A MANIFESTO OF CHANGE : [MUST READ] A NEW PARTY, A NEW NIGERIA – THE APC MANIFESTO.

[MUST READ] A NEW PARTY, A NEW NIGERIA – THE APC MANIFESTO.

Intro

Foreward: Our Vision for a New Nigeria

When this democratic dispensation commenced in 1999, the federal government that emerged did not tell Nigerians what its vision was for the country; because the party that formed the government had none. And without a vision, that party at the centre has led Nigeria from one crisis to another, lurching deeper into political anarchy, economic decline and social disillusionment. A decade and a half later, nothing has changed. That ruling party has neither concrete plans for the security and advancement of Nigerians, nor the wherewithal to do so even if it had one. Suffice to say that it had thrived on the maxim; Promise nothing, do nothing.

The consequence of trusting power to a party that does not have the genuine interest of Nigeria and Nigerians are clearly manifest in our political and economic predicament today; tens of thousands of innocent Nigerians have been killed due to government neglect of security; poverty and unemployment have multiplied due to the perverse economic policies; corruption has been taken to new levels while health, education and job opportunities are all in free falls, the question on the lips of most Nigerians is: is there a federal government in Nigeria?

Yes, there is a federal government in Nigeria. A government that thrives on chaos, corruption, impunity, injustice and the systematic exploitation of ethnicity, religious sentiments and other primal instincts to divide and rule Nigeria. It is no wonder that at no time since the period of the Civil War have ethnic and regional sentiments been as raw as they currently are. Nigeria can, and must do better.

Since the historic merger that resulted in the birth of the All Progressives Congress, APC in July 2013, our intention has been to develop a set of guiding principles based on the needs of all Nigerians on how to collectively chart our future as a people and our destiny as a nation.

I am pleased to present this manifesto and invite you to share our perspective on how we can come together to free our country from the grip of the ruling party that clearly has no agenda for Nigeria beyond prolonging its lawless rule by all means.

In the past, political Manifestos in Nigeria were hardly different from mere platitudes and general statements to which parties could not be held accountable. The APC Manifesto is different. We have clearly stated what we will deliver to Nigeria when elected into office. Our focus is on six priority areas: National Security, Good Governance, Human Capital Development, Economic Development, Land and Natural Resources and Foreign Policy.

The APC Manifesto goes beyond broad proclamations. For each sector, we have articulated clear policy directions and accompanying strategies to indicate how our vision will be implemented. In addition to securing the territorial integrity of Nigeria, our plan for national security includes development of the capacity, capability and welfare of our security forces, with clear public accountability frameworks and the promotion of peaceful co-existence among all Nigerians.

The decay in Nigeria’s political and economic structures can be traced to poor governance and dysfunctional public administration. APC promises free and fair elections at all levels, respect for the rule of law, promotion of transparency genuine anti-corruption measures. We will implement efficient public financial management strategies and ensure true federalism.

In order to fulfil our social commitment to Nigerians, the building blocks for our human development plan will be implemented through coherent health, education and social welfare policies. APC will therefore promote a healthy lifestyle, availability of balanced nutrition and preventive and curative healthcare. We pledge to ensure the availability of quality education at all levels and strive to create a pool of skilled Nigerians that will form the bedrock of our economic development agenda. The manifesto also details our plans for youth development, sports and the entertainment industry, in addition to the provision of a sustainable social safety net beginning with the most vulnerable Nigerians.

Our manifesto also includes policies and strategies to reverse Nigeria’s economic decline by ensuring sound macroeconomic management and accelerated infrastructure development, especially in the areas of electric power supply and transportation. We will implement fiscal reforms that would build the economy from the bottom up – one small business at a time.

Moreover, the APC manifesto plainly spells out our plan for Nigeria’s land and natural resources including computerization of our respective land registries, providing affordable shelter for all Nigerians, promotion of agriculture, development of oil and gas, solid minerals, provision of water and sanitation facilities as well as protecting our environment from the threat of gully erosion, desertification, global warming and rising sea levels.

Finally, APC believes that with Africa’s largest population and economy, Nigeria ought to play a leading role in regional, continental and global affairs. Our party will therefore make the Nigerian interest the overriding factor in its foreign relations engagements, commitments, decisions and partnerships. We will also accelerate regional integration within ECOWAS and facilitate the emergence of a common currency within the shortest possible time.

I invite you to read our manifesto and share our message with all those who genuinely care about Nigeria. All Nigerians must join hands to actualize what is contained in this manifesto and hold us to account if we fail to achieve them. For us, this manifesto is our social contract with Nigeria. Please join us in a new party for a new Nigeria.

