Five things Muhammadu Buhari must tackle now that he's Nigeria's president

By Chude Jideonwo

Updated 1513 GMT (2213 HKT) May 29, 2015

 

(CNN)Disclosure is important: I have been part of a team that worked for the new Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari -- from building the cache of photos that defined his image to getting fliers across the country in all of our languages.

I have gone from grudgingly voting for him in 2011 (I made up my mind an hour before voting) to enthusiastically putting relationships and business on the line for what seemed like a quixotic quest.

Who is Nigerian President-elect Muhammadu Buhari? 01:33

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But long after Muhammadu Buhari is President of Nigeria's Federal Republic, I will still be a citizen. And as a citizen, I know, that by this evening, the honeymoon will be over.

He knows this more than anyone else, and he certainly doesn't need advice to do what he does best -- work hard, and fast.

Still, these would be my suggestions for his top five priorities.

Set an example:

The cult of personality that led President Buhari to victory was built on a simple premise -- Nigeria, for once, needs a man shorn of greed; who owns less in terms of material, and covets even less. There are those who insist that the fate of a nation cannot lie solely on Buhari's personality, and perhaps they are right. But the 'lau lau' (Nigerian slang for wasteful) lifestyle of the president who is leaving office led to unprecedented waste, and turned corruption into art.

Now, because of Buhari's reputation, governments and corporate Nigeria have begun to tighten their belts. Oil marketers are suspended in terror; people even expect the cost of land in Nigeria to drop. If he steps into power, and changes; then nothing he says and nothing he does will matter. It will ruin everything. And what a darn shame that will be.

Subsidy has to go

There has long been a media and elite consensus that Nigeria's labyrinth of petro-politics -- which swallows at least $4.2 billion yearly in the name of subsidy -- is a scam. Unfortunately, because he lacked both the credibility and the vision to overhaul that system, Nigerians rightly railed against President Goodluck Jonathan when he tried to remove the subsidy in 2012. The argument was simple -- why force us to tighten our belts when you continue to buy new presidential jets? Thankfully, President Buhari has the competence (as former oil minister) and the personal credibility to make that decision now. It will be a bloody billion-dollar fight. But he, frankly, has no choice.

#BringBackOurGirls

Nigeria's President-elect vows to stop Boko Haram 10:01

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The President-Elect has said he cannot know if the 219 Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last year will be found, and he is right.

Still, Boko Haram has ravaged this country in many ways, but above all it has stolen our faith in government. The girls stand as a symbol of our hopelessness -- that despite a world unified in horror and haste, our government has yet failed.

To re-inspire a nation to reconnect with its strength and its will, there is no stronger message than for those girls to be found.

Cost of government

The cost of running Nigeria is obscene. The federal wage bill, at $9 billion, currently outstrips the expected revenue from crude oil sales and Nigeria's current budget deficit stands at $5 billion, despite more than three years of crude oil prices averaging over $100 a barrel.

The salary for 469 federal legislators stands at $750 million. It sounds like a cliche, but it is no less true -- simply cutting the obscene amounts we spend on 'public service' will help Nigeria with more money for the things that truly matter -- regenerating industry, creating jobs, unloading the power sector, social security, saving.

Entrepreneurs matter

I am an entrepreneur, and I know that it's incredibly hard to be one in this country. There is no access to finance, there's multiple-taxation and a crippling patronage system that relies on endorsements and kickbacks.

We lack systems that enable us to truly unlock wealth and sustain growth for entrepreneurs. Nigeria is lucky to have a proven entrepreneurial energy proven in new-industry addition (over $552 billion) to our GDP, and a massive influx of foreign direct investment.

It is time for our government to actually connect with the aspiration of an eager youth population that's fired up and ready to go.

As we say in Nigeria, time is going.

The African country helping India feed 1.2 billion people

By Mohammad Amir Anwar

Updated 1656 GMT (2356 HKT) June 3, 2015

 

In 2008 prices of some foods, including wheat, soared by 130% in a single year and the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation's food price index shot up 40%.

The result was a frenzied scramble that saw countries acquire an estimated 40 million hectares of land in foreign countries, most of it in Africa.

