Lowering maternal and infant mortality

·       Economic empowerment for women.

·       Women’s wellness (Breast cancer screening in every market) .

·       Right to education until the age of 18

·       Minimum age of Marriage pegged at 18

·       Affirmative action for women in Federal jobs. 50/50.

·       Paid maternity leave rights.

·       Savings base discipline.

·       Women’s co-operatives. (Bank targeted at women)

·       Access to healthcare

·       Protection from Sexual harassment, etc, etc.

AGRICULTURE:

India feeds itself. China feeds itself. These two countries with a combined population of 2.5 billion not only feed themselves but also export food.

 Brazil, Ivory Coast and Ghana rank in the top three Cocoa producing countries in the world with over one million tonnes annually, whereas Nigeria which used to be number one now struggles to produce 200,000 tonnes per year. This is an embarrassment and it should cause us to weep!!!!

 We can cultivate 100,000 hectares of land to catapult us to 1.7 million tonnes of Cocoa per annum in 2 years by introducing high yield Cocoa variety which matures in 18 months.

Nigeria produces only about 200,000 tonnes of rice annually whereas we consume 3.2m tonnes annually. With consumption growing at 11% every year, the gap gets wider and unsustainable.

With an average yield of 6 tons per hectare we must as a matter of urgency embark on cultivating 800,000 hectares of land for rice production to meet our consumption. Import substitution of rice alone will save the country over $15 Million dollars a day in rice importation or N2 Billion a day.

We will work hard on creating in partnership with the people, sustainable  communities in all agriculturally viable local governments in the country for different cash crops like rubber, Oil palm, Groundnuts Cassava etc, etc.

These new communities will have modern amenities to make it attractive to young people. A new community of 2,000 people can easily grow into 20,000 strong as other service providers come in to provide services.

 We will also aim to achieve sugar sufficiency by cultivating 250,000 hectares of land in the sugarcane belt. All rice importation will cease after 3 seasons of aggressive rice cultivation thus conserving foreign exchange. We will resurrect the groundnut pyramids of the North by encouraging young people to take up farming in built up farming communities.

Nigeria spends $15 Billion dollars yearly to import rice, fish, sugar and wheat all of which we can produce locally. This is prodigal and unacceptable.

Once we do this successfully and also stop importation of petroleum products, we will be sucking out demand for foreign exchange of close to $37 Billion yearly. This is why I am confident that we can bring the exchange rate down to 50-1 and better in the short term.

We could create over 30 million jobs down the value chain from planting to harvesting to packaging to transportation to the shelves of supermarkets if we focus properly on agriculture.

SOLID MINERALS DEVELOPMENT:

A cursory look at the country would show a wide distribution of all kinds of solid minerals. My administration will build a structure similar to the NNPC called the SMDC (Solid Minerals development Corporation) to go into joint production and profit sharing with companies in the mining business.

Small players will be organized into a consortium with which the SMDC can do business. If this is done properly across the geo-political zones, it can help to create over 6 Million new jobs across the value chain.

 Please find below, a list of Minerals and their distribution across the country.

Abuja: Marble, Clay, Tantalite, Cassiterite, Gold, Lead, Zinc, Dolomite.

Abia: Gold, Salt, Limestone, Lead. Zinc.

Adamawa: Kaolin, Bentonite, Gypsium, Magnesite.

Akwa Ibom: Lead, Zinc, Clay, Limestone, Uranium, Salt, Lignite.

Anambra: Lead, Zinc, Clay, Limestone, Iron Ore, Lignite, Salt, Glass sand, Phosphate, Gypsium.

Bayelsa: Clay, Limestone, Gypsium, Uranium, Manganese, Lignite, Lead, Zinc.

Bauchi: Lead, Zinc, Limestone, Iron Ore, Coal, Clay, Marble, Salt, Barytes, Gemstones, Gypsium.

Benue: Limestone, Quartsite, Shale, Siltstone, Phonolite, Trachyte, Pummic, Bomb Lapilli, Salt Springs, Baryte, Silica, Kaolin, Gypsium, Coal, Granite, Migmatite.

Borno: Diatomite, Clay, Limestone, Gypsium, Kaolin, Bentonite.

Cross River: Limestone, Uranium, Manganese, Lignite, Iron Ore, Kaolin.

Ebonyi: Lead, Gold, Salt, Quarry Stones, Zinc.

Edo: Marble, Lignite, Clay, Limestone, Iron Ore, Gypsium, Glass Sand, Gold, Dolomite, Phosphate, Bitumen.

Ekiti: Kaolin, Feldspar, Tatium, Granite, Syenite.

Enugu: Coal, Limestone, Lead, Zinc.

Gombe: Gemstone, Gypsium,

Imo: Lead, Zinc, Limestone, Lignite, Phosphate, Marcasite, Gypsium, Salt.

Jigawa, Butytes.

Kaduna: Sapphire, Kaolin, Gold, Clay, Surpentinite, Asbestos, Amethyst, Kyanite, Graphite, Silhnite, Mica, Aquamarine. Ruby, Rock Crystal, Topaz, Flosper, Tourmaline, Gemstone, Tentaline.

Kano: Cassiterite, Copper, Glass Sand, Gemstone, Lead, Zinc, Tnatalite.

Katsina: Kaolin, Marble, Salt.

Kebbi: Gold.

Kogi: Iron Ore, Kaolin, Gypsium, Feldspar, Mica.

Lagos: Glass, Sand, Clay, Bitumen.

Nasarawa: Beryl, Emerald, Aquamarine, Halidor, Dolomite, Marble, Sapphire, Tourmaline, Quartz, Amethyst, Topaz, Gamet, Zireon, Tantalite, Cassiterite, Columbite, Limenite, Galena, Iron Ore, Barytes, Feldspar, Limestone, Mica, Cooking Coal, Talc, Clay, Salt, Chalcopyrite.

Niger: Gold, Talc, Lead, Zinc.

Ogun: Phosphate, Clay, Feldspar, Kaolin, Limestone, Gemstone, Bitumen.

Ondo: Bitumen, Kaolin, Gemstone, Gypsium, Feldspar, Granite, Clay, Glass Sand, Dimesion Stones, Limestone, Coal.

Osun: Gold, Talc, Toumaline, Columbite, Granite,

Oyo: Kaolin, Marble, Clay, Sillimnote, Talc, Gold, Cassiterite, Aquamarine, Dolomite, Gemstone, Tantalite.

Plateau: Emerald, Tin, Marble, Granite, Tantalite, Columbite,

Lead, Zinc, Barytes, Iron Ore, Kaolin, Belonite, Cassiterite, Phrochoe, Clay, Coal, Wolfam, Salt, Bismute, Fluoride, Molybdenite, Gemstone, Bauxite.

Rivers: Glass Sand, Clay, Marble, Lignite.

Sokoto: Kaolin, Gold, Limestone, Phosphate, Gypsium, Silica Sand, Clay, Laterrite, Potash Flakes, Granite, Gold, Salt.

Taraba: Kaolin, Lead, Zinc,

Yobe: Tintomite, Soda Ash.

Zamfara: Coal, Gold.

We will strive to achieve the goal of organizing the Solid Minerals Industry which presently contributes 0.03% to become a net contributor to the Federation Account, rivaling the contribution of Oil to the economy.

 IT WILL BE A STATED GOAL OF MY ADMINISTRATION TO TRIPLE THE SIZE OF THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY IN 4 YEARS FROM $500 BILLION TO $1.5 TRILLION AND RAISE THE PER CAPITA INCOME FROM $2,500 TO $8,000.

We have played in the small leagues for 54 years. Nigeria should be playing in the first division------The G-7 LEAGUE. It is estimated that Nigeria loses over $30 Billion yearly to illegal Gold mining.

THE GOLDEN AGE:

There are periods or epochs in the annals of a country when a leader comes along to usher in a time of prosperity and abundance for his people. This is called the golden age of a nation. This leader galvanizes the people and gives everyone a stake in a great endeavor. Like pistons in a combustion engine, the constituent parts of the country----  PEOPLE, LAND AND CAPITAL confluence to create a harmony, synergy and power that would help to propel their country to the stratosphere.

THE PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR SWAGGER AND THE WORLD STOPS TO TAKE NOTICE.

THIS IS THE TIME WHEN EVERY MAN AND EVERY WOMAN WILL SIT UNDER THEIR ORANGE TREE AND UNDER THEIR MANGO TREE WHILE THE BARBECUE FIRE IS GETTING READY TO ROAST CHICKEN SUYA AND THEY WILL NOT BE AFRAID.

Let us –together, work our country and cause the mountains to bring forth prosperity and the land, fruits of righteousness!!! Roll up your sleeves, put on your working shoes, tie your shoe laces!!!! -----We have work to do

FOREIGN POLICY:

Africa must be the fulcrum of our foreign policy. We are naturally placed to provide leadership on the African continent, but sadly cannot provide it. Ghana is leading the way as Nigeria sleeps and South African politicians are too busy fighting among themselves to care.

The concept of manifest destiny must be entrenched in our national psyche –

TO BE AS BIG AND STRONG AND RICH AS WE CAN BE AND BE OUR BROTHERS KEEPERS ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT.

The spirit of excellence in Nigerians is best displayed when Nigerian troops, whether it be policemen on foreign missions or Soldiers on peace keeping operations go outside the country to work. My faith in the Nigerian professional is strong. Given the right tools, our people are just like any peoples on earth, they excel.

Nigeria, under Murtala/Obasanjo, worked so hard and sacrificed so much for countries like Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa to attain independence.

It was an embarrassment therefore that our country was sidelined at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. This goes to show how low we have dropped in the esteem of the world in a space of 35 years. We can and we will be great again and we must assert and project our power on the continent of Africa.

HUGE PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM.

Nigeria needs a huge public works program not only to provide employment to millions of Nigerians presently unemployed but also to open up the country and make goods and services and people flow across the country unfettered.

To this end, I will immediately embark on the establishment and construction of six brand new model industrial cities just like Awo did in the fifties and sixties when he established Apapa, Ikeja and Ilupeju industrial estates which are today the cornerstone of Nigeria’s economy. The Industrial cities will have the dual status of an export free zone and local industrial hub. They will be located in six geo-political zones to act as catalysts for employment generation. They will be set up with 24-hour electricity and world class hotels and medical facilities to facilitate medical and other types of tourism within the country.

We should have high speed trains criss-crossing from Sokoto to Lagos, from Lagos to Enugu, from Enugu to Port Harcourt, from Port Harcourt to Lagos and everywhere in between. Mega-cities do not emerge out of nothing.