John Odigie-Oyegun

National Chairman

All Progressives Congress

Page 2

Content: An Honest Contract for Nigeria

Relief

A Decent Life for every Nigerian

Jobs, jobs, jobs; 3 million new jobs a year
Healthcare for All
Guaranteed free Education
Urban Renewal & Housing
Tackling Poverty; A safety Net for every citizen
Keeping Nigeria Safe
Sports & Culture: A vibrant Nigeria
Recovery

Building a 21st Century Economy

Building Modern Infrastructure
Creating a Value added Economy
Restoring Good Government
Ending our reliance on Oil & Gas
Agriculture & Land; A Green Revolution
Reform

A Government You Can Trust

Guaranteeing Human Rights and Justice
Foreign Affairs & trade; A strong Nigeria in a growing Africa
A Fair Deal for Women
Protecting Nigeria’s Environment
An Honest Contract With Nigeria

The challenge facing us as Nigerians is whether we have the will and courage to unite to radically reform, modernize and move our nation forward – not looking backward to the failed policies and practices of the past. It is no longer a question of choice but of will and courage!

This Manifesto outlines our side of the social contract with the people; what APC will do to change Nigeria. We cannot do it on our own, we need the people’s consent and participation. Below we outline Eight pledges for a better Nigeria. They form a new, honest contract with Nigeria.

During our first term in office, the APC government will:

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Create 3 million new jobs a year through public works programmes and shifting the economy towards value-added production will be our primary economic target.

Security

Employ at least an extra 100,000 police officers and establish a properly trained and equipped Federal Anti-Terrorism Multi-Agency Task Force to destroy Boko Haram and any form of insurgency.

Security

Introduce an immediate pay rise and improved conditions for all five security services

Corruption

Adopting a zero-tolerance approach to corruption – rooting out dishonest public servants and imposing tough sanctions including jail sentences.

Youth

Provide interest-free loans for university/technical school students who meet the required entry qualifications. We will fund this by providing guarantees to the banking sector and by absorbing the interest.

Education

Introduce a free daily school meal for all children attending primary school.

Poverty

Introduce the first phase of direct conditional monthly social security payment for 25 million of the poorest Nigerians

Health

Create a network of local health centres providing free services and drugs such that no one lives more than 5km from help.

Federalism

Create a more equitable distribution of national revenue to the States and local governments because this is where grassroots democracy and economic development must be established.

Section one: Relief

A Decent Life For Every Nigerian

Despite 50 years of independence, 60% of Nigerians live in poverty, just 3% have healthcare coverage, while barely half of our children transfer from primary to secondary school. Our roads and rail systems are in disrepair. Less than 35% of our people have access to electricity, and those that do are subject to running blackouts and chronic power shortages.

In the midst of this penury and economic hardship, small elite live in almost unimaginable wealth and luxury.

The Nigerian people need relief; relief from mismanagement, relief from the grinding poverty many of us face; relief from a failing Nigeria. An APC government will provide this relief.

1.1 Jobs Jobs Jobs: 3 Million a Year

The Challenge

The most effective way of tackling poverty is through job creation and radical reduction in unemployment. We will embark on macro and micro economic policies that focus like a laser beam on job creation. Job creation will be the APC government’s first priority. In the short term, we will get Nigeria back to work by launching a robust investment programme in infrastructure. We will also create millions of permanent jobs by using our natural resource wealth to invest in valued-added sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture.

Unemployment is at crisis point in Nigeria – even unreliable official figures put it at over 30%, up from 5% a decade ago. Among our youth, especially in rural areas, the situation is worse. An estimated 55% of youth are without jobs. The situation is only getting worse as not enough jobs are currently being created to employ the 1.8 million new school leavers let alone reduce existing unemployment.

Without urgent action on employment, Nigeria is in danger of spiralling into further social unrest.

The opportunity

Nigeria’s infrastructure is crying out to be rebuilt, modernized and expanded, ranging from modern roads, airport, waterways and rail networks to a new generation of power stations, to a desperate need for new schools, clinics, potable water and housing.

The new APC government will put Nigeria to work, building a modern economy through a series of massive public works programmes. This will provide million of new jobs, channelling money into the wider economy.

However, we recognize that this is not a long term solution by itself. Nigeria needs to diversify its economy – we cannot continue our heavy reliance on oil. Therefore, the incoming APC government will embark on a process of rapid industrialization to achieve a level of growth in the productive sectors of our economy that will help us progressively reach and then sustain the creation of 3 million new jobs a year.

The APC’s Commonsense Solution:

We will:

Create new job opportunities through a massive public works programme especially the building of a national railway system, of interstate roads, and ports. These projects must commence early in the life of the new administration.

Establish a new Federal Co-ordinating Agency – Build Nigeria – to fast track and manage these public works programmes with emphasis on Nigerian labour.

