and elections themselves usually revolve around personalities rather than institu- tions and issues, Jonathan has impressed many with his focus on burning issues affecting the country and its future, such as the government’s Road Map for Power Sector Reform, which is meant to address the country’s perennial electricity prob- lems; and the Presidential Task Force on educational reform, under which six new federal universities have been proposed in six states adjudged to be inadequately impacted by Federal presence, in terms of investments by the central government.
Manifesto Jonathan’s manifesto for the elections is simple: education, capacity building, em- ployment, agriculture, the economy and power (electricity). Jonathan stresses the need for qualitative education for Nigeri- ans on a massive scale. Two of the six pro- posed universities are to be sited in Lokoja, Kogi State, and at Lafia in Nasarawa State. Tis is in fact only a pilot stage for the big plan, which is aimed at ensuring that every state in the Federation eventually gets a federal university. Te second phase of the project, to be
implemented if Jonathan wins, will see another batch of states hosting one new federal university each. Te construction of the new universities will translate into thousands of jobs. Tis will be good news for people in the selected areas in particu- lar and the country in general. Agriculture is another key plank of
the economy, and Jonathan proposes to build more dams to boost increased water supply not just for domestic use, but also for irrigation so that farmers can produce crops all year round, especially in the far North where rainfall is patchy. Ten comes electricity (called “power”
in Nigeria, a perennial problem for suc- cessive governments since independence). Jonathan promises to tackle that too. Part of the solution will be the revival of the coal industry in Enugu, and the exploita- tion of new deposits in Benue and Kogi states, home to large deposits of coal suit- able for both local uses and for export. In sum, judging from everything
that has taken place in the recent past in Nigeria and what is still happening in the politics of the country and the awareness of the people, it is not going to be business as usual whoever wins.
New African April 2011 | 41
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