The national woman leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), MrsHajiya Ramatu Tijani Aliyu bares her mind on issues of national discourse in an exclusive interview granted to Omgdailyupdate.blogspot.com in Abuja.
Below are Excerpts from the interview:
Omgdailyupdate: There has been an outcry from certain quarters of the tardy progress being made by the APC led government. What is your take on this?
I think it is unfair to begin to pass judgement on an administration that is just few weeks old. You will recall that the previous government did not avail the transition committee of President Muhammad Buhari (PMB) any hand-over notes until four days to the inauguration.
PMB being a meticulous leader is clearly laying down a solid foundation for the rest of his 4 years tenure; because as you should know, a structure that intends to go very high in the sky must do so on a very solid foundation.
In any case, the ministries and parastatals have been working, even without presiding ministers. This is a by-product of the sheer power of PMB’s personal example. His avowed qualities of probity, accountability and dedication is rubbing off on all sectors of our national life and things are beginning to shape up almost on their own accord, from the NNPC to the EFCC.
We promised change, and PMB will deliver. He is laying the foundation for reform, without which all efforts to provide relief and engineer recovery will go to waste. Crushing corruption in today’s Nigeria is a critical aspect of the work ahead of us. PMB will address the root causes of corruption. Slow and steady wins the race.
Omgdailyupdate: It appears that the security situation in the country has degenerated since the inception of this administration. Boko Haram attacks are on the increase. Contrary to public expectation. Why is this so?
The Hausa’s will tell you: “Haski ya fi zafi idan yazo gaban goshi”. In English we say the “Darkest part of the night is when the day is about to break”
Our security challenges will soon be a thing of the past. This is the number one priority of PMB. He has held meeting across the relevant spheres of influence and with the leaders of the relevant states.
We have elected him to do a job and we must support him to deliver. We must stand together in these trying times more than ever before, with the renewed goodwill and co-operation from our neighbors and global powers the end of this insurgency is closer than we think.
Omdailyupdate: Unemployment remains a challenge that successive governments have failed to address. What are the chances that this government will succeed where others have failed?
PMB underlined the fact that job creation is an integral aspect of his drive to resuscitate the comatose industries and generally revive the Nigerians economy.
If you look at the APC manifesto, we have the 3 Rs, which denote RELIEF, RECOVERY and REFORM. Under Relief, we highlighted job creation in a series of schemes that will be used to drive the agricultural, industrial, power and ICT sectors.
This is in addition to vocational schemes for NYSC members from which they will be trained to acquire entrepreneurial and practical capacities to help them not just get gainful employment but become employers of labour themselves.
A number of these programmes can be implemented along the three tiers of government, from Federal right down to the local government levels so as to have far-reaching impact across all divides and sections of the society.
Omgdailyupdate: A recent study by the NBS reveals that nearly 60% of Nigerian households live in single room apartments. How does the PMB led government intend to reverse this anomaly?
Housing is one area which is quite important to PMB’s government. That a sizeable portion of our citizenry either live in the slums or are, for all intent and purposes homeless is quite disconcerting to say the least.
PMB’s administration will in due course amend the relevant laws to free up locked capital in land so as to create freehold/leasehold interest in land.
This is in addition to establishing a comprehensive National Housing Policy in close co-operation with the states towards financing the construction of about 1 million new houses a year. Significantly, we intend to create a sustainable land mortgage market by reforming land ownership so as to give the common man easy access to title deeds.
Additionally, we will rigorously promote and embark on rural development in order to curtail the high rate of rural-urban migration around the country.
Omgdailyupdate: The rising spate of insurgency allied with the gaping deficit in infrastructure has created large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDP’s). How do you think the issue of IDP’s in Nigeria can be addressed?
This is one area I think all hands must be on deck to really make tangible headway. A multi-faceted approach is required to address the issue of the IDP’s. I am talking about a concerted effort by governments at both state and federal levels, international organizations and NGOs towards resettling (and rehabilitating) the internally displaced persons in Nigeria.
A $2.1billion North-East reconstruction program which is being facilitated by PMB will go a very long way in fixing the natural homes /habitats of some of the IDP’s, thereby making it easy for them to return there.
For those who are not direct beneficiaries of this programmes, we may possibly look at drawing up satellite settlements in line with the existing plans or schemes for the development and expansion of the suburbs or satellite towns to some of the relevant cities affected; fully equipped with the basic amenities to help them adapt to their new surroundings.
Omgdailyupdate: Our Power, transport and infrastructure are in a sorry state. We seem to have lost our way. Can PMB really get us back on track?
The decay in our infrastructure, power and transport inclusive, is one that stretches back decades. Billions of dollars down the drain with little to show for it. This government will adopt a multi-dimensional approach to reviving our national infrastructure. One important area is the plugging of leakages within the system.
A public private partnership will be deployed to drive critical areas of the National infrastructure development programme. This is how we intend to deliver about 5000km of superhighway as well as 6,500km of railway within the next four years.
We’ll also ensure that across the states in this country there are functional airports.
On power, we intend to make more efficient use of our gas to improve power supply, as well as expand rural electrification schemes. Significantly, we acknowledge that development of a sustainable renewable energy system is the way to go. This is why we are already talking of exploring safe nuclear energy for peaceful purpose. ICT and Mass Communication will also receive attention.
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