EMERGING LEADERS FORUM Putting Nation First...

A hearty Welcome Back
A happy Sallah Congratulation
A patriotic appreciation for
Mr. President's Stewardship
And a Clarion Call to Nigerians

On behalf of the Emerging Leaders Forum (an association of the Next Generation of political and corporate leaders drawn from all parts of Nigeria, and from varied professional, business political, and demographic backgrounds), I wish to convey our compliments and heartily welcome His Excellency, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari back to Nigeria after a period of medical vacation.

We join all well-meaning citizens in thanking Almighty God for blessing our President a quick and healthy recovery. We also pray that Almighty God give Mr. President greater stamina to continue with the good works he has started for the overall advancement of the country and humanity in general. We are delighted that Mr. President's return has not only ignited new hopes of national renewal but invigorated the confidence of the citizens in the nation's leadership.

We thank and appreciate all Nigerians, the State Governors, government officials, political leaders such as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, religious leaders, the family members, as well as close associates and confidants of Mr. President, notably Mallam Mamman Daura, who prayed, sent messages of goodwill and kept faith alive for our dear President.

It is also appropriate that we seize this opportunity to send our very best wishes to His Excellency, Mr. President on the occasion of the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations. There is nothing as beautiful and joyful as to celebrate the Sallah alongside the family members, friends, and close associates. It is our ardent prayers that God Almighty who made us to celebrate this year's Eid-el-Kabir will bestow on us His blessings of good health, sound faith and absolute peace as a nation.

A PATRIOTIC APPRECIATION
Like the World War II American President FDR Roosevelt, President Muhammadu Buhari inherited a battered nation in every sense of the word. No other challenge in recent history has been so severe and extensive.

Every discerning mind knows that turning things around is not going to be easy. However, as a tested General that he is, Mr. President has never left any one in doubt about his optimism in Nigeria's capacity to overcome its challenges.

In a matter of two years, we must acknowledge that there were significant improvements even in several facets that Nigerians had given up. To have a President that is leading by example and above board; to have the many parts of Nigeria secured from insurgency, militancy, and criminality; and to reign in high-level corruption were things that were things many people had in the past considered wishful thinking.

It is pertinent at this juncture to elaborate on some of the significant strides, for which we in the Emerging Leaders Forum are quite appreciative.

TACKLING IN SECURITY
Tackling insecurity has been a major priority of every administration. However, there is now a clear definition of where we are going. What has been missing before was leadership. The aero plane was all right but never has a good pilot. Now a focused and motivated pilot is on board. Moreover, the results are clear.

In less than two years, Nigeria's territorial integrity has been secured; relative security and peace have returned to the Northeast, once ravaged by insurgency; oil theft and pipelines vandalism have abated, and high-end criminals are being apprehended by the day.

Regular activities that were almost impossible to undertake in some parts of the Northeast two years ago have effectively resumed: air flights, sporting events, local and international conferences, cultural and religious ceremonies, etc. Also, thousands of citizens displaced by the insurgency are reuniting with their families and going back to their homes and communities. Farming, fishing, trading and commerce, and inter- and intra- state movements of people and goods have all resumed in earnest.

In equal measure, more than 100 of the 267 abducted Chibok girls that most people have lost hope that they may never return have regained freedom, while concerted efforts are being put to save the remaining numbers still in captivity. However, security is never a finished business anywhere in the world. Hence, we hope that our security agencies will not rest on their oars towards the full realization of this key campaign promise of the President.

REBUILDING THE ECONOMY
We are most pleased that the Nigerian economy is steadily finding its bearing and stabilizing towards sustained growth and prosperity. The PMB administration, as we all are aware, came in at the most inauspicious of times, when global oil prices were crashing southwards, and the national treasury was bankrupted technically.

To its credit, the administration has navigated the severe economic downturn and save the country of economic collapse and social upheaval, the unfortunate fate that had befallen many of its peers across the world.

Also, the country did not have to go through the pains of mass retrenchment of workers, reduction in wages and cutting of social provision, even in the face of serious adjustment to the economic downturn. Inflationary pressures that have initially dogged policy makers have been tamed somewhat, while the introduction of N-Power and other social programmes to support the poor have also helped to empower the poor and small-scale oriented businesses.

