Nigerians Score Yar'Adua Low On Seven-Point Agenda June 6, 2008 | posted by Mobolaji Aluko (Archives)

 

GUARDIAN

 

Sunday, June 01, 2008              

Nigerians Score Yar'Adua Low On Seven-Point Agenda

AS the nation marks one year of the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Nigerians have scored the government low on its seven-point agenda for the nation.

During campaigns, political parties and their candidates make obligatory pledges to the electorate concerning their policies if elected. At elections, voters have the onerous opportunity of selecting between substantive programmes and equally bestowing winning parties/candidates with determinate policy mandate.

Consequently, parties and their candidates are expected to honour their campaign promises when they resume political power.

When Yar'Adua was inaugurated in Abuja on May 29 last year as Nigeria's third democratically elected President, he vowed to provide the nation with the kind of leadership that would steer it out of its toga of under-achievement and propel it to enviable heights.

He pledged to accomplish this by motivating his team to implement the now familiar seven-point agenda of his administration, namely, Power, Electoral Reforms, Education, Agriculture, the Niger Delta, Health and Employment generation.

Assessing each of the seven-point agenda of the President, the survey asked the question: "How would you assess the achievement of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's Government in view of its seven (7) point agenda for the nation?"

As a guide, the poll examined each of the agenda by stating the following options: Excellent, Good, Fair and Poor.

 

POWER

Assessing the achievement of the Federal Government in the area of power generation, a cumulative 54 percent of the respondents adjudged the sector "Poor", 25 percent scored it "Fair", 15 percent recorded "Good" while six (6) percent gave "Excellent" to the power sector.

The zonal breakdown of the poor option for power generation shows that it scored above average across the six geopolitical zones. The Southwest led the other zone in "Poor" performance only for power generation with 61 percent, followed closely by the South-South with 59 percent. The Northwest, 55, Northeast and North Central 50 percent each while Southeast zone recorded 46 percent. Lagos had 78 percent and Abuja 43 percent.

The "Fair" rating for Power in the zones is as follows: Northeast 30, North Central and Northwest 28 each and Southeast 25 while the South-South and Southwest recorded 22 percent each.

Analysts are of the opinion that the power crisis in Nigeria needs to be addressed squarely and urgently to arrest the imminent collapse of the economy, especially the comatose industrial sector.

Professor Pat Utomi, African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, said that the Power sector remains a national embarrassment. He noted that low political will, slow decision-making processes and the failure of project management had allowed it to degenerate into a national emergency before the government could study it enough to decide its proposed state of emergency, one year after.

 

ELECTORAL REFORMS

On Electoral reforms, a cumulatively 37 percent scored the government performance "Fair", 29 percent picked "Good", 24 percent gave a poor rating while 10 percent were pleased with administration's effort and so scored it "Excellent."

The zonal breakdown of the "Fair" rating of the electoral reforms shows the Southwest and Northeast geopolitical zones leading the pack with 40 percent each followed by the South-South and North Central with 37 percent apiece, Northwest 34 and the Southeast 32 percent. Lagos recorded 44 percent and Abuja 33 percent.

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, on assumption of office set up the Mohammed Uwais-headed Electoral Reforms Committee, which has been meeting with stakeholders in different geopolitical zones.

 

EDUCATION

Cumulatively, 38 percent scored education "Fair", 27 percent recorded "Poor" while only eight percent thought the administration had performed excellently in this sector.

The Southwest zone led the "Fair" rating of education sector with 44 percent, Northwest 37, Northeast and South-South 35 each, Southeast 32 and North Central 30 percent. Lagos recorded 40 percent and Abuja 27 percent.

Political analysts opined that public schools remain inadequate in terms of capacity and the quality of instruction. Private schools, some of which are not better-equipped than their public counterparts, are exploitative.

At the tertiary level, there are lingering disputes between the Unions and the Federal Government and neither the Federal Government nor the state governments are doing anything seriously to correct this situation.

 

AGRICULTURE

Assessing the performance of the Federal Government in the agricultural sector, about 694 respondents or 38 percent rated it "Poor", 645 or 35 percent gave it "Fair", 392 or 22 percent said "Good" while 91 respondents or five percent gave an "Excellent" verdict.

The zone by zone breakdown of the "Poor" rating revealed that the South-South tops the pack with 46 percent followed closely by the Southeast with 42 percent. The North Central scored government 41 percent, Northwest 35, Northeast 32 and Southwest 31 percent.

 

NIGER DELTA

About 37 percent of the respondents scored President Yar'Adua "Fair" on the Niger Delta issue. Another 30 percent scored him "Good", 25 percent took "Poor" option and one percent said he had done excellently well.

Looking at the responses on zonal basis, "Fair" responses were led by the Southwest with 45 percent, the while South-South and Southeast secured 39 and 38 percent. The Northwest polled 33, Northeast 31 as against 29 percent from the North Central.

Scoring the president "Good" on the handling of the Niger Delta issues are respondents from the Northeast with 35 percent, Northwest 33 percent, North Central and Southeast, 31 percent each, the Southwest 28 percent and the South-South 24 percent.

 

HEALTH

Also x-raying the present government on the issue of health for the past one year, Nigerians could only score the president "Fair" as revealed by 34 percent or 615 respondents.

But 540 respondents or 30 percent that gave the administration a pass mark of "Good" opposed this view. But 478 or 26 percent of the respondents rated the performance of the government "Poor" as 180 or only ten percent adjudged the performance of the government to be "Excellent".

The zonal breakdown revealed that the Southwest led the pack of those that scored the government "Fair" on the issue of health in the country with 36 percent closely followed by the South-South with 35 percent. The Northwest also had 34 percent, while Southwest and Southeast tied on 33 percent each and the North Central secured 30 percent. Lagos and Abuja respondents accounted for 45 and 30 percent.

"Good' responses were championed by the Southeast respondents with 32 percent. The Northeast and South-South polled 31 percent while North Central, Southwest and Northwest recorded 30, 29 and 27 percent each.

 

EMPLOYMENT

On the issue of employment, Nigerians did not mince word as they overwhelming condemned the effort of the present government by scoring it "Poor" according 980 or 54 percent of the respondents.

Five hundred and twenty or 29 percent scored the government "Fair" as against 224 or 12 percent that gave the pass mark "Good", while "Excellent" response accounted for only five percent or 91 respondents.

"Poor" responses cut across the six geopolitical zones except the Southeast and Northeast, which recorded 48 and 47 percent respectively. Others are as follows: Northwest 58 percent, South-South 57 percent, North Central 56 percent and Southwest 54 percent. Lagos respondents polled 70 percent and 52 percent was from Abuja.

The "Fair" responses were loudest in the Southeast zone with 33 percent. 31, 30, 27, 26 and 25 percent responses are from the Southwest, South-South, Northwest, North Central and Northeast respectively.