2025: What Nigerians Want to See

RIP President Jimmy Carter

Happy New Year, dear Readers. Alhamdulillah. Alleluia. We thank God for letting us see 2025, and with the usual “renewed hope” and optimism that accompanies a new year, we pray that this year will be better than 2024, which was another “annus  horribilis” for majority of Nigerians, due to the harsh economic conditions we experienced. And, though one of the omnibus prayers of a new year, is that the tears and sorrows we have experienced in the past should go with the previous year and never resurface, I found myself crying in the new year, when I watched a video which showed some of the life of service that late US President Jimmy Carter lived. May the flight of angels sing thee, James Earl Carter Jr, the 39th President of the United States of America, to thy rest. Amen. 

In the video I watched, President Carter was said to have lived a very simple life on his Presidential pension of $217,000 per annum, in a small house worth $167,000, drove a second hand Ford that was about 25 years old and travelled economy class; but, he spent over $30 million (almost N50 billion) from his Carter Centre fighting river blindness and guinea worm disease (probably in Africa) and building houses for low income earners, personally participating in some of the construction work, even in old age – selflessness. 

So, my tears are tears of sorrow for Nigeria, because I compared President Jimmy Carter to many of the so-called leaders that we have here, who, in contrast to him are selfish, self-centred, greedy, corrupt, conceited, egocentric, megalomanic, inept, complete with a total lack of empathy for the people. 

My tears were soon replaced with a feeling of disgust, when the next video that I watched was that of the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, who is facing corruption charges in excess of N110 billion, happily prancing around in the name of dancing, being celebrated by his successor, Governor Usman Ododo and others in the Palace of the King of Ebiraland. How sad and twisted – celebrating failure. What an irony! A Caucasian man, President Jimmy Carter, who is not African, spent his hard earned money on fighting disease in Africa, while a Governor, someone who is from the State he governs, whom people may have voted for to lead them, stands accused of stealing the funds meant to better the people’s lives, that of their children and future generations, by achieving the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) (the Constitution)! I saw photos of Kogi people visiting Yahaya Bello in droves, obviously hoping to get some handouts during the festive season. Do they not know that “owo Abu lo fin se Abu l’alejo“ (it is Abu’s money that he’s using to entertain Abu)? – meaning it’s the people’s money, alleged stolen government funds, that Yahaya Bello is giving the people as charity! Do the people not realise that, like other allegedly corrupt leaders, Yahaya Bello too is responsible for their plight? Today, our so-called leaders have so weaponised poverty to the point that “an pe malu ni brother” (we are calling a cow, brother), meaning we are showing respect to the seriously undeserving. 

Expectations for 2025

The Tinubu administration has been in office for almost two years, and Nigerians are hoping that this new year will be accompanied with a new dawn of the beginning of a better life. All the three arms of government, that is the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary already have their work cut out for them, as set out in Sections 4-6 and Chapter II of the Constitution, vis-à-vis the realities on ground in Nigeria today. 

Judiciary

Seeing that as a Lawyer, the Judiciary is part of my constituency, it is apposite for me to start here. Our new year actually started on September 30, 2024, when the new and second female Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, GCON (née Fasinro) was sworn in. It would be tautologous for me to repeat the expectations of Nigerians and many administration of justice sector reformists like myself, which have already been copiously stated that must be realised to improve the Judiciary and legal profession as a whole – review of the recruitment process of judicial officers, so that only the brightest and the best are selected; weeding out of the corrupt (see Section 15(5) of the Constitution) and incompetent; enforcement of discipline of Judges by the National Judicial Council (NJC) in consonance with the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC)  for Lawyers, as it takes two to tango, in that, the corrupt Judges carry out their clandestine activities at the instance of Lawyers and their clients; making the wheels of justice move faster, particularly by leveraging on technology, amongst other prayers. 

In just over three months into CJN Kekere-Ekun’s tenure, it is fast becoming obvious that Her Lordship is determined to restore the respect and dignity of the much maligned Judiciary, and it will no longer be business as usual for the bad eggs, as Her Lordship has made it clear that corruption and abuse of court process like forum shopping, issuance of reckless ex-parte orders etc, will not be tolerated. However, I maintain that, where there is a petition against a Judge for example, for allowing himself to be used in forum shopping, there must also be a simultaneous petition to the LPDC against the Lawyer who did the forum shopping. I also think that, like the UK, Judges should also be able to report Lawyers to the LPDC for professional misconduct.