 Infrastructure must be put in place to widen the economic space such that people can actually live in Ibadan, Benin or Port Harcourt and work in Lagos conveniently and effortlessly. My administration will build and deliver a coastal high speed rail line that runs from Lagos all the way to Calabar in collaboration with the private sector in 24 months. Dubai has done it. Why can’t we? We will work day and night to achieve this vision. It is possible to do it. In constructing the Hoover dam, six large American companies were brought together to form a consortium called-- SIX COMPANIES. They delivered.

 For example, people live in Boston, Massachusetts but work in New York City. We have the unique advantage of not having to re-invent the wheel. We just need to ride it.

GREAT PEOPLE OF NIGERIA, ONCE AGAIN, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND TOO MUCH IS TOO MUCH.

NIGERIA HAS ENOUGH RESOURCES TO TAKE CARE OF THE NEED OF EVERY CITIZEN BUT WE WILL NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TO SATISFY THE GREED OF FEW MEN AND WOMEN.

We must all come to the conclusion as a people that we have reached a critical point and we must resolve to take one right step forward on the road to creating jobs for our teeming youth population.

 THE RIGHT STEP IS TO ELECT A LEADER WHO UNDERSTANDS THE CHALLENGES FACING NIGERIANS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, LOVES NIGERIA, HAS THE ABILITY TO ENGAGE AND THE COMPASSION AND SKILLS NECESSARY TO HELP IMPROVE OUR EVERYDAY LIVES.

To this end my fellow country men and women, I do hereby declare as follows-----North, South, East or West, Christian or Muslim, Nigeria is one and indivisible. We share a common humanity. There is no Muslim Nigeria. There is no Christian Nigeria. There is no Northern Nigeria. There is no Southern Nigeria. There is one Nigeria. When Nigeria hurts anywhere, it hurts everywhere. We must all therefore join hands in 2015 and demand the same things:

THE RIGHT TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE AND ASPIRE TO BE THE BEST THAT WE CAN BE IN A LAND WHERE THE BELLS OF FREEDOM RING AND THE SPRINGS OF JUSTICE ROLL DOWN LIKE A WATERFALL, GIVING SUCCOUR TO ALL SOJOURNERS.

 Ladies and gentlemen------

 My heart aches for Nigeria and I know your heart aches also but do not despair. HAPPY DAYS ARE COMING. This is why I ask for your support as I run for office to be the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

To echo the words of Winston Churchill, delivered to the UK Parliament on the 4^th of June 1940,------------

 I PROMISE TO FIGHT FOR YOU ON EVERY ISSUE IN EVERY CRANNY, IN EVERY HOLE, ON EVERY PLAIN AND EVERY MOUNTAIN, IN EVERY FOREST, IN EVERY CREEK, IN EVERY WARD, IN EVERY VILLAGE, IN EVERY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND IN EVERY STATE 

                               

                                      --------until--------

 WE ATTAIN OUR GOAL OF GETTING EVERY HARDWORKING NIGERIAN INTO A JOB, INTO A HOME AND INTO A CAR ON THE ROAD TO GREATER PROSPERITY FOR A GREATER NUMBER OF OUR PEOPLE.

My name is Michael Ovienmhada. I am running to be the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I ask that you all go out and register to vote. You have a daily cycle of existence in which you struggle to pursue a better life but you have a four year cycle to determine the candidate who can make your pursuit a reality.

God bless you and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

            HAPPY DAYS       

   ARE COMING

No other touchstone can test the heart of man, the temper of his mind and spirit, till he be tried in the practice of authority and rule. For my part, I have always held the view and hold it still, that a King whose lips are sealed by fear and unwilling to seek advice is damned. And no less damned is he who puts a friend above his country. I have no good word for him. As God above is my witness, who sees all, when I see any danger threatening my people, whatever it may be, I shall declare it. No man who is his country’s enemy shall call himself my friend. Our country is our life. Only when she rides safely have we any friend at all.

(Creon; Sophocles)

We the people of Nigeria, united by a shared destiny of hopelessness foisted on us by a succession of inept people in governance since independence, who at various times and by various means have rigged elections or conducted Coup d’etats to impose themselves on us; whom, having proved themselves to be ineffective managers of people and resources and by their obvious impotence, greed and incompetence have kept us in  hunger and left us in darkness further compounded by broken down infrastructure, all of which make it impossible for citizens to pursue basic material well-being necessary for survival as members of the human race, do hereby declare as follows:

      ENOUGH

                IS

         ENOUGH

              AND

       TOO MUCH

                IS

       TOO MUCH

It is commonly said that a people deserve the leadership that they get. When you think of it, we the people far outnumber the small circle of people who though bereft of ideas and vision have held us in bondage of gross underdevelopment for over 50 years. However, for as long as the cabal can play on our tribal differences, our religious differences and regional differences, we, the people will continue to fight each other instead of focusing our attention on the issues responsible for our backwardness. Meanwhile, this small circle of people has always been united irrespective of religion and ethnicity in the collective rape of our destiny.

Well, it may have taken over 50 years, but we have traveled full-cycle and a great new dawn is upon us.

 The time has come ---TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK AND MOVE IT FORWARD.

Great people of Nigeria, it is time to wake up to the reality of the situation as revealed by two men in their twenties whom I encountered at the local international airport selling recharge cards for a living. For the purpose of this document, I will refer to them as—‘The People’ in the following dialogue:

The author; Where are you from?

The people; Katsina State.

The author; Are you Christian or Muslim?

The people ; Muslim.

The author; Did you go to school?

The People ; I am a University graduate. I have completed NYSC.

The author; Is this all you do for a living?

The people; Yes.

The author; Could you not get a job?

The people; There are no jobs because there is no electricity.

The author; Do you really care where the President of this country comes from? Whether he is Hausa, Ibo or Yoruba, Christian or Muslim?

The People ---

 We need a competent and knowledgeable person to take charge. Hunger does not discriminate between religions or tribe. If we are all hungry, then we all have a common problem. If we all go home daily to darkness, then we have a common problem. If we all have to travel on bad roads, then we all have a common problem.

If we graduate from school and we cannot get jobs, then we all have a common problem. If we go to hospitals that have no doctors and no drugs and no equipment, then we all have a common problem. If armed robbers wake us up at night to take the little we have worked for, then we all have a common problem. If my children cannot go to a well equipped school with real teachers who are paid enough to actually teach, then we all have a common problem. If we have policemen wearing slippers because they are grossly underpaid and undervalued and the policeman decides to create his own road block to collect a little bit to feed his family, then we all have a common problem.

I left the airport marveling at the wisdom of the recharge card entrepreneur.

Speaking on a visit to Jos in 2014, one of the most forward-looking and most respected monarchs in Nigeria, Sultan Abubakar Sa’ad said----

ALL OF US NIGERIAN CITIZENS HAVE COMMON PROBLEMS AS CHRISTIANS OR MUSLIMS WHETHER IT IS EXTREMISM, TERRORISM, POVERTY, UNEMPLOYMENT, CHILDREN DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL AND POOR INFRASTRUCTURE AT EVERY LEVEL AND THESE ARE THE PROBLEMS ALL OF US MUST COME TOGETHER TO SOLVE. WE MUST CONTINUE TO CLOSE RANKS FOR THE SAKE OF OUR PEOPLE. NO DOUBT, WE WILL BE ABLE TO SOLVE THESE COMMON PROBLEMS IF WE ARE UNITED AS A PEOPLE. WE CANNOT OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES IF WE ARE DIVIDED, HENCE OUR UNITY IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. 

Wise counsel, from the wise.

Nigeria needs a leader who will rise beyond ethnic, religious or regional considerations.

 We need a leadership that engages, we need a leadership that reads, we need a leadership that listens, we need a leadership that can feel the pulse and pain of the people, we need a leadership that inspires hope and confidence, we need a leadership that knows its right from its left, we need a leadership that desires power  for the common good, we need a leadership that puts the country first and self last, we need a

leadership that will give us the right to dream dreams that are possible to achieve because it is our God-given right to dream of a better life and a better future for us and our children yet unborn. Ladies and gentlemen, we need a leader to take us on a journey of hope.

NEED FOR CHANGE:

Are we better off now than we were four years ago? Do we want more of the same? Do you believe we as a country are going in the right direction? Do you even think we have a direction at all? I believe that there is unanimity on the need for change in Nigeria. People desire great roads, great hospitals, great schools, free enterprise, fair judicial system and above everything else, peace and security. All of these have been elusive under the PDP leadership for the last 15 years.

 IT IS THEREFORE OBVIOUS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THAT WHAT HAS BEEN GOOD FOR THE PDP AND APC FOR 15 YEARS HAS NOT BEEN GOOD FOR NIGERIA.

POWER DEVELOPMENT:

It is difficult to develop without power and we do not need government to give us electricity because they cannot. One of the things we need to do at this point is find a way to influence the National Assembly to change the Act that governs the generation and distribution of power. Government intentions to develop the power sector have been good but designed to fail. China built the -Three Gorges Dam- on the Yangtze river at a cost of $22 billion. It generates 22,500MW.

 It is on record that Nigeria spent $16 billion in the same world and in the same century that China built its own dam and we did not achieve 1MW of power generation.

What kind of people are we? Do our leaders love this country at all? Power generation and distribution ought to be deregulated the same way that telecommunications was deregulated------- totally.

States, Communities and private companies should generate and distribute power and be allowed to sell any excess power to other communities.

 It is a well known fact that the current incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan whom I seek to replace said at a forum in 2013 that over 60 million Nigerians already own generators, spending approximately N2 Trillion Naira annually to purchase and maintain them. What he did not tell us was that the use of generators adds over 80 percent extra cost to all goods produced and services rendered in Nigeria.

 On the day I am sworn in as President, I will send a bill for total deregulation/liberalization of the power sector to the National Assembly to amend the Electricity ACT OF 2005 and open the space for full-blown competition.

It is interesting that anyone would think that privatization of the power generating and distribution companies can be the solution when government is still part of the power supply chain. Let me explain.

There are four steps to travel before power gets to the consumer. The generating Company, X, for example generates 10MW of power and sells mandatorily to a government Company called NBET (Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading). NBET then gives the power to TCN, (Transmission Company of Nigeria) which is another government agency.

TCN has old and obsolete equipment. The result of this arrangement is that TCN is only able to give 3MW to the DISCOS (Power Distribution Companies). The DISCOS then report to NBET that they only received 3MW and so X gets paid for only 3MW.

It gets more interesting.  NBET, being a government organization, it will sooner or later be plagued by corruption which will make it difficult for X company to get paid on time.

Translation: You will need to bribe to get paid.

