Despite the spate of ethno-religious killings, series of lethal bomb blasts and a litany of other security problems afflicting Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan will still deliver on his campaign promises.
This was disclosed by his Special Advisor on Social Development, Mrs. Sarah Pane, during a courtesy call on LEADERSHIP Newspapers yesterday.
Mrs Pane absolved President Jonathan of accusations of incompetence and negligence of the security of lives and property of Nigerians.
She said, “Social problems can be described as a tree. Some of the problems are branch problems, but the real problems are from the roots.
Poverty and unemployment have been built up over the years, and the results of what the government has been doing to solve these problems cannot be seen overnight.”
On the increasing state of insecurity in the country, Pane said, “There must be some level of planning over the years; we should understand for example that when some people who are involved in this insecurity have something to live for, they won’t go into rascality.
I agree that we all have levels of self-determination that must not necessarily be violent.”
She blamed low-self esteem and the opposition in the country for the increasing spate of violent attacks on people and government property in the country.
“But all I can say is that, low self-esteem and lack of determination are some of the reasons for the unrest in the country. But there is also a political side.
The people in the opposition will like to make things difficult for the people at the helm of affairs”, she said.
Fielding questions from editors of LEADERSHIP newspapers on the state of the nation and the 100 days of Jonathan’s stewardship, she assured that the presidency would meet all its campaign goals at the end of the present dispensation in 2015.
She said, “These problems have been built up and if we expect them to go in 100 days, then it is not possible.
We must remember that he is battling to restore security and better the economy, so instead of concentrating on one thing, he is battling with several things at once, but I believe that he would achieve all his campaign goals.”
She decried the lopsidedness in the 2011 National Budget of 75 per cent for recurrent expenditure and 25 per cent for capital expenditure and promised that the government will redirect its focus in the cause of the dispensation on infrastructural development.
However, Mrs. Pane advised millions of Nigerians searching for jobs not to depend solely on government since it cannot spend heavily on salaries when physical infrastructure are decaying.
She said, “We need to give a new orientation to Nigerians. Nigerians need to realize that there are things they can do outside government, even though we know that electricity and other things are not available”.
