I have called this press conference to announce that I am a candidate for the Presidency and to ask for the support of all Nigerians, who share the believe that our nation need to embark on a new constructive course to birth a “New Dawn” for a greater purpose of moving our nation forward.
I am running because I have a ground increasingly concern about the course of event in Nigeria-increasing inflation, unemployment, insecurity and growing infrastructure deficit couple with our inability to produce what to consume as a nation.
I believe my candidacy will be healthy for our great nation and my party as we usher in a “New Dawn Movement”
NEW DAWN! ENOUGH!!
Myself. Who am I and why am I here?
For far too long, and now too often in our national life, many great minds had deliberately stayed away from the political process. They chose the convenient option of staying aloof rather than staking their personal reputation and relative comfort on the altar of Nation Building. The consequence has manifested itself in different forms, poverty in the midst of plenty, runaway corruption, growing inequality, the exclusion of women in the economic and political spheres, insecurity, decrepit infrastructure and social services.
“The ultimate traded is not the oppression and cruelly by the bad people but the silence over the by the good people”~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
The privilege of hindsight teaches today that no progressing nation has short-circuited growing pains, without the dedication and sacrifice of capable patriotic men and women. They all, at some point, have come to the same conclusion that: “to sit it out and groan, is no longer an option.”
This Declaration Speech is entitled “New Dawn Movement” (a Movement by the entire Nigerians, market women, students, farmers, Private sectors etc) but I want listeners and voters to fully understand that for me a new dawn movement must be a clean break with our past. Change is the lifeblood of public life – new people must step onto our national stage and that means fresh blood from Nigerians at home and Nigerian abroad.
My name is Yakubu Mohammed. I am an Engineer by rigorous training, a Professional Project Engineer and Manager for over 4 decades, and now an International Energy Transformation
Leader across multiple countries. My career as an engineer and international business person has been all about transformation.
My humble beginnings, post National Youth Service NYSC, was a site project engineer at Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC. I progressed to the Design and Build Lead Engineering Manager for a majority of our national reservoirs, depots, pipelines and loading platforms, including Calabar, Mosimi, Suleja and others, that were conceived and designed in-house within the NNPC Engineering and Technical Division.
I’m proud to have been one of the very few recipients of the NNPC’s Citation and recommendation. I’m a product of a promising era that held high hopes for our energy rich nation, matched in scale of extraction by Saudi Arabia and it’s own ARAMCO, but sadly, not in talent or vision. I was privileged to have been part of the vision that empowered NNPC to build a national network of distribution facilities, 4 National refineries, and multi stakeholder IOC-led oil and gas field development that was the envy of the world.
Today, Aramco has grown to a 2 trillion-dollar company and is by far the most influential commercial operator in most industries in the world, and not just in oil and gas; whilst its contemporary, our dearest NNPC, is gasping for financial air. This is gravely worrisome and no longer acceptable!
Today, many years after my 25 years service with the NNPC, I lead an indigenous but global Oiland Gas entity, that provides revolutionised solutions for energy security for countries, and by
God’s grace, consistently records humble success.
Meanwhile, the possible superior solutions we have earmarked for Nigeria’s energy security and national prosperity have been stalled. The political will to deliver these advancements in the interest of the people is now subservient to personal expediency of politics.
Much of our recent national experience sadly, is the brazen capture of state power and resources for personal gain, and virulent self ambition in order to capture and impersonate more political power, to acquire even more resources.
I was born to a humble family of subsistence farmers and petty traders from Auchi, Etsako Local Government Area in Edo State. My Late father Mallam Yakubu Ibrahim was an Islamuc Scholar and my Late Mother was a full house wife “Kulle” I would hawk pap in the morning before I would begin a thirty-minute trek to a local authority primary school. Due to parental discipline, a conscientious mentor, and personal rigour, I developed a proclivity for mathematics.
I was then enabled to attend higher education to study first, civil engineering, and then went back to study mechanical engineering. I needed to acquire practical knowledge and skills to help build the infrastructural base of our energy sector. God willing, we started the process well, and build, we did!