At this point, the World Bank then steps in with a PRG (Partial Risk Guarantee), an arrangement that says, if NBET is unable to pay you, come to us and we will pay you a portion of what they owe you. The World Bank has a fixed amount of money in the pot of $400 Million dollars. What then happens when the pot runs out?

If you give me your vote, I will uproot the NBET, TCN and the World Bank from the power supply chain and have you deal with X company which generates the power directly. He will build his own transmission line and get the power to you in your local government area. All power generation and supply will be localized. Let those who believe a national grid would work compete for our business.

Let me ask a question. Is there a middleman between you and MTN? If not, then why do we need three middlemen in the power supply chain?

Read article titled: Power supply worsens as five transmission lines fail by Stanley Opara (Punch, May 28, 2014)

 The only role for government to play is to prevent exploitation of the consumer which the NERC (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission) is set up to do, very much like the NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission) does for communication.

One major cure to the power problem lies in gas availability to power the IPPs. Question:  Which one is easier and cheaper?---- To generate power at the point where the gas is produced and send the power to the  National grid or to pipe the gas hundreds of miles to a power station?

The IOCs, I understand would rather flare the associated gas and pay a penalty to the Federal government than spend so much money to refine it to pipe to a power station at a loss.

WRONG POLICIES CREATE PROBLEMS FOR EVERYONE. GOVERNMENT HAS FOR YEARS IMPOSED AN UNREALISTIC PRICE REGIME ON GAS PRODUCERS (IOCs) SUCH THAT THEY STOPPED DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL GAS FOR LOCAL CONSUMPTION.

A simple cure would just be to encourage the IOCs to generate power at source with the associated gas with forward contracts for power purchase. (Paper presented by Dr. Raphael Awoseyin  at the Nigerian Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, 2009, titled: Developing gas and power infrastructure franchises and associated gas as solution).

 Another major cure to the power problem would entail the government encouraging the proliferation of alternative energy like solar and wind across the country. Germany for example set a target to generate 50% of its energy from solar by 2020. That target was exceeded in early 2014 when solar power began to contribute over 210,000MW to the national grid. This was achieved by introducing a mix of incentives upon which the private sector was able to ride. Wind power already contributes about 40,000MW to help power the German economy. Germany with grey skies has a third of the Nigerian land size and a fraction of the sunshine by intensity and length of time in a day and months in a year, yet they are able to achieve these feats which we are better equipped by nature to achieve. One state in Northern Nigeria has the capacity to generate all the solar power Nigeria needs. Government should think policy first before it thinks---Where will we find the money? Money always follows good policies.

Yet another way for us to begin to experience better power supply would be to remove four strong states like Lagos, Rivers, Kano and Ogun from the National grid. Give them one year to generate their own power and get off the grid. These four states combined, consume over 80% of power currently generated. The rest of the country will be lifted up immediately.

According to the power allocation formula, Lagos State is supposed to receive 1,000MW from the National grid but Lagos needs 5,000MW to have stable power supply. Kano is supposed to receive 213MW from the National grid but Kano needs 600MW to have stable power supply. This power is supposed to come from an inefficient National Transmission grid and so Kano gets just about 50MW. This is certainly not a way to develop our country.

INDUSTRIALIZATION:

If there is no electricity, there will be no industrialization and therefore, no jobs. In 1983, the Shagari administration commissioned the Ajaokuta steel company when it was 95% complete.

 In the last 31 years, we have had, Buhari, Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha, Abdulsalam, Obasanjo, Yar’ Adua and now Goodluck all of whom have not seen the need to complete the remaining 5%.

My administration will embark on the speedy completion of the remaining 5% which current estimates put at N42 Billion that will help launch us into the league of powerful nations.

This will help create over 20 million jobs across the steel value chain as one steel job provides three more jobs in other sectors and transform the entire middle belt region of Nigeria into an industrial hub for Africa.

South Africa is currently the biggest producer of Steel in Africa with yearly production of 7.2 million tonnes making them the 21^st largest producer in the world. Nigeria’s installed capacity can quickly outpace that of South Africa if we get electricity working and we have the will to complete the complex. We can grow to outpace China as the world’s biggest and most efficient producer of spare parts to the auto industry worldwide whilst developing our own auto industry. My administration will declare Ajaokuta a National security issue and treat it with dispatch.

ROADS:

Nigeria needs to evolve a sustainable way of building roads to help unleash latent potential. In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower of the United States created the Federal Aid

Highway Act. The Act mandates the Federal Government to build roads every year and this is funded by a GASOLINE TAX.

The result is the interstate highway system you find across the United States which changed America forever.

In the UK, they have a ROAD TAX.

 Good roads will improve commerce which means more jobs for the people.

 My administration will initiate a bill to have a Nigeria Highway Construction Act which will give birth to a corporate body with the power to go to the Bond market to raise huge sums of money to embark on huge public works. This will have the ripple effect of creating jobs in all geo-political zones. Payback will come from taxation on all petroleum products; gas, diesel, petrol, engine oil, kerosene, etc. This is the sustainable way to embark on road construction which will help open up the country.

Private companies will also be encouraged to pool resources and build roads that they can toll to recover their investment.

On January 12^th 1966, the Balewa government commissioned the Niger Bridge. It was built at the cost of 5 Million Pounds and it took exactly one year from start to finish. The bridge is approximately 2 kilometers long.

 For 48 years, we have been talking about a second Niger bridge and we are still talking. The question is----How many more years will it take to build the second Niger Bridge with the PDP in power?

The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind (Bob Dylan).

We must change laws that vest everything in the hands of the Federal government if this country must grow. If a company wants to build a bridge across the Niger, they should be encouraged to do so with a basket of incentives.

 This is the role of governments-----To create a policy framework that enables and empowers individuals to thrive to their optimum.

STATES’ RIGHTS:

Long years of Military rule have redefined us as a people who think one size fits all. This is the kind of mindset that makes the Federal government dictate how states should be run. If a state thinks they do not need a Ministry of sports, then they do not need it!! If a state which generates IGR (internally generated revenue) of N250 Million has a monthly salary bill of N2.5 Billion, then, we have a problem.

 Obsolete laws and decrees that encourage this mindset must be jettisoned from our polity. We will never be a country that builds infrastructure and creates jobs if we do not think differently.

REVENUE ALLOCATION:

If ever there was one thing that we agree on, it is that the Federal government is bloated and therefore takes a huge chunk of the revenue without looking for creative ways to grow the pot. I believe that the revenue allocation formula should be Federal, 40%, States, 35% and local government, 25%.

 All levels of education should strictly fall in the concurrent list for local governments and states to cater to. We must do away with Federal Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Universities.

Total autonomy is required to grow higher institutions. They must be allowed to make their rules and charge economic fees. Those who cannot pay will be entitled to student loans backed by the Federal government which they will pay back over a 20 year period after graduation.

 There is no reason for uniform pay for all professors all over the country just as there should be no reason for every university to run every course under the sun. Laws that presently shackle the university system from functioning optimally should be done away with.

Once these restrictions are lifted, every university should be able to run itself. I would go further to explore the possibility of floating all Federal universities on the stock exchange. Let the public own it and let them compete and let them set up their own management systems to operate the institutions. Excellence will return to the university system immediately. Does anyone doubt that?

BANKING REFORM:

The idea to consolidate our banking system was a good one, but poorly executed. The big downside was massive job loss in the system and forced marriages. Much of that has unraveled already. Our banks have no incentive to lend money to the real sector.

 Why should banks lend money to you and I when all they need to do is wait for the Central Bank to borrow from them safely at 12% through the monthly exercise of mopping up excess liquidity which they create every month in the first place by printing  new Naira notes to back dollar receipts? Why should they when all they need to do is wait for the next week to buy foreign exchange from the government and make their spread?

 I believe that the federation account should be distributed in dollar certificates to the states. Let them buy Naira from the banks to pay their workers and conduct state business. If we have the courage to do this, our banking culture will change, the Naira will be a stronger currency and inefficiency in the system will disappear, our standard of living will immediately improve as our Naira gathers power.

Plus, I believe we have tilted toward over-regulation in the banking and broader financial sector, thus creating new issues of basic survival for some of these institutions with the attendant job loss. For example, what is the hurry in compelling the entire sector to conform to new IFRS accounting rules?

What is the rationale for increasing the CRR (Cash reserve ratio) of banks from 50 percent to 75 percent in an economy where banks do not lend to the productive sector?

Why did the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) increase the capital base of Brokerage firms from 70 million to 300 Million Naira?  Why did the Central Bank increase the capital base for Bureau D’ Changes (BDCs) to N35 Million? Were all these matters open for debate? Do the policy makers know how their policies will impact job creation at all?

If you vote for me, I will strive to encourage constructive engagement between regulators and operators so that workers do not suffer because of poorly thought out and ill-conceived policies and regulations.

As President, it will be my stated policy thrust to the Central Bank and the Economic management team to:

·       Drive down inflation.

·       Bring down interest rate to single digit

·       Raise the value of the Naira to 50-1 in the short term.

·       Make long term funds available for long term lending

·       Deepen Free unshackled enterprise

·       Make the man on the street feel the impact of great governance.

·       Promote policies that create jobs, jobs and more jobs.

ECONOMIC MODEL:

WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM MAY NOT BE GOOD FOR NIGERIA. WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE UNITED STATES IS NOT NECESSARILY GOOD FOR NIGERIA.

The Bretton Woods economic model was bred and nurtured in an industrially productive environment. We, on the other hand are net consumers and importers of everything, especially the things we can produce.

We only produce raw materials. A devalued currency can never be in our national interest. Devaluation as monetary policy must be discontinued.

What we do not know is that we actually lose money every time we sell our raw materials in a devalued currency environment. Let me explain. In time period A for example, Mr X pays $10 for a barrel of crude oil when the exchange rate of my Naira is One Naira to one dollar. Mr X now sends his friends to come and tell me that I should devalue my currency in order for me to qualify to get some benefits from him.

 I am dumb enough to receive his friends.

The next day, my currency is now worth Ten Naira to One dollar. Now, Mr X is getting my barrel of crude oil for free. A few months down the road, he sends new friends to me and I am dumb enough to receive them again.

The result is that I now need One hundred and Seventy Naira to buy one dollar. Mr X is now not only getting my crude oil for free, I am actually paying him to buy my oil.

 My administration will keep promises made to the banking sector by having them participate in the management of our reserves.

 When this is done, it will change our banking culture as long term funds will now be made available to unleash latent Nigerian potential and spur the emergence of long term mortgages and single digit interest rate.