There is a strong sense that land deals in Ethiopia have benefited both the foreign investors and domestic private capitalists with close ties to the ruling party

Mohammad Amir Anwar, University of Johannesburg

A great deal of attention has been paid to the role of the US, the largest investor in land in the world, China and Middle Eastern countries. Much less attention has been given to the role of India. A global land monitoring initiative, Land Matrix, ranks India as one of the top 10 investors in land abroad. It is the biggest investor in land in Ethiopia, with Indian companies accounting for almost 70% the land acquired by foreigners after 2008.

Indian land deals in Ethiopia are the result of the strong convergence in the two countries' domestic political-economic policies. Both advocate the privatisation of public assets and increasing reliance on free trade and open markets.

India's investment in land has been driven by the need to obviate the effects of spiralling food prices by outsourcing food supply. Ethiopia's decisions are driven by its development policy based on commercialisation of agriculture and reliance on foreign investments.

Rough estimates suggest Indian firms have acquired roughly 600 000 hectares of land in Ethiopia. This is more than ten times the size of land acquired by firms in India under the country's special economic zones policy. India is followed closely by Saudi Arabian firms, with 500 000 hectares of land, in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia's sweet success 00:57

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Ethiopia's love for coffee 07:23

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A taste of Ethiopia 08:06

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Shopping for herbs and spices in Ethiopia 07:10

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What drives Indian firms to Ethiopia

India's ability to feed its 1.22 billion people is under increasing strain. This is due to a rapidly growing population, low agricultural productivity, reductions in farm sizes, declining water tables, increasing control of the seed sector by multi-nationals and a gradual withdrawal since the 1990s of the farm support system.

India introduced special economic zones in 2005 hoping it would lead to agricultural development through the consolidation of land holdings. The intention was that this would lead to industrialisation.

But the policy exposed the oldest contradiction of capitalism -- primitive accumulation which includes privatisation of land, the forced expulsion of peasant populations and the conversion of common, collective and state property rights to exclusive property rights.

Widespread resistance movements began in many states, stalling some of the biggest zones, most notably in Nandigram. The protests led to the fall of the Left Front state government of West Bengal in 2011 after 34 years in power.

To meet consumption needs the Indian government started encouraging firms to seek land abroad for growing crops. This was driven by two factors: it was struggling to make more land available for investors and the spike in global food price crisis in 2008.

The lure of Ethiopia

The Ethiopian agricultural sector lies at the heart of the government's development strategy. It has set out to attract more foreign investment in large-scale commercial agriculture as outlined in its 1993 policy which was later reformulated in 2005.

The policy marked a move towards a more trade-orientated approach, and a desire to attract foreign investors. Over 3.5 million hectares of land has been earmarked for investment by foreign firms.

Need for caution

Foreign investors need to tread carefully when acquiring land in Africa. This is best illustrated in the Gambela region of Ethiopia which I visited earlier this year. The area has been the centre of large-scale land acquisitions by Indian as well as other foreign investors.

According to the Ethiopian constitution, land is administered by the regional government. However, the federal government's move to govern land investments through a centralized agency called the Agricultural Investment Land Administration Agency has led to discontent among Gambela regional government officials.

The concern is that the behaviour of foreign companies is not being managed adequately. There is a strong sense that land deals in Ethiopia have benefited both the foreign investors and domestic private capitalists with close ties to the ruling party.

A recent study found that foreign investors are farming less than 8% of the land they have acquired. During my visit I learnt that Karuturi Global Ltd, an Indian firm which has 100 000 hectares of land in Gambela, had only 1 000 hectares under production.

A lack of consultation with people living in the area is also a problem. Gambela is an ecological hotspot with Gambela National Park at its centre. It is home to Nuer and Anuak people whose livelihoods are threatened by investors illegally clearing trees in the park. These clearances happen mostly without consultation. This has led to conflict in the region.

Given the political nature of international land deals and the role states play in shaping policy and practice, there must be scrutiny on the role governments play in such deals because of their close alliance with private capital.

This is especially so for India. It can ill-afford to be tainted by accusations of complicity in land deals that disadvantage the people of Africa given the role it sees for itself in promoting co-operation among countries in the south to mitigate the effects of skewed power relations with the north.

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