Read the letter below:
''My Covenant With Nigerians''
Dear Compatriots,
In the past few months that I have traveled round this
country on campaigns, I have experienced the sheer
beauty of our diversity. From Port Harcourt to Kano,
from Abeokuta to Gusau, I experienced first-hand the
daily sufferings and struggles of our people. I also
experienced the overwhelming desire of our people for
change.
When I arrived in Port Harcourt on the 5th of January
to start my campaigns, I was met by our teeming
supporters, who stayed till late in the evening to
welcome us. Among them were many young men and
women, who in the few minutes that I shared with
them at the airport, made me to reflect on what kind
of future awaits them in our country.
The gestures of 90-year-old Hajia Fadimatu Mai Talle
Tara from Kebbi State and 9-years-old Nicole Eniiyi
Benson from Lagos State, who donated their life-
savings to my campaign, reflect the overwhelming
desire of our people for change. In their gestures, I
perceived a longing for the days when honour, national
pride and dignity of labour were the fundamental
social principles that governed our country. As I
encountered millions of our youths, who sometimes
run for hours in front of my car and hanging
precariously on our campaign vehicles at our state
rallies, I also pondered the enormity of the task
ahead. How do we give jobs to our youth? How do we
reform our economy and make it work for every
Nigerian?
I know however, that what we require to revamp our
economy and rebuild our country is our ability to
galvanize all our citizens to believe once again in
their government, in their country and especially, to
believe in themselves. This can only happen if we are
able to rebuild the trust and belief that our people
used to have in government, and indeed, in our
nation. The leadership that I will provide will be built
on this critical awareness. I intend to lead with
integrity and honour and commit myself totally to
everything that is of concern to our people: security,
employment, health, education, good governance and
others.
This Covenant is to outline my agenda for Nigeria and
provide a bird’s eye view of how we intend to bring
about the change that our country needs and
deserves. This Covenant is derived from the
manifesto of my party, the All Progressives Congress
(APC). It however, represents my pledge to you all
when I become your President.
I have no doubt that God being on our side, with the
abiding support of all Nigerians, we shall all witness
the great change that we desire and achieve the
Nigeria of our dream.
Corruption and Governance
No matter how vast our resources, if they are not
efficiently utilized, they will only benefit a privileged
few, leaving the majority in poverty. I believe if
Nigeria does not kill corruption; corruption will kill
Nigeria.
I pledge to:
• Publicly declare my assets and liabilities and
encourage my political appointees to also publicly
declare their assets and liabilities.
• Affirm that our strategy for tackling corruption will
not only focus on punishment. Rather, it will also
provide incentives for disclosure and transparency.
• Show personal leadership in the war against
corruption and also hold all the people who work with
me to account.
• Inaugurate the National Council on Procurement as
stipulated in the Procurement Act so that the Federal
Executive Council, which has been turned to a weekly
session of contract bazaar, will concentrate on its
principal function of policy making.
• Review and implement audit recommendations by
Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
(NEITI).
• Work with the National Assembly towards the
immediate enactment of a Whistle Blower Act.
• Work with the National Assembly to strengthen
ICPC and EFCC by guaranteeing institutional
autonomy including financial and prosecutorial
independence and security of tenure of officials.
• Make the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) an
autonomous and operational agency.
• Encourage proactive disclosure of information by
government institutions in the spirit of the Freedom
of Information Act.
• Ensure all MDAs regularly comply with their
accountability responsibilities to Nigerians through
the National Assembly.
• Work with the leadership of the National Assembly
to cut down the cost of governance.
• Present a national anti-corruption Strategy.
Access to Justice and Respect for Fundamental
Human Rights
One of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria is
building a country that is fair to all of its citizens; a
country in which all individuals feel and know that
they are valued members of society with
constitutionally guaranteed rights; a country that
respects human dignity, promotes human
development, fosters human equality and advances
human freedom.
I pledge to:
• Lead a government founded on values that promote
and protect fundamental human rights and freedoms.
I will promote the supremacy of the Constitution and
the rule of law, affirm separation of the powers of
government and support an independent judiciary.
• Present a detailed strategy for protecting the
fundamental rights and freedoms provided for in our
Constitution. There will be emphasis on the rights of
vulnerable persons including women, children and
persons living with disabilities as well as access to
justice and prisons reforms.
