As Nigerians make plans to elect a new President on February 25, 2023, the credentials of the Vice Presidential candidates have been discussed with noticeable restraint, compared to the scrutiny that shadows the expertise of each Presidential Candidate put forward. This is as a result of the general perception and misconception amongst Nigerians that the office of the Vice President is a spare-tyre role, which can only bear significance at the behest of the President.
In the same thought of assumption, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, despite constitutional assigned roles of participation in all cabinet meetings and by statute, membership in the National Security Council, the National Defence Council, Federal Executive Council, and the Chairman of National Economic Council and handling full Presidential functions in the absence of the President, can be curtailed and restricted to just reading newspapers, receiving visitors and paying condolence visits to troubled places. Some of the Presidents domestic staff have wielded more state powers than the Vice President, who in most instances, are chosen just to balance regional or religious biases.
The Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has repeatedly assured all Nigerians that in his quest to make Nigeria productive and regain her enviable status globally, there will be an evident and a complete change from the past if elected. This means that he will work closely with his resourceful Vice Presidential candidate, Sen. Dr .Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, to position Nigeria for greatness.
There is no general consensus among Nigerians about what the next leaders of the country must have, but there are commonly agreed and accepted character traits the masses look forward to in the next Aso Rock leaders.
In the pristine words of the revered statesman and founding father of Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in a speech delivered in London in 1961, “The influence which a nation exerts, the respect which it enjoys, and the prestige accorded to it on the world scene, depend on two important factors: the size of its wealth and the calibre of its leadership. Granting an incorruptible, courageous, public-spirited, enlightened and dynamic leadership, the wealth of a nation is the fountain of its strength.”
For Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed who has been schooled from the University of Maiduguri with a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Economics, to a Doctorate degree iin Westminster, United Kingdom, this list is not necessarily comprehensive. Yet, some of the top qualities he brings into the big job are simply stellar and represents a cut-out of the same cloth with some of the founding fathers of our Nation.
Private Sector background
“Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow men.”
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Mahatma Gandhi
When you look closely at the profile of Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed, you would find that he has a knack for problem-solving, whilst looking at the bigger picture of serving the nation. From his brief stint as a banker, to setting up his private business and now running one of the biggest private universities in Nigeria—Baze University, Abuja, the focus has been a real need to deliver solutions that fix larger problems without adding complexities. All these have been done within Nigeria in various sectors with a view to nation building, using the best brains available. Like Mr. Peter Obi, who also has an exemplary private sector background which has helped in fostering a problem-solving culture that focuses on creative, innovative and timely execution of projects.
Taking a look at how our public service system works, the rules in government were not designed for just effectiveness or efficiency. They were designed for fairness and to prevent fraud and to eliminate conflicts of interest. A federal government, with its immense size in a multicultural, ethnic and religious country like Nigeria, can’t operate like a private company, however, the mission is making taxpayers see a government that works and creates an enabling environment —maximizing impact for all Nigerians . Having successfully made great strides in the private sector, we can’t expect anything less from Datti Baba-Ahmed when he takes the saddle as Vice President in a Labour Party Government.
Strong Legislative Experience
“The real purpose of the opposition is to minimize the amount of money, the ruling party will have stolen from the people at the end of its term.”
—Mokokoma Mokhonoana
That Datti Ahmed was once a vibrant and progressive-minded member of both the House of Reps and Senate will be a plus to the Labour Party (LP) led government. There is an ongoing conversation that if Labour Party (LP) wins the Presidential election in 2023, they won’t have majority control of the National Assembly. The 2023 election has thrown four, front line candidates – meaning that we might likely see more parties, winning seats in the National Assembly (109 Senate, 360 Representatives). History takes us back to the second Republic, where 5 major parties competed for power in the general elections in 1979. The Party that won the Presidential elections did not also have a majority in Parliament.
Shehu Shagari (NPN) emerged the winner of the 1979 presidential elections, defeating Azikiwe (NPP) and Awolowo (UPN), in a very close and controversial election. The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) also occupied 36 of 95 Senate seats, 165 of 443 House of Representatives. They lacked an overwhelming majority in either the Senate or House of Representatives. It was forced to form a coalition government with the NPP (Nigeria Peoples Party). With the coalition, while the NPN was able to produce the Senate President in Dr. Joseph Wayas from Cross River State, the NPP produced the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in Chief Ume Ezeoke from old Anambra State. With a likely unpredictable voting pattern all over the country in February 2023, we anticipate the same level of coalition and alliance of political parties to produce a leadership for the National Assembly that has the interest of the masses in 2023 and beyond.
