Nigeria is too wealthy to be so poor!
For far too long we have suffered and smiled as a nation. We are blessed with an abundance of natural and human resources that should make us the envy of the world. Instead, we are the poverty capital of the world with horrifying statistics across all the development indices. It is time for us to reach out and grab the potential that has been dangling in front of us for so long.
Nigeria is littered with great policies, great plans and great strategies. What it has lacked is visionary leadership that believe in its people. We believe the disconnect between potential and reality in Nigeria is tied to weak leadership which has not had the political will to implement policies that will lead to economic development for Nigeria and improve the welfare of its citizens.
The Fela Durotoye (FD) led administration is committed to reducing the cost of governance whilst improving the overall quality of governance in order to make room for productive investments in our people and our infrastructure. We are committed to transforming our economic base from one that is import and oil-dependent to one that is private sector-led, export driven and globally competitive. We are intent on reorienting our mindset as a people from one based on dependency on the central government to one based on self-empowerment at the local level.
of its population live in poverty. Nearly 80 percent of Nigeria's 184 million population live on less than ₦700 per day.
in the labor force in 2017, one-fifth were under-employed (working less than a full time) and 18.8% were unemployed with youth unemployment particularly acute.
52% of GDP, agriculture 25% and non-oil industry 13% . The oil sector only represents 10% of GDP, however it represents 90% of the country's exports and 70% of government revenue. The contrast between the GDP composition and the export composition of the country is an indication that aside from oil, the rest of our products and services are not global or even regionally competitive. This has led to a situation where the government, and by extension, the people of Nigeria are over-reliant on a product whose price is determined by the global commodity markets. This needs to change! Starting with the agriculture sector which already employs 60% of the workforce.
While there is always a huge spotlight on government revenue, it constitutes only a tiny fraction of the economy, representing on average about 10% of GDP and as low at 6% of GDP during the 2016 recession. Given the large size of the informal economy, the proportional size of the government is even smaller than these figures indicate. It is clear that it is the Nigerian people that are driving the Nigerian economy.
As validated by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor with almost 40% of the population starting a business. The problem is most Nigerian firms don't grow – they either remain micro enterprises or they die due to the harsh regulatory environment (Nigeria is listed as 146th out of 189 countries in the most recent Doing Business report), lack of infrastructure, lack of capital and lack of skills are top on the list of factors limiting the growth and sustenance of Nigerian businesses.
Nigeria has the potential to become an economic powerhouse through the combined effective management and deployment of its abundant resources; including plentiful agricultural land, marine fishery, hydropower, oil and gas, unexploited deposits of minerals and metals, a young labor force and a dynamic private sector.
Nigeria will become an economic powerhouse with a productive economy in each local government across the country.
We will step out of the way and allow the private sector to flourish by reducing/eliminating the bottlenecks to registering and operating businesses in Nigeria. We will incentivize the civil service to take the efforts at improving the enabling environment seriously, using transparency and rewards for effective implementation of reforms.
We will implement policies that will attract foreign investors who will work with our domestic companies and employ our people. We will invest heavily in the National Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and make it one of the top investment promotion agencies in the world.
We will work with states to make land easily available for agriculture and industrial activities.
We will empower all local governments to generate their own revenue through support for private sector investments in agriculture.
We will work with our quality standards institutions such as the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food & Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to become service institutions and support companies in obtaining internationally accepted quality and safety standards. If it is not good for export it is not good for Nigerians!
We will prioritize business environment reform efforts to make it easier to operate businesses in Nigeria through simplifying and reducing the cost of licensing and other regulatory requirements. We will strengthen the capacity of The National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER) which was created as a platform for the legislature and private sector to engage, deliberate and take action on reforms that will improve Nigeria's business environment.
We will develop a global best practice FDI investment policy that is focused on developing the sectors that employ domestic labor, work with our local SMEs, harness our natural resources and support value addition.
