Buhari on Healthcare

Awareness

The Maternal death rate of Nigeria is higher than the average for Sub-Saharan Africa so in one respect by formulating policy on maternal healthcare the CPC has acknowledged the problem. But in another respect they could have gone further to link such a high maternal mortality rate to the prevalence of under-age brides in certain parts of the country. The manifesto also acknowledges the importance of infant healthcare and regular and reliable drug supply. Also by mentioning the need for health insurance there is a nod to the issue of funding the healthcare system.

Beyond this the Buhari/Bakare manifesto could have gone further and highlighted the human resource problems facing the healthcare sector, the need for infrastructure and how the issues of health tie in with other issues such as education, sanitation etc.

Ambititon

The plan to extend free healthcare to pregnant women, children under the age of 18, the elderly over the age of 70 and people suffering from infectious diseases such as TB and HIV/AIDS has to be seen as very ambitious. In essence he (Buhari) is extending free healthcare to the majority of people who will need it in Nigeria (if the policy was extended to include malaria in the infectious diseases then he would be granting free healthcare to virtually all who need it). It will be an enormous task to train and equip enough people to do it and to ensure that the institutions built will be adequately funded and staffed.

Detail

Two of the policies in this section are well outlined. To be fair they are very blanket policies of free healthcare to a number of people and introducing a better drug management system. However, there is no information as to when they are likely to be implemented, how they will be funded and how they will be monitored. The policy to reform and strengthen the health insurance scheme is very vague, there is no indication which direction the reform will take and there is definitely no measureable goal against which its achievement can be measured.

My View

Firstly a promise to provide almost universal free healthcare doesn’t sit well with the principles of liberalism and free market economics that is stated in the mission section of the document. Secondly I think that rather than scaling up state involvement in healthcare, we should be scaling it down. The same way the state is committed to universal basic education; it should be committed to universal basic healthcare and nothing more. The state should ensure that everyone has access to a minimal but evenly distributed level of healthcare and after that the private sector should be allowed to do the rest. The issues of maternal/infant mortality and infectious diseases can be better tackled in cheaper ways such as through better education, better sanitation and better primary healthcare to detect issues before they go too far. Also any real discussion of maternal health in Nigeria cannot be had without a discussion of child brides particularly in Northern Nigeria, were state legislatures have been reluctant to pass laws restricting marriage to minors. As with this Manifesto’s section on education, if you believe that the problem with healthcare in Nigeria is not with the system but rather with the performance of the system then this is a very ambitious and good plan. But as with education, I do not believe this.

Scores (out of 5)

Awareness: 3.0

Ambition: 4.0

Detail: 1.5

My View: 2.25

Buhari on Education

Awareness

There is little done in the manifesto itself to expound the need for education or the problems facing the education sector. However, there is a level of awareness that can be inferred from the policies out forward. The policies show awareness of the need to review the curriculums being taught in school and an awareness of the demand for education that is often coupled with lack of access to it. His policies also demonstrate a commitment to the Universal Basic Education (UBE) goal.

That said there are a lot of areas that the diminutive section on education doesn’t touch on. There is no mention of the quality of education in terms of the abilities/availability/commitment of the teachers and the availability of equipment and resources. It makes no reference to how schools are controlled and funded. It also neglects the education of girl-children and nomads, which need special attention in Nigeria.

Ambition

The first policy for universal attendance of junior secondary school is part of the nine years of education (UBE) commitment of the Millennium Development Goals to which Nigeria is a signatory. So this should really be seen as a pre-requisite for any current or future administration, although the compulsory continuation to senior secondary education and the emphasis on functionality throughout do show a level of ambition.

The ambition of any curriculum review depends on the review of the curriculum itself. Whether it will simply bring up to date outdated learning systems or practices or will choose to overhaul the whole thing remains to be seen.

The establishment of an education bank, geared at providing student loans will be a monumental task. Not only the initial difficulty of setting up and financing it, but the establishment of a system that will ensure that the bank is able to recover the money it lends will also be difficult.

Detail

This section of the plan only provides the policies in its barest forms. As already noted, there is no expounding of the scale of the issue, so too is there very little detail given of the how. The question with many of the policies will be how will they be funded (privately/publicly, federal/state) and how will they be monitored to ensure that standards are kept and in these regards the manifesto has nothing to say.

