No. 253 Kangu, Avenue,
Fagge B Kano, Kano State, Nigeria,
10th April, 2023
The President-Elect,
APC Presidential Campaign Head Quarters, 781 Herbert Macaulay Way, Central Business District 900103, FCT. Abuja.
Attention
Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, The Jagaban of Borgu Now
The Jagaban of Nigeria.
Dear Sir,
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT ELECT
With gratitude to Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth, I Idris Salihu Muhammad who is now visually impaired wish to write this epistle to the president elect.
The 2023 presidential election has come and gone with a well deserved victory for Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, Senator kashim Shettima of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Winning 26 out of 36 states with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the highest votes of over eight million, Alhamdulillah, congratulation to the president-elect and his running mate.
The transition period before the inauguration should be the time for sober reflection of the shortcomings of the previous administration and planning ahead for a proactive takeoff of the new regime immediately after the inauguration.
We are praying to the Almighty God in earnest for a peaceful transition and a successful inauguration on May 29. All good citizens of Nigeria should embrace meaningful dialogue and continuous prayers 24/7 in order to establish our dreams for a better Nigeria.
We also hope that the president-elect and his running mate and all good supporters of the Nigerian project that have the wherewithal, will mobilize prayer groups and individuals to pray in earnest to the Almighty God most especially, during the last ten days of Ramadan for a peaceful transition and a successful inauguration and beyond, as we can see the green light at the end of the tunnel with the visionary , exemplary and efficient leadership of the incoming administration.
We observed that the outgoing administration was six months behind the schedule before the cabinet was sworn in. We hope that the proactive leadership of the President Elect, Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Vice, Senator Kashim Shettima will utilize the transition period to select intelligent and effective cabinet members who will make the winning team to successfully deliver Nigeria and Nigerians to the promised land.
We also hope that the stain on democracy by rubbishing the third tier of government through the joint account, should be eliminated and the local government given full autonomy, but with proper monitoring and supervision.
Our royal fathers who are highly respected by the grassroots and common man in the village, should be given specific roles in the reviewed constitution in order to enhance the security of lives and property of the people under their domain for peaceful coexistence, the royal fathers should be given salaries and emoluments that befit their ranks and status.
In order to reduce the cost of governance, all ministries, departments and parastatals that are duplicating issues should be merged or scraped in order to reduce the high cost of governance.
Also, there should be serious monitoring, supervision, check and balances in order to eradicate ghost workers and bottlenecks that frustrate the system and refuse to allow it work.
The economy of Nigeria is now in disarray and we believe that the efficient leadership of the President-Elect, Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will bring back the economy of Nigeria to a better and a stable status because of his track record of how he stabilized the economy of Lagos State when he was governor between 1999 to 2007, where the monthly IGR of Lagos was six hundred million Naira (600,000,000) which grew to eight billion Naira (8,000,000,000) within his tenure as a governor and presently because of the foundation he laid, the IGR of Lagos State has grown to over fifty billion Naira.
Therefore, we advise that a strong economic team should be established to advise Mr. president on economic issues, not one man show as an economic giant that destroys the economy of Nigeria through his monitory policy.
Similarly, all the internal and external revenue base should be captured on a digital platform and aligned to the single treasury account for better monitoring, check and balances for transparency and accountability.
The security system needs total overhauling with the engagement of the villagers at the grassroots for surveillance status. The security votes should be accounted for and should be established in the reviewed constitution, so that the other ranks in the military, the constable in the police and the junior in all paramilitary should be paid their allowances through the digital system in order to avoid syphoning of their funds and boosting their moral for efficiency.
The issue of monitoring, transparency and accountability will be more effective with the digital system. In fact, the analogue system should be faced out gradually and the bottlenecks should be eradicated.
Mr. President-elect sir, I wish to conclude my epistle by saying that your administration should embrace eligible, competent and intelligent men and women.
The youth and those with disability should be fully represented in your cabinet, even in advisory capacity. The members of your cabinet should cut across the length and breadth of Nigeria, without strict compliance to party affiliation, but good citizens who will make the Nigerian project a success. Alhamdulillah.
Thanks and God bless Mr, President. Amen. May God bless Nigeria. Amen.
Yours faithfully,
IDRIS SALIHU MUHAMMAD
idsamud@gmail.com