We will develop a localized and strategic tax regime that will incentivise people and businesses to become taxpayers by tying their taxes to the services delivered thereby showing the value of taxation.
We will provide tax holidays for the first 3 years of a company's existence to foster their growth without constraints.
To provide economic opportunities for all, the FD led administration recognizes that the private sector needs to be in the driver's seat. Private sector led initiatives have been proven to improve implementation and reduce/eliminate opportunities for patronage. The focus of the FD led administration will be to remove the roadblocks to private sector investment which will enable entrepreneurs across all sectors to grow and become employers of labour and creators of wealth.
The FD led administration realizes that it is important to incentivize the civil service to support the private sector instead of the current punitive approach. It will therefore retrain the civil service and reward MDAs that simplify their processes through a reward-based system that drives government efficiency and increase service delivery.
To reduce the potential for corruption everything would be done transparently – we will transact and make information about government activities available online as much as possible.
Nigeria is a potential agriculture paradise.
About 82 million hectares out of Nigeria's total land area of about 91 million hectares were found to be arable. Of this, only about 37% percent of the cultivable area is farmed. Agriculture has the potential to more than double current jobs in Nigeria and leapfrog the economy to greatness. While there is consensus that improving the agriculture sector is key to wealth creation and poverty alleviation in Nigeria, endemic corruption and implementation challenges affects current agriculture support programs.
Aggressive support for development of farming of food and/or cash crops within each of the 774 local governments in Nigeria. Leverage technology such as investing in technology sensors to manage crop yields, track rainfall, climate, tillage system, rotation, pest control, seeding and nutrient management across every local government.
Aggressive promotion of value addition to agricultural produce via support for establishment of agro-allied industries in local governments across the nation.
Reforming our Quality institutions (SON, NAFDAC, etc.) with a focus on supporting companies in their efforts to improve the quality of the products and access export markets.
Collaborate with the private sector to develop solutions to make it easier for farmers to access capital intensive assets such as aggregation, storage and preservation centers, equipment leasing (e.g. tractors and trailers), feeder roads etc.
Leverage technology to improve the value chain of this sector from production, storage and supply/exportation of agricultural products. We will invest in technology sensors to train, manage crop yields, track rainfall, climate, tillage system, rotation, pest control, seeding, nutrient management across every local government.
Nigeria faces security challenges in the North with the ethno-religious based conflicts such as Boko Haram insurgency and in the south with the resource-based conflicts spearheaded by Niger Delta militancy.
Instances of kidnapping occur throughout the country. There are also instances of trans-border criminal activities in arms, drugs and human trafficking armed robbery, Herdsmen attacks, IPOB agitations, Police checkpoints, advance fee fraud aka "419" or "Yahoo Yahoo".
Security issues affect all Nigerians. Beyond the people directly impacted and in the instance of the North, actually displaced, security challenges limit the mobility of our people and goods across the country. Security issues also severely impact inflows of investment to Nigeria as investors are unwilling to invest in a volatile and unsafe country.
In our assessment, a core factor behind the problem is that the police network in Nigeria is over-centralized and inefficient as a result of this centralization. The poorly equipped police are not up to the task of dealing with the security issues and therefore the military who is supposed to be focused on maintaining peace within and outside the border is frequently the lead on the security challenges facing the nation with military presence everywhere. There is a poor relationship between the public and police arising from various acts of torture and extrajudicial killings of civilians. Furthermore, VIP policing has taken up scarce police resources leaving the majority of our people unpoliced.
In addition to the policing constraints, we believe in the saying "the devil finds work for idle minds." Too many of our youth are uneducated and unemployed and are therefore easy to influence into criminal and terror related activities.
Nigeria will be transformed from one of the least secure to one of the most secure nations in the world.
Support the creation of local and State police (alongside existing federal police).
Retrain the police on modern police methods and the need to focus more on law enforcement. We will monitor and evaluate the performance of all police officers and leverage technology to enable citizens to report police officers that act wrongly with due punishment meted out to offending police officers.
