The May 29 handover gradually draws nearer. Very soon a new president, state governors, federal and state lawmakers will take oaths of office and assume the responsibilities of their offices. A hydra-headed monster has been bleeding Nigeria since it became independent thus preventing the masses from enjoying maximum benefit from their taxes and the established infrastructure. This needs to be critically looked at. Whenever a new government or administration comes into power, virtually all ongoing projects and programs, no matter how laudable and people-oriented they are, often stopped and abandoned.

The number of abandoned projects in Nigeria today is alarming. Moreover, it has started affecting the national economy disastrously. Every new government considers projects and programs of its predecessors more as legacy and ideas rather than ways meant to improve the people's well-being. Some people argue the need to discontinue the ongoing projects or programs may be quite reasonable. The thing is that the majority of contracts for those projects were awarded to party men, political associates, friends and family members of the outgoing leaders, and they might not even possess any technical knowledge needed to run the projects. At the same time, the skills of project design, monitoring and evaluation are a must for project realization and benefitting the citizens.

Amidst harsh economic reality in Nigeria, the incoming political office holders like president and state governors cannot afford to follow the trend of abandoning their predecessors' projects for the people's sake. In Kwara state, for instance, the administration of the former (late) Governor Muhammed Lawal brought experts, technologists and engineers together to put a permanent end to the lack of drinking water in the city of Ilorin, the state capital, and its environs. A water reticulation project was then approved following the outcome of that brainstorming session. Even though that water project could have permanently solved the problem of water scarcity in the metropolis and beyond, it was discontinued and abandoned by Bukola Saraki after Lawal had failed to secure a second term in office.

The National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) of the Obasanjo's administration was abandoned by Yar''adua simply because it was seen as the legacy of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Yar'adua's Seven-Point Agenda was replaced with the Transformation Agenda by Jonathan's government even though Jonathan was part of Yaradua's administration. We cannot move further with this trend of wastefully abandoning projects and programs merely on the basis of prejudice, selfish desire, inferiority complex and extravagance.

There is a need for laudable government projects, programs and policies to be backed and protected by the National or State Assemblies. These are the only ways a new administration would not be able to abandon them as they are backed by law.

There was once an idea to create the project management office in all government establishments. Its responsibilities would include developing and maintaining project standards and methods of managing historic projects and documents; providing administrative support and supervision to the projects; providing management training for project runners. Some people have also opined that the government should stop establishing projects based on discretion and injustice. If a person or a community were allowed to choose projects and programs based on their needs it would be difficult for the incoming administration to abandon them because the people would hold such government to account.

Abandoned projects still remain a conduit pipe through which Nigerian resources are being wasted away without benefiting the people. It is no longer acceptable for any government to discontinue or abandon the projects, policies and programs of an outgoing administration after billions of naira were spent on them. Enough of these legacies of waste for the sake of the poor masses.