I completed my National Youth Service with NNPC and retained as an employee in 1981. This career trajectory, for the son of a nobody can hardly be found today. From Abakaliki to Zungeru and Talata Mafara to Okitipupa, the dream of organic growth and success have fled our nation’s youth and left them in despair.
Education is no longer accessible and qualitative. Enough of our decay as a nation. We must change the narrative. We know our problems, and truth be told, we have work to do!
Our Country – which way?
Nigeria is gripped today in the throes of mistrust and a cacophony of disparate angry voices, who are all acutely aware of the problems, but very rarely agree on the viable solutions, simply because we have lost the ability to trust any process. This is understandable. Trust deficit in public and private spaces are due to decades of trust attrition, occasioned by several betrayals of public trust by leaders in the public and private elite establishment, past and present, and in differing degrees.
There are now those who have taken to insubordinate protestations with ghastly consequences. Some others have taken matters further in a desperate and deadly manner, by taking up arms against the state and its citizens. The general environment is now beclouded in a shocking aura of insecurity.
Our politician class has also not been helpful. As our country convulses in an orgy of depraved violence, societal breakdown and the rending of our national fabric, politicians are yet scrambling to acquire more personal wealth and power; To become the owners of Nigeria, no matter how wounded and fractured it has become, seems to be the bewildering ambition at all cost! THIS
MUST STOP! THE INTEREST OF NIGERIA AND HER PEOPLE MUST TAKE PRIORITY!
Power must be returned to the people to choose governance options at all levels, with an ambitious and unprecedented opening up of democratic spaces. From the village units, local area committees and local governments, to local political accountability by the police, security and justice system redesigned to protect and project individual enterprises, businesses and society, rather than act as praetorian guards of the rapacious elite class. A massive reform program with qualified stakeholders will be needed to action effectively, what many have referred to as the national question.
The economic conditions locally and globally, have further heaped hardship on our beleaguered population. Poverty and unemployment levels have risen cheek by jowl, to further perpetrateevil upon our land. There seems to be no respite, in spite of the hundreds of billions from CBN, in addition to the trillions budgeted in the last few years. These are the experiences of our people, they are real and cannot be wished away. We need to acknowledge the problems, and then understand their root-causes, and prepare a well-thought-out action plan to tackle them.
Our people, who are they?
THE YOUNG:
The 0-5 Year-Old. All life is sacred. Our young born should outperform all UN indices for child mortality. Vaccinations, illness prevention, and eliminating malnutrition, is priority to rearing toddlers that warms one’s heart and soul, when we set our eyes on them. We are, unfortunately, forced to face the unsavoury reality of malnutrition, disease, and untimely mortality of children, much more than most countries in the world. We have internal displacement from communities that exacerbates these challenges. Fixing our children to be the bedrock of our next generation must be a national desire. We can refocus on this scale with the right results.
The 6-12 Year-Old. This category of our bright future deserves special attention. Today, primary
schools, that are at the centre of the character building of a nation is at best passive. A completenational re-armament, in the scale of our national security budget, is the first step in realignment of our national priorities. If we get it right at this stage, our nation will be transformed completely and positively in the next 2 decades.
THE YOUTH:
From secondary level and up to 3rd level education and training, a national rethink is mandatory.
The current model is dead. The approach to repeat crisis after crisis is unsustainable. A national youth emergency is necessary to align education with modern realities, and also the needs of the economy. Our young vibrant population thirsty for education and achievement, bursting with creative youthful energy waiting to be harnessed, for the task of economic growth and national redemption should not be impeded or hobbled.
I align with their aspirations and will be a strong force to galvanise their efforts, not throttle and diminish them. If we can’t be of much help, our least job is to take off the chains of maltreatmentand unproductive authoritarianism. Sòrò soke! Speak out!! We have work to do.