Support the states affected by the herdsmen crisis in developing workable solutions to ensure safety of both farms and cattle.
Combat kidnapping with technology through the creation of central database and a GPS enabled amber alert system which empowers citizens to track and report missing children anonymously. Create a No Child Out of Sight (NCOS) enforcement task force at the local government level which will work with businesses to drive awareness, education, support and enforce the recovery to kidnapped children.
Prosecute and widely publicize the prosecution of all those caught funding militia or engaging in fraudulent practices such as 419, Yahoo Yahoo etc.
Close down SARS and rehabilitate the police force.
Strengthen the police force at the federal level and extensively train the new state police. Increased human capital i.e. number of police. Increase number of police academies in the country. Education and specialized trainings for police officers including identifying expert fields for the officers. Provide better employment benefits and salaries for police officers. Provide technology, investigative tools, communication tools, up to date ammunitions, dispatch tools, body cams etc.
Eradicate the current proliferation of security militia groups across states and replace with state police. This will include severe punishment for private citizens found to be funding militia.
Streamline agencies that also perform policing work e.g. FRSC, VIO etc. to avoid duplicity of effort and increase effectiveness. Reducing roadblocks will be critical. Police and other road officers need to be trained in focusing on traffic violations instead of harassing law-abiding citizens as they drive along the roads. We will provide online and telephone platforms to report abuse and offenders will be severely punished, including potential dismissal.
Create a Nigeria Homeland Security Task Force (NHS) which will work with the Military to defend the nation's critical infrastructure through cybersecurity. The NHS will develop policies and capabilities to protect Nigeria's critical assets and intellectual property from Terrorism and Cyber-attacks. The NHS will develop a centralized system to foster information sharing within law enforcement agencies such as NDLEA, EFCC, ICPC etc.
Encourage neighborhood policing i.e. the police becoming integrated in the communities they patrol through collaboration between local police and residents. For example, attend neighborhood meetings, understand the needs of the neighborhoods, be engaging etc.
Invest in technology such as forensics, surveillance and satellite tools, tracking devices and use technology as a policing tool that will also foster efficiency.
Create avenues through which citizens can report police abuse. All reported cases will be investigated and adequate actions taken. This will boost police accountability and improve confidence of the public in the police.
Implement the recommendations for the Nigerian Police Reform Act (see recommendations from the civil society panel).
Work with the legislative and judicial arms of government to implement comprehensive reform of the Justice system to make it more efficient and effective.
CHANGE NARRATIVE – WHAT HAS TO BE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
Security needs to be strengthened at the local level where economic activity should be taking place. The different tiers of law enforcement need to cohesively operate at the Federal, State and local levels. We need to work together with the people to ensure security in their communities.
Increased number of well trained and motivated Police Force - 760,000 at the federal, state and local level broken down into 15,000-20,000 police officers per State depending on the needs of each State.
The power situation in Nigeria is critical and is a key constraint to economic development.
of the population lack access to grid electricity, and those who are connected face extensive power interruptions.
Generation installed capacity is about 10,800MW (80.3% - fossil fuels & 19.5% - hydro-electric), with an average of 3,800MW (35%) of the capacity operational.
The gap between production capacity and demand in combination with poorly maintained generation installation, poor national electricity grid results in unsteady and unreliable electricity supply for both households and companies.
Following the power sector privatization programme in 2013, there was high expectation that the private sector led electricity industry will bring the much-needed improvement to the power sector and finally provide Nigerians with steady, reliable and affordable electricity. Unfortunately, this expectation is yet to be realized as the performance of the sector remains quite dismal. The Federal Government has so far paid over 701 billion Naira on various intervention programmes towards the sector which has proved unsustainable and unable to solve the deeply rooted challenges of the sector. It is indeed ironic that public funds continue to be pumped into a sector that was privatized initially to reduce government spending and promote private sector investment.
more time to craft your perfect layout.
infrastructure, economic disincentives and frequent vandalization.
eastern part of the country are under-penetrated.
ability to make required capital investments for growth.
