My Oga at the Top

Anyone who follows this column would have discovered a pattern that harps on time and time again on competence in the selection of those who direct our affairs across the sectors. Ideally, by virtue of an appointed position, it is expected that appointees possess the credentials and the passion, measured against a standard. Competence is acquired through information, training, experience andknowledge. Who appoints these people?

There is a minimum standard against which the competence and level of awareness of a top public official is measured. Isn’t there? When a leader falls short of expectations and becomes a laughing stock, then we really start to worry about the selection process. The saga of the interview granted to Channels Television by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Lagos State Commandant, Mr Obafaiye Shem that went viral in the social media has popped fresh questions as to the competence of those “at the top”. 

While the purpose of this piece is not to over flog the exhibition of Mr Shem’s ignorance, I believe that there are lessons to be learnt beyond the humiliation he is suffering in the hands of Nigeria’s tech savvy army of youths. Let’s start with the most crucial: the fact that “my oga at the top” is a sad reminder of how mediocrity in high places has cost us national development. No matter what, it is inexcusable for a public officer the level of Mr Shem, superintending a cosmopolitan city like Lagos, not to know the web address of his organisation. Even worse is the fact that he was ignorant of the fact that this is what he was coming to discuss at the interview. It is obvious that he may have a computer and Internet connectivity on his table in his office but has no use for it. He was not aware of any attempt to close down the fraudulent sites and could only tell us of the committee. We all know about the usefulness of committees, probes and reports!

Mr Shem’s only enthusiasm was to shower praises on his oga as a sign of loyalty. It is all scripted: you ask a state commissioner the progress recorded in his ministry and he would start by “His Excellency, the Governor...” You ask a minister and he’ll end up telling you about “His Excellency, Mr President...” Shem only prepared himself to go to the interview to tell the panel that his Oga at the top was responsible for fixing the problem, whatever the problem may be. This way he would not be stealing the limelight and reinforcing thereby his loyalty to his boss. 

Among the Nigerian youths, through whom the exposé gained momentum, there has been a pain-and-gain effect. For one, the undeniable energy and creativity in our youths were at their best. From songs to graphic arts to music videos, it is amazing what they did with the scenario in a matter of hours. “My Oga At The Top” branded T-shirts are now trendy. We have spotted corporate advertisement campaigns inspired by the subject. 

The downside is that the matter has just made all of us laugh. We laugh when we should be baying for blood. We should take note that we have been put on notice that we need to fight for our votes in 2015 and ensure that we have competence representing us. We need people who care and can put us back on track.

What is remarkable is that even the jobless, who are looking for work, think it is normal to pay to get a job. It is not a right to be created for us by the state. Our corruption is so normal that people do not know the difference.

For the record the official site of the NSCDC is WW.NSCDC that’s all!!! Kai we de suffer for Nigeria.

 

Road Safety

The goals of the Federal Road Safety commission are: making the highway safe for motorists and other road users; recommending works and devices designed to eliminate or minimize accidents on the highways and advising the Federal and State Governments on the localities where such works and devices are required and; educating motorists and members of the public on the importance of discipline on the highway. “In exercise of the functions, members of the Commission shall have power to arrest and prosecute persons reasonably suspected of having committed any traffic offence.”

 

 However, a first time visitor, driving along the Abuja Airport Road, the notorious Abuja-Keffi expressway, or the Nnamdi Azikwe ring road, will tell you that the Highway Code has been suspended in Abuja.  The ignorance and lawlessness exhibited by Abuja motoristsis second to none, with traffic and law enforcement officers playing the role of collaborators rather than law enforcers. They are not interested in road safety. Their focus is revenue generation and revenue generation only. What they do with the money only they know.

 

 We are a country of road users. We have no choice. Cars, buses, trucks and articulated lorries have come to define how we move and ferry goods from one place to another. It is amazing therefore, considering that this is our primary source of movement that we do not have one of the most sophisticated and well-regulated road networks in the world but that is another story.  Abuja however is different. There is a great road network and the traffic layout is well planned. The problem is it is not well managed and the drivers who have emigrated here quickly forget themselves on our smooth multi lane highways, like some young adolescent, not yet aware of his alcohol tolerancewho suddenly finds himself in a drunken stupor and out of control of his faculties. The road surfaces are so good that we get carried away. The authorities do not realize the dangers that we the residents of Abuja face. The drivers here are the most impatient in the world; they do not stop at traffic lights. Of course the greatest culprits here, are politicians and government officials. And no road rage here o! Most drivers have bought their licenses and “no sabi drive at all”. So when there is a crash Na morgue straight!  