Taking into consideration the powers the constitution bestows on the National Assembly , if you blink an eye, the institution has the capacity to drive the government to a direction you cannot control. Datti won’t be the Senate President or Speaker but with a decent number of legislators from his Party he can be the Eagle-eye, watching over the Parliament for the Labour Party Government. This will still have to come with some compromises, except the President wants to run the country on executive orders, which comes with its judicial pitfalls.
As a young member of the House of Reps in 2003, Datti Ahmed was one of the leading proponents of Fiscal Responsibility Management and inflated contracts Bill to curb waste in government. This was part of what later translated into the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) passed into law in 2007 . The FRA led to the setting up of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, which is central to Nigeria’s quest for improvements in fiscal governance— which the Labour Party seeks to implement from the word ‘go’. In clear terms, Fiscal Responsibility is ingrained in Chapter 3 of the Labour Party manifesto. As a matter of fact, the Party is the only major party that has Fiscal Responsibility as a cardinal objective when elected into power. That therefore, means that whoever is appointed as chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, will be defiantly-intolerant to corruptible practices as the position involves monitoring budget implementation in the various MDAs at both the Federal and State levels to avoid mismanagement of public funds.
With the yearly cry by our Presidents over the padding and jerking up of the Budget figures by the National Assembly, vigilance from the Presidential Villa will save the country from economic waste.
Anti-Corruption Advocate
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
—Abraham Lincoln
One of the tragedies of our democracy is the failure of elected public servants to control their appetite to steal from Government. In the wisdom of the Federal government in 2003, Nigeria needed a Legislative quarters, where all elected 360 National Assembly member will live in, in order to concentrate on the burden of law making. This resulted in the construction of a massive estate in Apo . It is on record that after the first set who used it between 2005 – 2007 and were meant to vacate the premises at the expiration or termination of office, only two legislators including Datti Ahmed handed over the keys to the National Assembly for new sets of legislators who were elected in 2007. The others were foot-dragging after the session and later sold it cheap to themselves. That singular decision has till date, created so many financial problems for Nigeria because when legislators get elected into the National Assembly and come to Abuja, settling down becomes a big problem for most of them who do not have houses in Abuja. If everyone in the 5th Assembly had been selfless, patriotic and less covetous like Sen. Datti Baba-Ahmed, we would never had seen this level of greed by National Assembly members today, who are desperate to own personal properties in Abuja by any means possible .
When Peter Obi says he didn’t acquire a plot of Land as Governor of Anambra state in 8 years, Datti Ahmed can also tell Nigerians that when he had the opportunity to take over his apartment in Apo legislator’s quarters in 2007, he chose the part of honour and love for his country by handing over the keys to the Federal Government for the next occupant. This is a honourable act, which only comes from a man who has conquered greed and material lust.
Datti Baba-Ahmed has also shown little or no desperation like most of the typical day-to-day career politicians who pretend to be leaders. In his own words in a televised interview, he said;
“Nobody who buys delegates’ votes will do anything good for Nigeria. I withdrew from PDP governorship race in Kaduna because God has not created me as one that will buy delegates votes. When Labour party called me to be Peter Obi’s running mate, I embraced it because I like the Presidential candidate and his principle. I was born in 1969, I am 53 years old. I am highly honoured to be part of the project to change Nigeria for good.”
We cannot also forget that Yusuf Datti Ahmed was one of the leading voices in the House of Reps, who rejected bribes and vehemently spoke against the third-term elongation of executive offices in the constitution.
If a young man in his early 30s, elected into the Federal Parliament could maintain that level of principled and patriotic standpoint, it attests to his high ethical and incorruptible standards as a human being.
Educational and Institutional reforms
“Every institution can be credible and great if its officials qualify the moral values, discipline, and honesty within constitutional limits.” —Ehsan Sehgal
Nigerians have been embarrassed by the unending strikes and poor working conditions of University lecturers in the past decade. Our tertiary institutions, which served the most of the adult generation including Datti Ahmed (University of Maiduguri) and Peter Obi (University of Nigeria, Nsukka) and is gradually losing its glory.