Electricity is a right and not a privilege in the 21st century. Affordable electricity supply for all in a safe and sustainable manner.
Strengthen the capacity of the industry regulator (NERC).
Relax the sector-based pricing structure for gas-to-power.
Encourage the adoption of international best-practice of bankable Gas Sales/Purchase Agreements (GSPA).
Aggressively expand the transmission network to increase capacity.
Draw-up a program for the liquidation of verifiable legacy debt owed the DISCOs, which will be hinged on metering of at least 100% of R1 customers and 80% of R2 customers.
Move towards a cost-reflective tariff structure.
Encourage private sector initiative in alternative renewable energy.
Constant power supply will reduce environmental degradation, air and noise pollution as people move away from bio-fuels and diesel for their energy needs.
Stable and reliable electric power will also positively impact manufacturing, with the potential of reducing operating costs as much as 40% of the current levels.
Increased quantum of generated electricity, improved transmission capacity and reduced technical, commercial & collection losses will result in improved power supply, which will have a virtuous effect on all spheres of economic and social activities.
Nigeria is faced with a huge infrastructure deficit which impedes the ease of doing business and frustrates the inflow of foreign direct investment. The country will require approximately $15Bn worth of infrastructure investment over the next 15 years to successfully bridge the gap.
Infrastructure in this context includes following sectors; Transport (Ports and Inland waterways, Roads, Railway and Aviation), Water and Housing.
Nigeria does not lack good policies. There is an existing National Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) put together by the National Planning Commission in 2015 which prioritize projects and programmes for implementation in the short to medium term and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) put together by the current administration in 2017 which focuses on restoring growth, investment in people and building a globally competitive economy.
Unfortunately, poor execution, policy summersaults, government's overbearing involvement and lack of political will, and the lack of requisite skilled manpower have created room for mediocrity, inefficiency and corruption leading to the abysmal state of infrastructure in the country.
FD understands these pitfalls and has come up with workable models and plans that will ensure consistent development and growth in the country's infrastructure sector. We will focus on implementation and find creative ways to detangle the bureaucratic bottlenecks that often derail good infrastructural policies and projects.
Nigeria will become a major transportation hub with efficient movement of goods and people across the nation and water and housing for all Nigerians.
rebuild and revamp existing sea ports outside of Lagos (Warri, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Sapele) and ensure cargo redistribution.
establish zero pot-hole policy on Federal and State roads in collaboration with relevant stakeholders at the 3 tiers of government.
Dredging of the River Niger and River Benue will continue as this will not only help with movement of passengers and agricultural produce but also movement of solid minerals from the hinterland to the deep-sea ports.
The most viable airports (Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Enugu) undergoing various stages of rebuild will be completed within 12 months.
Invest in the training of sizeable number of personnel to manage modern airports and the aviation sector in general.
Facilitate the launch of a National Carrier with very little government involvement and make it a majorly private sector driven initiative in a transparent process. Apart from being a national brand, a national carrier will enhance Nigeria's chances of being a regional hub. It will also trigger local training of personnel thereby increasing job opportunities for Nigerians. It will also breed healthy competition between domestic and international airlines especially with benefiting from bilateral air service agreements (BASA) agreements etc.
Use the models of Build Operate Transfer (BOT) and Design-Build-Operate-Transfer (DBOT) to attract the private sector to invest in the sector.
Revisit existing National Highway Construction Standards & Contracting Strategy, bring them up to date in line with global best practices and ensure standardization in implementation and execution of road projects.
Look into the Nigeria Highway Geometric designs with a view to bringing them to international standards on paper and in execution. Include drains, street signs and walkways in designs where appropriate.
Collaborate with donor agencies and international finance institutions to raise grants for feeder roads into rural communities.