 It is game changing policies like this that I will be seeking to achieve as President to give meaning to the term - Free enterprise.

SOCIAL SECURITY:

 When good men and women have given their youth in the service of this country, they must not be left to fend for themselves when they can no longer be productive. It is immoral and just plain wrong. We must create a safety net, not only for the aged beginning at 65, but we must also take care of the disabled and the least amongst us.

These are the hallmarks of great societies. Everyone who turns 65 and does not have a home should be provided government subsidized housing. It ought to be a right, not a privilege.

We must not allow circumstances to force young men and women into crime to fend for the family.

 We are actually very fortunate that thus far, we have had the extended family system that makes us our brother’s keeper otherwise we would not be able to live freely in this country because of crime.

However, the extended family support system is gradually eroding due to new economic realities and demographic shifts. We must as a country plan to be ahead of the curve in evolving a Benefits system that takes care of young girls and young unemployed men.

 PATRIOTISM DOES NOT GROW FROM SLOGANS. IT GROWS FROM THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE CITIZENS FUNCTION TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY.

Many wonder why the people in the Western world tend to love their countries so much that they are willing to lay down their lives to defend their way of life. It is simple. The society goes all out for them and affords them the opportunity to aspire to be the best that they can be.

Translation----Society cares and so the people care in return ---No Quid, no Pro and definitely, no Quo.

INTERNAL TRADE:

The big three auto manufacturers in the United States produce over 18 million cars every year and all of these are purchased annually within the United States plus an additional 6 million cars which are imported every year. What makes this kind of figures possible?

 Answer----The democratization of capital and opportunity. The country having been opened up through massive public works through the building of Dams, Railways and the passage of the Federal-aid Highway Act in 1956 by the Eisenhower administration, the creative energy of the populace was unleashed.

 An integrated planned development is one that is able to feed on itself to propel growth. Developing countries should have development plans. The last time we had one in Nigeria was about 40 years ago. Since then we have been in reverse gear.

The only growth we have really experienced is natural growth. It takes some serious work, pumping iron to build the kind of muscle that comes from adding value to a natural process. When you go to Sokoto, you can buy a Chicken for N200. That same chicken gets to Lagos and you must pay N1500 for it.

How is this possible? Again, the answer is not far-fetched. The Chicken travels from the small farm in a basket with 30 other chickens from a village in Sokoto to the main market on very bad roads.

 By the time it gets to the main market, 15 of the thirty would have died because of the bumpy road and unbearable heat in the transporting vehicle, having spent 6 hours for what would have been a thirty minute trip under normal circumstances.

The Chicken arrives in the main market costing N400 each if the middleman is to remain in business.

Now, the chicken gets on a trailer to begin its journey to Lagos. On its way to Lagos, the driver stops to buy diesel at a petrol station. He sees a notice that reads, ‘No diesel’

However, if he goes behind the station, he will get the officially unavailable diesel at two times the price. The chicken now costs N800. The driver continues his journey on the terrible pot-holes we call roads in this part of the world.

 When he gets to a checkpoint, he has to settle the boys.

The chicken now costs N900. The journey continues on the bad roads. He falls into deeper ditches and loses the front tire and the shock absorber develops a fault.

He spends three extra days on the highway fixing his vehicle. The chicken now costs N1200. By the time he gets to Lagos, the chicken is only one of 9 chickens left in the basket. It must be sold at not less than N1500 for the middleman to remain in business.

Now, because it costs so much, only a few people can afford to eat chicken and so it takes the merchant longer than necessary to sell his consignment.

The turnaround time for the transporter is now much longer than anticipated. The farmer in the village in Sokoto waits in vain for the next buyer. This, my friends is the stark reality through which we live our lives in Nigeria on a daily basis.

 WE MUST EMBARK ON MASSIVE INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT INCLUDING CREATING ARTIFICIAL NEW RIVERS TO LINK UP PARTS OF THE COUNTRY IN ORDER TO DEVELOP INTERNAL TRADE WHICH CAN HELP TO UNLEASH MASSIVE LATENT POTENTIAL THAT WILL FEED ON ITSELF TO GIVE BIRTH TO A 24-HOUR/365 DAY ECONOMY.

We cannot continue to have our economic plans backwards. Right now, we make money from selling crude oil which we in turn use to import refined petroleum and goods from other countries to whom we sell nothing else in return.

For as long as we continue to ride this model, foreign currency will continue to be important in our daily economy.

 A critical look at the country would reveal some natural industrial belts which have developed by themselves over the years. In Lagos, we have areas like Ladipo for spare parts, Alaba for electronic goods, Shomolu for printing and Ikeja for technology.

We have other areas like Aba for garments, Nnewi for production of spare parts, Kano for textiles, Taraba for ranching and Edo for furniture making.

Areas that have developed into clusters should be given priority and declared special economic zones. They must have 24-hour electricity and other infrastructure necessary for their optimal functioning.

 A mere declaration as special economic zones with enabling laws which provide a basket of incentives would spur local investors to invest in providing embedded power to Alaba for example. This idea is not original. China did it successfully under Deng Xiao Ping and it helped lunch China into an industrial power. Alaba market may just be able to generate one million new jobs. Money would be saved that can then go into expansion and more hiring. By repeating this model across the country, we may just be able to create up to 10 million new jobs as a result. Imagine 10 million new tax payers in our system building 10 million new homes!!

RECURRENT VERSUS CAPITAL EXPENDITURE:

With a recurrent expenditure of 82% and capital expenditure of 18% how can we ever really hope to develop much needed infrastructure in this country? We can trim this immediately by introducing technology in all government establishments and diversifying the economy.

 If we grow the economy at 10% every year without increasing recurrent overhead we would be increasing the capital outlay for infrastructural development.

 A good goal to aim for could be 50% recurrent and 50% capital expenditure and I believe this can be achieved if we think deep and hard enough and are willing as a government to patiently engage labor and civil society groups.

 Why for example do we need a Federal Ministry of Sports, Aviation and Transport? Why do we need 54 Ministers? If you vote for me, I will treat Labor and civil society groups with respect and engage them constructively as equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project.

SHORT TERM PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY.

My administration will design short term plans for total power

 availability thus: In every local government, private companies will be given a basket of incentives including import waivers for the importation of industrial generators with capacity of 1,000-5,000 KVA powered by diesel or gas that can take care of hundreds of houses at a time.

Once this is done, demand on petrol will fall by an estimated 60 percent. There are about 7 million registered cars in Nigeria according to the FRSC, but we have over 60 million petrol generators. Do the arithmetic!!!!!!

This will help to revive industry currently reeling under the high cost of diesel and create millions of jobs instantly. More taxpayers equal more revenue for infrastructural development, equals more jobs. This is what is called sustainable development.

We have imported petrol for the last 23 years. This will no longer be necessary as the local refineries will then have the capacity to meet demand.

In China, over 53,000 MW of electricity is provided in small megawatts by tiny companies dotted all over the landscape generating power from small hydro that do not require dams (using run of the river technology), to Solar, to Wind and small Coal plants.

A mindset of over-centralization is what is bogging us down. We must open up the space. Total unfettered deregulation is what we need and now.

POLICE ORDERLIES AND ESCORTS:

Interestingly, every public official in this country including private individuals having achieved a little importance has Nigeria police officers guarding them.

This nonsense needs to stop. We can create 1 million new jobs for the private sector by banning this practice. Private security organizations should be empowered and trained to carry arms. Let those who need protection go to them and free our police officers to do the work of policing the country and keeping us safe. The Nigerian police should be well equipped and fitted to patrol neighborhoods, two to a patrol car or Power bike.

THE ARMED FORCES AND POLICE:

These young men and women whom we send into harm’s way must be well taken care of. Their total welfare must never be a matter for long debates. My administration will introduce a –JSEB (Joint Services Education Bill) to ensure that servicemen and their children get automatic scholarships to university level.

Policemen who run the daily risk of being killed by criminals, Customs men who have to confront deadly smugglers every day, Soldiers who lay down their lives to preserve our country along with the Air force and Naval personnel should not have to worry about how to pay school fees for their children. These are the folks to whom we absolutely owe FREE EDUCATION.

All wives of servicemen must also be equipped with skills to enable them contribute to the well-being of their families.

It is quite unsettling that we often have to drag our soldiers out to kill our own people and be killed by our own people after the politicians have messed things up badly. My administration will be very proactive in intervening and resolving internal disputes to stave off needless loss of lives.

    I will engage the National Assembly and civil society in a bid to have state and local government police to help nip problems in the bud before they become national embarrassments that require the intervention of the army. Our armed forces must be equipped in a first class manner if we want them to be a first class fighting force. I will pay special attention to all our armed forces and ensure that they are as proud of the jobs they do as we are proud of them.

With a population of 170 Million people, it is clear that we are under-policed with a force of 400,000 men. Clearly also, it is a dereliction of the highest responsibility to secure our borders for us to have a mere 100,000 soldiers as the country’s army. We will make the right investment to have a modern fighting force that will be the pride of our nation. In my administration, every Armed Forces personnel gets a Housing mortgage the day he starts work. His home secures the future of his family as much as the gun he carries helps to secure the rest of us.

INSECURITY:

Where we are:

Boko Haram has seized swathes of territory and scores of our children as human shield. They have hoisted their flags on Nigerian soil and they call our bluff.

Kidnappers have organized themselves into corporations. They have established training schools to train people in the art and many have graduated from their schools.

Young unemployed graduates have become experts in cyber crime and everyday, they are coming up with new inventions to perfect their acts of criminality.

Armed robbers have moved away from attacking homes. They go in broad daylight to attack Bullion vans and walk into banks with a daring and sophistication unknown 20 years ago.

Baby factories are springing up across the landscape as human trafficking has become one of the quickest ways to become rich.

Militancy has not abated as pipelines are destroyed everyday to steal crude. Foreigners have joined the bandwagon. They come with supertankers to join in the bazaar to steal our crude oil.

Why are we in the Current Situation?

We are where we are for many reasons but I will touch on just a few. Our education system has failed us because it was not  properly implemented.

The 6-3-3-4 system was supposed to create artisans and skilled personnel as part of its curriculum. That part was not implemented and so we have a pool of people who are unable to go to higher institutions and are also unable to get jobs at their level without necessary skills. They become feedstock for all the above listed crimes.

Our leadership has a tendency to ignore problems in this country until they become mountains and require surgery.

Our leadership through the years has embodied the policy of embracing criminals, giving them a pardon and giving them new national assignments. The message to the people is that –it is okay to be a criminal.

Our Justice administration is too slow. We need to train more judges, build more courts and put a cap on the number of adjournments a case can have to speed up the administration of justice.

