In what it claims is an independent \u00a0 and \u00a0 systematic \u00a0 assessment \u00a0 of \u00a0 the performance of the present administration against its 222 campaign promises, the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) Buharimeter project has praised and delivered hard knocks from Nigerians to the administration for moving the country forward, and for breaking five cardinal promises.
\nThe two years\u2019 assessment report last week reveals that five of the campaign promises have not and cannot be \u00a0achieved \u00a0by \u00a0the \u00a0 administration. \u00a0They are:
\n*The commitment to end medical tourism, which has become a routine feat of President Muhammad Buhari, who is presently being treated in London for an undisclosed ailment;
\n*The creation of three million jobs annually;
\n*Provision of steady power supply to Nigerians between 12 and 18 months of the administration coming into power;
\n*The building of one million new houses a year over the next decades; and
\n*Immediate increase of the national budget to the health sector from 5.5% to 10%.
\nThe fulfilled promises are:
\n*The public declaration of assets and liabilities(though the details are yet to be publicly released);
\n*Presentation of National Anti-Corruption Strategy; establishment of a good working relationship with state governments in the North East, neighbouring \u00a0 countries \u00a0 and \u00a0 the \u00a0 international \u00a0 community \u00a0 in \u00a0 the \u00a0 fight \u00a0 against \u00a0 Boko Haram;
\n*Introduction of time-limited partial amnesty to rank and file of Boko Haram members;
\n*Review of health \u00a0policy;
\n*Introduction \u00a0of \u00a0social \u00a0 insurance \u00a0scheme; \u00a0and
\n*Review \u00a0of \u00a0the \u00a0 structure \u00a0of \u00a0Joint Venture \u00a0 Companies \u00a0 and \u00a0 ensuring \u00a0 transparent \u00a0 tendering \u00a0 process, \u00a0 not \u00a0 managed \u00a0 by \u00a0 federal ministers.
\nThe report reads in part:
\nAccording to the findings, the performance of the incumbent administration improved during its second year in government. This may be partly because the government began \u00a0 to \u00a0 implement \u00a0 promises, \u00a0 having \u00a0 had \u00a0 time to \u00a0 prepare \u00a0 for \u00a0 outlined \u00a0 programmes \u00a0 and determine which resources are required.
\nFurthermore, ministers who were not appointed until November 2015 began work in Year Two. However, the government\u2019s approach needs to be wholistic and not limited to fighting corruption, tackling insecurity and pursuing a diversification agenda.
\nWhile these \u00a0 are \u00a0important for \u00a0the \u00a0 socio-economic \u00a0and \u00a0 political development \u00a0of \u00a0 the country, commensurate effort should be made to revive education, health and other key sectors.The Buharimeter report draws its strength from a well-defined methodological framework. The 222 election pledges are carefully sourced from 1) \u00a0APC Manifesto: An Honest Contract with Nigeria; 2) My Covenant with Nigeria released by the Campaign Team of the APC Presidential Candidate, Muhammadu Buhari; and 3) Unrefuted media reports including national newspaper reports and electronic media reports (television and radio) on election promises made by the President during campaign tours across the country.
\nData for analysis is also sourced through review of relevant policy documents and reports, fact checking, on the spot visits, interviews of government officials and experts, surveys and media tracking. We employ a ranking system forrating performance per tracked promise, which rates promises as either \u2018achieved\u2019, \u2018ongoing\u2019, ‘broken\u2019 or \u2018not rated\u2019….
\nA comparative \u00a0analysis of the performance of PMB in his first two years shows \u00a0significant progress in terms of promises rated as \u2018achieved\u2019 and \u2018ongoing\u2019. In the first year Buharimeter report \u00a0 released \u00a0 in \u00a0 July \u00a0 2016, \u00a0 it \u00a0 was \u00a0 reported \u00a0 that \u00a0 overall \u00a0 performance \u00a0 was low, \u00a0 with \u00a0 the government having achieved only one out of 222 campaign promises, while progress was made towards fulfilling 45 of the promises.
\nHowever, performance has reasonably improved within the year under review. The total number of achieved and ongoing election pledges has increased from 1 to 7, and 45 to 114 respectively in year one and year two.
\nThe report also reveals that promises rated as \u2018Not rated\u2019 decreased from 179 to 96. Security sees improvements but more needs to be done for education and health.
\nThe \u00a0 report \u00a0 indicates \u00a0 that \u00a0 government \u00a0 emphasis \u00a0 in \u00a0 the \u00a0 last \u00a0 two \u00a0 years \u00a0 has \u00a0 been \u00a0 on \u00a0 security.
\nCorruption, agriculture, oil and gas, social safety net and industrialisation have seen progress, but there have been no corresponding interventions in sectors including education, health, sports and culture, women and youth empowerment.
\nAs such, these sectors have performed poorly.
\nIt is particularly worrying that despite milestones recorded in the fight against corruption there are still genuine concerns over how the war is being prosecuted. In particular, the anti-graft war is rife with a lack of viable instruments to enforce compliance.
\nIt also continues to be prosecuted in an uncoordinated and disjointed manner by several institutions, including the Department of State Security, police, \u00a0EFCC and ICPC, among others. These institutions need better coordination and increased understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
\nOther challenges include the unlawful detention of suspects and refusal to obey court rulings.