Target the creation of 3 million new jobs a year through industrialization, public works and agricultural expansion.

Diversify the economy through a national industrial policy and innovative private-sector incentives that will move us away from over reliance on oil – into value-added production, especially manufacturing.

Revive textile and other industries that have been rendered dormant because of inappropriate economic policies.

Reinvigorate the solid mineral sector by revamping our aged mining legislation and attracting new investment.

Develop a new generation of domestic oil refineries to lower import costs, enhance our energy independence and create jobs.

Work with state governments to turn Northern Nigeria into Africa’s food basket through a new system of grants and interest free loans, and the mechanization of agriculture.

Encourage and promote the use of sports as a source of job creation.

Make Nigeria an IT/Professional/Telecom services outsourcing destination hub, to create millions of jobs.

Fill the huge gap in middle level technical manpower with massive investment in technical and tradesmen’s skills education

All foreign contractors to include a plan of developing local capacity (Technology transfer).

1.2 Healthcare For All

The Challenge

Healthcare in Nigeria is in crisis; too many people do not get any treatment. For those who do get treated, all too often the care they receive is poor. Far too many die from easily treatable diseases, and what should be routine treatments often end in death. Furthermore, Nigeria is set to miss our Millennium Development Goal targets. The statistics speak for themselves.

Our Maternal Mortality Rate is still 630 in 100,000 despite the incumbent Federal Government’s Asaba pledge to reach 273 by 2013. Similarly, the Infant Mortality Rate is 127 in 1000 despite a pledge of 45 by 2013. Life expectancy is 53 instead of the target of 63.

Healthcare management is chaotic – only 3% of the population have health insurance and there are too many competing and ineffective federal agencies. Training standards and care are often poor, while our healthcare infrastructure is old, patchy and in need of investment. Sadly, the best healthcare in Nigeria remains a plane ticket abroad.

The Opportunity

Nigeria needs a modern healthcare system where every citizen has access to the basic health services. Our first focus will be on preventive care, as it is cheaper and easier to stop people becoming ill than curing them once they are.

Our preventive strategy will be based on a new network of local-level community health workers and midwives. We recognize the urgent and immediate need for more public health officers, for more access to clean water and for cleaning the environment to make it disease-free.

However, we also need to urgently improve our healthcare infrastructure, with a new network of local clinics and dispensaries providing free drugs and services. The recent Ebola outbreak only emphasised the importance of this – it was only because APC Governors in Lagos and Rivers States had already invested in improving local healthcare provision that they were able to act so quickly to prevent a public health catastrophe.

The APC’s Commonsense Solution

We will:

Coordinate more effectively the work of the numerous Federal healthcare agencies.
Immediately increase the proportion of Federal spending on healthcare from 5.5% to 10%, with the aim of bringing it to 15% by 2020.
Build a network of local and mobile clinics providing free health services and drugs, with the aim ensuring that no Nigerian lives further than 5km from a free clinic.
Improve life expectancy through a grass roots National Healthy living Programme.

1.3 Guaranteeing Free Education

The Challenge

Nigeria’s education system is a scandal. There are now 10 million school age children out of school. Of those actually receiving an education half leave primary school still unable to read and write. Such students generally do not make it to secondary school. Even worse, too many of our girls are denied access to even these most basic levels of education. The objective of our education plan is to first eradicate illiteracy and simultaneously develop a skilled and talented workforce that can get Nigeria back to work, produce quality goods and services, employ the larger population and thus reduce unemployment drastically.

With just 8.6% of government spending dedicated to education, Nigeria is still falling further behind our competitors. Millions of our youth are being consigned to a life of unemployment and poverty. Without an effective universal school system, that provides relevant education and equips our youth for the challenges of the global economy, Nigeria will never reach its full potential. We must ensure that we provide quality education in our schools in order to prepare our youth for the competitive knowledge economy of the 21st century.

The Opportunity

Nigeria urgently needs to expand access to education and raise the standards of teaching, so that our young people enter the workforce equipped for the challenges of this ever-globalising world. The APC will seek to increase the proportion of students moving from primary to secondary education and then into the tertiary and university sectors.

