A system that has plunged us into this mess cannot bring us back from the brink. It cannot be business as usual if we want to get out of the woods. So far, no political party has given a policy thrust that will bring us back from the precipice that is staring us in the face, and those who feel they are doing the right thing may be offering derisory plans while thinking they are doing us favour. There must be a paradigm shift in the system which the politicians cannot provide on their own as their motives put their interests above those of the collective. There must be a system that is fair and equitable to all concerned and meets the global standard of cost control in governance. Now a solution proffers itself.
The political elite is the bane of the worsening situation in the country. As good as they may be individually, it would seem that they always conspire against the rest of us when they come together to play politics and are put in charge of the affairs of the country. This is when they treat the rest of us as fools, they lose their sense of humanity while they engage in the primitive acquisition of wealth, inanities, waste, profligacy, frivolous and ill-conceived projects, misapplication of resources, compromised institutions and appointments that are more or less sinecure, and pay total disregard to service to the nation, democratic governance and collective national interests.
The reasons are not farfetched: the general feudalistic background of the political elite has been unduly buoyed by the autocratic tendencies of the erstwhile military whom they replace. So, at the point where proper resource management and sense of proportion should have come into play as in developed democracies, our politicians display a total lack of integrity and sense of social justice but instead display “what is in it for me” or such primordial and parochial tendencies. The political class and their pliant compatriots in the civil service conveniently omitted to restore the checks and balances in governance when the military left the stage. As a result, what we now have is a cosmetic change from military to civil rule- a mere change from khaki to agbada- with a total lack of fiscal discipline that is expected in a working democracy.
It would appear that rather than focus on service to the nation, the political class is focused on the treasury and power for their selfish ends. They venture into politics with the mindsets of men/women out to reap the highest possible dividends from their investments. Therefore, the booties after winning elections, and not service to fatherland, in my opinion, remain the motivating factors in most cases. This is the genesis of our problems. It is evident that if money and power continue to be the motivating factor, things will continue to get worse. Something has to change as we cannot be doing things the same way and expect different results.
The politicians are at the end of their tethers. So instead of coming up with workable solutions, they engage in the blame game, passing the buck without taking the faintest glimpse at the mirror. But the truth is that the political elite, being bereft of integrity, brought about this mess through their acts of omission and or commission. Only statesmen- politicians imbued with integrity and desire for social justice- can devise and implement a system that will take us out of the present mess. But no one can give what he does not have, hence the need to help politicians to help themselves and follow the advice of William Shakespeare: “Assume a virtue if you have it not” –the need to devise a cost-of-governance model that will serve as a thermostat to direct/regulate the cost of governance in line with the available resources, and the level of development of the nation.
In deriving a formula in this regard, a realistic view must be taken of the country’s resources and not based on the mistaken assumption that Nigeria is the giant of Africa. It must also be noted that governance is a common service which features in every country, even if its cost is relative to its resources/size and level of development. The system whereby over 70 per cent of our resources are being squandered on cost of governance is unwieldy and that is why everything is going downhill. There must be a paradigm shift in the system that turns politics and governance into business ventures.
I give the government or political party an option out of three systems designed as a means of planning for development and achieving the desired goal of cost-effective cum cost-efficient governance. The first system is that the cost of governance should be equal to or less than 30 per cent of the country’s resources for the period. This will leave 70 per cent for other commitments- education, health, infrastructure etc.
Learning from others is the second system. It will be wise counsel for the giant to go to the ants, learn their ways and be wise. When Nigeria became independent, we were at par, or even better off economically, than some countries then classified as third world/developing countries. Examples of such countries are Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea. These countries have left us behind and are now proudly referred to as Asian Tigers. We can copy the consumption pattern that catapulted them out of the rung of the underdevelopment class.
The third system is to derive another (if different from the aforesuggested) which must take cognisance of the fact that this country is the poverty capital of the world and all the indices of development put Nigeria at the last rung. Consider the absurdity that the poverty capital of the world is paying the highest remuneration to its legislators or the president or ministers of the poorest nation when compared with the richest nations. The point being made here is that the consumption pattern must be based on objective realities.
The success of Nigeria is our collective desire, but we cannot achieve this if we continue to leave politics to the politicians. It is my considered opinion that we can contribute our quota by considering and applying this as a verifiable and veritable chink in the armour of the giant that Nigeria’s problems have become. In other words, when the cost of governance is streamlined as suggested, everything will fall into place. Conversely, the longer this is ignored, we should expect from our leaders more actions that are less altruistic.