\nEven so, the approval rating of the anti-corruption war in the Buharimeter Perception Survey conducted by the Buharimeter stands fairly high at 52%; the greater proportion of Nigerians who expressed satisfaction are resident in North West (80%), North East (61%) and North Central (55%).
\nThe newly introduced whistle blowing policy, which has helped in the recovery of looted funds, is also popularly received by Nigerians, with 47% of the sampled population in the Buharimeter Survey applauding it.
\nHowever, it is crucial that a substantive legal framework be immediately provided to strengthen citizens\u2019 engagement in the process.
\nIn terms of fighting insecurity, the government appears to have begun to shift from the state and enemy-centric approach to an approach which uses dialogue and negotiation. While this may achieve laudable results in the case of the Niger Delta, caution should be exercised in employing such a strategy to deal with Boko Haram.
\nIt is recommended that the government adopts an approach which balances the rights of both victims and perpetrators.
\nThe report calls on the government to prioritise dealing with ongoing agitations for a state of Biafra. The government should go beyond dialogue and intervention in redressing economic and other development issues in the region, by acknowledging the local grievances from the Biafran War and charting a path towards memorialisation and healing.
\nAccording to the report, there have been several violations of human rights, due process and lackof respect for the rule of law since the Buhari administration came into office.
\nThe government’s refusal to obey several court orders demanding the release of \u00a0retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki,Sheik \u00a0Ibraheem \u00a0El-Zakzaky \u00a0and \u00a0 his \u00a0 wife \u00a0 Zeenat \u00a0is \u00a0 a \u00a0 serious \u00a0 blight \u00a0on \u00a0the \u00a0 administration\u2019s commitment to the rule of law.
\nThe laxity of the administration in responding to several violent conflicts \u00a0 erupting \u00a0across \u00a0 the \u00a0country \u00a0 is \u00a0a \u00a0 source \u00a0of \u00a0 concern \u00a0for \u00a0citizens. \u00a0 For \u00a0 instance, \u00a0the pastoralist\/farmer conflicts plaguing all the six geo-political zones of the country have recorded numerous casualties.
\nIn Benue State alone, between 4th August 2015 and 25th April 2017, 37 incidents of pastoralist\/farmer conflicts were reported with an estimate of 612 deaths recorded.
\nThere is no doubt that restoring Nigeria\u2019s economy is a priority for the administration.
\nHowever, its \u00a0 inability \u00a0 to \u00a0 translate \u00a0 several \u00a0 monetary \u00a0 and \u00a0 fiscal \u00a0 policies \u00a0 to \u00a0 economic \u00a0 growth \u00a0 and development in the last two years raises some concerns.
\nEven \u00a0the interest rate regime in the monetary market has not made any meaningful impact on the all-time inflation rate.
\nAs revealed in the Buharimeter Survey report, in spite of the government\u2019s efforts to tackle the economic recession, most Nigerians do not believe these approaches are effective. Only 17% and 1% of Nigerians consider government\u2019s approach to tackling the economic recession very effective and extremely effective, respectively. 46% and 36% of surveyed Nigerians consider the government\u2019s approach somewhat effective.
\nThe recession continues to impact negatively on the country\u2019s employment and poverty rate as well as food inflation.
\nThe Buharimeter Survey further reveals that 9 in 10 Nigerians believe that the \u00a0 recession \u00a0 has \u00a0 resulted \u00a0 in \u00a0 \u2018high \u00a0 cost \u00a0 of \u00a0 foodstuffs\u2019 \u00a0(90%) \u00a0 followed \u00a0 by \u00a0 \u2018high cost \u00a0 of transportation\u2019 (61%), \u2018high cost of house rent and utilities\u2019 (56%) and \u2018high cost of school fees\u2019(55%), \u00a0 among \u00a0 others, which \u00a0 have \u00a0 altogether \u00a0 affected \u00a0 their \u00a0 household \u00a0 negatively.
\nThe government\u2019s measures to address poverty and the unemployment rate are made less effective by politicised selection process (especially at state level), inconsistency in registered name and bank details, supply of wrong bank details, improper registration, lack of effective coordination arising from inexperienced focal persons in states, and failure of beneficiaries to present themselves for physical verification. While it is crucial for government to address all these, it is also important that a commensurate effort should be made to revive education, health and other key sectors.
\nMajority of Nigerians give Buhari the thumbs up.
\nDespite the problems articulated above, the Buharimeter Perception Survey reveals that 57% of surveyed \u00a0Nigerians \u00a0approve \u00a0 of \u00a0the \u00a0 job \u00a0 performance \u00a0of \u00a0 President \u00a0Buhari, \u00a0 while \u00a040% \u00a0 do \u00a0 not\u00a0approve of his job performance.
\nSignificantly, the 57% job approval has a regional dimension, with those from the northern region viewing Buhari more favourably. While respondents from the North West (85%) and North East (66%) constitute the majority of those who approve of his performance, respondents from the South East (72%) and South South (60%) make up those who do not approve of his performance.
\nAs President Buhari \u00a0has not been \u00a0seen publicly since May 2017, much uncertainty remains regarding \u00a0 the \u00a0 next \u00a0 stage \u00a0 of \u00a0 his \u00a0 presidency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In what it claims is an independent \u00a0 and \u00a0 systematic \u00a0 assessment \u00a0 of \u00a0 the performance of the present administration against its 222 campaign promises, the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) Buharimeter project has praised and delivered hard knocks from Nigerians to the administration for moving the country forward, and for breaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3980\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}