The APC’s Commonsense Solutions

We will:

Triple education spending over next 10 years, from the current 8.5% to 24.5%.
Commit to the eventual eradication of illiteracy by guaranteeing and enforcing nine (9) years of compulsory basic education to every Nigerian child, as the minimum level of formal education. This commitment includes, Tsangaya, Nomadic and other special education.
Reinvigorate technical and vocational education nationwide by giving adequate material support to schools. This implies the review of the 9-3-4 system.
Introduce a National core curriculum for all public schools, setting out the minimum standards.
Prioritize the improvement in quality and quantity of teachers and healthcare professionals with improved infrastructural facilities, enhanced working environment, better conditions of service and merit-based reward systems in recognition of their foundational and critical nation building responsibilities.
Primary Education

Introduce free daily school meals for all primary school children
Decentralize management of primary schools to parents and communities.
Secondary Schools

Undertake a major national programme of secondary school construction and repair funded through Public Private Partnerships. Tax incentives will be provided to businesses who participate in this programme.
Phase-in a free school meals programme after it has been established in primary schools.
Raise the transition rate from primary to secondary schools to at least 75% by 2019
Restore teaching of Nigerian languages in secondary schools
Establish six centres of excellence to address the needs of special education
Phase-in the provision of communal internet-ready desktops at all secondary schools in the nation by 2019.
Tertiary

Launch a programme for the redevelopment of teacher training colleges.
Establish no less than 2 Local Technology Institutes (LTIs) in every state in the nation.
Ensure the full optimization of the capacity of existing technical, vocational centres and tertiary institutions, and expand where necessary or establish new ones.
Focus the new (LTIs) on providing free training courses to our youth and unemployed in the basic skills necessary to sign up to the infrastructure public works programmes that we are proposing.
Establish a standing committee of pertinent government ministries and agencies and representatives of the private sector in order to shape educational curricula to our needs and realities of the global economy.
Embark on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition schemes for graduates along with the creation of a Small Business Loans Guarantee Scheme to create at least 1 million new jobs every year, for the foreseeable future.
Ensure a greater proportion of expenditure on university education is devoted to Science and Technology with more spaces allocated to science and technology-oriented courses.
Emphasize and encourage closer relationship between town and gown. Universities to relate with local industries and focus research on advancing and promoting local technology.

1.4 Housing and Urban Renewal: Decent Housing for All

The Challenge

A third of Nigerians live in our cities and urban areas, and that figure is rising fast. Yet our cities are struggling to cope with these rapidly increasing numbers. More and more people live in sprawling slums with makeshift housing and have little infrastructure such as power, water and sewage or proper roads. There is an estimated deficit of 17 million homes that need to be built just to accommodate the teeming millions who have migrated to the urban centres. Our main objective here is to make decent housing affordable to all.

The Opportunity

An APC Government will work with the states to reduce slum-living in our cities, upgrade housing and provide access to key services by promoting private sector investment in urban renewal through land reform and investing in local infrastructure such as water and sanitation services.

The APC’s Commonsense Solutions:

We will:

Establish a National Housing Policy in co-operation with State governments with a target of raising enough finance to build up to 1 million new houses a year over the next decade.
Develop new urban planning schemes through this Authority both in existing cities and new model towns to meet housing needs.
Create an obligation on private housing developers to build or contribute financially to the building of social housing projects as part of the planning approvals process.
Create a mortgage market by reforming land ownership to give ordinary Nigerian easy access to title deeds.
We propose to give an opportunity to as many Nigerians who want to acquire their own homes through government-championed housing development funded by an affordable nationwide mortgage system
Promote rural development to arrest/curtail rural urban migration.
1.5 Tackling poverty: Creating a Safety Net for Every Citizen

The Challenge

60% of Nigerians – over 100 million people – live in poverty, a figure that rises to over 75% in the North. That shocking statistic means that nearly 40% of Nigerians will not reach 40 years of age before they die.

Most of our population lives either on subsistence farms or in urban slums, and struggle to make ends meet. When times are hard, they rely on the generosity of their extended family and community. The Federal Government provides only patchy, irregular services. Even the dwindling middle class lives on the edge of fear, knowing that a sudden change in their circumstances such as losing their job or having a serious illness could cast them into poverty.

The Opportunity

Nigeria must put the welfare of its citizens at the core of its development policy – a people centered development. It is time that we followed the examples of Brazil and India by introducing a system of direct social security payments to the poor.

We can afford to do this if we are serious about tackling corruption – under the PDP over N1 trillion has been stolen from our Oil Fund, while the fuel subsidy scam cost another N2 trillion. By scrapping the corruption-ridden SURE-P programme and reprioritizing government spending, we can transform the lives of millions of Nigerians.

The APC’s Commonsense Solutions:

We will:

Create a phased Social Insurance Scheme to assist certain groups in the population with social welfare payments through a phased programme, starting with:
Young People under 30 and the unemployed
Senior Citizens over 70, the disabled and armed service veterans.
All remaining categories.
Ensure that retirees receive their gratuities on the effective date of their retirement and that thereafter pensions are paid as and when due.
Appoint a Federal Ombudsman for People with Disabilities to combat discrimination against the disabled.
1.6 Keeping Nigeria Safe

The Challenge

The Boko Haram insurgency in the North, and its increasingly bold attacks, has brought home the scale of the security crisis that Nigeria faces. This crisis is not just about Boko Haram. It goes much deeper than that with communal violence flaring up all too regularly across a number of different states. On a daily basis ordinary Nigerians increasingly experience militancy, kidnapping, armed robbery and an inability to obtain legal redress and protection from abuse by government or powerful interests.

