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DEMYSTIFYING GOVERNANCE: A Performance Benchmark For Nigeria's National Conference

As Nigeria prepares to convene the long-overdue national confab, I truly believe that the country is approaching a remarkable milestone. A point in its existence when the citizens should be able to sit down and decide their future and how they want to spend it.

…Better Late Than Never.
As Nigeria prepares to convene the long-overdue national confab, I truly believe that the country is approaching a remarkable milestone. A point in its existence when the citizens should be able to sit down and decide their future and how they want to spend it.

No matter how you slice and dice it, the fact that this event would ultimately hold in of itself is a welcome development, maybe not to the fullest satisfaction of every segment of society. Some are already threatening a boycott. Whether the government of Obasanjo was cajoled, hoodwinked or pressured to cave in is of no consequence right now. To my mind you can't do much to change a system, unless you are engaged in it one way or another. That said, the object of focus for me is the long-term economic ramification of this conference and how that could catalyze progress.

Look closely and you would understand that much of Nigeria's current problems are borne out of long running poverty, deprivation and inability to meet basic human needs by a majority of the populace. Were Nigeria in a better economic shape today, a lot of the hue and cry about marginalization and resource control might be muted.

I am convinced that the basic tenet of economic progress as proven by advanced information societies is private initiative in an environment where personal freedom, sanctity of law and respect for human dignity prevails. Nigeria is far from such a society not necessarily because of its colonial legacy, multi-ethnicity, religious extremism or cultural inhibitions, but due to the incessant truncation of democratic rule -- no matter how undesirable to some, dehumanization of the ordinary Nigerian and decimation of our fundamental value system.

…Enough of Shenanigans.
It is common knowledge that countless coups and political shenanigans have rather worsened Nigeria's condition than provide any discernible result to the common man. It has conspired to render the citizens so psychologically demented that democratic governance still remains a mystery to them. So much that, the Nigerian citizenry probably see democratic rule as something too good for them and consider military bureaucrats and politicians as potentates that possess the God-given right to treat them with levity, or misappropriate public funds without regard to accountability.

All that must change. The minimum standard this conference should aspire to achieve is to demystify governance for every man or woman on the street -- don't ask me how.

Use this opportunity to:

-- Outrightly ones and for all outlaw military coup de tat -- period.
-- Lay a strong foundation for an economically viable democratic system at all levels, more especially at the grassroots level.
-- Create enabling environment for self-sustenance and empowerment in the rural and semi urban areas.
-- Define what the constituent parts of the country can bring to the table and what role they could play in the betterment of all.
-- Determine what fair portion of revenue should accrue to the component parts of the polity that should be accountable to the electorate. Local officials should be given the mandate to utilize those resources to improve their constituencies.

…An Endo-genic Strategy.
Despite the rapid urbanization of Nigeria, you have to realize that a large chunk of the population still reside outside the urban conurbation, where basic amenities are either nonexistent or dilapidated.

In Nigeria, nearly 70% of the population subsist on less than $1 a day, illiteracy rate is over 60%, few people have access to clean drinking water, basic health care or eat three square meal according to the UN, yet the overwhelming majority of these people live in rural areas. In the last few decades, acute hardship and survival instinct have been driving people to the cities and creating a melting pot for crime, violence and electoral malpractices by politicians of all stripes who take advantage of the situation to rig elections and turn around to recoup their investment while in office. How can you build a virile federal system in that atmosphere?

Gradual devolution of power and creation of enabling environment at the local level would only help to strengthen the nation at the core. The over-centralization of governance at the state and federal levels has literally left the vast majority of the populace and outlying territories dependent on subsidy from bureaucrats who for the most part reside outside the communities anyway.

Federalism as we know it in Switzerland or the United States, albeit not ideal, could provide a vivid analogy to the representatives at the confab of how diverse groups of people who might differ by color, language, religion or culture could coexist under a democratic atmosphere. Granted that successful federal systems in those countries evolved over a prolonged period, now that Nigeria has hopefully put the military era behind it, the national confab could be a forum where serious-minded and committed citizens would begin to explore avenues for peaceful and prosperous coexistence.

The constitutional bases for true federalism already exist in the 1999 constitution, although as a work in progress, so what the country already possesses must be utilized as a steppingstone for engendering a new democratic market environment, where people are able to go about their business freely.

Rather than speak about dismantling or simply decentralizing our political institutions, and creating for instance state police forces, realistic effort should be directed toward utilizing the existing democratic dispensation to launch viable economic structures that could support the nation in the peripheries. 

I believe that basic business regulatory authority and oversight at least should be transferred to the state and local governments, just like in the United States, where you have state banking, insurance departments, local school districts, etc. I don't see why a company for instance needs to be registered in Abuja or secure permission there to operate in Aba or Ibadan, just as it is laughable that decisions on locating an infrastructure projects should be made by a central government that knows little or nothing about the conditions on the ground. Why should the federal government run secondary schools, clinics, water sewers, market stalls, bridges, etc.?

The issues that confront Nigeria are daunting but exacerbated by the undue influence that bureaucrats at the top wield over their subjects in the local districts. Unless that is addressed, there wouldn't be any serious progress. The clamor for resource control (is founded), or the struggles for who should be president are all direct consequences of that system.

…Empowering the Powerless.
It still remains to be seen whether these financial resources could be more prudently managed at the state or local levels, but again leaving too much money in the hands of federal officials creates over dependence and a do-or-die urge to belong in Abuja. One major advantage for the state and local authorities is at least, they are closer home to the people and might understand the needs better. If run more efficiently, local governments could actually produce better results in energizing small and medium enterprises, boosting food production, improving health care delivery, modernizing primary and secondary education as well as maintaining public infrastructure.

It wouldn't matter how sincere the federal officials are, given the heterogeneous ethnic composition of Nigeria, there will always be an inclination to favor one state or locality against the other, which fans the embers of discord amongst the ethnic groups. Gradually but surely, sundry issues that has to do with meeting basic human desires must be transferred to the concurrent and residual lists, because that conforms with the ethos of true federalism and come to think of it, governance is after all about meeting human needs. The federal government simply has no business being in people's everyday affairs or dictating how they must lead their lives.

…There's Strength in Numbers.
Realistically speaking, Nigeria will be better-off functioning as one strong large country, with its domestic economic might as well as regional political clout. It is simply an illusion to imagine that if Nigeria is dismantled all ethnic groups will then live in peace and blissful prosperity in their domains, remember that there are over 250 dialects in Nigeria - maybe 250 countries would be a better solution. This confab should not be about creating sovereign "Banana Republics" in place of Nigeria. The outcry about independence by various ethnic groups in the country is gaining grounds by the day due to this long-standing discontent. There is palpable fear that the upcoming conference could be construed as another "Aburi Conference" (in Ghana), if you recall, where a negotiation between Gowon and Ojukwu was conducted before the civil war.

Of course you may ask how balanced economic progress could be achieved without an enabling political framework. The plain truth is that some progress has been made toward achieving nationhood since the amalgamation of 1914. Recent efforts have also helped to forge a democratic political environment. It is just not perfect yet, neither are age-old federalist and democratic systems like the United States or India perfect. You simply don't dismantle a system just to test whether it could function better in a different shape, we must identify the core of the problem facing Nigeria, which is poverty, neglect and deprivation, then strive to utilize whatever base we have today as a launch pad for improvement. I strongly believe that if a concerted effort is focused toward tackling the more pressing issues of economic integration and social well being of the citizens in such a high political setting like the national conference, then there might be a chance of achieving consensus toward building a truly prosperous nation.