THE WORKING AGE:
The world of work is being completely revolutionised before our eyes. New themes like remote working, and roles like Digital Transformation Architects etc. have us re-imagining the workplace of the future and government role in it. Public sector reform should be a conscious and logical action, to promote not just efficiency or improving payroll, but also about how Public Service supports and promotes the building out of a thriving private sector, that grows ever more quality jobs.
The delivery and maintenance of equity and equality in public and private workplaces, ways to increase productivity and rewards systems are my key priorities, to solution for a bedrock of quality for national transformation.
THE RETIRED:
The unforgivable looting of pension funds, maladministration and misappropriation, are simply a function of an archaic system of pension management. The transfer of all pension funds into private-sector-led investment vehicles, is now highly desirable and inevitable. Pension planning and retirement benefits must be part of a public-private engagement, that will be designed to solve the problems that we have now unfortunately become accustomed. We can then take care of all our pensioners with dignity and qualitative services.
THE AGE:
We need an Aged Nigerian Manifesto. We must as a nation change our attitude towards the Aged, to protect and maintain their dignity; and ensure that crimes against them are stamped out, and special considerations such as free bus passes, eyewear, hearing aids, as well as pension-
linked medical insurance are available to the over 75yr old. They must all be awarded a state pension, to guarantee their dignity and independence.
So what do we need to do urgently now?
With the plethora of challenges facing our nation, we need to highlight the absolute baselines necessary to restart our prosperity engine. To isolate despair, we must with urgency begin by paying focus to these agenda points. Hope must be reborn. We must look at the 7 curated list:
1 Institutional Reforms to Promote Growth and Enhance Security
Our approach to security of life and property must be rooted in our economic ideology. We must place private property and wealth creation at the heart of government security policy. That would mean directing that public servants provide proof of facility for private enterprise. The government will not provide jobs, or run economic activities, but actively provide support and robust equitable regulation that ensures the private sector creation of jobs in all aspects of our economy.
Jobs, jobs and more quality jobs that pays enough for more than survival is our way out of insecurity. We have to treat the underlying conditions of hopelessness and despair. Then we can attack the greed and gaping opportunities that compels those who are negatively minded to do us harm.
The security architecture will be prioritised with tools to make agile decisions that responds to nip crimes and criminals, but also with the right tools and resources deployed to intelligence operations and counter terrorism with patriotism.
The current out-modeled hierarchical nature of command and decision communication of our security agencies will be evaluated and modified for operational efficiency fit for purpose.
- Economic Reforms with Stable Macros
Confronting the economic structures with the right public, fiscal and monetary policies to support private sector job creation, will be the life goal of our government. The attrition of the Naira against USD in forex markets are to be a settled issue. Our import dependent economy will be revised by providing real-sector support initially through tax and investment subsidies and guarantees. We will invite and collaborate with Central Bankers to refocus from pre-bendal capital and discretionary financing of the real sector, to private banking interest rate swaps and real sector loan guarantees to SMEs. Our monetary policies will be directed, not to mindlessly defend the value of the Naira and provide government liquidity, but on actions to maintain private sector viability and prosperity like interest rates deflation.
3 Agricultural Economy and Rural Revolution
My passion is Agriculture for life. The role of food creation as the basis for national wealth wont be overemphasised. We will deploy innovation to generate 10 million active jobs from a national drive to grow Nigerian. Our corn, millet, rice, wheat, yams, cassava, sorghum, cashew, cocoa, avocado, mangoes, oranges and other fruits, tomatoes, vegetables, livestock, poultry and sundry output in primary, secondary processed states will become a combined effort of all Nigerians. We will ensure private sector leadership, create markets and exchanges for profit oriented business that satisfy local demand and generate quality for exports.
Innovative rural schemes that are supported by industry and government guarantees, will be deployed to re-energise the countryside and make rural life a choice not to be endured but idyllic and fulfilling.