Today many parts of Nigeria are wracked by constant chaos and violence, and thousands of lives have been lost to this scourge. This nation pledged to itself that our first civil war would also be our last. However, that solemn pledge has now been endangered. Section 14 of the Nigerian Constitution, states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. It is clear for all to see that the current government has failed in this regard.

The Opportunity

The Federal Government’s response to the Boko Haram insurgency has been grossly inadequate and ineffective and cries for a new strategy. The recent botched attempt by the Federal Government to negotiate a ceasefire, illustrates clearly the need for a long-term multi-pronged national security strategy to address this scourge.

While addressing the fundamental causes of insecurity such as poverty and disempowerment, we also need to put in place a robust and well thought out Security Sector reform which includes effectiveness and efficiency of this sector based on respect for Human Rights and Fundamental Civil and Political Liberties. The APC government will ensure that our security and Law Enforcement agencies are fit and ready to meet 21st century security challenges.

We will also seek to play a full and leading role in promoting regional security in West Africa and the continent as a whole, including championing the establishment of the proposed African Standby Force by the African Union.

The APC’s commonsense solutions:

We will:

Boko Haram:

Urgently increase the capacity and capability of Nigeria’s military, police and other security agencies through the employment of additional personnel, provision of modern equipment, and a commitment to professionalism, merit and excellence in the respective services to meet the need s of our growing population;
Work with our neighbours to use military force to destroy those factions of Boko Haram who refuse to lay down their arms.
Use both military and non-military means to secure the release of all those who have been kidnapped by the insurgents.
Introduce a time-limited partial amnesty for rank-and-file Boko Haram members who have been coerced into the group in return for laying down arms and participating in a programme of reintegration into society.
Establish a compensation scheme for victims of the insurgency
Address the underlying problems of unemployment, poverty and social injustice that caused the insurgency through a Comprehensive Economic Development Programme for affected states and communities
Establish a Truth & Reconciliation Commission to address human rights abuses that occurred during the insurgency as well as the fundamental issues that underlie the insurgency.
Rigorously enforce Agreements, Treaties, and Regulations seeking to limit and reduce the incidence of illegal trade in and movement of small arms across the West African sub-region and into Nigeria.
Supporting the Security Services

Carry out a national security audit to determine the state of affairs, capacity and capability deficits in our armed forces, police and other security agencies.
Improve the security forces – in return for increases in funding, modernized equipment and more personnel they will be kept to new higher standards of accountability, openness and professional management.
Urgently review the management structures of the five security services – the Police, the Army, the Navy, the Air-Force and the intelligence services.
Introduce an immediate pay increase for all five security services.
Immediately commence a capacity building initiative for the Nigerian Police and Armed Forces to improve their professionalism and service delivery
Increase personnel levels in the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force and other Security services to meet current challenges and ensure that they are well trained and equipped for their constitutional responsibility.
Urgent review of death and disability insurance to a minimum of N1m (One Million Naira) only, from the current level.
Accountability & delivery

Create a Federal Anti-Terrorism Agency (FATA), with properly trained and professional staff combining elements of both the Police and the State Security Service, which would be fully accountable to the National Assembly to conduct anti-terrorism and counter insurgency operations.
Develop, promote and implement a public accountability framework to enhance the operational autonomy and efficiency of the military, police and other security agencies in the discharge of their constitutional mandates.
Devolve the oversight of local policing, including the nomination of the State Police Commissioner and management of the prison service to the state.
Establish a Federal Police Complaints Authority and Ombudsman to provide a transparent process for ordinary Nigerians to raise complaints over police conduct.
Promote peaceful and harmonious coexistence by ensuring that Nigerians are free to live, work and worship in any part of the country without let or hindrance, and introduce legislation to outlaw inflammatory hate speech.
Protect the country against external internal aggression and enhance our national security through stricter control of our borders while maintaining strong, close and beneficial relationship with our neighbours and other countries.
1.7 Sports & Culture: A Vibrant Nigeria

The Challenge

Sports and Culture are important instruments for social cohesion and national integration. We must invest a lot of resources in promoting these sectors. They are also avenues for engaging meaningfully our preponderantly youthful population. 50% of the population are aged below 35; the sporting and cultural sectors can create a real sense of purpose and well being. However, our current government has too often neglected sports and the creative industries and thereby wasting the opportunity to improve our quality of life but also to boost the economy and provide jobs.