 

 Insanity at its purest, only in Abuja would a vehicle choose to drive one-way on a ten-lane expressway!  Oblivious to the speed limits are private cars, commercial vehicles, articulated lorries and siren-blaring escorts, meandering wildly on the wide surfaces kamikaze style in death defying maneuvers.

 

Civil engineering contractors are building fine roads with no priority given to road markings to guide the motorists and pedestrian bridges. The pedestrians have resorted to playing chicken with cars driving at over 100kms per hour on ten lane roads! Utter madness. And to rub salt in the wound, motorists are using what pavements there are for pedestrians, as an extra lane in rush hour traffic or as parking lots for cars. What is the FRSC doing? They would be a rich corporation if only they upheld the laws that they were created to uphold and guess what, they would also save lives and infrastructure in the process. Pavements are not built to carry vehicular traffic!!!

 

The FRSC is not living up to its mandate of making the roads SAFE for users. Vehicles travelling contra the traffic, at breakneck speed! Initially I thought a mad man or criminals making a getaway but now it is so normal that I just give way shaking my head in disbelieve. Na Wah O!

 

FRSC Please save us and put the kind of energy you put into the issuance of new license plate numbers and vehicle registration, into securing our roads. Employ adequate numbers of marshals and equipment to monitor these highways to hell and save lives. PLEASE!     

 

 

TOP HEAVY

Nigeria is not the only country in the world where recurring costs overburden public spending. It is just that our own system is uniquely driven by the acquisition of money. It is a bloated structure characterized by “elected representatives” with too much money and power.  At the top is the President, along with a sub-structure built around him of party stalwarts, kingmakers and political businessmen.

Then we have this bicameral legislative arm, called the National Assembly. It is the size of several governments elsewhere. Here we have 360 Members of the House of Representatives and 109 Senators functioning with the help of their bloated support staff. So large is the staff strength of the National Assembly that they have a separate National Assembly Service Commission. One wonders why they still struggle to make good laws for the peace and development of this country. Maybe it is because “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Add to this, the 36 states of the federation and 774 local councils to the equation, each with its executive and legislature. 

Here most people holding public office regard their call to service as a recipe for becoming wealthy, only a privileged few control who becomes what. The richest among us are the politicians in government, and the same people are recycled to ensure exclusivity. Former governor or retired general becomes the president, a senator or reps member goes back to his state to become governor, a two-term governor anoints his “loyal” commissioner as the next governor after safely landing himself in the Senate… the cycle continues.

 On the account of their legitimate earnings, these folks are proving more and more difficult for the rest of us to maintain. For instance, a Senator’s basic salary of N 2, 484, 245 is a decoy, a smoke screen shielding his other remuneration package – some regular allowances, others one-offs, including Hardship Allowance: 50% of Basic Salary = N1, 242,122.75, Constituency allowance: 200% of BS = N4, 968,509.00, Furniture Allowance: 300% of BS = N7, 452,736.50, Newspaper allowance: 50% = N1, 242,122.70, Wardrobe allowance: 25% = N621, 061.37, Recess Allowance: 10% = N248, 424.55, Accommodation: 200% = N4, 968,509.00, Utilities: 30% = N828, 081.83, Domestic Staff: 35% = N863,184.12, Entertainment: 30% = N828,081.83, Personal Assistance: 25% = N621,061.37, Vehicle Maintenance Allowance: 75% = N1,863,184.12, Leave Allowance : 10% = N248,424.55, One off payments (Severance gratuity): 300% = N7,452,736.50, Motor Vehicle Allowance: 400% of BS = N9,936,982.00. Without a doubt, it costs us an upward of N180 million a year to maintain a Senator. There are 108 left and another 360 Reps too. What a job, why do anything else? Which other job would they be doing that would pay them so well. It is testament to the worship of money, that despite these bumper payments they still are so corrupt, or is it this power and money that so corrupts them. Government is supposed to be a sacrifice to the nation and not money making venture. We have got it all so wrong over here.

Whatever it is, our system of government is too expensive, and we have stuck to its wasteful tendencies thus far because it suits the purpose of an avaricious few. This is reinforced by the deliberate inconsistencies in our constitution designed to accommodate the excesses of our powerful public officers.

We should stop this waste. The billions saved in the process would go a long way in ameliorating the lot of those among us languishing below a dollar a day.  The larger-than-life world of our leaders accentuates how the rest of us are grappling with the socio-economic realities of being Nigerians in an ironically rich-poor country. 

Blocking every avenue for the nation’s resources to trickle down to the masses is self-destructive. Like one of the placards carried during the 2011 subsidy protest poignantly observed, one day the poor would have nothing left to eat but the rich. Hasn’t it started happening already?