My View

I think that education should be the bedrock of any political manifesto for these upcoming elections. The ramifications of a good education system are wide reaching in terms of everything from crime to health to the economy and so I was particularly disappointed in this section.  I feel there is a need for a revolution in the education sector that will ensure UBE for all Nigerians, but beyond that will not just follow the trend. The focus really ought to be on vocational training and sector specific training. There are a multitude of unemployed graduates so stop funnelling more 16-18 year olds into an inadequate university system. The plan is not offensive to me, I understand if you believe the current 6-6-(4) or 6-3-3-(4) system of education is eventually going to come good in Nigeria then this is what needs to be done, but I don’t believe that.

Scores (Out of 5)

Awareness: 2.0

Ambition: 3.0

Detail: 0.5

My View: 1.5

Ribadu on Women

Awareness
The plan seems very aware, at least in terms of rhetoric, of the importance of women to society, but fails to acknowledge why women are so important: their role in child education, their role in primary healthcare, their role in household saving and small enterprise. It also ignores how the treatment of women varies according to region, religion, wealth and socio economic status.

Ambition
The implementation of the Beijing Declaration, the World Summit Declaration, The Ouagadougou Plan of action and the MDGs may on the surface seem ambitious, but is difficult to say. The MDG was to remove disparity in primary education by 2005 and at all levels by 2015, if it aims at full implementation of the target perhaps it should be seen as ambitious as the 2005 targets haven't been met. The Beijing declaration set targets for 2000 and its targets haven't been met yet either.

Detail
There is no detail given as to what is going to be done in order to meet the internationally agreed goal. It doesn't say how much will be spent or how it would be funded. There is no mention of any concrete policy as to how to increase female participation in politics or increase the value of women's health, security or safety. In fact there is not one single policy statement in the this section.

My view
In the 21st Century, 'women issues' are acknowledged as a key component of any development plan. It however seems hard to formulate and implement policies that would have real effects on the fortune of women and 'girl-children'. However, I feel that the plan could have been more explicit in a commitment to fight child marriage and perhaps introduce an education programme that is part-time for young mothers. That said, the male dominance and the mentality of Nigerian society makes the discussion of women issues difficult, so Team Ribadu must be commended for their awareness of the problem

Scores (Out of 5)
Awareness: 2.5
Ambition: 3.0
Detail: 0.5
My View: 3.0

Ribadu on Education

Awareness
In terms of education, Ribadu seems to be aware of the problem - in its scope, scale, causes and implications. He highlights the role of education for the economic and social development of the country and the need to make education a priority. The plan acknowledges the full range of issues in education: the issues of access to and capacity of educational institutions; the lack of a unified programme on education; the problem of specific disadvantage groups (girl child, alamjiri, nomads etc) and the issue of quality assurance. However, it doesn't address Universal Basic Education (UBE) explicitly.

Ambition
The plan doesn't lay out exactly what it wants to address or how. There is a specific reference made to the priority of funding and the need to meet the UNESCO recommendation on funding education. It also mentions the need to create a unified body in charge of education as well as improved inspection of schools. If we assume that every issue raised is to be addressed, then the plan is very ambitious but otherwise it lacks any real ambition.

Detail
The document is very detailed in its awareness of the problem, however it is very scanty on detail in regards to his goals and even more so in terms of how they are to be achieved.

My View
Education is important and should be the priority of any new government. It has the power to ameliorate a lot of the other problems facing Nigeria. Ribadu does a good job of expounding the problem but for me doesn't stress the importance of education. I think he should have made a commitment to UBE not just in the quantitative aspect of 100% education but in the qualitative aspects in regards to staff and facility. I personally would reduce the focus on secondary and tertiary education from the federal budget. Instead I would focus more on industry-specific vocational training (for agriculture, factory work etc)
The plan does well to identify minority groups ( girls, nomads etc) that need to be addressed; and while I agree, I would focus more on female education as this is the fairest way (not ethnic/region specific) and will have the widest reaching social, economic and health effect.

Scores (out of 5)
Awareness: 4.5
Ambition: 2.0
Detail : 1.0
My view: 2.5