Years of operating the patronage system has meant that competent people are not put in charge for us to get best results. We put round pegs in square holes.

The morale of our armed forces has been decimated by years of corruption, abuse and neglect by their leaders to the extent that a police IG was jailed for stealing money meant for the welfare of the people he should be serving. It does not get worse than that. He may soon obtain his own pardon and run for governor.

PROGNOSIS:

We will continue to linger in this state of insecurity unless we change the old ways of doing things.

REMEDY:

Nigeria needs to build a brand new security architecture. We need an integrated Homeland security that gets information and data from all security agencies and is able to use the information to analyze where new threats are, where they might be coming from next and recommend quick ways to nip the issues in the bud. Electronic surveillance and new technology and research will be carried out by the Homeland Security to keep us safe. The old bureaucracy that has characterized our security system will become a thing of the past. Lazy security reports that only tend to demonize opposition will give way to modern techniques of threat assessment. This is the 21^st century and we must think like we are actually in the 21^st century. The governor is not the state. The President is not the country. The opposition is not the enemy.

Grassroots approach to CONFLICT resolution is a road worth pursuing. If the Niger Delta militancy was resolved through a grassroots approach, there is no reason why the Boko Haram insurgency cannot be resolved in the same way. There are people whom they trust to negotiate on their behalf. Read article titled. (How to get our girls back by Mama Boko Haram), in the Nation newspaper of June 24^th, 2014.

One more puzzle in solving problems of insecurity is individual responsibility. We must as a nation begin to watch out for and report suspicious behavior and we should be able to do this anonymously.

 I understand that one of the biggest fears people have about reporting crime is their personal safety because they do not trust that the people they are reporting to might not be complicit in the crime. To this end, the creation of an emergency 911 system will be uppermost in my plans to address insecurity in the land.

We are in 2014. We must rise to the security challenges of these times with technology. British society rose to the challenge of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) with technology. In today’s Britain, cameras can tell your story from the moment you arrive in the country until the day you depart.

To solve the immediate problem of our girls in captivity I would grant full, unconditional and unequivocal amnesty to Boko Haram. We need peace to develop this country. That would be my priority.

JUDICIAL REFORM:

A situation where a Judge barely passes four judgments in one year should be unacceptable to us as a nation. Our courts are over-burdened and Judges are too few. The administration of justice should be a speedy affair which takes into recognition, the right to fair hearing. We must build more courts and train many more judges. We may also need to have specialized courts to enhance the administration of justice. For example, we can have Constitutional courts, Land courts, Financial courts, Civil courts, Election courts and Criminal courts. Also, we may need to put a time limit on certain types of cases.

A murder case, because it involves life may have a one year limit while all other cases may not exceed 6 months. Caps should be put on the number of adjournments allowed in any particular case just as you cannot have more than a certain number of substitutions in a football game.

Another thing we can do is computerize our judicial system and introduce the use of lawyers as prosecutors at the lower courts instead of policemen. This will help create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the judiciary.

UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE BILL:

Nigeria needs to craft a universal healthcare bill. Nigeria ranks at the bottom of the ladder in the matter of maternal and child mortality rates.

Maternal and infant mortality rates hover around 10%. What this means is that we are at the bottom of the ladder in the world. This is unacceptable. Every man, woman and child should get a universal health card with all their relevant biometrics.

This card will also serve as the Social security card which entitles them to healthcare and social assistance in case of unemployment and of course tracks eligibility for old age assistance. This system will be designed to be sustainable such that people make contributions to the scheme according to what they earn.

IT WILL BE MANDATORY FOR ALL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS TO SEEK TREATMENT ONLY IN NIGERIAN HOSPITALS. FIRST CLASS HOSPITALS WITH FIRST CLASS DOCTORS REQUIRE FIRST CLASS WORK, THE KIND OF WORK AND DEDICATION ONLY A PATRIOT IS READY AND WILLING TO OFFER HIS OR HER COUNTRY.

It is necessary that all healthcare professionals are consulted toward making this a reality as there is the deep-seated fear that doctors alone seek to dominate. This is what has plagued the passage of a health bill for the last 50 years beginning with the first attempt at crafting one by Dr Majekodunmi in the first republic.

EDUCATION:

 My administration will enunciate a Bill of Rights on Education, making education available and compulsory to every Nigerian up to secondary school level. We will also have a National School Food program which guarantees two meals a day in school for the children who cannot afford it.

The industrialization process can only be driven by an educated and well trained population. We must build schools that build people who can build things.

There cannot be any shortcuts. The 1999 Constitution states that the Federal government should give free education when they think it is possible to do so. That is an ambiguous provision which must be changed to read-----

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHALL

 ENSURE THAT EVERY CHILD OF SCHOOL AGE IS GUARANTEED FREE EDUCATION ALL THE WAY TO SS3 LEVEL.

University education will be paid for. Students who cannot afford it, will be entitled to a student loan at 3% interest, guaranteed by the Federal government which must be paid back over a 20 yr period to make it sustainable.

My administration will also initiate a nationwide adult education program that goes beyond the walls of a classroom to radio, TV and Internet.

We will make serious investments in Science, Technology, Engineering  and Mathematics.

We will prepare our children to compete with the best in the world. Being the best is never something that happens by chance but by choice.

First class education is the surest ticket to the middle class.

Our teachers can be the best paid teachers in the world and they will be under my administration.

 The UNESCO appeal to nations is to strive for 25% as education budget. Ghana does 32% while Nigeria is at a paltry 5%.

WITH A YOUTH POPULATION OF 134 MILLION PEOPLE AND DISMAL YEARLY GRADUATION OF 200,000 PEOPLE FROM OUR HIGHER INSTITUTIONS, IT IS MY CONSIDERED OPINION THAT WE ARE NOT READY TO ENTER THE STADIUM TO COMPETE WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD. THIS MUST CHANGE.

We must as a country change our focus and invest in the development of human capital. In the early 1960s, South

 Korea had over 95% illiteracy rate. That number has changed to zero because of the massive investment in the development of human capital.

The result is clear for all to see. LG, SAMSUNG, KIA, HYUNDAI, PANASONIC. Each of these companies has an annual budget larger than Nigeria’s yearly budget. Samsung aims to make $400 Billion profit in 2015.

The most coveted job in South Korea is to be a teacher. Only 5% of people who apply for teaching jobs get it. It attracts the best brains from within and outside the country. This is a good model of how to transform a country.

BIG BOLD STEPS ARE WHAT WE REQUIRE FROM LEADERS WITH BIG IDEAS AND BIG VISION.

Margaret Mead, American anthropologist and writer said:

 WE ARE NOW AT A POINT WHERE WE MUST EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN IN WHAT NO ONE KNEW YESTERDAY AND PREPARE OUR SCHOOLS FOR WHAT NO ONE KNOWS YET.

In response to the educational backwardness of blacks in America, Arthur Fletcher, one time President of the United College Negro Fund coined the phrase---A mind is a terrible thing to waste ---whilst others down the road added--- And a wonderful thing to invest in. My Administration will declare an emergency on education in Northern Nigeria by setting up a Northern Nigeria Education Emergency Fund (NNEEF).

I will send a bill for establishment of the (NNEEF)  immediately I am sworn in as President and I am very sure it will pass in record time as I do not see any member of the National Assembly opposing such a laudable project. It will be the set objective of this fund to find children in every nook and cranny in the North and prepare them for the future whilst doing the same with adult education.

We shall push and we shall pull to encourage that young man and that young woman to pick up the pieces of their broken dreams, climb over that mountain, ford that river and follow every rainbow until they are able to walk down that aisle to pick up that certificate and shout—Thank God Almighty---We did it!!!

This is the Nigeria I will give to you if you give me your vote.

 I will set a six year agenda to wipe out illiteracy in the entire Northern region as we attack it from both ends. We will compress a curriculum for adults to complete primary education in 2 years whilst spending another 4 years to complete secondary education. With skills acquisition built into the curriculum, the North will be ready to live up to the billing of the foremost patriarch of the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, as--- the Giant in the Sun.

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

Things do not just happen. Victories are won through intense work. Preparation is the conveyor belt that delivers success. In the sixties and seventies, the government of the then Midwest State built facilities across the state and the results showed clearly as Midwest which later became Bendel shone for many years at yearly sports competitions and international events. The writer learned to swim and play tennis at facilities provided by the state government in 1971. In 2014, we want to pray and fast our way to Olympic and World cup victories. It will not happen.

There is work to be done before we pray. Endemic corruption and cronyism has bedeviled our sports in much the same way as it has destroyed everything else and so we may need to come up with a new model of Public –Private Participation in development of sports in Nigeria.

A take-off grant for a Sports Trust Commission could be a starting point after which it must be left purely in private hands. The job creation potential of such an approach can only be imagined. It is estimated by experts that over 400,000 jobs could be created over a 5-year period.

The UK with a population of 64 million which is about a third of the Nigerian population has a thriving football industry that employs over a million people in the entire value chain from ticket agents to broadcasting rights, travels, hotels, pub licenses for soccer viewing crowds, etc.

 In 2013, the Sports industry contributed over 20 Billion pounds, about 2% of GDP, exceeding the contribution of the auto industry, insurance, telecoms, legal and accounting services.

NYSC

The NYSC scheme needs to be re-tooled after 40 years of its existence to reflect the dynamics and economics of the times.

The youth need to have in-depth training on skills acquisition and entrepreneurship to help transform a sizeable number of them into job creators instead of job seekers. A cursory look across the geo-political regions of the world would reveal to the keen observer that we have indeed entered a century of joblessness.

Every year, an estimated 200,000 people enroll for the NYSC program. In a country where we have not been creating jobs for 30 years due to bad management, the result is about 190,000 of these youth who will join the unemployment market alongside another 1.8 million young people who will become unemployable adults thereby creating a steady pool of people whose idle hands must find ‘work’ to do

TO HAVE A CRIMINAL YOUTH IS ONE THING BUT TO HAVE AN EDUCATED CRIMINAL YOUTH POPULATION IS SHEER ANARCHY

We are turning the corner into the realm of anarchy.

BRAIN DRAIN:

It is a well known fact that Nigerian professionals who have fled to the diaspora excel in their chosen fields. Can we ever hope to bring these people back to work in Nigeria on the basis of patriotism only? How many people reading this manifesto want to be a teacher in Nigeria?

How many want to be practicing nurses, doctors and pharmacists in Nigeria? How many want to be policemen in Nigeria?