We commend the CBN and its leadership under Governor Godwin Emiefele, CON, for weathering the storm of the exchange rate and interest rate turbulence at the inception of the administration, as well as prioritizing domestic economic revival. Remarkably, despite low oil prices, Nigeria is building its external reserve, with consistent accretion, something almost unheard of, in macroeconomic theory. Today, we are beginning to witness overall macroeconomic stability and a far-reaching turnaround in manufacturing activities and output.

We are delighted by the administration's significant economic diversification push that has so far engendered a most unprecedented agricultural boom in Nigeria's history since the discovery of oil.

This development has not only served to raise rural incomes; it has opened the eyes of the citizens to the opportunities and possibilities in the once neglected agricultural enterprise, drawing in substantial local and foreign investments, driving down food imports and food prices and conserving foreign exchange.

It is also noteworthy that the oil sector, the most abused sector in recent past has been thoroughly sanitized and repositioned to deliver value to Nigerians. For two good years, Nigeria has experienced stable fuel supply, again, an unprecedented feat in recent history.

The NNPC has been turned around from bankruptcy to solvency. Now green investments are coming into the downstream sector such as the Dangote 650,000 barrel per day Refinery under construction in Lekki, Lagos, a reflection of the renewed investor confidence in the industry, all thanks to the determination and focus of the NNPC management under Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru.

For good measure, the relentless push towards infrastructure expansion in power, roads, railways, and housing is praiseworthy. Vladimir Lenin, the builder of the former Soviet Union (USSR), once said that development is simply the arithmetic sum of Electricity plus Railway. This approach made the USSR to in a matter of one to two decades caught up with Western Europe that was almost a century ahead regarding industrialization and infrastructure.

It is against this background that we especially congratulate Mr. President for his recent approval to kick-start the abandoned 3,050 Megawatts Mambilla power project in Taraba State at the cost of about $6 billion.

In the same vein, we appreciate the forging of a partnership with General Electric (GE) to upgrade key railway lines that will link the North and South and East and West of Nigeria.

Naturally, with all these efforts and the measures put in place to improve the business climate ably driven by the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, we expect the Nigerian economy to experience significant recovery and wean the country from a self-inflicted over-reliance on oil and costly exposure to oil price volatility.

FIGHTING CORRUPTION
It is, indeed, unprecedented in our history that there should be a leader in Nigeria whom we feel obliged, no matter how reluctantly, to conclude that the man is simply above board. In the recent past, many people have come to accept corruption as a default position that nobody can do anything about. Now Nigerians see with their very eyes that yes, something can be done to stamp out high level, large scale corruption in Nigeria.

We firmly acknowledge the commitment of the administration to fight corruption, as well as the significant progress so far made in the war against corruption. The Treasury Single Account (TSA) in which about N4trillion has been husbanded has served to plug loopholes through which government officials siphon public funds; the whistle blowing policy had also yielded some results with billions recovered; the EFCC under Mr. Magu has been making miraculous recoveries.

It is remarkable that not only that proceeds of corruption and looting are being retrieved, but that some individuals hitherto considered untouchables are being prosecuted in the courts of law for fraud. For the first time in Nigerian history recovered looted funds are being put back into the budget to finance development programmes.

OUR CLARION CALL
Nigeria is definitely on a long journey of recovery and reconstruction. The PMB administration in the last two years has made an enduring difference regarding good governance. In fact, all indications on the ground point to the fact that PMB has gone beyond “foundation laying” to “block setting” towards restoring to Nigeria its lost glory.

For these strides to be sustained and not derailed by forces of retrogression both within and without, we call on the Nigerian people to be vigilant and be always prepared to pay the ultimate price of change. Change always comes about incrementally, not as a big bang, and we have started seeing its fruits in all facets of the nation's life.

Politically, PMB has displayed uncommon maturity and tolerance in appreciation of the nuances that the democratic order entailed. He has restored total trust in governance and respect for due process and the Constitution. He has indirectly built an inclusive government by allowing even appointees of the previous administration to complete their tenures in line with the existing legislation.

