Towards a greater Nigeria, by Fredrick Nwabufo

The subsistence and material viability of the state as a philosophical ideal is implicit in social contract. It is the actual compact between the government and the people, which separates civilised existence from the anarchic state of nature.

The government exists for the people, as much as the governed.

Governance is not an abstraction or some esoteric vocation for a few. Governance is participation. Participation of both the leadership and its citizens. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulates the responsibilities of all parties to the existing social contract. Nation-building comes with demands on citizenship.

Fundamentally, one of our responsibilities as citizens is to preserve the peace and stability of our nation and to defend it, if necessary. On the part of the governing (at all levels – federal, state, and local governments), there are even more demands of duty as leadership comes with inevitable responsibilities.

The President Tinubu-led Administration has been responsive and dutiful in fulfilment of its part of that social contract. At the risk of overstating the obvious, but these facts must be stated, the government is showing attunement to the concerns of citizens. It is responding surgically and carefully to every concern. It is not reclining or taken up in wild celebrations over some feats. It is still in the mill, grinding hard to give citizens relief and set the nation on the promenade of prosperity.

To effectively address the cost of living challenge, the government has exponentially reviewed the national minimum wage to N70,000; suspended import duties on all essential food items until December 2024; suspended import duties on pharmaceutical raw materials and equipment to bring down prices and released over N570 billion to state governments for the facilitation of critical subsistence support to citizens.

It is also converting over 30,000 petrol-powered commercial vehicles to cheaper compressed natural gas alternative to drive down the cost of transportation, and has so far disbursed N50,000 grant each to over 600,000 Nigerians — with 400,000 more beneficiaries to receive the grant.

The government will disburse N75 billion to 100,000 MSMEs from August 2024, and over 500,000 Nigerians are poised to benefit from the initial payout of the Consumer Credit Scheme.

In addition, the President Tinubu Administration is scaling up investments in infrastructure and in critical sectors with significant ramifications for the human capital index, such as healthcare and education.

So far, $2.2 billion has been mobilised in external financing to catalyse the implementation of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII) through financial commitments from various development partners and the Sector-wide Coordinating Office-Programme Management Unit (SCO-PMU) domiciled in the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare has been established to ensure efficient, transparent, and accountable management of grants mobilised towards the initiative.

Some of the pivotal interventions of the administration in education include, removing universities from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and addressing recruitment challenges to provide greater autonomy to university administrators, removing the financial barrier to accessing higher education by dint of the Student Loan Scheme, and expanding the scholarship programme — with about 250,000 scholarships to ensure that financial constraints do not hinder students’ academic journey.

In response to security concerns, safety centres have been established in Abuja and across various states, with all educational institutions required to register. These centres, bolstered by trained security agents, aim to promptly address threats and ensure a safer learning environment for students.

Also, the Out-of-School Children Commission, set to commence in September, will provide training to approximately 10,000 young Nigerians, while through the introduction of the DOT policy, which focuses on comprehensive data collection to better support schools, teachers, and infrastructure, four (4) million young Nigerians have been reintegrated into the education system.

In a meeting with traditional rulers a few days ago, President Tinubu made profound extemporaneous affirmations, acknowledging the hallowed pact between the leadership and citizens.

He said the plight of citizens remained a deep concern and would receive more attention.

“Yes, it is true that I asked for this job, and I approached some of you to support me. So, I have no excuse not to do the job with sincerity of purpose and honesty. I have committed myself to it diligently, and I will never look backwards. I have accepted the assets and the liabilities of my predecessor. How I will take Nigeria forward should be my concern, and that is my concern,” the President said.

Towards a greater Nigeria, the Tinubu administration remains resolute in strengthening the filament of trust between citizens and the leadership, recognising the sacrosanctity of the social contract.

Fredrick Nwabufo is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement.