An open letter to Senate President David Mark and Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, please cancel the elections in 2015 and broker the formation of a government of national unity

By Abitunde Taiwo

Dear Senate President David Mark and Speaker Aminu Tambuwal,

With the present problems that confront Nigeria, the dramatic fall in oil prices, and the uncertain repercussions of a predictable bitterly contested elections in 2015, it is in the best interest of Nigeria that you broker the formation of a government of national unity in Nigeria before the end the year 2014. The government of national unity should be in place from January 2015 until January 2019.

1. Today, Nigeria is in a state of war with Boko Haram.

2. The Nigerian people are under a state of pronounced insecurity caused by armed robbers, kidnappers, and terrorists.

3. The economy has not produced jobs for over 80% of university graduates, and millions of Nigerians are hungry and homeless.

4. The government revenues are derived from the sale of oil, and oil prices are plummeting putting a fragile economy in serious danger of collapse.

A government of national unity will allow our politicians to jointly face and tackle Nigerian security and socio-economic problems headlong, and in the process inspire and encourage Nigerian people worldwide to join in support of the effort.

Fortunately, the national assembly today is headed by both of you who are members of the two major parties in contention for 2015.

In the scenario of a government of national unity, you should keep your positions as senate president and speaker respectively.

1. The opposition party should nominate the vice president, and there should be a 50:50 split in the cabinet of ministers between the ruling party and the opposition.

2. At the state level, the ruling governors from a particular party should have a deputy governor from the opposition party, and there should be a 50:50 split of commissioners similar to that in Abuja.

3. The local governments should reflect the states or the federal government arrangement.

A government of national unity must then change focus from oil as the major source of government revenues to taxation and the implementation of policies and programs that will enable and accelerate the diversification of the economy from oil. Building the needed infrastructures nationwide will enable and accelerate the diversification of the economy from oil.

A government of national unity must institute taxation as the primary means that government at all levels obtain revenues for provisioning of services and security to the Nigerian people. That is the practice worldwide. Nigeria's case should not be an exception!

Taxation of Nigerians worldwide will enable the fulfillment of the demands and responsibility of citizenship. It will provide revenues, including oil revenues, of up to $400 billion US dollars to accrue to the coffers of government. This is significantly more than the dwindling oil revenues alone, which currently stands at approximately $60 billion US dollars. A government of national unity is needed to inspire confidence in the stability of the Nigerian government, and may encourage Nigerian people to pay taxes. Taxation will also enable social justice to be done to the oil producing states as they can be allowed to keep up to 50 per cent of the oil revenues, a just demand of theirs, since most of government revenues will come from taxation.

Taxation also will create opportunities for Nigerians to give back, provide revenues to government needed to provide vital services to the people, and through government spending of the enhanced accrued revenues create many economic opportunities in the country. A government of national unity should enter into a bilateral tax agreement with each country in which substantial number of Nigerians live in order to mitigate their double taxation jeopardy.

Taxation will also motivate the Nigerian people to become more involved in the solution of the problems in their communities as democracy demands.

In conclusion, a​​ government of national unity, as you can see from the benefits and promise I outlined above, will have the positive effect of a Marshall Plan that brought development to Western Europe and Japan after the devastation of the Second World War.
Today, Nigeria is in a state of war. Nigerians want our politicians to unite to end this state of war and profound insecurity in the country. Nigerians also demand policies and programs from our politicians that will bring socio-economic progress and prosperity to the people and the nation. You can help to make this possible. Will you?

Please do. I plead with you to broker the formation of a government of national unity in Nigeria that will help to bring security and socio-economic prosperity to the people and to the country. Thank you very much for your service to the nation.

Sincerely,

Abitunde Taiwo