The answer is zero for many reasons, the top of which is poor pay. Now, how many readers want to be legislators and senators? I bet, everyone!!!! This is a distortion and aberration in our society and it must not stand!!!. If we want to build a first class country then we must think and do things differently.

IT WILL BE A CENTRAL POLICY OF MY ADMINISTRATION TO HAVE THE BEST TRAINED AND THE BEST PAID TEACHERS, NURSES, DOCTORS, PHARMACISTS, POLICEMEN, JUDGES AND ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL IN THE WORLD.

These groups constitute the bedrock that hold society together and make it cohesive, yet, they are the least paid and least appreciated. This will and must change.!!

 CORRUPTION:

This is the number one problem of Nigeria. It is estimated that over $400 Billion (N64 Trillion) has been stolen by public officials in the last 30 years. Let me tell you what this could have done for Nigeria. At present rates, Lagos-Ibadan Express which is 100 Km long costs N100 Billion Naira to fully construct with eight lanes, therefore we could have constructed 64,000 roads like that across the country. Think about this for a minute.

 Many reasons have been given why corruption is so pervasive in our country. We cannot eradicate it by slogans.

CORRUPTION IS A VIRUS THAT FEEDS ON AND IS POWERED BY THE ENVIRONMENT. SCARCITY FUELS CORRUPTION, INEFFICIENCY FUELS CORRUPTION INSECURITY FUELS CORRUPTION AND CORRUPTION FUELS INSECURITY.

 A slow justice system fuels corruption. Insufficient pay for our law enforcement agencies help to fuel corruption, wrong policies fuel corruption. It will not go away for as long as we have a very inefficient environment.

We can begin to reduce and ultimately eradicate it by making society work and making government smaller. A good way to eliminate corruption is to develop a sectoral approach. Does anyone remember how we used to stay in line for hours at NITEL to make phone calls abroad?

Does anyone remember how much bribe had to be paid to obtain a phone line in the home or office? Corruption has disappeared in that sector for good!!!

 Let me explain further. A bank advertises to hire 10 people. 200,000 people show up for the interview.

The premium to get that job has just gone through the roof. Now, the beautiful women among the unemployed must find a way to know who is making the hiring decision. The well-connected among them must make calls to find who knows a friend who knows a friend who knows the decision maker.

The human resource manager sees a great opportunity to complete the house he has been building in Lekki and so he puts a price on your interview appearance, if you must be shortlisted for the next stage of the interview.

Good, hardworking Nigerians cannot thrive in an inefficient and patently unjust system. Injustice not only consumes its victims like an avalanche but ultimately destroys the perpetrators.

We cannot eradicate corruption by taking it head-on.

CORRUPTION IS AN ECONOMY BY ITSELF. IT HAS ITS OWN INDICES OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND. WE MUST ERADICATE IT BEFORE IT ERADICATES US.

 My administration will carry out sector by sector analysis and remove the factors that make corruption thrive in those sectors.

In 1960, Nigeria with a per capita income of $95 ranked higher than China at $76 and South Korea at $92. Fifty four years later, Nigeria ranks at the bottom with a per capita income of $2,500, China, $9,000 while South Korea is at $33,000.

Our foreign reserves have declined over the last 7 years from $68 Billion to $37 Billion, whilst South Korea stands at $400 Billion, Thailand, $200 Billion and China, $4 Trillion.

CHINA EXECUTES ITS OFFICIALS FOR CORRUPTION. IN SOUTH KOREA, THE OFFICIALS GO TO JAIL IF THEY DO NOT COMMIT SUICIDE FIRST. IN NIGERIA, WE CELEBRATE THEM. THEREIN LIES THE DIFFERENCE.

A critical look at the petroleum industry will actually reveal that what we call subsidy is payment for inefficiency, corruption and laziness. The new Port Harcourt refinery with a capacity to process 150,000 barrels per day employs 1,200 engineers and 6,000 other staff whilst a refinery with an equivalent capacity in Indonesia hires 7 engineers and 600 other staff.

Whereas, the refinery in Indonesia produces at 100% capacity, its Nigerian counterpart has never crossed 30% in capacity production. Where does the difference lie? They are strike free, sabotage free and corruption free.

Another major problem with our oil industry is wrong policies or policies which are self serving, designed to fuel corruption. Why for example should a refinery in Nigeria buy oil that is locally produced at international prices? For the sake of argument let us even use the international price of crude at $100 per barrel.

 This translates to N16,000 per barrel. From every barrel, you will obtain 150 litres of Diesel, 120 litres of petrol, 150 litres of Kerosene and 150 litres of Black oil not to mention other by-products. Once you sell your diesel alone, you would have recovered your costs and everything else is profit. Where then is the subsidy?

The President we need must have the depth and capacity to ask the tough questions and make tough decisions to get Nigeria working for everyone and not just for the few.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE.

Has it occurred to anyone that anytime we talk about the good old days, we are actually referring to a correlation between the strength of our currency and the happiness/ satisfaction quotient of our people?

Nigeria began to experience massive exodus of our professionals as the value of the Naira plunged, thus eroding the standard of living of the people. The professor has a skill for which institutions around the world are willing to pay top dollar.

I will strive to pursue a very AGGRESSIVE NATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY (ANEP) as follows:

1.    Nigeria spends $15 Billion dollars to import four items of Rice, Fish, Wheat and Sugar all of which we can produce locally. My administration will embark on massive investment in this sector thus creating in the process over 30 million new jobs down the value chain.

2.    Nigeria spends close to $17 Billion dollars annually to import fuel. My administration will deregulate the Petroleum industry completely which would encourage investors to build more refineries to meet local demand thus creating millions of new jobs.

3.    The speedy completion of Ajaokuta Steel would save close to $3 Billion annually spent on importation of raw steel and finished products made from steel. Over 20 million jobs could be created by this action.

As we embark on this aggressive national economic policy, market forces of supply and demand would kick in, thus making the Naira a desirable currency, increasing the local purchasing power of the Naira, while simultaneously making local manufacturing more attractive and thus leading to increase in hiring.

Read Henry Boyo at: (www.punchng.com/opinion/viewpoint/advantages-of-stronger-naira).

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS:

It was Jean Jacques Rosseau that famously said, ‘Man is born free but everywhere, he is in chains.’ Leadership must not equate itself with the state.  My administration will promote and institute Freedom without shackles.

A vibrant press and unshackled population are necessary ingredients for the entrenchment of ----

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE—

  (Abraham Lincoln, at the Gettysburg address)

THE NIGER DELTA: 

We need constructive and direct intervention on multiple-fronts---- Educational, infrastructural and dialogue to confront this hydra headed monster which we created through half a century of neglect. We should turn the entire region into a construction yard. People who have viable options will not carry guns and risk being killed. We must give the region 25% derivation immediately and set a time frame to graduate it to 50%. The PIB bill must be passed and a sweetener added to build a gas pipeline to the North whilst enhancing exploration activities in the Chad basin.

This, I believe is a fair and just solution. We must stop trying to play the ostrich with this matter.

 WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO IGNORE GRIEVANCES IN THIS COUNTRY UNTIL THEY GET OUT OF CONTROL.

Every Nigerian needs to pay a visit to Oloibiri, the first place in Nigeria where oil was discovered and exploited for 40 years to understand the magnitude of the injustice and deprivation that oil bearing communities suffer.

Now that the oil has stopped flowing there, the oil companies have moved on and all we have left there is a borehole commissioned in 2006 and a signboard which reads---Welcome to Oloibiri, land of the goose that laid the golden egg. 

ALMAJIRI PROBLEM:

In March 2013, I traveled to Minna, Niger State where I witnessed for the very first time the depth and magnitude of the Almajiri phenomenon. I saw a horde of young boys ranging in age from 6 to 14 scavenging for food from the dumpster of a major fast foods company.

THEY WILL NEVER KNOW LOVE, EXPERIENCE THE COMFORT OF A HOME, FIGHT WITH SIBLINGS OR CELEBRATE ANY BIRTHDAYS.

Many of them will die of disease and malnutrition whilst a great number of them will be used for rituals by our ever ready club of the greedy and power seeking elite.

Those who make it to adulthood would be soul-less and therefore ready at a whim to be cannon fodder for politicians and religious bigots.

 WE ARE DIMINISHED AS A COUNTRY FOR ALLOWING THIS SORE TO FESTER FOR THIS LONG. CAN’T WE SEE THAT A CHILD NEEDS A HELPING HAND?  (In the Ghetto; Mac Davis, made popular by Elvis Presley).

Clearly, the identical twin brothers, PDP and the APC cannot see that. It is estimated that we have close to 30 million of these children in the country.

 We could solve this problem by creating a foster care system for the younger kids and group home system for the older kids.

Families would be paid to foster these children across the country and they would grow up like normal children.

The older ones would be integrated into group homes of 6-10 children managed by a retired police or army officer. In every local government, there would be skills acquisition centers to assist these boys to transit into responsible adults.

The girls must be part of this arrangement also, but in their own designated group homes for girls only and managed by women. This system, if well implemented could help create massive new employment and a whole new industry. The group homes need cooks and security and care staff.

AN ORGANIZATION, STATE OR COUNTRY IS ONLY AS STRONG AS ITS WEAKEST LINK.

That visit to Minna, Niger State remains indelible on my mind.

 I SHUDDER TO THINK OF CHILDREN ROAMING FREE TO SCAVENGE TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES IN A COUNTRY WHERE NORMAL WORKING ADULTS CAN BARELY GET BY. THIS IS AN ATROCITY AND IT MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO STAND.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the biggest reasons why I am running to be the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and I ask for your support.

We must field candidates for every House of Assembly, National Assembly and governorship seat across the nation.

We must have volunteers numbering over 10 million people to canvass door to door for votes and to act as agents in every polling booth in every nook and cranny. We must get the vote out and then we must stand our ground after voting. That is the only way---–We the people can take our nation back and we will, this time!!!!.

FULANI HERDSMEN

Herdsmen are people just like the rest of us and they have a lifestyle. We cannot force them to become like us. We must find a way to accommodate them to stem the constant conflicts between them and farmers across the country that lead to needless loss of lives. In the UK, provision is made for Gypsies. They are nomadic people and can never be otherwise.

The Cattle herdsmen have leaders (Miyetti Allah) and they have legitimate demands.

Let us engage them and ask them what they want. My administration will engage their leaders and facilitate the creation of grazing grounds across the country on the Cattle trail.

These settlements will have good toilets, water and basic amenities including schools and hospitals for their children.

It is cheaper to do this than to fight a war that we cannot win. A good sense of history will teach us that the Fulani herdsman is a peaceful man. He just wants to take care of his herd. He is not attached to any other material possessions. As long term solution, we should strive to turn the next generation of Cattle Fulani into educated boys who become ranchers.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs:

A new approach is needed to change the trajectory of our country and the dire state of unemployment.