 

The Spectator Disease

In any sphere of human endeavour, one is either a spectator or a participant. And because it is a lot easier to be the former, especially in areas where the challenges are daunting, participants are comparatively in shorter supply. Defined as a person viewing anything; an onlooker, observer, a spectator’s task is simple: no task, just feed the eyes and move on. Being a spectator in itself isn’t abominable, but being one when the subject directly affects us is terrible. It is, in fact, a disease. 

Many of us in Nigeria have caught the Spectator Disease amidst so much to do in building this nation. We watch on as the nation is plundered by the wrong participants. Fine, we all get worried at the news of another kidnapping incident, or yet another bomb explosion or the killing of health workers. We all do not like the idea of politicians looting our common weal blind, and we know that, in total disregard of our rights as citizens, it does not take our votes to get some politicians into power. But what do we do than shrug off and trudge on?

We have presented ourselves as spectators in matters that we ought to act on, so the odd actors cease the moment and treat us like we lack the understanding and ability to participate. Like the spectators we are, and having being relegated to the stands by those who reap from our display of ignorance, we lay claim to false solace that we can affect our situation as bystanders. We have been brainwashed on one side and so much ravaged by our disease on the other into believing that by mere supporting a politician against the other, whether for reasons based on trivial sentiments, we have participated in the development process. That is the reason we vote, even when it doesn’t count; and criticise the government, knowing that it would fall on deaf ears.

As spectators of Project Nigeria, we are no more than football fans making demands on the players and coach without feeling the heat. We get fed with insufficient information and are allowed to travel far with speculations because that way, we are never going to truly know what is really going on. It is convenient for government officials to tell us how challenging running this country is, or how tirelessly they are working to put things right. With ease, government departments reel our figures to back their fabled achievements in 100 days or in their first term in office. To the contrary, all we see around us is extreme poverty, insecurity, unemployment, breakdown of infrastructure and many other deficits pointing to their failure. Yet, the spectator in us makes it impossible react to these realities.

Only in our Spectator Disease-plagued nation would an individual steal billions, flaunt his loot and even flout civil authorities. Government still haven’t got answers to the many corruption questions because, actually, we didn’t ask any. The horse meat scandal rocking the entire European Union started as a little suspicion in the United Kingdom, but because consumers have rights and have made themselves key players in the decision making process, EU leaders are jittery, while processed meat retailers know they are in for a big one. They all know too well that this seemingly small issue could degenerate and send the entire EU into another round of recession. All it takes is for consumers to reject processed meat made in the EU.

It was former US president George Bush who told Americans in his 2001 inaugural address that, “What you do is as important as anything government does. I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort... I ask you to be citizens: citizens, NOT SPECTATORS; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character” (my emphasis).

Here, those in government may not have the guts to urge Nigerians to be active nation builders because it would involve dismantling the present structure that suits them right. However, they do not have to make a choice for us; whether to be responsible and responsive citizens or remain inactively bereaved spectators. The choice is ours.

Lost Heritage

 

Where are the Royal fathers that used to keep our communities together? It seems that in creating this democracy we are suffering the consequences of our rush in adopting foreign doctrines, the philosophy of which we do not fully understand.

We should look back at our history and restore the positive impact of the ruling houses, which are institutions that were built up over time. They command considerable influence and can be the bridge between the old and the new way. Our colonial masters understand the greatness of these institutions and have preserved theirs to strengthen their democracy.

There are more than 200 ethnic groups in Nigeria. Before the arrival of the British in the late 19th century, the history of the area was turbulent, with periods when empires such as Oyo, Kanem-Borno and Sokoto gained control over large areas. It was common for each town or collection of towns to have a recognized ruler, who might in turn be subordinate to the ruler of a larger polity. Thus the Sokoto caliphate was divided into emirates, with the emirs loosely subordinate to the Sultan of Sokoto.

Europeans traded with the coastal states, primarily exchanging cotton and other manufactured goods for slaves and palm oil products at centers such as Calabar, Bonny and Lagos. During the period 1879–1900 the Royal Niger Company made a concerted effort to take control of the interior, using disciplined troops armed with the Maxim gun, and making treaties of "protection" with the local rulers. The company's territory was sold to the British government in 1900, with the southern region merged with the Niger Coast Protectorate to become the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate remaining separate. In 1914 the two were merged into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.

The first British High Commissioner for Northern Nigeria, Frederick Lugard, tried to rule through the traditional rulers. Lugard's successor Hugh Clifford left this system in place in the north, where the emirate system had long traditions, but introduced a legislative council with some elected members in the south, relegating the traditional rulers to mainly symbolic roles.

