A troubled polity in transition

has led the party to a colossal defeat at the polls and he threw in the towel from far away foreign land while the governors forum has during the week equally agreed that indeed 19 is greater than 16, what we are about to begin to witness from the coming week is certainly how low […]

has led the party to a colossal defeat at the polls and he threw in the towel from far away foreign land while the governors forum has during the week equally agreed that indeed 19 is greater than 16, what we are about to begin to witness from the coming week is certainly how low and deep the nation has sunk, how bad the economy is and the gargantuan corruption that held sway since the ascendency of Goodluck Jonathan to the exalted office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria about six years ago.
Governors of the 36 states rose from a meeting on Monday this week with the demand that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala should explain to them and Nigerians what really happened with the $20 billion oil money unremitted to the Federation Account. This is one of the many major defaults in accounting ethics that I’m sure the government of Muhammadu Buhari would come face to face with as the Jonathan’s government winds down and those who perpetrated such crimes are out of office. You can see why President Jonathan would typical of him in a church of God begin the sermonisation of persecution when he knew very well that his cohorts had stolen Nigeria dry. I don’t know how many contracts were awarded at this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting but the one of last week was funny. How could a government vacating office in a matter of days be so desperate to award contracts to the tune of billions? It tells stories about Jonathan’s fear of persecution.
Yes, somebody there is saying that government is a process of continuum, but logic and common sense of administration dictate that attitude and right frame of mind constitute half the resolution to the questions of governance. If election was conducted and the people have spoken loud and clear by saying no; we are tired of your ways and instead, we prefer this other person or group to take over, the meaning of that is expenditure that was hither to uncontrolled need some control. What we see in this outgoing government however, is different.
Clearly, they are asking for probe because if a few days to the end of the government it is finding it necessary to award contracts to the tune of billions across the broad spectrum of the society and government, then, something serious is in the offing! Why the rush? Why the hurry, I am sure people will be asking.
The reality of the state of the nation’s economy, I understand is pathetic. Poor finances characterise the centre and the units. Governors did argue a few weeks ago that several states would not be able to pay salaries in a month or two. This is added to the already list of states that have not met their wage obligations for some time now. Equally disturbing is the huge debt that virtually all the states are carrying. It was a few years ago that ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo and the same Okonjo-Iweala as the head of finance ministry, chose to recommend to government what she called exit from Paris and London clubs.
Professor Charles Soludo had told us in a professorial manner the other day why Okonjo-Iweala was given the boot by Obasanjo after that record breaking physical cash payment and the resultant interaction that took place between those who were paid and others that paved way for the payment.
Going through the archives I found that indeed long before the payment was effected and the under hand activities that followed there-of, several Nigerians, including my humble self, did smell a rat and we said it. The government was determined and it went ahead. By the time Chief Obasanjo came to the full knowledge of the transaction, the egg head in fiscal and economic management was eased out of finance and posted to Foreign Affairs. The rest is today history.
If history is anything to go by and if it is the interaction between the past, present and future, then, obviously the noise that we hear from those who manage and coordinate our economy suggests in a very loud voice that all is not well. The right thing to do as the president-elect said since his campaigns, is to draw a line, but the line being drawn must take into cognisance the way and manner those high up there have managed our resources in a manner that value addition is merely on paper, on radio and television and not on the quality of life of the citizens.
I think there is going to be a huge crisis if the incoming administration does not pay premium on information management. Nigerians are expecting miracles and while the government sets in with the required integrity and focus, the nation deserves to be kept informed at every turn in the corner. Nigerians need to be mobilised, led by example. Told the truth about the situation on the ground and shown clear focus and determination in dealing and addressing these age-long decay. This is critical and very crucial if we are to collectively move out of this mess.
The elections are over and those who are elected are already coming to terms with the reality of poor finances, fractured polity, which fortunately the elections have resoundingly paved the way to addressing and huge insecurity problems across the country, especially in the North-east and South-south. I pity those elected and never envy their new positions. Some of us will continue to urge Nigerians to not only remain calm but deploy their wisdom in mobilising with governments at various levels to address the stinking rot in Nigeria.
The outgoing government of Goodluck Jonathan is undoubtedly the worst we have ever had in this country. My wish and prayer is that Nigeria shall once again see the light and move in tandem with the aspirations of its citizens; those in tens of millions that require law and order, peace and progress. Those that will want to see public works take precedence over the proliferation of these private ‘thiefdoms’ that care only for the few against the rest. I want to see dispensaries work. General hospitals must be truly general at the service of the teeming Nigerian needy.
Public schools must work so we can have future generations as products of the benevolent state system. Trains must move so that national reintegration, of which the railway is a central agent, is revived. Our roads must cease from being death traps to highways that can facilitate movement of goods and humanity. We would remain in the country side if agriculture is a priority of state through the evolution of sound policies by way of extension services, support and intervention in the process of production and marketing.
We expect that the huge joke in the privatisation of the power sector would be revisited with a view to straightening the zigzags so that eventually when the new president signs the constitution amendment bill into law, there shall be several power producers, distributors and marketers. That is one sure way that independent power production would be a reality and he who produces shall distribute and market and Nigerians shall have power and the informal sector the economy which is composed of petty traders, artisans and others in commerce and craft, may produce at cheap costs and employ more people.