The Opportunity

Nigeria needs to engage, occupy, challenge and empower its youth through the provision of proper sports facilities, equipment and opportunities. There is no gainsaying the value and importance of culture in the life and economy of the nation. The promotion of cultural activities and endeavours in all ramifications will be at the heart of an APC policy in this area. The film, music and fashion industries have already done Nigeria proud as brand ambassadors around the world. With proper government encouragement, the only limit is our own ingenuity.

The APC’s Commonsense Solutions:

We will:

Sports

Review the structure of major sports in consultation with the major stakeholders to develop a comprehensive plan of action to revitalize the sector.
Encourage developers of estates and large-scale building projects to assist government in combating the dearth of sporting infrastructure and facilities in order to provide some community sporting facilities.
Provide private sector co-operation with tax incentives to make sporting provision.
Establish world class academies and training institutes and ensure that Nigeria occupies a place of pride in global sports and athletics.
Encourage School sports competitions as potential sources of talent identification, nurturing and development.
Establish world class sports academies and training institutes and ensure that Nigeria produces world class sports men and women.
Culture

Assist the entertainment, arts, and creative industry with incentives and an enhanced copyright regime to fully develop the sector into a world-class movie industry that can compete effectively on the world stage.
Establish a series of ‘creative industry hubs’ with full infrastructure facilities such as high-speed internet facilities and design studios as low-cost incubators for new creative industries and artists.
Promote and aid indigenous languages at all levels and for all ages.
Support the already vibrant Nollywood film industry and the music sector to reach new heights and compete internationally.
Develop and strengthen the value link-chain of the culture industry to deepen the industry and provide jobs.

Page 3

Section Two: Recovery

Building an Economy For the 21st Century

Over the last decade and a half much of Africa has been transformed economically; living standards have doubled, a new educated middle class has emerged, and billions of dollars have been invested in a new infrastructure to transform local economies. But this has not been the case in Nigeria.

Nigeria has stagnated in many respects and even regressed on a number of indicators. In the 1990’s youth unemployment in Nigeria was 10%; today even the unreliable Federal figures admit it is at least 25%. While the Government has adjusted GDP figures to suggest that Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa, 60% of Nigerians still live in poverty. This means we have the largest number of poor people on the continent.

It is a shame that with all our enormous resources and endowments, we will be in the dubious company of a few poor countries who will not meet all the Millennium Development Goals target. It means therefore that poverty has remained endemic. Nigeria must be poised and ready to embark on the post 2015 social development agenda with all the vigour and tenacity of purpose to extricate ourselves from the doldrums of a “rich country of poor people”.

A small elite has captured the state and become disproportionately rich from massive corruption, while poverty has deepened. The income gap and illicit capital flight are growing alarmingly. Instead of investing in modernizing our economy, massive theft has starved the country of desperately needed resources for infrastructure and public services and left us dangerously dependent on global oil prices for our economic survival. For ordinary people, the much touted economic growth cited by the present administration has not translated into employment or development. Over 100 million Nigerians are struggling to make ends meet on a regular basis.

This situation is reversible if we use our enormous oil wealth to invest in infrastructure, diversify the economy and invest in manufacturing and modern agriculture. In the immediate future, we can tackle unemployment and provide good jobs by embarking on the massive programme of public works, building houses, roads, railways, ports and energy plants.

For the long term, we will wean Nigeria off its dangerous addiction to oil. Over 80% of government spending comes from oil proceeds, leaving us at the mercy of volatile international oil prices. By investing heavily in modern infrastructure and education, we will make Nigeria a much more attractive place to invest; enabling us to follow the example of India and China who became industrial powerhouses within a few decades.

With production costs now rising in Asia, many international companies are increasingly looking to Africa as the place to invest both to build new factories to supply their needs, and as a market for goods and services in its own right. That will create millions of new jobs across the continent, including potentially here in Nigeria. This is a once in a generation opportunity but we will only be able to seize it if we invest now in infrastructure and building our skills base. That is the heart of the APC’s economic strategy – putting millions of Nigerians to work, building a new modern economy fit for the twenty first century.

2.1 Building Modern Infrastructure

The Challenge

Over the last 15 years our population has grown by nearly a half, from 120 million people in 2000 to 170 million today. Yet over the same period our Nation’s economic life has been marked by drift and inaction. The government has left our infrastructure – our roads, rail network, power stations and communications which are all vital to creating a strong economy to deteriorate.

The Opportunity

In contrast to the last decade and a half the next ten years could see Nigeria begin to fulfil her potential. We believe that in order to do this the Federal Government urgently needs to follow the example of APC-led Lagos and embrace modern development planning, so that we can map the critical path to modernizing our economy.