Introduce highway lighting to be paid for by the private sector through advertising.
Introduce and enforce 24 hours construction policy on roads to speed up completion times.
Work with the private sector to increase competition in the cement sector and reduce the cost of cement production.
Greater allocation of funds to the sector especially at the state and local government.
Educate and involve communities in planning of water facilities. It helps them take ownership and develops a maintenance culture.
Work with the states to make it easier and cheaper to buy and sell land which will facilitate investment. Work with the states to simplify their property registration and construction permitting processes and digitize their land registry systems. This will enable proper planning, access to information and transfer of landed properties.
Spearhead affordable housing programs across the country through PPP arrangements and in collaboration with the state.
Increase funding for research and development into homegrown affordable housing cost saving innovations. Promote the use of innovative building technologies (IBTs). IBTs are mainly framed panels built using various materials (like polystyrene) offsite and assembled onsite. This method typically cuts the cost of construction by about 40% and construction time by about 50%.
Carry out institutional reforms of housing agencies like Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) etc., which are supposed to provide affordable housing opportunities to Nigerians.
The Information Technology (IT) is a multiplying forcing function which empowers and enables every sector of Government and the Private Sector. Technology has enabled the leapfrog of countries like China, Dubai etc. to transform their countries from third world countries to desirable countries.
Establish a $1.5 Billion Nigeria Information Technology Modernization Fund (NITMF) with the focus to educate, train and develop comprehensive IT core competency across Nigeria's critical assets within the first two years of the FD administration. We will subsequently invest an additional $10B in building the technology capabilities over five years which will help propel Nigeria to become leading digital commerce in the 21st century.
Establish a Task Force focused on identifying and prioritizing which efforts the government will focus its energy. They will also be responsible for developing the minimum viable digital government, and it will bring experts from the private sector to tackle each priority.
In collaboration with the private sector, Nigeria will build its first highly available, fault tolerant and resilient Nigerian Data Highway which will serve to deliver more useful Government for its citizens through the integration of mobile technologies and government services. We would leverage technology to revolutionize the efficiency, effectiveness, and convenience of how the government services its citizen.
Nigeria's Innovation and Digital Transformation (NIDT) task force will establish the first global CLOUD HUB in Africa. Nigeria's global cloud hub in Africa will bridge the socio-economic, digital, educational, the medical gap between the western world and Nigeria. The global Cloud Hub will bring to bear the state-of-the-art innovation breakthroughs which would not only help solve our most critical issues in Nigeria around power, education, finance, but it will also accelerate the creation of innovation and ideas from Nigeria.
In collaboration with businesses in Nigeria will develop a comprehensive digital governance framework which both Government and the private sector can improve and enhance. This framework will assist both the government and private institutions to optimize the use of technology to address structural, process and people issues in Nigeria.
Develop a framework to help drive data governance and the use of technology in every sector of Nigeria.
A viable outcome of the technology collaboration between Government and its citizens is the creation of streamlined, cost-effective IT solutions which will reduce government spends, while delivering unbeatable value to its citizens. For the first time, Nigerian Citizens will be customers, and the government will be the supplier who delights in serving its constituents.
The NIDT will, in collaboration with the private sector and universities, build a technology framework and blueprint which protect our innovations and all our critical assets.
Cybersecurity will be priority Zero for NIDT.
Leverage technology to protect our transportation, energy sector, education, and financial sector. Etc.
The NIDT will establish secure information sharing framework which would drive information sharing, analytics and reporting among Nigerian institutes.
Work with the Nigerian Homeland security task force to build technology capabilities which will help Nigerian businesses with cybersecurity risk management, and incidence response. These capabilities will include security awareness training to all Nigerians, identify Nigeria's weakest Cybersecurity weak links, and develop programs that improve Nigerian Socio-economic value chain.
The NIDT will be tasked to advance the growth and integration of technology to make Nigerians productive citizens.
