By Sonala Olumhense,
President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “the historic milestone of becoming India’s longest-serving elected Prime Minister.”
“This remarkable achievement reflects the enduring confidence and trust the people of India have reposed in his leadership over three consecutive mandates,” the Nigerian leader said.
Mr Tinubu is right. But any real recognition of a leader must focus on his achievements, not the length of his time in charge
There is no better testimony about the impact Mr Modi has made in India than the one offered by External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, underlining a “clear, well-thought-out strategy” of four pillars, from which I pick these snippets:
- Public infrastructure investment: from €36bn in 2014 to €127bn; in the rail sector, the government invested about $59bn in two consecutive years. In 10 years, it added 31,000km of new railway tracks and electrified 44,000km of rail networks. Aiming to “democratise” technology, the Digital India programme now serves over 400 million users, processing 17 billion transactions a month. The annual value of transactions is €2.8tn, but the settlement time is consistently less than two seconds.
- Inclusive growth: This has seen the establishment of 446 universities, the opening of 540 million new bank accounts, the construction of 40 million houses for poor families, healthcare coverage for 350 million people, and free healthcare for all citizens over 70.
- Manufacturing & innovation: That has led to over 150,000 startups.
- Simplification of Laws: The Minimum Government/Maximum Governance initiative has removed 1,500 archaic laws and 40,000 compliances from the books.
The World Bank and the IMF confirm these achievements and far more.
Remember that Nigeria claimed the unwanted title of the poverty capital of the world from India during the period in 2018.
APC’s President Muhammadu Buhari responded by telling the United Nations in 2020 that his party would lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within 10 years.
That was bogus in intent and application, and I have challenged the APC government, again and again, to be to Nigeria what Mr Modi’s government has been to India.
On the contrary, official corruption and indolence continue to spiral, and poverty to deepen.
The World Poverty Clock currently shows that 31% of Nigerians (nearly 74 million people) live in extreme poverty.
In other words, rather than lift Nigerians out of poverty, the APC is driving more people into it. Only last month, the UN warned that about 35 million Nigerians currently face acute hunger.
Most of these problems derive from poor policies and planning, beginning with the insecurity that has paralysed the country from within, as the government avoids a meaningful strategy.
Consider, for instance, its rush to institute a state police system, towards which the House of Representatives advanced a bill last week.
In principle, I am not against state police. The current effort, however, provides motion where movement is required. It is deodorant, not treatment, and could trap Nigerians between governors and criminals.
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