Our mother country Nigeria remains politically and developmentally in the wilderness, due to poor leadership and governing challenges. Nigerians are daily in prayers for their Nigeria in distress, believing that prayer “has great powers to produce positive results”. That may be correct from different perspective. But the God that created us, has blessed us with all requirements needed to exit problems. Why then pray for solutions to problems we created through bad leadership? Why seeking for our creator’s intervention when we know the causes of our dilemma? Are we not being hypocritical and mocking our God?
But Nigeria’s resort to prayer, simply underlines that governance fails when it’s not redemptive; Karl Marx’s contention that “religion is the opium of the masses,” notwithstanding. It’s now obvious that turning Nigeria requires redemptive governance; a non-partisan coalescing of various individuals- sufficiently bold and selflessly honest- “men who possess opinions and a will” to rethink Nigeria’s remediation modalities that indeed, make Nigeria functional again.
As Nigeria hobble under recessionary pressures and sustainable livelihood becomes a gargantuan, challenge, religion becomes a thriving industry replete with dupes, fraud and tricksters including fake prophets and Sheikhs.
In Nigeria’s depressed economy, this state of play validates the contention that “There is God, is the poor man’s prayer.” Yet Nigeria’s present realities underpin the enormity of her challenges; plus the fact that the nation and those entrusted to bring about that change, are all struggling badly. If change reflects success, little of it abounds in Nigeria. The initial flush of collective optimism, exhilaration and bravura has waned; and trickle down dividends of democracy are slow in coming. Nigeria’s governance problem is that the ‘change’ bar might have been set too high; beyond what Nigeria’s weak and clueless leadership, weak institutions; weak infrastructure and weak resolve can deliver.
Oddly, the Tinubu administration has an articulated vision, purpose and governance strategies; and the ‘right’ set of people, with the requisite credentials. Thus, it remains incomprehensively why it’s difficult to turn around Nigeria, with the fundamentals of good governance seemingly in place. Balanced analyses point to the need for clarity, absence of organizational capability to deliver on purpose and absence of effective stakeholder engagement, as mitigating factors.
Stagflation makes addressing the country’s present challenges difficult, even as Nigeria’s leadership insists that the country must look beyond oil. Vacillation in oil prices still makes nonsense of planning and budgeting. The challenges are worsened by a political and leadership class averse to making personal sacrifices.
Also, national interest has disappeared from the national lexicon, thus rendering every policy measure suspect. Secondly, a combination of poor infrastructure, poor electricity supply, poor security network and growing unemployment compound present challenges. Third, Nigerian legislators are a greedy lot that refuse to be frugal. Instead, they are mere federal contractors in competition for contracts and recognition by the executive arm.
Fourth, while financing agriculture is a viable option, the agribusiness blueprint seems opaque in the absence of synergy; thus making it almost impossible to reduce food importation by 2027. Likewise the remediation of decrepit infrastructure remains arduous. Absence of policy synergy between the federal government, the state and local governments also pose continuing challenges. Despite the extension of bailouts to some states, only but four states are economically viable while the rest are heavily indebted. While the federal government tries to address burgeoning national debt, the states are in parallel opposite, continue borrowing. Such unchecked borrowings compound Nigeria’s intractable foreign exchange challenges and growing contingent liabilities.
As observed recently by Yusufu Zakari (Sa’in Wase), a Chartered Accountant and retired Federal Civil Servant, most Nigerian states “fail to diversify their economies by developing human capital and levering on the substantial resources they possess. The result has been powerful governors and council chairmen beholden to ostentatious living, bloated public work forces, with its attendant wage demands; fully 80% of the states and local governments owe salaries as no supporting investments to position the states and local governments on safe financial pedestal.” As state governments seek refunds for resources they expended on rehabilitating decrepit federal infrastructures within their states; the same states also spend enormous fiscal resources in underwriting logistical and financial support to federal law enforcement agencies located within their states, with hardly any recompense from Abuja. These awkward realities inevitably compel demands for strengthening the democracy. Most of the 2023 budgets presented by both the federal and state governments are largely improbable, very few are zero based and very few can be funded and implemented fully.
As for the 2022 budget approved by the rubber-stamp National Assembly, the Federal Government according to the former Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, was to borrow N6.2trillion to fund the budget.
In so far as the state governments continue to strangulate the local governments financially by fiats, challenges will subsist; just as UNIDO proclaimed Nigeria’s SMEs “Ignorant of certain investment and technological skills” required to liberate the country from the claws of the current global recession”. Oddly, those who dare to advise or criticize the governments are pummeled with counter-criticisms to cover failure and ineptitude or threatened with arrest by compromised security agencies.
Although we are in a democracy, presidential aides and overzealous security agents have become pointlessly defensive, combative and shockingly impolitic and pushback against any honest advice or criticism while they are not excluded from the glaring suffering and associated uncertainties. Government has thus lost sight of the divide between jibes by its traducers and exhortations from well meaning Nigerians. For its own edification, the presidency needs to commission some policy preceptors to explore the constructive role of three 13th century figures- Robert of Sorbon, a clergy; Etienne Boileau, a bourgeois; and Simon de Nesle, an aristocrat- that jointly orchestrated the transfiguring of French politics by fostering redemptive governance during the reign of King Louis IX. It is worrying that midway to the first year of President Tinubu’s tenure, most of his initial supporters having “changed”, are jumping ship and his erstwhile allies are realigning for 2027; convinced that he won’t be catalytic to the electoral outcome. Electoral trends in Gambia, Ghana, Gabon, Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso that swept away underperforming leaders remain instructive. As former Nigeria’s deputy Central Bank Governor Kingsley Moghalu noted, “Nigeria’s fiscal crisis in a world of low oil prices can be addressed only through, a constitutional redesign that devolves decision making to units that will have economies of scale,” Ditto Nigeria’s governance challenges.
Nigerians are suffering and need a catharsis chockfull with redemptive governance and smart power leadership not influenced ethno-religious political considerations. Nigeria should retool its leadership advisory and decision making methods. Nigeria needs people in public offices, who no longer need the pecks of government, but whose counsel the government can’t do without.
Former United States Vice President Walter Mondale served as the 24th United States Ambassador to Japan from 1930 to 1996. Such public service, patriotism, and leadership are rare in our clime, where politics and public service are self-indulgent. In our present system, only few in leadership positions deserve to occupy those positions they occupy.
It is only in Nigeria and few other African countries one sees semi-illiterates with poor exposure and experience allowed, encouraged and supported to be in leadership positions. In our present system, we have so many fraudster and tricksters in positions of leadership fanning the embers of retrogression than progress.
We have so many crooks and rogues in leadership systematically retarding national progress but supported to stay due to high scale hypocrisy, ethno-religious and regional sentiments. We are operating a very deadly system at our own peril unless, and only unless we are ready to accept the reality on the ground for the desired effective change.
If President Tinubu’s first tenure must yield tangible results, there must be a rethink aimed at redemptive governance. If the process starts with a total cabinet reshuffle, so be it. Since constitutional guarantee of social justice seem not to suffice, we should perhaps resort to philosophical theological dictates of the Holy Books. This proposal isn’t in favor of dogmatic governance, but biased towards governance that is people oriented; which substitutes rhetoric and promises with compassion and promotes justice and common good instead of divisive policies.
Nigeria We Hail Thee!
Muhammad is a commentator on national issues