The NIDT will facilitate technology hubs in agriculture, e-commerce, government, education with the primary objective to advance the effective use, sustenance of technology in Nigeria.
Devolve implementation functions from the Ministry to Agencies and Parastatals. Ministers will focus on policy making while heads of Departments and Agencies implement and supervise projects. This will reduce bottlenecks and corruption.
Review budget, appropriation and procurement process to make implementation transparent and more effective. We will put in the additional effort to develop a good working relationship with National Assembly to make this happen.
Review the current NIIMP Master Plan against its performance till date and current socio-economic realities with a view to making implementation much better. We will also review the current ERGP Plan against its performance till date and work on rolling out the other achievable aspects.
Aggressively go after cheap concessionary loans and grants for infrastructure development from development finance institutions and discourage the acceptance of high interest loans.
Encourage local production of construction materials by incentivizing local manufacturers.
Increased infrastructure investment will stimulate the economy and boost job opportunities, accelerated infrastructure development will contribute significantly to the country's asset base and creation of at least 1 million jobs in construction and services sectors associated with roads, rail and port construction.
Private sector participation in affordable housing across the country and increase in foreign direct investment.
Reduction of water borne diseases due to increased availability of clean water and reduced need for people to construct their own boreholes across the nation.
There has been a lot of talk about restructuring in the public square. There is no doubt that the current structure is not working for all Nigerians and things need to change. The question is what exactly needs to change? We have examined the issue closely and have determined that the fundamental flaw in the status quo is that the people are not empowered to make decisions that can benefit their community. There is too much executive, legislative and economic power concentrated at the Federal Government level. The state and local governments cannot generate power for their people and industries, cannot build/maintain important roads in their locality, and cannot provide their own security. Furthermore, even though every state in Nigeria is blessed with mineral resources, they receive minimal benefit from the mineral resources in their locality while bearing the brunt of the environmental and social impacts resulting from the extraction of these resources. This has led to a state of economic dependency where the states and local governments cannot fend for themselves and have to look to the federal government to survive. The states and local governments are unable to finance their responsibilities such as providing funding for schools and hospitals and many states are unable to pay the salaries of their civil servants.
Powerful, revenue-generating local governments all across the country.
Reclassify federal roads to allow local governments and states to be responsible for more road construction and maintenance.
We are proposing the type of restructuring that will lead to restoration. A restoration of every single local government in Nigeria to its rightful status as a revenue generating entity that is powered by its citizens. A restoration of the states to their role as coordinators of the local governments. A restoration of the federal government to its role of providing the enabling environment for the country to thrive.
According to the 1999 Constitution "not less than thirteen per cent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account directly from any natural resources" should be used for derivation and allocated to the state where the natural resources are extracted. We believe that 13% is not sufficient to account for the environmental and social impacts of natural resource extraction on local governments and is not enough of an incentive for investment in natural resource extraction. As allowed for in the constitution, Fela Durotoye as President, will propose to the National Assembly that the derivation amount should be increased to 60%: 20% to the town, 20% to the Local Government and 20% to the State where the natural resources are located. We believe that contrary to public perception that this will lead to funding only being available to oil producing states, instead it will unleash investment in natural resources across the country and Nigeria will be restored to its former glory as a country with a diversified mineral base for local use and for exports.
The 1999 Constitution authorizes the National assembly to classify roads as federal truck roads and therefore the construction, alteration and maintenance of these roads are the responsibility of the federal government. However, the federal government is far removed from several roads classified as federal and therefore does not prioritize roads the same way the states and local governments that are closer to the roads and better understand their impact will. The FD administration will delegate road development and maintenance for local governments and states that apply and will work with the National Assembly to re-evaluate the roads classified as federal roads.
The 1999 Constitution includes electricity, electric power stations; generation, transmission and distribution of electricity on the Concurrent list which designates legislation to both national and state assemblies. The FD administration believes that combining the efforts of the Federal and State governments will go a long way to solve the power problem in Nigeria. Therefore, the FD administration will work closely with the states to maximize their rights in terms of electricity provision and work with the National assembly to provide more autonomy to the states in terms of electricity provision.
