This is in the spirit of the Holy, blessed Month of Ramadan.
Elections have come and gone. The battle now shifts to the arena of the legal profession that produces lawyers, as practitioners and Judges or Justices, as adjudicators. At this stage, my profession takes over, as INEC, candidates and their supporters become mere “spectators”.
The above notwithstanding, the act of serious, progressive and purposeful governance must immediately commence and continue pending legal battles.
The President-Elect is no longer for the APC. He has declared that he is for APC as much as for PDP, LP, and other major political parties in Nigeria. More importantly, he has also declared that the new administration will govern for the benefit of those who voted for or against it.
This makes the task of the up-coming administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President-Elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria a matter of national and institutional obligations to Nigerians and for Nigeria. But, the flip side of good governance shows that followership also plays a major role in the success or failure of leadership.
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It is becoming increasingly apparent that, in Nigeria, it takes good followership to have good governance. Conversely, it takes an inefficient, bad leadership for the manifestation of the negative effects of bad followership.
The above brings me to the six (6) key issues on balance of responsibilities between the in-coming President and Nigerians, captioned: *What President-Elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu Owes Nigerians; What Nigerians Owe in-Coming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.*
(1) *Responsive Leadership vs Patriotic Followership*
At this point in the vulnerability of the Nigerian polity, it is a matter of institutional responsibility for the new administration to ensure a major shift in paradigm and avoid needless politicking over and above national interest in appointments, governance and sharing of dividends of democracy.
Nigerians had been assured and promised, while on the streets, fields and market squares campaigning that the new administration will be constituted by decent, knowledgeable, responsible and high-performing professionals who will deploy their skills and talents to solve national problems.
Nigerians owe it as a sacred national duty and responsibility to support the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We must avoid petty criminalities that undermine good governance in all our endeavours. We are not doing Bola Tinubu a favour by being responsible citizens, we are just tasking the leadership to reciprocate the gesture with responsive and responsible leadership and governance.
(2) *Security of Lives and Properties*
This is basic and fundamental. Quite frankly, it is the essence of governance, being the primary responsibilities of government at all levels.
Developed countries hardly fence their properties because fellow citizens or residents will not need to invade their homes. Criminal elements are mindful that the systems will definitely detect and maximally punish them for criminality.
The duty of the new administration is to strictly enforce the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against any erring persons, irrespective of political, social or economic affiliation. It is a sacred obligation of all Nigerians, irrespective of status, to abide by the laws of the country. Common excuses of poverty and joblessness as basis for cyber criminalities and sundry crimes should never be acceptable.
President Tinubu can never and will never be the victim but you and I are, as common Nigerians.
(3) *Electricity and Power Sector Reforms*
This, to me, is a passion. Please recall my earlier article captioned *”How Bola Tinubu Presidency May Approach and Solve Power Sector Challenges”* (dated December 16, 2022, available on-line) and the numerous media interviews, books, articles, and my inaugural lecture titled: *“An Answer’ In Search of ‘A Question’: A Pioneer’s Prognosis of the Nigerian Electricity Law”* and other experts’ interventions by others, which would sufficiently have addressed the power sector challenges.
After about two decades of consistent advocacies, the Federal Government recently backed-off from over-centralisation (Federalization) of the national grid system. While acknowledging that the constitutional amendment is long-overdue, being the highpoint point of my theory, *Decentralsied Energy Options-DEOPs*, sadly, only one out of the twenty-point (20) power sector reforms initiatives has been complied with.
The new administration owes it a duty to revisit and aggressively but positively re-structure the Nigerian power sector. Nigerians owe it a duty to pay bills for the electricity consumed, as it is a crime to consume electricity and not pay while it is also wrong to pay for electricity not consumed. Added to this, the regulator should be much more effective and responsive.
(4) *Office of National Academic Adviser*
The imperative of an *Office of National Academic Adviser (NAA)* has been well stated in my article titled *“Tinubu Presidency, Academic Affairs and Students of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria”* (dated January 8, 2023, available on-line).
The peculiarities of academic issues and challenges in our tertiary institutions is not one that could be addressed only under the existing bureaucratic structures of the Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board of Technical Education (NBTE) and others. Any attempt to subject the issue of tertiary education, the student loan scheme, sustained quality of tertiary education, welfare of academic and non-teaching staff of tertiary institutions, incessant strikes by ASUU and other unions in our universities, including polytechnics and colleges of education and sundry challenges under the existing bureaucracy might undermine the efficiency of policy measures aimed at dealing with the challenges.
This is one of the reasons why the *Office of National Academic Adviser* is a matter of national imperative.
The reciprocal obligations on students, staff and other stakeholders in the tertiary education sector is an improved quality of teaching and research, and consequently, positive impacts on national productivity, growth and development.
(5) *Economic Development, Youth and Wealth Creation*
All is certainly not well with Nigeria’s economy. Expectations are very high on all campaign promises made on economic recovery, wealth creation, youth and entrepreneurial development.
A critical mass of Nigerian youth, otherwise called the “JAPA generation” and bad elements called “cyber-gangsters (yahoo boys and girls”) might ordinarily not have resorted to leaving the country or taking to cyber criminality as an option if viable alternatives are created.
The new administration must, as a matter of institutional responsibility, create and stimulate opportunities for wealth generation for teeming Nigerian youth(s).
The youth owe it a duty to give the administration of Aswiaju Bola Tinubu a chance, and build the nation with him and his administration while those who have perpetually opted for criminalities can be identified and dealt with as isolated cases.
(6) *Health and Heath Institutions*
The sad conviction, today, of the Former Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, Senator Ike Ekeremadu leaves a sour taste in our mouth as Nigerians. Our health institutions have largely failed or are failing. Infrastructure in our teaching, general hospitals including tertiary health institutions and clinics are abysmally poor and deplorable.
The “Ekeremadus” of this country and other Nigerians often opt to travel abroad for medical treatments in the hands of the same Nigerian doctors and other medical professionals who are doing “wonders” in foreign health institutions having been forced to relocate abroad amidst deplorable working environment and conditions of service.
The new administration owes it a duty to urgently reverse the ugly trends while Nigerians also owe reciprocal obligations to look after their health, live well and responsibly, and also avoid patronizing quackery practice/practitioners of medicine and medication.
*Conclusion*
The above six (6) items are certainly not exhaustive, but only a list of assumed priorities of the country.
Infrastructure, revenue and others are also inclusive. It is a long list of expectations of Nigerians on the new, coming administration of the President-Elect, Asiwju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
*Nigerians owe it a duty to support and cooperate with their new President to do his utmost best to ensure that the country works for all of us. Doing this would not be a favour done to the new President but as a sacred duty we owe ourselves and Nigeria, our dear Country.*
*God forbid: if the coming administration of Aswiaju Bola Tinubu fails or is caused or made to fail, all of us as Nigerians would have failed, and fail woefully. The consequences or effects will be on us as Nigerians*.
*If we support the new President to succeed, it is certainly a gain for all of us. We all then become direct beneficiaries of a better and prosperous Federal Republic of Nigeria.*
*Now that the season of politics, politicking and electioneering is over, it is time for all of us to collaborate, team-up and get Nigeria working again under PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU*.
*This GIANT called NIGERIA must rise, and never fall again!*
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*PROF. YEMI OKE, PhD, FCArb, FCTI*
*National Coordinator BAT’23 Academic Group*
(Frm. Member, Policy, Research & Strategy, Presidential Campaign Council of AP
*March 23, 2022*
*Email: [email protected]*
WhatSapp/SMS only *0802-314-8096*