SURE-P, a federal government agency estimates that over 40 million Nigerian youths are unemployed. I put that figure at 60 million as about 80% of our population of 170 million people are between ages 1-35yrs. Conditions must be set in place to create up to 45 Million jobs in 4 years. This is a task to which I shall be dedicating myself every working day.

As things stand right now, there are no macro-economic actions that can be taken by this present administration to create jobs as jobs are not created in a vacuum.

A holistic approach is what is needed as follows:

·       Short term plan for immediate and total availability of electricity in rural and urban areas.

·       Massive injection of government funds into the banking system to help reduce interest rate to single digit. The biggest component of job creation is access to capital.

·       Tariff tweaking to encourage import substitution and simultaneously creating incentives for local manufacturing and subsidizing export oriented companies.

·       Creation of youth friendly agricultural communities to boost production of economic trees (read article on Chief Giwa Bisirodipe, The News, June 14, 2014), Cocoa, Rice, Palm Oil, Cassava and Wheat around the country to satisfy local consumption and for exportation.

·       Sustainable approach to massive road construction to open up the rural areas and ease transportation of goods and services across the country. This will be achieved through a tax on all petroleum products and toll gates on major highways.

·       Massive investment in solid minerals development by creating a Solid Minerals Development Corporation (SMDC) which, just like the NNPC will go into partnership with the private sector for massive exploitation of minerals.

·       Opening up the railways to private development to facilitate movement of heavy goods and help redefine how people live and work. My administration will complete a high speed rail project that runs from Lagos to Sokoto and Lagos to Calabar in 48 months and eventually form a ring road around the country.

·       Immediate completion of Ajaokuta steel project will create over 20 million jobs down the value chain.

·       Massive public works, water works, roads, dams, airports, seaports, new bridges, etc.

·       Re-opening of the banking sector to increase competition. Now that we have massive banks at the 25Billion capitalization level, we should have four other levels at 15Billion, 10Billion, 5Billion and 2Billion.

·       Redistricting the entire country and building first class schools in every district to ensure that every child can walk to school.

·       In co-operation with the Telecoms companies, we will wire up all the schools across the country and provide every child with a computer with digital textbooks

·       Re-tooling of the NYSC program to be an incubator for job creation.

·       Creating opportunities for the private sector to thrive by harmonizing the tax system to eliminate multiple taxation.

·       Digitalizing our health institutions will create over 1.5 Million jobs. (Read an article titled: Government can create jobs without spending in the Punch Newspaper of November 18, 2013 by Okechukwu Nnodim)

When these things are done, Nigerians in diaspora will begin the exodus, followed by FDIs to partake of the Gold rush in Nigeria.

Economic growth, job creation and educational improvements will be a sacred tripod upon which my administration will rise or fall.

HOUSING

Housing construction creates jobs and jobs give rise to new housing construction. They feed off of each other. The tendency for government to embark on housing construction must be resisted as actions like that tend only to satisfy short term political gains.

We can point to some of the massive housing programs of past governments across the country which ended with the administration and went into disrepair.

 In order to frame a sustainable housing industry, we must learn from some of the biggest housing institutions with the biggest mortgage portfolios in the world like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I will work with experts from all over the world to frame a policy that takes into cognizance the financial crisis that rocked these institutions in 2008 that was part of the big economic recession and the savings and loans crisis of 1992.

Once we can get this right, we will be on the highway to having a modern economy which feeds off of itself to create millions of employment in the entire value chain.

CAPITALISM VERSUS SOCIALISM:

People everywhere want to be free. Freedom is the antithesis to Socialism. People by nature like to acquire property. To impose by state fiat, a redistribution of wealth therefore goes against the grain of human nature. It is therefore a foregone conclusion that a Socialist ideology cannot solve our problem of underdevelopment as a nation. It has been tried, tested and

found to be unworkable.

 I believe that a thousand flowers must be allowed to blossom. The problem however with unbridled capitalism is that it tends always to leave many behind in the race to get to the top. It is therefore necessary to have a system that has a safety basket to capture the weak amongst us.

 That is the duty of governments and it is a duty my government would hold sacred.

Vestiges of socialism abound in our polity. We find it in over- federalization of services and institutions; Federal railways, Federal roads, Federal police, Federal education, Federal waterways, Federal airlines, Federal electricity, Federal Sports, Federal driver’s license, Federal License plate, Federal hotels etc, etc.  We should not be made to wait for an already over-burdened Federal government.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT:  

All politics ought to be local but we are in Nigeria. A situation where we do not have functioning local governments should be unacceptable to us as a people. It was a local government that hosted the Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles whilst another local government hosted the Olympics again in Atlanta, in 1996. Local governments run schools in the United States up to high school level. We must make our local governments function by giving them clear responsibilities and direct funding free of interference from State governors.

As things stand today, we cannot hold them accountable. My administration will waste no time in fighting for and instituting full autonomy for local government administration.

We must build a society that cares and empowers its people. Every local government office ought to have a health center.

Skills acquisition centers must be put in place to enable citizens re-enter the employment market. A food center where the needy can get a meal a day is an absolute necessity whilst training people to acquire skills that can get them off food welfare.

 In order not to have a bloated government bureaucracy, existing organizations like the Catholic Church and Muslim Charity groups can be encouraged to help with this endeavor. No child or adult person in Nigeria should go to sleep on an empty stomach.

Provision of water should be a duty of the local governments. It is needful for us to find local solutions to local challenges. In the second Republic, Governor Jakande came up with policies that addressed local challenges with local solutions by building mini water-works in all local governments. This effectively addressed the water shortage experienced in communities at the time. A paradigm change in the way we think and address issues is needed at this critical time in our development.

CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS:

Nations are like families. Every country is not a nation. A nation is a group of people who not only have geographical and social contiguity but they must all share a common sense of destiny.

THERE IS NO SINGLE VISION OR PROPOSITION TO WHICH WE ARE DEDICATED AS A COUNTRY. WE HAVE FAILED TO DO THE THINGS THAT CAN BIND US.

The Preamble to the American constitution says---We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights------------------------------

This ingredient is glaringly missing in Nigeria. An Ibo man is born in Lagos State, grows up in Lagos State, begins a business in Lagos State, pays taxes in Lagos State but can never claim to be an indigene of Lagos State.

A Hausa man is born in Idi Araba, goes to school in Idi Araba, gets married, starts a business, pays taxes in Lagos  State and then you ask him to fill out a form and write that he is from Jalingo local government!!!! Where is Jalingo? Citizen rights must be re-defined by our constitution.

It is this kind of mindset that makes APC deport people from Lagos to drop them at the Onitsha bridge!!!! Is every Ibo man from Onitsha?

We must fix this immediately through a constitutional amendment. The settler/Indigene dichotomy must be jettisoned into the garbage bins of history where it rightly belongs.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS:

We must be a society that not only espouses women’s rights but we must also be actively involved in protecting our women and equipping them to survive abuse. On inauguration day, one of my first acts as President will be to send a comprehensive bill to the National Assembly pegging the minimum age a girl can be married at 18.

The bill will also seek to protect widows from abuse by relatives after the demise of their husbands and among other things deal with:

·       Inheritance rights for women

·       Lowering maternal and infant mortality

·       Economic empowerment for women.

·       Women’s wellness (Breast cancer screening in every market) .

·       Right to education until the age of 18

·       Minimum age of Marriage pegged at 18

·       Affirmative action for women in Federal jobs. 50/50.

·       Paid maternity leave rights.

·       Savings base discipline.

·       Women’s co-operatives. (Bank targeted at women)

·       Access to healthcare

·       Protection from Sexual harassment, etc, etc.

AGRICULTURE:

India feeds itself. China feeds itself. These two countries with a combined population of 2.5 billion not only feed themselves but also export food.

 Brazil, Ivory Coast and Ghana rank in the top three Cocoa producing countries in the world with over one million tonnes annually, whereas Nigeria which used to be number one now struggles to produce 200,000 tonnes per year. This is an embarrassment and it should cause us to weep!!!!

 We can cultivate 100,000 hectares of land to catapult us to 1.7 million tonnes of Cocoa per annum in 2 years by introducing high yield Cocoa variety which matures in 18 months.

Nigeria produces only about 200,000 tonnes of rice annually whereas we consume 3.2m tonnes annually. With consumption growing at 11% every year, the gap gets wider and unsustainable.

With an average yield of 6 tons per hectare we must as a matter of urgency embark on cultivating 800,000 hectares of land for rice production to meet our consumption. Import substitution of rice alone will save the country over $15 Million dollars a day in rice importation or N2 Billion a day.

We will work hard on creating in partnership with the people, sustainable  communities in all agriculturally viable local governments in the country for different cash crops like rubber, Oil palm, Groundnuts Cassava etc, etc.

These new communities will have modern amenities to make it attractive to young people. A new community of 2,000 people can easily grow into 20,000 strong as other service providers come in to provide services.

 We will also aim to achieve sugar sufficiency by cultivating 250,000 hectares of land in the sugarcane belt. All rice importation will cease after 3 seasons of aggressive rice cultivation thus conserving foreign exchange. We will resurrect the groundnut pyramids of the North by encouraging young people to take up farming in built up farming communities.

Nigeria spends $15 Billion dollars yearly to import rice, fish, sugar and wheat all of which we can produce locally. This is prodigal and unacceptable.

Once we do this successfully and also stop importation of petroleum products, we will be sucking out demand for foreign exchange of close to $37 Billion yearly. This is why I am confident that we can bring the exchange rate down to 50-1 and better in the short term.

We could create over 30 million jobs down the value chain from planting to harvesting to packaging to transportation to the shelves of supermarkets if we focus properly on agriculture.

SOLID MINERALS DEVELOPMENT:

A cursory look at the country would show a wide distribution of all kinds of solid minerals. My administration will build a structure similar to the NNPC called the SMDC (Solid Minerals development Corporation) to go into joint production and profit sharing with companies in the mining business.

Small players will be organized into a consortium with which the SMDC can do business. If this is done properly across the geo-political zones, it can help to create over 6 Million new jobs across the value chain.

 Please find below, a list of Minerals and their distribution across the country.

Abuja: Marble, Clay, Tantalite, Cassiterite, Gold, Lead, Zinc, Dolomite.

Abia: Gold, Salt, Limestone, Lead. Zinc.

Adamawa: Kaolin, Bentonite, Gypsium, Magnesite.

Akwa Ibom: Lead, Zinc, Clay, Limestone, Uranium, Salt, Lignite.