The 1999 Constitution includes the provision and police and government security services in the Exclusive list which is legislated by the National Assembly. We will work with the National Assembly to pass legislation to allow for the development of State level police as discussed in the Security pillar.
WHAT HAS TO BE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
As prescribed in the constitution, funding from the federal government to the local governments is disbursed first to the states who are then supposed to remit the funds to the local governments. This process is not transparent. To ensure that the local governments get the funding that is due to them, we will verify the disbursement of funds from the states to the local governments' bank accounts and publish them online.
To ensure the local governments have the capacity to handle the influx of revenue we will propose a phased transition over the 4 years of this administration. Local governments will only be able to transition from one phase to the next after achieving specific predetermined milestones. During the transition period, we will provide capacity building and training and build the systems needed to function well leveraging technology.
Monitoring and evaluation will be a core component to ensure this is implemented successfully. The program will be monitored online to ensure transparency. Everyone will be able to see what has been allocated to their local governments and can hold their local government officials responsible for the implementation of projects.
Economic development at the local level with local governments emerging as economic centers with at least one product or service, increased accountability at all levels of government but particularly at the local level and improved infrastructure development at the local level.
187th out of 190 countries.
This makes Nigeria's healthcare system one of the 5 worst healthcare systems in the entire world.
under the age of 5 years die yearly.
Not surprisingly, the Public Health Expenditure is only 3.9% of the federal budget compared to countries like South Africa which invests 14% of its budget on health and advanced countries like the US, Canada and the UK which spend over 25% of their budget on health.
Similarly, the Nigerian government has notoriously underinvested in education and consistently investment less than 15% of the budget as recommended by UNESCO – the most recent was 7%. This has led to poor conditions of physical facilities and shortage of qualified teachers across all levels. Teachers are underpaid leading to low take up of the teaching profession by graduates. Nigeria ranks 152 out of 157 in the 2018 World Bank Human Capital Index (HCI) which includes childhood and adult survival, years of schooling, test scores, and stunting. This indicates that most of the population does not have the academic, cognitive, or behavioral skills needed to modernize the Nigerian economy. Nigeria has a large and youthful labor force which potentially represents a potential competitive advantage. However, we need a skilled and healthy workforce to be able to reap the benefits. 58% of Nigerians between the ages of 15-49 are literate and Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children (13 million). Two-thirds of Nigeria's population had no secondary education. And even those who go to school have poor educational outcomes with many teachers themselves not being equipped to teach the subjects they are assigned.
Good health and education for all Nigerians!
Establish regional medical centers of excellence in partnership with private investors that can provide the kind of specialized care that today are only available overseas.
Bring teachers up to speed on modern tools and techniques.
At least one functional primary health care center in each local government. Today, only 20% of existing primary health care centers are functional. We will ensure that there is adequate infrastructure, equipment, supplies and staffing at all local primary health centers. We understand that this requires significant investment so will focus on innovative models that will minimize costs.
Strengthen National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Guaranteed access to primary care through mandatory community-based enrollment in NHIS. We will ensure that everyone has health insurance, either privately procured, provided by employer or subscription to a community pool.
Provide Free Medical Care for our most vulnerable demographics – children 5 years and under, and elderly persons 65 years and above.
Community based health education programs to raise awareness, improve sanitation and personal hygiene practices. This will significantly reduce the illness frequency and enhance well-being and productivity.
We will fund specialized medical centers across the nation providing first rate medical care for chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, kidney problems, cancer etc. We will implement a program to repatriate experts in these areas to support the development of these centers. We will provide the returnees with incentives such as good pay, secure and comfortable housing, steady power, schools for children etc.
Work with states and local governments to ensure nationwide rehabilitation and equipping of all existing government schools at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. We will develop customized programs for gifted and talented children, and children with learning difficulties and special needs.