Nigeria needs to improve links to our major economic centres, both to each other and to the outside world. The World Bank estimates that boosting our infrastructure to the level of other middle income African Countries would boost our economic growth by as much as 5% a year. In order to achieve this, Nigeria will have to more than double our current annual level of $6 billion infrastructure investment for the next decade.

Our new government would conduct a nationwide audit to identify the key gaps in our infrastructure, and develop a target list of priority investment schemes at a state and Federal level as part of a new National Development Plan (NDP). The NDP will set out realistic and achievable investment goals in key economic sectors, which will then be used as a blueprint to attract investment, both from abroad but also from domestic sources within Nigeria.

The APC’s Commonsense solutions:

We will:

Restore the production of national development plans to promote investment in key national and state infrastructure projects.
Establish a new position within the Presidency who will be mandated to coordinate all government actions aimed at achieving the National development objectives.
Revamp the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission into a new agency promoting both foreign trade and inward investment – invest Nigeria – and place it under the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry.
Power:

Undertake an urgent power audit of Nigeria’s energy needs.
Ensure Nigeria meets all its power needs within the next ten years.
Encourage power generation companies to build a new generation of power plants.
Extend our national and regional power grid and gas pipelines to improve energy generation, transmission and distribution across the country.
Increase Nigeria’s refining capacity so that we can shift more of our gas supply to domestic power stations to end erratic power supplies.
Expand the rural electrification programme and promote the use of independent ‘off-grid’ renewable energy schemes for isolated communities.
Encourage development of sustainable renewable energy taking account of regional factor endowments.
Transport

Commit to an urgent reconstruction of all interstate highways that form the backbone of Nigeria’s road transport network as a way of reconnecting Nigerians back with their country to make road travel the pleasant experience that it used to be.
Commit to a strategy of ongoing rehabilitation and maintenance programme that will ensure that all existing federal roads are safe and motorable.
Embark on a National Infrastructural Development Programme that will ensure the construction of 3,000km of Superhighway including service trunks and building of upto 4,800km of modern railway lines.
Encourage and financially support States with sprawling urban centres to embark on intra city metro lines and bus systems
Improve and modernize our aviation infrastructure, ensuring all our airports and aircrafts are compatible with international safety standards.
Renovate, enlarge and modernize the nation’s ports to cope with growing maritime traffic.
Construct two deep sea ports
Create a functional inland waterway transport system.
ICT and Mass Communications

Build a national information superhighway by developing a fibre optic network
Establish tax-free ICT parks for technology companies with full infrastructure, centred around university clusters.
Promote the creation of a new ICT Techno City through PPP with international investors
Prioritize electrification of schools and colleges as a key first step to increasing the nation’s technological capacity
Use ICT for outreach education in fields as diverse as health education and farming extension.

2.2 Creating a Value Added Economy

The Challenge

Nigeria cannot continue to rely so heavily on oil production and imports. In fact our economy is already changing. Growth in oil and gas is slowing down. An APC government will dramatically develop the industrial sector beginning with the existing cement, textile, agriculture and food processing industries. These sectors are the key to our future economic prosperity.

These must be made to grow fast enough to provide the millions of new jobs Nigeria needs to tackle our unemployment crisis. Manufacturing is being held back by a lack of available credit to pay for investment, and our dilapidated infrastructure, especially our unreliable and inadequate power supply, which pushes up costs and makes sensible business planning almost impossible.

The Opportunity

The opportunity is clear; we intend to turn Nigeria into a manufacturing powerhouse and a food basket for Africa. There is no reason why the slogan “Made in Nigeria” should not be as common in the future as the term “Made in China” is today.

By building modern infrastructure, especially in the power sector, we will make it easier and more attractive to invest in manufacturing and agriculture as business. The other key component of our industrialization strategy is the mobilization of both domestic and international funds to invest in expanding the new economic sectors.

The APC’s Commonsense solutions:

We will:

Industrialization:

Create a National Policy as part of the NDP that will identify and promote the growth of industries strategic to our overall economic growth and security, and rooted in our natural resource endowment.
Create six regional Development Agencies covering the country with representatives from the Federal government, States and the private sector to manage a new N300 billion growth fund.
Work with the banking sector to increase the funds available to businesses and also encourage an expansion in the micro-finance sector
Introduce robust local content legislation to ensure creation of domestic capital base in export industries
Guarantee robust property rights to encourage investments.
Support industry by creating industrial hubs with vital infrastructure and technical, business and extension advisory services
Protect and respect labourer’s right to organize, guaranteeing the rights to collective bargaining in good faith by law.
Promote new skills, equip our youths for a modern economy through a network of Local Technology Institutes to provide free training courses to the unemployed.

