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Don’t Rely On Dangote Refinery; Give Nigeria Alternatives – Think-Thank Sets Agenda For ‘President-Elect’ Tinubu On Economy, Security, Others

 FILE
May 26, 2023

The group in a statement issued on Friday, which was jointly signed by its Chairman, Prof. Lucky Akaruese; Publicity Secretary, Debo Adeniran and the Secretary, Prof. Sylvester Odion, said they were under the burden of history to put before the new leadership "a check list of dos and don’ts to steady the polity, improve the wellbeing of our people and consolidate our democracy".
 

The Think-Tank For Democracy, a civic organisation, has set an agenda for the incoming administration of the “President-elect” Bola Tinubu on economy, politics, foreign policy and human rights.
The group in a statement issued on Friday, which was jointly signed by its Chairman, Prof. Lucky Akaruese; Publicity Secretary, Debo Adeniran and the Secretary, Prof. Sylvester Odion, said they were under the burden of history to put before the new leadership "a check list of dos and don’ts to steady the polity, improve the wellbeing of our people and consolidate our democracy".
On the area of economy, the group advocated for the incoming administration to do everything possible to stop the Oil subsidy and reoriented the economy of the country out of consumer nation.
"While there is need to stop the national scam, so-called subsidy, there should be alternative ways to refine fuel locally to stop the pulling of wool over our eyes in the name of a fictional category known as subsidy. We do not believe in waiting for Dangote refinery that is obviously a monopoly venture; a range of alternatives must be made available in the country to stop once and for all, this national heist.
"After all, no individual or government can dictate to Dangote refinery its pricing policies (albeit, what for example should be the cost of a litre of PMS). A comatose economy means misery and sufferings for the people; and solving this problem provides legitimacy for the government of the day. The incoming president must repudiate the World Bank loan as it is a parting gift for the outgoing administration with a consequent deepening of our debt profile."
On the area of politics, the group tasked the incoming president to unleash the necessary policy reforms to strengthen the election management body to be able to conduct a credible, free and fair election, to avoid tensions that have always characterised post elections in the country.
The group warned the incoming president to avoid anything that would undermine the country diversity as characterised in the outgoing administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the group, "There is no gainsaying that the outgoing administration abused and undermined the diversity of our country in ways that hobbled the lines in our former national anthem that says “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand…’ Although we believe that the sense of alienation in the polity today can be addressed by restructuring or the reform of the 1999 Constitution as amended, including working toward the emergence of a peoples’ horizontally and vertically driven constitution, the extant provision in Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution can do justice to the feeling of deprivation and the consequent alienation.
"The in-coming president must be bold ENOUGH to mainstream justice in the direction as espoused above particularly in all appointive positions and in all federal formations."
On the issue of human rights, the group reminded the incoming administration that Nigeria diversely bleed uncontrollably in the last eight years of Buhari administration and advised that it must uphold the sanctity of lives.
It asked the government deal decisively and make the non-state actors ravaging the country to face the full wrath and weight of the law noting that "without security, productive activities can hardly take place."
According to the group under Buhari Administration, "The country has descended into a near (the) Hobbesian state of nature of where life is brutish, nasty and short. Life has been completely devalued and particularly losing its ontological status. The spate of killings across the country, whether by Boko Haram, so-called bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Kidnappers and ritualists is alarming and blood-chilling, and seemingly not in a hurry to retreat.
"The fact that no one or two culprits have been brought to book aggravates the matter. The raison detre of state is the protection of lives and poverty (property). The Nigerian state under President Buhari has grossly failed in this."
On Foreign Policy, the Think-Tank For Democracy advised the incoming administration re-engrossed its foreign policy in relation to China, and the collective West Africa.
According to the group, the country's foreign policy in the last one decade or so, has had no direction. "We must provide leadership for the continent through non-alignment and outright defence of continental interest without intrusion into our national sovereignty by global hegemons and historic imperialist powers."