Insurgency and Insecurity
I have had the opportunity to serve my country in the
military up to the highest level, as a Major General
and as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
In the course of my service, I had defended the
territorial integrity of Nigeria. And if called upon to do
so again, I shall rise to the occasion. As a father, I
feel the pain of the victims of insurgency, kidnapping
and violence whether they are the widows and
orphans of military, paramilitary or civilians.
I pledge to:
• Ensure that under my watch, no force, external or
internal, will occupy even an inch of Nigerian soil. I
will give all it takes to ensure that our girls
kidnapped from Chibok are rescued and reunited with
their families.
• Deliver a Marshal Plan on insurgency, terrorism,
ethnic and religious violence, kidnapping, rural
banditry and ensure that never again will Nigerian
children be slaughtered or kidnapped at will.
• Boost the morale of our fighting forces and the
generality of Nigerians by leading from the front as
the Commander-in-Chief and not hide in the comfort
and security of Aso Rock.
• Give especial attention to the welfare of our armed
forces and all other security personnel and their
families, including State-guaranteed life insurance for
all officers and men as well as protect the families of
our fallen heroes.
• Ensure that acts of heroism and valour in the
service to the nation are publicly recognized and
celebrated.
• Establish close working relationship with governors
of the states affected by insurgency, with leaders of
our neighbouring countries and with leaders around
the world to cooperate in combating insurgency, oil
theft, piracy and criminality.
• Activate regular meetings of the National Police
Council to ensure the discharge of its true
constitutional roles in a transparent and accountable
way.
• Fight for you, and alongside you. We will fight
together to defeat terrorism. But I will be honest with
you about our challenges and I will bear the
responsibilities of my charge. I will not lie to you or
exaggerate our triumphs. My administration will be
thoroughly transparent in every step of our daily
struggle and together we will win the war.
Niger Delta
In many years of oil exploration, the Niger Delta has
become perhaps, the world’s worst eco-system, a
byword for environmental degradation, exploitation
and diseases. I believe that protecting the livelihood
of our people in the Niger Delta should transcend our
interest its oil.
I pledge to:
• Commit myself and my administration to the
protection and regeneration of the environment in the
Niger Delta and to ensure that oil companies comply
with global best practices on environmental
protection.
• Sustain and streamline the human capital
development in the Niger Delta, especially focusing
on youth and women.
• Reform investment in infrastructural development of
the Niger Delta and ensure that the NDDC is held
accountable to its mandate.
Diversity
Nigeria’s greatest asset is her people. My
commitment is to invest in our people and ensure
that they have the opportunity to achieve their full
potentials and enjoy the full benefits of their
citizenship, regardless of their religion, region,
ethnicity, gender or disability.
I pledge to:
• Continually acknowledge our diversity and
consciously promote equality and equity in all
government businesses and activities.
• Implement the National Gender Policy including 35%
of appointive positions for women.
• Work with the National Assembly to pass the
National Disability Act and the Equal Opportunities
Bill.
Health
We must give real meaning to the old saying that
Health is Wealth. We must take all possible measures
to ensure that our people stay healthy, but we must
also ensure that when they fall ill, they can get help.
Healthcare in Nigeria is in crises. Too many people
do not get any treatment. For those who do get
treated, all too often, the care they receive is poor.
Far too many die from easily treatable diseases and
what should be routine treatment often end in death.
Furthermore, Nigeria is set to miss our MDG targets.
The statistics speak for themselves.
I pledge to:
• Unveil a health sector review policy to ensure
efficient and effective management of our health
systems with focus on prevention.
• Ensure that no Nigerian will have any reason to go
outside the country for medical treatment.
• Guarantee financial sustainability to the health
sector and minimum basic health care for all.
• Review occupational health laws and immediately
commence enforcement of the provisions to reduce
hazards in the work place.
• Partner with State Governments and development
partners to ensure all-round implementation of our
primary health plans by expanding access to health
insurance for rural communities.
Education
I believe that our education system must prepare our
children for the responsibilities of citizenship and
prepare our youths to contribute to the development
of our country. Therefore, I shall focus on restoring
the lost glory of our education by implementing
reforms that will bring quality back into our schools
and position our universities and polytechnics to
provide market-relevant skills to our youths.
