Now let's also tackle jumbo pay. The same day the subsidy officially ends, there should be a 20% cut in recurrent expenditure, mostly from ending jumbo pay. After all, there has long been an outcry to curb spending on those perks - free cars, food, clothing, shelter, travel, "contracts", "security votes", "constituency allowances", I mean, what is all that rubbish?
I actually think the National Assembly should be conducted by email or video conferencing on most days, to meet in Abuja monthly. My Senator should not necessarily drive a car. I want to share a keke / bus ride with the woman. Otherwise, what are you representing in the Nat.Ass.? Your husband? Your pocket?
THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY IN 2012
The economic priority for 2012 ought to be the following: getting a breakthrough in the drive to get 100 billion USD worth of investment over the next 3-4 years. This means at a minimum we want $10billion worth of investments in the Electric Power sector and another $10bn in refining, manufacturing, and services, for a total of $20bn in 2011-2012. How is the Ministry of Trade and Investments doing, as this is their mandate?
In setting this investment target, I remember that the stated mission of the Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala (and the IMF president Lagarde) is to create jobs. Well, getting investment from large companies, from the Chinese and Indians and Americans and Europeans, ought to create jobs. I also will not forget that as I write there's no electricity in the house (so I'm rushing this post). $10 billion invested in electric power is verifiably about 10,000MW added to the available power (or 3X the current capacity). I also see that the moves to clean up the port processes, restructure government spending towards investment, and institute a managed Sovereign Wealth Fund, are part of what we need for financial health. I'm pretty impatient to see some of these changes.
NIGERIAN SOCIETY IN 2012
1. Internet everywhere.2. Lower birthrate (MAGIC NUMBER THREE)
3. Cool agric. For example, where are the ads in the Tuesday Guardian newspaper calling graduates to market agric commodities or work in food processing? Where are the Agric Chic fashion shows? We do have a few cool things - the agric loan guarantees, the role models in agric-related business...we just need more sexiness around agric in general.
Pics: AGRIC CHIC Sketches
POLITICAL
Jail Jail Jail - self-explanatory. Gangsters abound because there seems to be no punishment.
Cut cut cut - end the jumbo pay. make politics just a normal-paid job.
Local government - Every Nigerian 12 years and up should answer two questions: where is my local government? Do we have a monthly Local Government meeting?
THE NEXT DIVERSION
Naturally, the Presidency will revive the debate on tenure elongation. No, Mr. President, you can not extend your own tenure. A simple fact, really, but you can waste time trying. Let's fix electric power and MAYBE talk re-election. Otherwise, 1245 days to go. You can do it!
1 comment:
7 months down, 5 to go. This government has been racing through its to-do list, particularly on the economic front.
The public has some to-do items as well, which have been barely acknowledged e.g. BIRTHRATE awareness and birth control, cool AGRIC (although The Future Awards has a new agric category, and the YouWIN grants were awarded to many in farming and related businesses), and the LOCAL level of government which remains non-existent. The citizens are too busy travelling to work daily to engage in the local governments.
Add to the to-do list (2013?) environmental matters - smoke pollution is at dangerous levels. (Lagos and Ogun states and more)
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