We, however, observed with utmost disquiet the manner in which the National Assembly (NASS) relates to the Presidency in the last two years, and there seems no definite shift in NASS's attitude towards the President. In this regard, we fear that frustrating plans of the President for the good of Nigeria could backfire with unpalatable personal and political consequences for the National Assembly members.

We call on the NASS to move away from its uncooperative attitude towards the executive. We are in a democracy, and we hope that NASS members will, going forward, assure the citizens that they are committed to the nation's welfare and that nobody is doing anything to undo Mr. President in whom the majority of our citizens have so much confidence.

We were, indeed, scandalized that while Mr. President was away, some politicians and political office holders were more engaged with the politics of 2019 and restructuring of the country. In line with our slogan of putting Nigeria first, we find this a disservice to the nation, the obsession with power by the political class, the needless, unproductive brickbats (for instance, the recent Governor El-Rufa'i versus Minister Jummai Al-Hassan altercation as reported in the media); as well as futile efforts to undermine the nation's peaceful coexistence

Our view about the clamour for restructuring is that it is diversionary. We believe that the task ahead of us is strengthening the Nigerian citizenship in the context of a united nation. We want to see an end to indigene/settler dichotomy, and not going back into our regional or ethnic larger.

At a time the country is recovering politically and economically, from the battered state, it was thrown into by the former administration, the minimum we expect from our political class is putting all hands on deck to consolidate the gains of the last two years and bring succour to the masses.

While it is okay to agitate or protest on whatever subject that fancies individuals or groups, there is a problem when these agitations become discordant and a source of national distraction or border on the subversion of the nation's sovereignty.

It is against this background that we urge all those engaged in one form of agitation or the other to pursue their agitations democratically, constitutionally and peacefully. Anything short of that amounts to an affront to the constitutional order.  

It is apt at this juncture to call on our workers and professionals, particularly the academics in ASUU and the Resident Medical Doctors to be careful not to allow the right cause they fight for to be hijacked by frustrated politicians. We call for patriotism and constructive approach to issues since it is the well-being of our people that is at stake.

HURRAY TO KATSINA STATE @30

On September 23, 2017, Katsina State will be 30 years old. We write in advance, to felicitate with the people and government of Katsina State under the able leadership of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, Executive Governor of Katsina State, CON, for coming this far, as one of the most progressive States in the Federation.

We must not forget to pay our esteemed tribute and gratitude to Gen. Hassan Katsina, the inspiration behind the creation of Katsina State, and former President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, GCFR, for his vision and courage to create Katsina State to bring about even development and balance the Nigerian federalism.

We also salute former Governors both military and civilian alike such as Gen. Yahaya J. Madaki (rtd), Alhaji Saidu Barda, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'adua (of blessed memory), who laid a good foundation that our amiable Governor Masari is busily working hard to consolidate.While we acknowledged that much had been achieved in the last 30 years, we believe that with unity and common purpose in supporting the policies and programmes of the present administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at the centre and of Governor Masari, the State can achieve even more. Divisive politics will not yield any positive outcome.

This is why we find it utterly contradictory and subversive against the Katsina people, the recent clandestine meetings in Kaduna of some political renegades and sore losers from Katsina, at the behest of some well known external forces that had been in the game of political treachery since 2003.

They should know that times have changed; the people are now more conscious, and indeed, they would be waiting for them to surprise them when they are man enough to approach them with their dastardly agenda. A word to the wise is sufficient.

CONCLUSION
Nigeria is destined for greatness. The country is now focused on the “big picture” of what makes nations great. There are, and there will be teething challenges always. These cannot be the basis for throwing the baby with the bath water.

We are lucky that today, we have a leadership that embraces responsibility towards lifting the nation up. Indeed, the most enduring thing about the steps so far taken by PMB and his team is that they have set in motion an irreversible movement towards building a Nigeria of our dreams: a land of equal opportunities where hard work pays, a robust and competitive economy; and a united and stable polity.

We in the Emerging Leaders Forum, as an ensemble of patriotic Nigerians, would always identify with genuine efforts to lift the nation higher and higher. And with dedication and commitment to the larger good, we are confident that we will arrive at the Promised Land.

AMINU BALELE KURFI (DAN-AREWA)
Executive Chairman
Governing Council and Convener
EMERGING LEADERS FORUM
+234 803 301 4135
shugabares@yahoo.com

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