Anambra: Lead, Zinc, Clay, Limestone, Iron Ore, Lignite, Salt, Glass sand, Phosphate, Gypsium.

Bayelsa: Clay, Limestone, Gypsium, Uranium, Manganese, Lignite, Lead, Zinc.

Bauchi: Lead, Zinc, Limestone, Iron Ore, Coal, Clay, Marble, Salt, Barytes, Gemstones, Gypsium.

Benue: Limestone, Quartsite, Shale, Siltstone, Phonolite, Trachyte, Pummic, Bomb Lapilli, Salt Springs, Baryte, Silica, Kaolin, Gypsium, Coal, Granite, Migmatite.

Borno: Diatomite, Clay, Limestone, Gypsium, Kaolin, Bentonite.

Cross River: Limestone, Uranium, Manganese, Lignite, Iron Ore, Kaolin.

Ebonyi: Lead, Gold, Salt, Quarry Stones, Zinc.

Edo: Marble, Lignite, Clay, Limestone, Iron Ore, Gypsium, Glass Sand, Gold, Dolomite, Phosphate, Bitumen.

Ekiti: Kaolin, Feldspar, Tatium, Granite, Syenite.

Enugu: Coal, Limestone, Lead, Zinc.

Gombe: Gemstone, Gypsium,

Imo: Lead, Zinc, Limestone, Lignite, Phosphate, Marcasite, Gypsium, Salt.

Jigawa, Butytes.

Kaduna: Sapphire, Kaolin, Gold, Clay, Surpentinite, Asbestos, Amethyst, Kyanite, Graphite, Silhnite, Mica, Aquamarine. Ruby, Rock Crystal, Topaz, Flosper, Tourmaline, Gemstone, Tentaline.

Kano: Cassiterite, Copper, Glass Sand, Gemstone, Lead, Zinc, Tnatalite.

Katsina: Kaolin, Marble, Salt.

Kebbi: Gold.

Kogi: Iron Ore, Kaolin, Gypsium, Feldspar, Mica.

Lagos: Glass, Sand, Clay, Bitumen.

Nasarawa: Beryl, Emerald, Aquamarine, Halidor, Dolomite, Marble, Sapphire, Tourmaline, Quartz, Amethyst, Topaz, Gamet, Zireon, Tantalite, Cassiterite, Columbite, Limenite, Galena, Iron Ore, Barytes, Feldspar, Limestone, Mica, Cooking Coal, Talc, Clay, Salt, Chalcopyrite.

Niger: Gold, Talc, Lead, Zinc.

Ogun: Phosphate, Clay, Feldspar, Kaolin, Limestone, Gemstone, Bitumen.

Ondo: Bitumen, Kaolin, Gemstone, Gypsium, Feldspar, Granite, Clay, Glass Sand, Dimesion Stones, Limestone, Coal.

Osun: Gold, Talc, Toumaline, Columbite, Granite,

Oyo: Kaolin, Marble, Clay, Sillimnote, Talc, Gold, Cassiterite, Aquamarine, Dolomite, Gemstone, Tantalite.

Plateau: Emerald, Tin, Marble, Granite, Tantalite, Columbite,

Lead, Zinc, Barytes, Iron Ore, Kaolin, Belonite, Cassiterite, Phrochoe, Clay, Coal, Wolfam, Salt, Bismute, Fluoride, Molybdenite, Gemstone, Bauxite.

Rivers: Glass Sand, Clay, Marble, Lignite.

Sokoto: Kaolin, Gold, Limestone, Phosphate, Gypsium, Silica Sand, Clay, Laterrite, Potash Flakes, Granite, Gold, Salt.

Taraba: Kaolin, Lead, Zinc,

Yobe: Tintomite, Soda Ash.

Zamfara: Coal, Gold.

We will strive to achieve the goal of organizing the Solid Minerals Industry which presently contributes 0.03% to become a net contributor to the Federation Account, rivaling the contribution of Oil to the economy.

 IT WILL BE A STATED GOAL OF MY ADMINISTRATION TO TRIPLE THE SIZE OF THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY IN 4 YEARS FROM $500 BILLION TO $1.5 TRILLION AND RAISE THE PER CAPITA INCOME FROM $2,500 TO $8,000.

We have played in the small leagues for 54 years. Nigeria should be playing in the first division------The G-7 LEAGUE. It is estimated that Nigeria loses over $30 Billion yearly to illegal Gold mining.

THE GOLDEN AGE:

There are periods or epochs in the annals of a country when a leader comes along to usher in a time of prosperity and abundance for his people. This is called the golden age of a nation. This leader galvanizes the people and gives everyone a stake in a great endeavor. Like pistons in a combustion engine, the constituent parts of the country----  PEOPLE, LAND AND CAPITAL confluence to create a harmony, synergy and power that would help to propel their country to the stratosphere.

THE PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR SWAGGER AND THE WORLD STOPS TO TAKE NOTICE.

THIS IS THE TIME WHEN EVERY MAN AND EVERY WOMAN WILL SIT UNDER THEIR ORANGE TREE AND UNDER THEIR MANGO TREE WHILE THE BARBECUE FIRE IS GETTING READY TO ROAST CHICKEN SUYA AND THEY WILL NOT BE AFRAID.

Let us –together, work our country and cause the mountains to bring forth prosperity and the land, fruits of righteousness!!! Roll up your sleeves, put on your working shoes, tie your shoe laces!!!! -----We have work to do

FOREIGN POLICY:

Africa must be the fulcrum of our foreign policy. We are naturally placed to provide leadership on the African continent, but sadly cannot provide it. Ghana is leading the way as Nigeria sleeps and South African politicians are too busy fighting among themselves to care.

The concept of manifest destiny must be entrenched in our national psyche –

TO BE AS BIG AND STRONG AND RICH AS WE CAN BE AND BE OUR BROTHERS KEEPERS ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT.

The spirit of excellence in Nigerians is best displayed when Nigerian troops, whether it be policemen on foreign missions or Soldiers on peace keeping operations go outside the country to work. My faith in the Nigerian professional is strong. Given the right tools, our people are just like any peoples on earth, they excel.

Nigeria, under Murtala/Obasanjo, worked so hard and sacrificed so much for countries like Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa to attain independence.

It was an embarrassment therefore that our country was sidelined at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. This goes to show how low we have dropped in the esteem of the world in a space of 35 years. We can and we will be great again and we must assert and project our power on the continent of Africa.

HUGE PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAM.

Nigeria needs a huge public works program not only to provide employment to millions of Nigerians presently unemployed but also to open up the country and make goods and services and people flow across the country unfettered.

To this end, I will immediately embark on the establishment and construction of six brand new model industrial cities just like Awo did in the fifties and sixties when he established Apapa, Ikeja and Ilupeju industrial estates which are today the cornerstone of Nigeria’s economy. The Industrial cities will have the dual status of an export free zone and local industrial hub. They will be located in six geo-political zones to act as catalysts for employment generation. They will be set up with 24-hour electricity and world class hotels and medical facilities to facilitate medical and other types of tourism within the country.

We should have high speed trains criss-crossing from Sokoto to Lagos, from Lagos to Enugu, from Enugu to Port Harcourt, from Port Harcourt to Lagos and everywhere in between. Mega-cities do not emerge out of nothing.

 Infrastructure must be put in place to widen the economic space such that people can actually live in Ibadan, Benin or Port Harcourt and work in Lagos conveniently and effortlessly. My administration will build and deliver a coastal high speed rail line that runs from Lagos all the way to Calabar in collaboration with the private sector in 24 months. Dubai has done it. Why can’t we? We will work day and night to achieve this vision. It is possible to do it. In constructing the Hoover dam, six large American companies were brought together to form a consortium called-- SIX COMPANIES. They delivered.

 For example, people live in Boston, Massachusetts but work in New York City. We have the unique advantage of not having to re-invent the wheel. We just need to ride it.

GREAT PEOPLE OF NIGERIA, ONCE AGAIN, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND TOO MUCH IS TOO MUCH.

NIGERIA HAS ENOUGH RESOURCES TO TAKE CARE OF THE NEED OF EVERY CITIZEN BUT WE WILL NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TO SATISFY THE GREED OF FEW MEN AND WOMEN.

We must all come to the conclusion as a people that we have reached a critical point and we must resolve to take one right step forward on the road to creating jobs for our teeming youth population.

 THE RIGHT STEP IS TO ELECT A LEADER WHO UNDERSTANDS THE CHALLENGES FACING NIGERIANS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, LOVES NIGERIA, HAS THE ABILITY TO ENGAGE AND THE COMPASSION AND SKILLS NECESSARY TO HELP IMPROVE OUR EVERYDAY LIVES.

To this end my fellow country men and women, I do hereby declare as follows-----North, South, East or West, Christian or Muslim, Nigeria is one and indivisible. We share a common humanity. There is no Muslim Nigeria. There is no Christian Nigeria. There is no Northern Nigeria. There is no Southern Nigeria. There is one Nigeria. When Nigeria hurts anywhere, it hurts everywhere. We must all therefore join hands in 2015 and demand the same things:

THE RIGHT TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE AND ASPIRE TO BE THE BEST THAT WE CAN BE IN A LAND WHERE THE BELLS OF FREEDOM RING AND THE SPRINGS OF JUSTICE ROLL DOWN LIKE A WATERFALL, GIVING SUCCOUR TO ALL SOJOURNERS.

 Ladies and gentlemen------

 My heart aches for Nigeria and I know your heart aches also but do not despair. HAPPY DAYS ARE COMING. This is why I ask for your support as I run for office to be the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

To echo the words of Winston Churchill, delivered to the UK Parliament on the 4^th of June 1940,------------

 I PROMISE TO FIGHT FOR YOU ON EVERY ISSUE IN EVERY CRANNY, IN EVERY HOLE, ON EVERY PLAIN AND EVERY MOUNTAIN, IN EVERY FOREST, IN EVERY CREEK, IN EVERY WARD, IN EVERY VILLAGE, IN EVERY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND IN EVERY STATE 

                               

                                      --------until--------

 WE ATTAIN OUR GOAL OF GETTING EVERY HARDWORKING NIGERIAN INTO A JOB, INTO A HOME AND INTO A CAR ON THE ROAD TO GREATER PROSPERITY FOR A GREATER NUMBER OF OUR PEOPLE.

My name is Michael Ovienmhada. I am running to be the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I ask that you all go out and register to vote. You have a daily cycle of existence in which you struggle to pursue a better life but you have a four year cycle to determine the candidate who can make your pursuit a reality.

God bless you and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.