GOOD GOVERNANCE,A PREREQUSITE FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

THE SUMMARY OF MALLAM NASIR EL-RUFAI’S LECTURE AT THE 54^th ANNUAL HALL WEEK OF ALEXANDER BROWN HALL, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN WHICH TOOK PLACE AT THE PAUL HENDRICKSE LECTURE THEATRE, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN.

In a lecture delivered by the Former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who was the guest speaker at the just concluded Alexander Brown Hall, University of Ibadan Hall Week 2012, He pointed out the need for good governance which he said can only be achieved through the rule of law by ensuring that we have free and fair elections in Nigeria.

Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them.

Societies make progress when visionary leaders emerge to organize and direct collective actions for peaceful coexistence, with sensible rules, clear incentives and sanctions that enable individuals realize their full potentials. When the leadership emerges through a process that provides equal opportunity for all citizens to participate via free, fair and credible elections, accountability is highest, governance performance more likely to be assured and freedoms of citizens guaranteed. Such an inclusive process usually produces growth with development in both the economic and political realms.

The World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project reports aggregate and individual governance indicators for 215 economies over the period 1996–2011, for six dimensions of governance: Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption.

These aggregate indicators developed by Danny Kaufmann, AartKraay and Massimo Mastuzzi combine the views of a large number of business, citizen and expert surveys in industrial as well as developing countries. The WGI indicators are based on 30 individual data sources produced by a variety of survey institutes, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and private sector firms

These dimensions are consistent with the characteristics of good governance identified by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). These comprise the following:

·         Participation – by both men and women either through direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives;

·         Rule of Law – fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially;

·         Transparency – decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows laid down rules and regulations;

·         Responsiveness – serving all stakeholders within a reasonable time frame;

·         Consensus oriented – mediation of the different interests in a society to reach a broad consensus in the overall interest of the whole community;

·         Equity and inclusiveness – all members of the society are availed the opportunity of sense of belonging;

·         Effectiveness and Efficiency – processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of the society while making the best use of available resources; and

·         Accountability – governmental institutions, private sector and civil society organisations are accountable their institutional stakeholders.

On the economic sector, he said economic reforms alone aren’t enough, more efforts should be invested in political reforms and measures between the political and economic reforms should be established from day one as we cannot have sustainable economic reforms without a firm polity.  To find a way to reform and improve democratic rule, we need to get involved and try to improve them.  Societies make progress when visionary leaders arrange to organize and direct collective actions for people’s coexistence, sensible rule that enable individuals to enlarge their full potentials.

He also made mention of the Justice Uwais report recommendation which sought to separate the executive arm completely from INEC in order to guarantee the latter’s autonomy. Most importantly, the report insisted that the President should not have powers to single-handedly appoint or remove the INEC Chairman. The process recommended by Uwais for appointment of INEC Chairman starts with the National Judicial Council (NJC) advertising to the public and spelling out the required qualifications. After receiving the applications, three persons are short-listed and the nominations sent to Council of State to select one person to be forwarded to the Senate for confirmation. Removal of the Chairman or commissioners of INEC should be on the recommendation of the NJC and approval by two-thirds of the Senate which shall include at least 10 members of minority parties.

The logistical problems within INEC need to be solved and there is no better time than now to begin planning. Issues like election materials arriving late from Japan as was the case in the last elections are unacceptable. Attempting to register the expected 80 million-plus voters in three weeks will not happen.

At the root of our failure as a country is the absence of true democracy for most of our history. Rigged elections put in place unaccountable leaders with no organic link with the electorate, legitimized only by corruption in the Judiciary but not in the eyes of the citizens. Unelected leaders in power rule, not govern, and do so with impunity. They know the citizenry neither elected nor supported them. They know they are in power only because they paid massive amounts of money to staff of INEC, the Police and the SSS in the first instance. They then spent further amounts to persuade the judges to uphold the fake election results written by the first set of electoral and security officials. Their single-minded focus in power is therefore to ‘make’ as much money as possible to pay to write the results of the next election. They do not care to fulfil any election promises, because they know that our votes have never counted.

The strengths of democracy as the best system of government are political equality, the empowerment of disenfranchised, and the ability to manage societal conflicts peacefully. Elections are the foundations of democracy, but only when conducted with integrity.

He also mentioned that the reason why Nigeria is faced with the problem of terrorism especially that of Boko haram is because of the failure of the government to cater for the young ones. In a country where the per capita income only 1,500 dollars per annum as compared with South Korea was use to be on the same level with Nigeria in 1963 but who now has a per capita income of about 25,000 dollars, what do you expect of the youths of such a country like Nigeria where hunger and unemployment are the order of the day but these two problems for instance should have been the harbinger if the government were responsive enough. He made mention of some northern states of the federation like Yobe and Jigawa in which 2 out of every 3 youths are not well educated or even lacked education in totality, unemployed and not able to feed well. He decried about the poor education system being faced majorly by that zone of the country. He dissociated Islam from the activities of Boko haram and stated that it is as a result of bad governance. He stated that it is easy for hungry and unemployed youths to give in to any false beliefs if they are asked to be suicide bombers and that if they kill for God that they will have inheritance in heaven especially when they are uneducated.

