Building Nigeria brick by brick, by Fredrick Nwabufo Newsdiaryonline

In governance, opportunity cost is more complex as an empirical construct. Foregone alternatives may not necessarily be foregone. In certain cases, there may be very little wiggle room for such niceties. Allocating resources to critical sectors without neglecting other sectors for a holistic and organic development of the country becomes the potent ideal, verging on emergency.

The proclivity for an integral fettling of Nigeria’s gaping concerns is patent in the ideation and iteration of the Tinubu administration’s priority areas of reforming the economy to deliver sustained inclusive growth; strengthening national security for peace and prosperity; boosting agriculture to achieve food security; unlocking energy and natural resources for sustainable development; enhancing infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth; focusing on education, health, and social investment as essential pillars of development; accelerating diversification through industrialisation, digitisation, creative arts, manufacturing & innovation, and improving governance for effective service delivery.

It is one reticular hoop. One niche subsisting on the other; one outcome depending on the other and vice versa, and one thread cascading down on the others. A breathing filament runs through the nexus of security, agriculture, education, infrastructure, job creation, and other sectoral motifs. They are one important whole.

Effective security will naturally enhance food production as citizens can go to farm; open arteries of investments, and effectuate the deepening of investments in other sectors, as well as impact the overall well-being of society. Improved agriculture will, in turn, ensure food security, price stability, and hunger mitigation. Infrastructure provision will stimulate investments and create opportunities along multiple channels of growth. And so will investments in education, healthcare, and other sectors all converge to secure Nigeria’s future.

It takes a dexterous laying of bricks to build an edifice. The administration takes a cultivated and diligent brick-by-brick approach to governance; to building that nation we all deserve. It is a steady, well-thought-out, and carefully executed step-by-step fashion as against the harum-sacrum option.

In March, President Bola Tinubu approved the establishment of the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF) to facilitate effective infrastructure development across the pivotal areas of agriculture, transportation, ports, aviation, energy, healthcare, and education in Nigeria.

The Fund will, among other things, invest in critical national projects that will promote growth; enhance local value-addition, create employment opportunities, and stimulate technological innovation and exports.

It will cover agricultural infrastructure and food security with emphasis on the development of robust agricultural infrastructure networks; ports revitalisation, with premium on the rejuvenation of port facilities and associated infrastructure to streamline operations and enhance the ease of doing business; aviation enhancement, with focus on the revitalisation and modernisation of major airports nationwide; road infrastructure, with some strategic projects like the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, the Sokoto-Badagry Road, among other key road projects across the nation, to receive attention, and rail infrastructure, with Lagos-Kano and Eastern rail lines as some of the projects to be prioritised.

In healthcare, President Tinubu is sparing no effort as investments are being funnelled into the sector. Recently, he directed the immediate upgrade of key health infrastructure and equipment across the six geo-political zones. Ten hospitals bestrewing the six geopolitical zones will be revamped to provide exigent and top-tier healthcare services in the lines of radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology, and cardiac catheterisation.

On April 3, the President signed into law the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024. And in furtherance of his resolve to secure Nigeria’s socio-economic future by ensuring sustainable higher education and critical skill development for all Nigerian students and the youth, he expeditiously and carefully appointed a management team. This is so that the necessary instruments are put in place for the effective take-off of this all-important Fund.

There is also the plan for school-feeding and other education-specific initiatives to overhaul the entire pedagogy train.

The President has also approved the establishment of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) and appointed a chief executive to efficaciously manage the corporation and ensure the expansion of access to credit to all classes of Nigerian citizens, while promoting financial inclusion, and enhancing the quality of life of the Nigerian people as they access the tangibles of prosperity.

The Tinubu administration is executing a full-system upgrade, even with specific attention to some sectors, understanding that Nigerians deserve a full complement of good governance and socio-economic security.

Fredrick Nwabufo is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Engagement