2.3 Restoring Good Government, Effective and Efficient Public Sector

The Challenge

Reforming the public sector to produce an effective and efficient administration will be a key component of APC’s reform agenda. It is an imperative to effective and efficient service delivery and accountability of public resources. It is a major strategy for the daunting task of fighting the pervasive culture of corruption and impunity. Fighting corruption is vital to our national wellbeing. Corruption significantly weakens our economy by stripping it of tens of trillions of Naira. Corruption and the officials who commit it have sabotaged our national economy. Corruption is inefficient and wasteful. Perhaps more importantly, corruption tears at the moral fiber of the nation. We must restore the ethos of hard work, integrity, honesty, meritocracy and patriotism in our public sector with the right kinds of incentives and performance indicators for measuring results.

The Opportunity

We have the political will and the track record in office to fight corruption.

The APC believes that developing an ethos of service and self-effacing humility in public service will positively impact societal values and promote the understated lifestyle as a virtue. To this end, we shall develop a code of conduct that rewards honesty, probity and performance and punishes corruption, mismanagement and bad performance. The code of conduct will also have enforcement mechanisms for transgression.

Our reforms must celebrate diversity and will not adopt a “one-size-fits” approach. We will strengthen and empower our local governments; we will give functional autonomy to State legislatures.

The APC’s Commonsense solutions

Tackling corruption: We will

Create a functionally independent anti-corruption agency, with adequate and predictable funding and full prosecutorial powers and free from political interference.
End immunity from prosecution for sitting politicians
Reform budgetary & accounting procedures – including publishing all the meeting minutes and service performance data on government spending over N100 million at Federal and State and N10 million in local government.
End all private jet and first class foreign travel for government employees.
Transparency

Strengthen and operationalize the Freedom of Information Act
Create a functionally independent and well resourced Electoral Commission which is free from political interference.
Audit all government workers to remove all ghost workers from government pay roll.
Introduce a legally enforceable code of conduct for all public officials, including elected representatives with stringent sanctions.
Seek to amend the Constitution to require Federal & State governments to publish the minutes of their meetings, service performance data and spending items over N100 million for State and Federal Government and N10 million for Local Governments.
Enhancing Federalism

Devolve control of policing and local prisons to the states and give the right to nominate State Police Commissioners to the Governors
Expand the role of the Council of State to act as a consultation and negotiating forum between the Federal and State governments to agree on joint economic and social initiatives.
Funding a New Nigeria

2.4 Reforming the public sector: Public Financial Management

The Challenge:

Nigeria has been both blessed and cursed by our natural resources. Over the last forty years of oil production, we have earned over half a trillion dollars income. However, much of this enormous wealth has been squandered through corruption, mismanagement, inefficiency and waste.

This easy money has also led government to a dangerous over-dependence on oil proceeds – which now provide some 80% of government revenues. Between 1997 and 2012, government spending rose from N551bn to N9.5tn, a massive 683% jump in 15 years, increasing at an annual average rate of 22% – but there is all too little to show for this massive spending. These figures also mask periods of unsustainable spending sprees when the proportion of GDP spent by government was as high as 37%.

A disproportionate percentage of these revenues have been spent on misplaced priorities. Less than 30% of government spending is on investing in our aging infrastructure, while more than 20% of government spending is unaccounted for.

The Opportunity

The new APC government will set about the urgent task of getting Nigeria’s public finances in order, by tackling the massive waste, duplication and corruption in the system, diversifying the economy and expanding our tax base to increase non-oil revenues, and reprioritizing public spending away from bureaucracy towards investment in infrastructure and improved frontline services.

Nigeria has too many bloated and unnecessary parastatals – for example, there are ten separate government agencies in the energy sector alone – yet we have no power!

We will reduce the overall number of bloated and unnecessary parastatals, through amalgamation and abolition. However, we recognize that in some instances, we will need to create new agencies to push forward our economic agenda.

The APC’s Commonsense Solution

We will:

Public Spending

Gradually increase public spending to 30% of GDP over our first term in office.
Redirect public spending priorities to increase the proportion of public spending invested in capital infrastructure to 50% from 32% by 2025.
Use the increased capital spending to fund a massive programme of public works to rebuild and extend our infrastructure – with some projects jointly funded and managed by the private sector through PPPs.
Introduce a Comprehensive Economic Development Plan for Northeastern Nigeria to tackle the long-term economic causes of unrest.
Establish a N300bn growth fund administered by new regional development agencies focused on providing investment for local value-added production.
Gradually increase spending on social welfare programmes such as health and education to around 35% of spending from their current level of 15%.
Modernize our poorly-equipped and paid security forces by a phased doubling of security