I pledge to:
• Embark on a program of mass mobilisation to
ensure that all children of school age, no matter
where they may reside in our country, and no matter
the social conditions of their parents, are in school.
Working in co-operation with the State Governments,
we shall make the required investments in
infrastructure, learning materials, nutrition and
children healthcare. To this end, UBEC Fund will be
reviewed to ensure greater efficiency in utilization.
• Provide on-the-job retraining opportunities for
existing teachers at both the basic and secondary
levels while providing the right incentives to keep
teachers in the classrooms and attract bright young
men and women to take up career in teaching.
• Work with other levels of government and through
relevant government agencies to allocate resources
to schools while strengthening community
participation in school management.
• Implement a comprehensive review of the goal and
content of our secondary education to ensure that it
also serves the purpose of skills acquisition and fits
purpose.
• Set up Colleges of Skills and Enterprise to replace
the old technical colleges. This will be done with
direct participation from relevant industry and
professional groups in the private sector. Based on
local market demands, each of the colleges will focus
on high job demand sectors of the economy such as
agriculture, ICT, telecommunications, entertainment,
construction, oil and gas and sports.
• Establish special purpose fund for a Secondary
School level education.
• Improve the competitiveness of our universities and
polytechnics and position them at the heart of the
national productivity, innovation and enterprise.
• Pursue a policy of non-discrimination between the
universities and the polytechnics.
Agriculture
Oil has served our country, but it has also excluded
majority of Nigerians from the mainstream of our
economy. I am convinced that our guarantee for
inclusive growth is agriculture.
I pledge to:
•Make agriculture a major focus of the government
and lay the institutional foundation to attract large-
scale investments and capital to the sector.
•Actively promote a well-coordinated and
innovatively funded Youth in Commercial
Agribusiness Programme.
•Establish agricultural produce storage, pricing and
marketing systems to ensure real commercial value
and minimize waste.
•Work with State Governments to launch Agricultural
Support Programmes that will drive agricultural land
development and mechanization.
•Revamp, revitalize and improve on the national
agricultural extension and rural support service
system.
•Lay the groundwork for a standardized market
uptake and aggregation outlets for specific
agricultural produce.
•Revamp the key development banks (Bank of
Agriculture, Bank of Industry and Nigeria Import &
Export Bank) to fund inclusive agricultural value chain
operations
•Liberalise and expand agricultural and rural
insurance system with premium subventions support
to farmers
•Revamp the agricultural cooperative system to drive
rural agriculture and improve stakes for smallholder
farmers.
•Develop a system of small-scale irrigation systems
to ensure all-year round farming.
•Revamping key agriculture research institutions and
deliver their outputs through effective network of
extension services.
Management of the Economy for Shared Prosperity
All Nigerians deserve to benefit from our collective
wealth. We promise not to leave any Nigerian behind
in our determination to create, expand and ensure
equitable and effective allocation of economic
opportunities. No matter the amount of wealth we
create, it would be meaningless unless it benefits the
majority of our people.
Power
Our failure to ensure a stable supply of electricity has
been an impediment to economic growth, productivity
and national security.
I pledge to:
• Address the gaps in power sector privatization to
ensure it serves the needs of our people.
• Explore and develop alternative sources of power
such as small, medium and large hydro plants, wind,
coal and solar and other forms of renewable energy
to ensure efficient and affordable power supply.
• Invest in technical skills development for efficient
management of energy resources.
Sports and Culture
Sports and culture are important instruments for
social cohesion, national integration and promotion of
positive national image. They also provide a strong
platform for youth development and the expression of
our abundant creative talents.
I pledge to:
• Invest and encourage investments in both small
and large-scale sports facilities to enable mass
participation in sports.
• Ensure that participation in sports become a core
component of our education at all levels.
• Activate incentives for the private sector to invest
in the development of high performance sports.
Culture
I pledge to:
• Support real investments in the entertainment, arts
and creative industries.
• Strengthen the regulatory framework to protect and
preserve our culture and creative industry and
prevent it from the scourge of piracy.
• Develop and strengthen the value link-chain of the
culture industry to deepen the industry and provide
jobs .
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