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Dear Salihu Abdulai,
I am delighted to respond to your letter after my staff called my attention to it. I read it time and time again and I must confess that I appreciate the candour and the decency of your engagement. My decision to personally do a reply to your letter is borne out of my deepest respect for the youth and additionally, because the issues that you raised are germane and should be the focus of anyone who aspires to lead our dear country at this critical time.
As you may have noticed, I am an education enthusiast and promoter. It is my belief that education is basic human right and the state has the moral obligation to provide and to facilitate the provision of the right type of education. Indeed, a preponderant investment in education is a surefire safeguard for progressive economy. During the 2014 Commencement ceremony of the American University of Nigeria I reminded the staff and students of the ICT department of the university that there is a huge hope on them to create a Silicon Valley in Yola. I am inspired to place that challenge on the faculty because I know that the new generation of business leaders in Nigeria will be ICT applications developers whose creativity can bring smart solutions to real problems.
Let me approach the issues you raised one after another.
Regarding your question about the plan I have for Nigerian youth if I get elected as president, I have said it elsewhere and let me reiterate that the real wealth of Nigeria is the creativity of her youth. Our youth are the future of our nation. I shall therefore invest in them and build their capacity to access the economic opportunities that shall abound. At the appropriate time I shall unveil the details of a National Innovation Fund which is aimed at providing stable and sustainable long term support to aspiring entrepreneurs in building solid business models in the new economy. We shall support our youth to explore the vast opportunities that abound in the global market for IT and IT-enabled services. You talked about how social media platforms have created opportunities for young people to become entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry. I contend that that is only possible because of the foundation our administration laid in 2001 for the total liberalization of the telecommunications industry. Yes, the GSM revolution was a global phenomenon but the policy framework that supports the revolution could alternatively have been restrictive and that would have inhibited the opportunities that our young people now enjoy today.
Indeed there are several aspects of our economic life that require the same degree of liberalization which if we did, would create abundant opportunities for the youth, not just in decent mass employments, but also make the youth become entrepreneurs.
For me, the private sector is the key driver of a prosperous modern economy. Like you rightly said, many Nigerians have a messianic perception of this current administration. Under the watch of this administration, over ten million jobs have been lost and Nigeria became the world’s capital for extreme poverty. Under the watch of this administration also, we had our worst corruption rating by the Transparency International. That means just one thing: the hopes that Nigerians had on this administration is misplaced.
How would I do things differently if elected President? First I will develop a policy position on the economy that is robust, coherent and consistent. The era of trial and error economic policies is over. Second, the private sector shall be the key driver of our modern prosperous economy. To provide private sector leadership and greater private sector participation, I shall pursue with more vigour the process of deregulation and liberalization of the economy and make the private sector partners in progress as far infrastructure development is concerned.
About the role the youth will play in my administration, I have said it repeatedly that 40% of appointive positions in the executive branch will be reserved for the youth. The youth are the drivers of my businesses and so I have a first-hand testimonial on the capacity of the youth of Nigeria to deliver on tasks.
One of my biggest business secrets (I won’t mind to share it with you) is in the fact that I have a nose for talent hunt. I don’t care where you’re from or any personal details about my employees, all I demand of them is competence and that’s what I reward!
There is a direct connection between the job losses in the past three years and the poor foreign exchange management strategy of the Buhari administration. If an economy has multiple exchange rates, it limits foreign direct investment inflow into the economy. It creates distortions and avenues for under the table deals, restricting access to forex, by genuine investors, increasing their costs of production and leading to business failures and job losses. Again, this is a matter of failed policy. So, what will I do about that? I will get the foreign exchange streamlined, encourage policies that will drive foreign direct investments and give incentives to the private sector to create more jobs.
The primary focus of my administration if elected president is jobs creation. Every of my policies will be geared towards creating more jobs, improving the productive capacity of our economy and thereby creating more wealth for the government. It’s a cycle that works for everyone: government introduces incentives, the private sector creates the jobs, people get new opportunities for decent employment and the government makes more money through taxes.
Nigeria can only be prosperous when the country is peaceful and united. My first job as president is to make sure that every part of the country has a sense that the new government is one that will keep us all under one big, strong umbrella. My job as president is to ensure that I have a full grip on the umbrella. You can count on me that as president I will never pass a remark that will chastise any part of the country on account of its electoral leaning.
The history of crime is as old as the human story. In effect, every society has inherent tendencies for criminality. However, when humans agree to organize themselves and form an institution called government, it is essentially for the purposes of protection of individuals’ life and property. I shall promote the politics and economics of inclusiveness that will reduce the citizen’s frustration and alienation and minimize grievances and the compulsion to take up arms against the society or fellow countrymen.
While I thank you for having the time to read through my reply, I will hope that you will follow up on some areas I may not have touched when my policy document is unveiled.
Thank you.
Best Regards,
Atiku Abubakar
