By now, it must have become obvious to many Nigerians that what was achieved with the 2015 general election was simply the enthronement of a new set of people who, like their predecessors, have no respect for public morals and decorum and lack discipline for the public purse. Nothing else! The entire masturbatory dance, the celebrations, the chants of change and the beatification of body language as a new governance model was a leeway into what has now become the reality of a government that was never in charge of its affairs.
Muhammadu Buhari never pretended that he was too weak to govern. In fact, he stated it in his first post-2015 election interview with the BBC. In that interview, he literally disowned all his campaign promises or, better put, all campaign promises made in his name. The subsequent celebration of change occasioned by his body language left many wondering how far the body language would lead Nigeria. Sadly, it did not go far enough and everyone is now sitting on Reality Boulevard watching the country drift from insecurity, with parts of it painted red with the blood of citizens.
Those very close to the President, who understand him better, knew that the body language thing was just smoke. It was to vanish with a little breeze. And it did. As soon as it vanished, the gates were flung open for a return to the status quo. This is Nigeria! Things don’t just change. If we recall, we would remember that Buhari took more than six months to constitute his first cabinet in 2015. One of the reasons he gave afterwards was that he was looking for honest Nigerians to work with. He found none because he went looking for virgins in the maternity ward. More like looking for saints in the devil’s coven. He ended up with the same persons who masqueraded around him as honest and competent but were, in deed and in actuality, persons waiting for the opportunity to have their hand on the pie. Sad as it is, there are, even now, millions of Nigerians outside government who are waiting for the opportunity to get involved in government and do like others before them did. Simply put, it is a vicious circle that cannot just evaporate because a particular person became President. Saints don’t live here!
Many like me believe that we have lost Nigeria. The stench oozing from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the North East Development Commission (NEDC), National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Ibrahim Magu’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), where recovered loot and forfeited property were either re-looted or shared or auctioned on credit to friends and associates of “Villa” and “Bourdillon”, is so putrid that many can no longer breathe. Even deodorants have become useless. In spite of these, some are optimistic that the country can still be rescued. And, to my mind, if we must recover, reclaim and rebuild Nigeria, we must stop building individuals and start building our governmental institutions. Nigeria cannot be salvaged by any one man but by the collective effort of Nigerians supporting reformed and strictly independent governmental institutions that are made to effectively work for the wellbeing of the people.
For instance, with a rigidly strict and dogmatically independent defence forces and police, media, electoral commission, central bank, national assembly, judiciary and civil service, one can begin to have confidence that Nigeria would be recovered and rebuilt. Why these are critical is because their strict independence allows them to operate optimally without interference from whoever the President is. This means that the country can effectively manage itself through whatever reform or change without same being personalised or patronising of any particular individual. Thus far, Nigerians have seen the anti-corruption battle of the Federal Government personalised right from inception. Somehow, it became a tool in the hands of the President. With an independent judiciary, justice would be delivered to all and for the good of society, as it ought to be, irrespective of how the President or other Nigerian big men around him feel. With an independent legislature, you create room for enactment of laws that bear no imprint of any particular leader’s emotions. That also allows the legislature to effectively act as a check on the executive in the strict implementation of fiscal policies for the country.
With a deeply independent media, you create watchdogs that keep an eye on society and hold the executive, legislature and judiciary accountable to transparent ideals in the conduct of government business. That removes the lid of opaqueness in government business. This is a most important function, which, sadly, the media has been muscled out of by crushing economic realities. A dogmatically independent electoral commission comes in as a tool in building a stable polity by ensuring free and fair elections, a critical step towards re-ordering of society and leadership recruitment. Such a commission will resist interference and inducement from the President and the ‘Nigerian big man’ and transparently conduct elections that uphold the expressed wish of the people.
This is supported by an independent law enforcement, which discharges its duties without reading the body language or facial expressions of the President and the ‘big man’. Independent law enforcement will guarantee that rights are respected and the menace of the Nigerian big man stops at the gates of his house. This is the surest way to empower the people, create equal status before the law and eliminate dual approach to law enforcement, crime and punishment. For now, it is heavily skewed against the voiceless. You begin to know that you have a country when the voiceless feel the impact of equal status before the law.
In the same vein, when you create an independent Central Bank, one which is reformed to become the economic policy base of the country and is also insulated from political interference or presidential whims, you would have effectively liberated the economy from political grip and created the needed impetus for investments. This is supported by a highly effective civil service, which is trained and also insulated from partisan political interests. By so doing, you create a civil service that will truly serve and deliver service for the good of the country and not to the political leadership of the day. Making the civil service independent includes allowing service progression to take its natural course in respect of competence and qulification.
Finally, there is need for an independent military, which is deeply professional and answerable to the needs of the country and not to the needs of the political leadership in power at the time. Independent military and police serve the national interest, not personal interest, and not party interest. Such will make the people have more confidence in their country and encourage them to become partners in the security of the country. That, in itself, is a boost to investment and economic growth.
Basically, the above is what our country needs. Sadly, however, efforts in the past to push towards these ideals have failed because the reforms became personalised. Often, when reforms are personalised, those that such reforms will dislodge from their safety nests will fight back and sabotage the effort. Besides, history has shown that every personalised reform dies with the initiator. This is one reason it is wrong to build reforms on an individual, irrespective of his passion. It is best to institutionalise reforms and let established and incorruptible systems drive it. Perhaps, this is what the Buhari administration has failed to do. And that is why his government is scandalously unravelling with serious corruption allegations emanating from within. This may also be why some officials of the government are seen to be ‘fighting’ themselves over issues.
No doubt, more of such cases will hog the limelight in the days ahead. This is because the President’s disposition has made it possible for his ministers to run wild. As it is said, wild flowers grow the way they like. With the President’s disposition, it’s now a government of everyone to himself/herself. The centre no longer seems to hold.
Source: www.sunnewsonline.com