He also mentioned that countries of the world that has developed over the years especially those in Asia are not necessarily practicing democracy.  Indonesia for instance has had some military rule and lots of corruption but has done very well. He recommended a book by Chinua Achebe (The trouble with Nigeria) where Chinua Achebe pointed out that the problem of Nigeria was fully and squarely that of leadership and has remained till today.

Leadership is important in any social grouping but it’s far more central in countries in Africa for the overall success and wealth of nations than anywhere else because we happen to have a weak institution.

He wondered why Nigeria cannot refine his own crude oil and sell at a very high price to other nations of the world. He doesn’t understand why we need to keep exporting oil for refining and not work on our refineries. He couldn’t also understand why the amount paid in subsidy by the government presently was 2.6 trillion naira when that paid by Obasanjo was only 200 billion naira.

He lauded president Obasanjo that he was a very hard working president whom he said worked 21 hours a day trying to make Nigeria better and that he consulted experts always before making any move.

As regards being in the opposition caucus, he affirmed that you will suffer so much to the extent that your livelihood may even be threatened just because you are a critic. He said his construction company being a first class one and noted for its competence across the company may not get much attention since they are in the opposition as nobody will want to offend the present government by awarding them a contract.

The occasion was graced by Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Professor O.O Akinkugbe (CFR, FRCP, FWACP, NNOM) who was the chairman of the day, Professor Abiodun Ilesanmi, former Chief Medical Director, UCH, Ibadan, Professor Babatunde Salako, H.O.D of Medicine Department and  The Dean of Students, Professor A. A Alada.

THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL ACTIONS ON EDUCATION

Before I got to the University, I never really knew much about strike actions. I do hear about it but showed little concern probably because I finished from a private secondary school where I did the last three years. Even when I was in my junior secondary school, I can’t remember if we were ever affected by any strike.

During the Obasanjo administration, I remember vividly that my elder ones were at home for about a period of four months when they both told me that they were affected by an industrial action that forced them to stay at home. After a series of meetings the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had with the Federal Government, they failed to reach a compromise and this led to the shut down of Universities across the country and academic activities were paralyzed. It was this period I really started to know what strike action meant. 

Before I got to the higher institution in 2006,I had made a calculation on paper when I tried to figure out the most likely time I would finish school either with the four­-year course I came in with or if eventually I would change my course to medicine in my second year. I would only just have to add two years to the calculated date but then my brother came to the table and saw what I was writing where he told me to add ‘plus x’ to the number of years I’m to spend in the University. Of course, he wasn’t trying to say I was going to have an extra year in the University but he was almost certain that at some point in my study, there would be some delays as a result of an anticipated strike action.

I find it difficult to pen down as I was only just positive that such will not happen in my time.

The first year came and I managed to escape. The session finished February 2007 which was supposed to be the normal time. We were to resume June 2007 but the school adjusted her calendar and added three months extra to our resumption date in order for them to normalize the calendar back to the old ‘September to June’ style after which you can have the months of July and August to yourself as a summer break.

The University didn’t even achieve this for a period of two years before another nationwide strike came on board. It was the same agitation of salary increment and other reforms in the education sector the ASUU cried on in 2005 that led to the strike.  The Government had not heeded to their cry. The whole University calendar was disrupted and the need for another adjustment.

From my second year till the time after my third year when I was about to cross over to the clinical school, there was no major strike that stopped academic activities. However, when we got to clinical school, we were able to do our introductory posting which lasted for eight weeks after which the second strike I just talked about came up.

This time, we were not even taught in the clinics and wards. This lasted for a whole four months. Then I began to wonder if I will ever leave school on time. I thought the ‘plus x’ my brother talked about could only last for not more than a month or  two but lo and behold, it was over seven months extra already and it started to become unbearable. Many of my friends complained on a daily basis but we could not do anything to help the situation as we just watched in despair. We started to talk about the political aspect of the whole situation and how badly this has affected the education sector and the kind of image it’s giving to the nation. 

ASUU strike had not only been our problem. We had in the past been affected also by other strike actions be it at the State or Federal level. Among these are health workers strikes, fuel crises, and local political unrest to mention but a few. All these have in one way or the other affected our studies.

The education system has really deteriorated. We don’t produce quality graduates as of the old. 

Many things are lacking. Strike is just one major factor I talked on. There are other factors; the instability in electricity that adversely affects teaching, clinical trials and laboratory researches, inappropriate funding of the educational sector by the Government, undue politicizing of some major posts in the University, nepotism, tribalism and inadequate reward of success of brilliant students.

My question is now to Nigerian University students. On our own, how do you think we can deal with these negative changes particularly that of the strike actions which halt our education on a yearly basis? 

 Do you think we can influence these to a large scale to suit our own purpose? Do you even think ASUU have a plan for us or they are just after their own welfare alone? After all when they go on strike, we automatically do too.

Similar link:  The ASUU strike and it's effect on the Nigerian students  http://www.ynaija.com/opinion-the-asuu-strike-and-its-effect-on-nigerian-students/