Buhari on Institutional Reform

*NB: This section could have been spread into the four constituent parts as it is in the manifesto, but then these sections would have scored very poorly in all categories*

Awareness

This section of the manifesto is wide reaching in terms of the institutions that it tends to reform – the Judiciary; all Law Enforcement; all Regulatory Agencies, Government Bodies and Professional bodies created by law; and all democratic institutions. In regard to each of these institutions the plan does well to allude to the problems which are currently plaguing them. However, in a section labelled institutional reform it fails to explicitly talk about constitutional reform, the one set of reforms that would adequately encompass all the aforementioned.

Ambition

The plan reads as very ambitious in this section, it plans to review all of the judiciary, all law enforcement etc. Even if that is merely an academic or theoretical review of all these institutions it will be epic. This review will not only encompass the legal system and the police force but presumably it will include bodies such as INEC, EFCC and ICPC. Many of the described institutions are in such a decrepit state that it will be difficult to revitalize them to the levels described in the document, and it will be even more difficult to do these reforms concurrently.  Any possible change will come up against stiff opposition from those who have entrenched interests in the status quo and as such will require a tremendous amount of political capital and will.

Detail

There is much detail given about the goals of all the reforms and from this there is a fair amount of implicit detail given about the current state of affairs. However, there is no detail given about the process of reform, how it will be made consultative, how long will any consultation take place, who are the relevant stake holders that will be consulted, how many decisions will be made at the federal and how many at the state level. There are a number of logistic issues that will arise if the institutions are to be reformed supposedly while they are still carrying out their functions and these issues are not addressed.

My View

The current constitution of Nigeria was hastily put together in the transition to civilian rule in 1999. It largely rehashed previous constitutions and there was almost no consultative process in its creation and was passed by military decree (i.e. no referendum, not even a sitting of the house of assembly). Like it or not this constitution is flawed and much of the reason why the institutions of state do not work is because the constitution itself doesn’t work. What Buhari and the CPC is proposing here is constitutional change even though they do not want to call it that. They plan to ‘review and reform’ almost every institution that is created by the constitution, when the more sensible approach would be to ‘review and reform’ the whole constitution. If we are going to start ‘reviewing and reforming’ the constitution, why not just start again from scratch with a real consultative process and a referendum for Nigerians to decide the social contract under which they plan to live?

I like the intent of this section, but I would have liked for it to have been bolder and come out and said what a lot of people are thinking.

Scores (Out of 5)

Awareness: 4.0

Ambition: 4.25

Detail: 2.25

My View: 3.75

Ribadu on Niger Delta

Awareness
The document raises the issues that perhaps lie behind the more publicised issues of militancy. It talks about the environmental and economic problems that underlie the Niger-Delta Issue. It also does well to mention the role of the private sector, in particular the oil companies in any solution to the problem.
On the other hand, it fails to deal with the role of politicians in mobilizing (and often arming) youth and perpetuating the status quo. It also fails to mention the history of military intervention in the region and the legacy this has left behind.

Ambition
The stressing of the long term nature of the solution is a good starting point, there is also a good focus on the role of the private sector in retraining and providing jobs in the are. The revival of 'moribund' industrial and agricultural projects is very ambitious as they will require a fresh round of investment, management and continuing political will. The plan aims to enforce laws that are going to be passed or are going to come into force, this doesn't demonstrate and real ambition (beyond a commitment to the rule of law that should just be standard). The attempts to apply green initiatives in the Niger-Delta is on the other hand genuinely ambitious in the context of Nigeria. The creation of 'Green Jobs' will require a long term commitment in order to have the desired effect.
The plan fails to tackle some issues in regards to the oil companies and their track record and the plan could have been more ambitious by holding the oil companies to account in regards to their environmental records and perhaps limiting the number of immigrants they can employ.

Details
As which much of the other sections of this plan, this section is detailed in outlining the problem, but is weak in the nitty-gritty of how these problems will be ameliorated. There is however, reference made to several distinct policy points that span both the political and the economic.

My view
I think that the candidate is right to focus on job creation and environmental degradation. However, I think that history has shown that the private sector (particularly oil companies) aren't interested in the plight of people beyond how it affects their bottom line. The people of the region should therefore take some stake or ownership directly in oil production in order to ensure environmental projection, job creation and economic diversification.

Scores (Out of 5)
Awareness: 4.0
Ambition: 4.0
Detail: 2.5
My View: 3.0