4 Infrastructure Capacity Optimisation
We will build on the progress our infrastructure capacity by leveraging public-private partnerships with established PLCs to manage and maintain what we have. These strategic national interest partnerships will be enhanced to generate new capital and funding access for more investment in power generation, roads and rail, ports and terminals as well as energy supply infrastructure. A new model of management for national stability and growth.
5 Adopting Relevant Technologies to Leapfrog Governance Challenges
Contrary to fears around emerging technologies like Blockchain, we will leverage on these innovations to re-inform and re-imagine governance. From public sector delivery of regulated
services, to security management, climate change challenges, energy supply, distribution and billing, we will actively promote the development and deployment of home grown technology solutions to ease our challenges. We will call on our talented and growing base of gifted technologists and digital entrepreneur to provide easily audit-able open source solutions on every sector of government. This will be so exciting and opportunities for job creation, digital literacy, improved performance, savings and excellence.
6 Social Re-engineering with Education and Lifelong Learning as Springboard
We will bring an all government multilevel and stakeholder approach to education.
As stated above, we will divert government resources to quality primary education, with unequivocal commitment to a future that will transform Nigeria. We will allow the thriving of our children and discourage with stiff sanctions, any course that lead to their trauma.
Traditional learning models will be integrated to digital literacy and physical education with life-skills training, to build the character needed for national transformation.
The re-emphasis on skills needed for industry, re-prioritisation of national disposition towards skilled artisans and middle class labour providers. Provision of support to decentralised industry-led skills training for national development. Introduce public private partnership for technical and skills education by extended management and fundingpathways. Provision of grants and loans to student and graduates with Tax linked payback system to ensure gainful employment and deployment of skills.
7 National Social Partnership – a Multi-Year Programme for Prosperity & Fairness
Incessant industrial disputes and strikes in education, social and business sectors will be tackled. The issues of isolated and specialist privilege negotiations will be jettisoned. We will establish a funded National Partnership for Prosperity and Fairness. We will model this after a hugely successful Irish programme that paved the way for unleashing that country’s economic prosperity.
The role of organised labour unions, business leaders, government and other stakeholders, through unbiased umpires in setting the threshold of collective bargaining and institutional changes requires to activate budget commitments to deliver on the dreams of the likes of ASUU, NASU, Labour Congresses and esteemed worker Unions. This will be a governing partnership to decide budgets and spending. It will be the Third Pillar of delivering public policy objectives in our government actively supporting and supported by the public sector.
How we do all these? – Harness Resources.
The most important aspect of any meaningful plan is to Capture the Needed Resources, to Successfully Execute the Strategic Objectives. Nigeria is always full of plans, not always measured, but we are also aware of a deep financial crisis arising out of our inability to position the economy and the golden-goose Oil and Gas industry, for optimum returns. I will work night and day to change this dilemma, and would give special focus to the following dozen revenues policy streams, for a start –
- Energy Security – from electricity for homes and businesses and fuels for transport and
generation - Deepening the Value Recovery of Oil and Gas with Multilevel Players
- Export-led Growth by a Supported Network of Local Stakeholders
- Agriculture and Smallholder Focus with Real Partnerships transcending government
- SMEs Support and Real Capital Assistance Driven Through Mandated Institutions
- De-leveraging the Financial Sector and Pegging Deposits to Lending
- Open Budgeting and Procurement Processes that are Fit for Purpose
- Luxury Consumption Taxes and Demerits System Applied Through Tax Reform
- Open Forex Policy and Diaspora Digital Naira Repatriation
- Legalised Naira Crypto Exchange Routes for Digital Creative and Entrepreneurs
- NNPC and Central Bank Reform and Accountability
These simple headline-ideas to revamp the National Treasury will be combined with a root and branch revision of our current spending envelopes for maximum efficiency. We no longer have the option of continuing on the path that has led us here. We must engage and move. It must be you and me.
In the words of Edmund Burke:
”The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.
My name is Engineer Yakubu Mohammed. I am contesting for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC.
God Bless Nigerians. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Engineer Yakubu Mohammed
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The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.