YESTERDAY, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a President, the one whose vision fits the expectations of the people. Frontline presidential candidates made sundry promises to the people; even those who are pretending to be in the race also made feeble attempts to convince voters with juicy promises. They unfolded their agenda, promising to make life more meaningful and comfortable for the people.This is what democracy is all about. Candidates ask for votes from the electorate, leaving behind a long list of programmes to be implemented if they are eventually voted. Politicians lay claims to having great and unimaginable capacities and knowledge of the ills of society, as well as how to fix them. The candidates met with the people who have been yearning for better life. The people had also waited to hear real issues and realizable plans on how to make the country work.However, since 1999 when democracy returned, campaign promises have not worked, as politicians failed to deliver. This is why the current exercise has taken into account the cumulated frustrations of the people.Since 1999, core issues promised by politicians were in the area of reforming the economy and making it work. The power sector was crucial in that blueprint, including causing a transformation in the Niger Delta.Candidates of the two parties in that presidential election, Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP and Olu Falae of the APP/AD coalition ran beautiful campaigns and promised better time for the people. The campaigns posted good results for the PDP and Obasanjo won.Nonetheless, performance between 1999 and 2003 did not match the expectations of the people. The power sector became more challenged than it was in the years prior to 1999 and it actually became a source of frustration for government. Chief Bola Ige of blessed memory, a man not known to retreat from challenges, actually got frustrated as Minister of Power.Obasanjos government had clear signs towards reforming the economy, but the bureaucracy did not respond transparently enough for a quick transformation to take place. The plan by the government to disinvest from public utilities was poorly conceptualized and weakened by partisanship and corruption, which the administration could not tackle as promised.In 2003, the PDP did not have any new campaign agenda, except to continue with what it had struggled with for four years. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) became mature and ready to take on politicians who looted public treasure. For the first time, there were prosecutions and those found guilty were penalized. It was a partial success.The scorecard for the PDP in eight years was simply that, even though a lot of money had come into the economy and budgets recorded unprecedented highs, actual development was pretty low. There was a recurrent failure of the administration to be fiscally disciplined and to make the money to work. A lot of revenue was wasted in oiling party machinery.Prominent issues in the 2007 campaigns included the Niger Delta, agriculture, unemployment, growing the economy and revamping the power sector. The Umaru YarAduas government attempted to tackle the issues. On the economy, there was a blueprint to encourage growth. Central to that is the urgent need to generate more electricity. On that count the speed was slow.On the Niger Delta, amnesty and post-amnesty were given prominence and for the first time, the Niger Delta began to receive serious attention. President Goodluck Jonathan gave accelerated attention to investment in the power sector and the signs are that there are improvements.There is remarkable calm in the Niger Delta and the oil industry is recording growth. The youth of Niger Delta no longer see militancy as a profession, as many of them are now engaged meaningfully. HOWEVER, there are serious challenges in the security sector, the economy, education, health and infrastructure. Budgets dont get implemented because of the conspiracy of stakeholders in the National Assembly, the presidency and the bureaucracy.This is where the opposition sees an opportunity to intervene. The opposition does not see anything good in a 12-year-old PDP government that could not fix roads, provide basic healthcare services, quality education, electricity and secure the people.The signs that the next government will actually hit the ground running reflected in the April 9 elections. The next legislature should not be left too comfortable to go to sleep. The legislature has been asleep for too long, having turned itself into a parasitic assembly, feeding from over-bloated recurrent budgets. The opposition had disappeared, having blended so well in the spending spree.The next government must embark on immediate reforms of the polity and the economy. The bureaucracy is too expensive and recurrent budgets must be reviewed to make more money available for capital investment.Road contracts that have been awarded and re-awarded for the umpteenth time must be terminated and those who have frustrated the process should be identified and brought to book. It can no longer be business as usual for contractors and their political associates.There must be renewed initiative in the Power Sector, as every investment must be tracked for transparency and for results. The people will no longer take stories and excuses.There must be security of life and property, especially in areas where the authority of the federal government and the Constitution is brazenly challenged by irredentists and religious bigots.There should be a return of accountability in the Finance Ministry, where allocations to all tiers of government are transparently done and published for interested members of the public.The energy sector should be reformed and the local refining capacity should receive a major boost, so that less money is wasted on importation of refined products.The confidence of the people in project Nigeria deserves a boost. The next government has a duty to re-engineer Nigeria and make the people believe in the system.
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