Invest in teacher training and strengthen the teacher training programs across the country.
Revitalize the Quality Assurance Agency and equip it with the tools to conduct evaluations of teachers and schools. We will also empower it with the ability to implement remedial actions necessary to improve schools and teachers.
Develop nationwide teacher salary scale and ensure that all teachers earn a livable wage. We will incentivize the states to adopt this salary scale.
Increase the number of teachers in the rural areas by providing robust incentives for teachers that relocate to such communities by establishing a Teachers' Incentive Fund (TIF).
Commit to equal education opportunities as a right for all students.
Establish strong counseling systems in schools at all grade levels with trained and well-equipped counselors that can address the different issues that assail students.
Focus on priorities such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM Program) that will prepare students for success in colleges, careers and help them engage and be relevant in the global world.
Invest in technology and innovation for all grade levels.
Invest in access to early childhood education in rural communities and ensure that no child is left behind.
Overhaul and modernize the school curriculums to ensure learning is relevant to the skills required in today's world.
Engage with civil society groups to ensure our goals for quality education is achieved.
Invest in resources and provide trainings for educators and families of children with special needs by working with States and Local Governments with the aim of developing the capabilities, independence and social participation of students with disabilities.
Promote law reforms that protect women and children.
Establish an education loan bank where indigent but brilliant students can borrow to study against future employment and repayment.
Promote and fund collaboration between the private sector and academia on agriculture research and development. We will also strengthen specialized programs in all the areas of agriculture customized to the products produced in the various regions of the country e.g. cattle in the north, cocoa in the south etc.
Establish MonoTechnics (single subject technical colleges) in the 6 geopolitical centers that will focus on fast track infrastructure development skills in the areas of road construction, electrical works, plumbing, tiling, welding, HVAC etc.
Work with the federal research and development institutes to develop partnerships with local and foreign private sector in order to foster commercialization of research.
Our budding entertainment sector is one that deserves some focus. The Nigerian entertainment industry currently contributes approximately 1.4% to Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and employs over 200,000 people directly and about 1 million people indirectly. Nollywood is becoming a force to be reckoned with globally and our musicians are recognized, and their music played across Africa and the rest of the world.
Nigerians needs to transform from just being consumers of sports to beneficiaries of the business of sports. We need to channel that energy we use to watch sports to create sports businesses similar to those created by the sports shows we watch, the sports apparel we wear and the sports teams and leagues we root for, beginning with football, our beloved pastime.
Support the renovation/development of good quality football stadiums across the country in collaboration with the private sector.
Develop a global best practice FDI investment policy that is focused on developing the sectors that employ domestic labor, work with our local SMEs, harness our natural resources and support value addition.
Develop a localized tax regime that is used as a strategic tool with a focus on systematically supporting taxpayers.
Increased funding and partnership in the education sector with the private sector and development partners, while ensuring that government expenditure on health and education is not less than 25% of the budget starting from the 2020 budget.
Local government and community collaboration in the management of primary care facilities. Each primary care center will be supervised administratively by a board that will be composed of all stakeholders – community representatives, local authorities and insurance company.
Implementation of results framework to evaluate the performance of schools and primary healthcare centers (public and private).
Encourage Public-Private Partnerships in the provision of secondary and tertiary schools and hospitals across the states of the federation to enhance quality of care and sustainability.
Leverage technology for effective health education, remote/virtual consultation, diagnosis and treatment at all levels of care. Set up networks of telemedicine partners across the country to enhance collaboration between primary, secondary and tertiary centers in the management of cases.
Provide basic amenities and other incentives to encourage health personnel to stay close to where they are needed the most – housing, electricity, internet access, rotational work schedules etc.
School taxes will be given directly to School Management Boards (SMBs) instead of allocating the education budgets to states and local governments.
Creation of at least 1,000,000 jobs in Education, health,sports and entertainment sectors.