Executive: Security and Welfare of the People

One of my first expectations from Government for 2025, is a census. Enough of these guessing games and estimates! I find it bizarre that we do not have definite figures; how do you plan accurately and effectively, without correct data and statistics? I do not know. 

In January 2017, the first new year after I became Editor of this esteemed publication, I had listed about 12 expectations of Nigerians for the new year. Some of them, including security, remain unfulfilled till today. As we all know, by virtue of Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government. However, these days, though we appear to be hearing less about Boko Haram, the herdsmen/farmer issues, kidnapping and banditry still persist (also the emergence of the Lakurawas), and our expectation that the rest of the Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu (Dapchi girl) would be rescued safely, still remains unfulfilled, and therefore, part of our hopes and expectations for 2025, is the fulfilment of this.

It appears that the Tinubu administration is taking insecurity more seriously than its predecessor, and for one, the Armed Forces in the last couple of years, seems to be trying to face insurgency head on. Hopefully, this year, security will be even more prioritised, so that the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies will have a more positive impact on the security situation in the country. Aside from the fact that better security will lead to increased agricultural output (see Section 16 of the Constitution on food security), as farmers will be able to return to their farms, IDPs will also be able to return home to resume their normal lives and people will be able to move about more freely, thereby increasing economic growth – in short, the reason why security is the primary purpose of government, is that it is a given fact that a country cannot thrive without security, as security and economic development go hand in hand – without the former, the latter cannot really be achieved. 

As for the welfare of the people, I pray that our so-called leaders will play less politics with the lives of Nigerians, and instead, be selfless and imbibe more of the qualities of President Jimmy Carter and Lee Kuan Yew. According to the International Poverty Rate used by the World Bank, as of 2018, with the exception of Ebonyi, Enugu and Cross River State, the first 20 States with the highest populations living on less than poverty thresholds were in the Northern part of Nigeria. So, take for example, the Tax Reform Bills, if the goal of the Bills is to allow the poor pay less tax and live better, why do the Northern Governors appear to be resisting the Bills, if their people are already alleged to be the poorest in Nigeria, and they have the interest of their people at heart? In fact, if the old tax regime is so good for the Northerners, why are they worse off? Or is it that the old tax regime is beneficial for only the Governors and the elite, and not the people?

In 2025, towards addressing the welfare of the people, provision of stable electricity supply for all should also be a priority. Between 2015 and about 2019/2020, it was tackled, and there was some improvement. Since then, it has been on the decline again. In 2024, the national grid collapsed countless times; and while the electricity tariff was increased, Nigeria is still struggling with inadequate electricity supply. The people are living as if in the ‘Dark Ages’. Nigerians are no longer interested in buck passing – whether GENCOs, DISCOs or whatever, constant electricity supply is a basic need, not a luxury, and we expect that Government will face this issue squarely this year. 

In 2025, Nigerians are hoping for better and affordable healthcare services – see Section 17(3)(d) of the Constitution. Similarly, Section 18 of the Constitution sets out the educational objectives the State should achieve. Like many Governors and Politicians, Yahaya Bello didn’t send his children to his most likely sub-standard State Schools in Kogi State, since he probably didn’t do much to improve them or raise their standard. He sent his children to the American International School (AIS) in Abuja, and stands accused of using Government funds to pay for his children’s school fees until they complete their education there! So much so, that AIS refunded the advance payment. 

Legislature

Nigerians want to see the Legislature make laws for peace, order and good government, not self-serving or repugnant laws. As the Fapohunda Committee updates the 2004 Laws of the Federation, this is the appropriate time to make the much needed amendments, delete from the statute books irrelevant laws or those that have been struck down by the Supreme Court for one reason or the other, while codifying others. It is also time for a holistic review of the Constitution. In over 25 years of the Fourth Republic, so much has happened – for instance, Section 162 of the Constitution on the LGC direct allocation must be amended, (so also Section 7 on LGCs); the 25% of FCT issue (Section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution), amongst several others.

Conclusion 

What Nigerians want to see in 2025, is more of the realisation of the goals set out in Chapter II of the Constitution. They want to see good infrastructure and better living conditions. They want elected officials to start to fulfil their campaign promises, in line with the aforementioned Chapter II. Importantly, Nigerians want to see an increase in the tempo of the fight against corruption. In 2025, two things that Nigerians are definitely tired of hearing, are motivational speeches which are mostly spiced with requests for patience, and unfulfilled promises.