It is an open secret that Baze University, Abuja, which is owned by the Datti Ahmed is one of the best running Private Universities in Nigeria. For a University which is barely a decade old, founded in 2011 to have approvals for six functional faculties including a whole new Institution in the form of a teaching Hospital. It speaks volumes of the spirit of excellence that Datti Baba-Ahmed possesses, in human resource management. By the middle of 2023, Baze University will be going green and clean as equipment for the 5 Megawatt solar plant is about to take off. At a time when the National power grid persistently fluctuates. For someone who has worked the talk, Nigerians will be surprised if massive reforms are not put in place to transform the most crucial sector to nation building, which is education.
A breakdown of allocation to education in the last seven years of Buhari’s Administration shows that in 2016, the Nigerian budget for education was 7.9 per cent. In 2017, it was 6.1 per cent. In 2018, it was 7.1 per cent. In 2019, it was 8.4 per cent. In 2020, it was 6.5 per cent. In 2021, it was 5.6 per cent. In 2022, it is 5.4 per cent. This is a clear indication that Nigeria public education sector is struggling to survive even when there are many students who want to be in school. From the basic to tertiary levels, education is a key to escaping poverty and enabling upward socio-economic mobility. With the frequent reference by Peter Obi of the number of out-of-school children in the North, there is no better reformer who will champion a revamp in our educational sector, than his Vice.
Of the several external forces shaping the future of higher education, the future of Nigeria’s Universities will be shaped by one critical uncertainty I.e. Shifting role of Government. To what extent will the government play a hands-on or a hands-off role in higher education?
Beyond just budgeting, when issues surrounding the autonomy and payments imbroglio is not dealt with by a serious leadership, we will never have an end to the strikes by ASUU. The manner at which the Labour and Education ministers dealt with ASUU in the last lengthy strike of 2022 was a clear case of giving a Surgeon’s job to a Carpenter. From the ministerial perspective, it lacked every form of comradeship, professional understanding, empathy and clear-cut solutions.
If Presidents are quick to be Ministers of Petroleum in Nigeria, why do we not have a President or his Vice angling to be the Minister of Education and who says Datti Ahmed can’t fit into this office. This keeps him closer to academics, thinkers and solution finders. There will be real opportunities for collaboration between the academia and policymakers to improve the way the country is governed. In the final analysis, Good politics is about good governance, which can only come from good polices from sound brains who run government.
Pan Nigerian
“The cost of disintegration (of Nigeria) is higher than the cost of being together. We have everything to gain by being united than disunited.” — Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
Datti has proven beyond all possible doubts that he is a well travelled man with a broad mind and can blend with the high and the low from every region of the country. So many Nigeria politicians who have ascended to the peak of National politics, are desperate to perpetuate nepotism and ethnoreligious biases— where excellence should be considered first. The first few months of the campaigns, he was able to educate and clean the minds of ethnic and religious bigots that Peter Obi is not against any religion and tribe. He chose to work with Obi because he believes in his character, competence and capacity to move Nigeria forward. From his track records, no nation makes progress in that manner. In his own words, “You can go through my business and political career and see how careful I have been in selecting people that work with me. Go to the website and see those that work with me; there’s nothing to hide. I have successfully convinced a large number of our people in the North to understand that our being together as Nigeria is designed by God.”
Nigeria needs men with this mindset if we want to move Nigeria forward.
Securing, uniting and making Nigeria productive, requires a mentally sound leadership with characters we can trust. That assurance is something all Nigerians desire. It is safer and more expedient to hand over the leadership of Nigeria to men with proven track records of excellence than those who have a baggage of stealing and corruption. There is an age long Chinese Proverb that says; “Rotten wood cannot be carved; dung walls cannot be trowelled.”
Nigerians can look into the profile of the Vice-Presidential candidate of the Labour Party with very high expectations because he has built institutions from the scratch. As a private individual that provides near excellent quality services, he has served in the public office and maintained one of the highest level of sincerity.
A vote for Obi-Datti is putting Nigeria on the path of transformational leadership.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Douglas Baye-Osagie is of the committee, Legislative Advisory, PCC of the Labour Party.
