Mangaing partner, Uburu Communications and social commentator Tony Usidamen has encouraged the incoming government to cut down drastically in the cost of governance and focus more in providing the basic needs of the common man. Tony made this know in an interview session on "Sunrise Daily", a daily programme on Channels television. According to Tony, Nigerians are looking forward to War against corruption, food security, accelerated power supply, integrated transport network, increased access to healthcare and education, affordable housing, devolution of power and accelerated economic growth are central to the change that the APC promised.
"Though noble (and in line with the expectations of Nigerians) these programmes aren't novel, as - let's face it - they have formed the basis of electoral campaigns of all previous Nigerian governments. To succeed, therefore, the Buhari administration must be ready to do what others before it didn't - have not just the "balls" (willpower) but the ingenuity to effectively carry out these plans. As Stephen Sondheim noted, “Having just the vision is no solution, everything depends on execution!”
In the immediate to short term, I expect the government of Buhari to look to reducing the cost of governance in the country, (view video below) not only by advocating pay cuts for political office holders - as is being proposed by some - but by plugging loopholes in the public finance system that permit stealing and encourage wastage.
Monies saved through this medium can them be channeled into financing some of the administration's medium to long term capital programmes. Of course, the government cannot directly finance the industrial development of the nation all by itself, and so must encourage private sector participation and continue to make the nation an attractive foreign direct investment haven.
Critical to the realisation of its goals is the effective mobilisation of support for its policies and programmes from the citizenry, and information management is key to that process. Well orchestrated public relations efforts will ensure that there is no communication breakdown between the government and the people (a major achilles heel of the Jonathan government) and build trust - a requisite without which every government will fail, even with the best of intentions!
Tony Usidamen is a Public Relations guru, Social Commentator and managing partner of Uburu Communications.
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