With independence in 1960, followed by alternating democratic and military governments, the status of the traditional rulers evolved even further. Where rulers had previously acquired office strictly through inheritance or through appointment by a council of elders, the government now increasingly became involved in the succession. Thus, in May 1994, the military ruler General Sani Abacha deposed Awwal Ibrahim, Sarkin Zazzau of the Suleja Emirate, although he was subsequently reinstated in January 2000.

In some cases, the government has merged or split traditional domains. For example, there had been two rulers of the Efik people in the area around Calabar, but in December 1970 it was agreed to combine the office into a single one that was to be held by a ruler known as the Obong.

 Today, although they have no statutory role in governance. The rulers can award honorary titles for positions in their "administrations" and wealthy businessmen or politicians often place great value on acquiring such titles.

The rulers broker communication between the people and the state, enhancing national identity, resolving minor conflicts and providing an institutional safety valve for state bureaucracies.

By June 2010, Akwa Ibom State had 116 traditional rulers with official certificates from the state. They had received new cars on their appointment, among other perks. The chairman of the Akwa Ibom council of Chiefs said that in return, the traditional fathers were responsible for preventing robberies and kidnappings in their domains.

 Though their bearers maintain the monarchical titles of their royal ancestors, their relations with the government of the federation are closer in substance to a servant master relationship.They do the bidding of their new benefactors instead of keeping them in check through their communities. They have lost almost all similarity to the high nobility of old.

Graveyard of Ideas

Natural resources do not rule the world any longer, ideas do. Asked to choose between oil and know-how, I am positive that many countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia would go for the latter. Yet, some countries, such as Malaysia, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, China and Australia, have succeeded in investing their natural resources in ideas, to the extent that they have some of the best in both worlds of ideas and natural resources. The secret is a sound development plan.

Fortunately for our dear country, we possess some of the most sought-after natural resources in the world and in abundance. Every day, we remind ourselves about how each region, each state; in fact, how each local government area possesses various natural resources at commercial quantities. Without even adding agriculture and tourism to the list, where we have gargantuan potential, Nigeria’s resources are capable of making it one of the biggest economies in the world. Unfortunately, we have failed to conceive the kind of ideas that would commensurate with our resources. Countries with huge resources like ours are hubs of ideas. They invest so much in strategies and roadmaps because they understand that resources and ideas must complement each other for development to occur. But in our case, we squander the resources we bother to exploit and abandon the ones unexplored. Because we have made our country a graveyard of ideas, our leaders want us to be grateful for the stillbirth that characterises our development.

Early in the life of this country, there were development blueprints projected by the leaders of each region. Citizens simply knew the direction of government and seamlessly keyed into it. There were short- and long-term goals; well-thought-out, well-spelt-out and realistic. Citizens could see the manifestation of such ideas, without so much noise about it by the government. The unprecedented successes recorded at the regions are still the highlights of our success story as a nation. Today, what we have are fancy terminologies and acronyms lacking in depth and ingenuity, whose publicity is prosecuted on billions of naira but with little or no direct impact on the people. More annoyingly, every incoming administration adopts yet another fancifully-christened development credo and discontinues with the previous administration’s…the cycle of inconsistency and emptiness continues.

Vision 2000, Vision 2010, Vision 20:2020, NEEDS, 7-Point Agenda, and Transformation Agenda are each a brainchild of successive administrations. Ask their proponents what these programmes are, how they work, their challenges, duration, what’s in them for Nigerians and how their successes can be measured. That is when their barrenness of ideas and the potential for failure of their programmes become evident.

The development plan meant for a country cannot be hurriedly cooked up and pursued by one administration. The China that is threatening to overtake America as the world’s biggest economy today was founded on decades of strict implementation of a roadmap. We all like to cite how Malaysia got her oil palm seedlings from Nigeria only to become the world’s leading palm oil exporter – that is development plan. Within two decades, Brazil has risen to become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world; poverty levels have dropped drastically(NAPEP was modelled after Brazil’s successful poverty alleviation programme), while within the last decade over 40 per cent of shanty towns have been redeveloped into modern residential areas. The country’s new capital, Brasilia, was built from scratch to finish within three years, and Brazil will host the next World Cup and Olympics as a sign of its prosperity.

Our inability to discern politics from national interest has continued to halt our development.  Development plans are like the Constitution; irrespective of party affiliation and other sentiments, successive administrations are expected to understand its ultimate goals and do their bits in achieving same during their tenures. As it is now, we need to thrash out those shallow bulks of political mirages clad in grand lingos that we call development plans. Genuine thinkers should be assembled across all sectors and tasked to come up with a socio-economic direction for this country. If we continue to allow the ship of Nigeria to sail in the direction of the wind, we may someday meet ourselves in the wilderness.