Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Thursday, described the
just-concluded elections in the country as a painful show of shame,
saying that efforts should be made by patriotic Nigerians to correct it
and not allow it to r
Chief Obasanjo said he is too old to keep quiet and watch the country
launch into a dystopia and that efforts are required from well-meaning
and committed patriots to rescue the nation from the precipice.
The former President said these as a guest of honour at a public
lecture series tagged, “From Elections to Governance and Performance”,
in Abuja.
He lamented that the country is currently more divided and corroded than what its founding fathers had in mind.
Also speaking, the Founding Partner of Nextier SPD, Patrick Okigbo,
said that election promises can only be implemented if the civil
servants that are supposed to drive it were reformed.
The event, put together by Nextier SPD, also witnessed the public
presentation of a book: “The Unending Quest for Reform: An Intellectual
Memoir”, authored by Prof. Tunji Olaopa.
Obasanjo said with the current situation on ground, it would not be
out of place for a national reconciliation, which will assuage the
feelings of aggrieved Nigerians, particularly the youth population.
He criticised the growing debt profile and spending spree of
government at all tiers, especially those at the helm of affairs
currently, likening the situation to “spending like a drunken sailor”.
Obasanjo, however, advised that for reforms to take root, there must
be political will and concerted effort to drive it by all stakeholders
in Nigeria.
On the issues of reforms, he said governance in Nigeria now calls for
thinking outside the box in terms of development financing.
According to him, this trend of thinking has become inevitable in the
face of Nigeria’s dwindling fortune in oil revenue, Nigeria’s huge
foreign indebtedness and the urgency of diversifying Nigeria’s
neo-cultural economy.
He said, “Let me suggest three ideas that I think can enrich the direction of the conversation here today.
“One, given what we saw during the election, Nigeria is now even more divided and more corroded than we thought.
“This places a deep onus on any administration following the current
one, to urgently facilitate the process of national moral rearmament and
national reconciliation that the potential will enhance skills for the
aggrieved and will lead us across Nigeria and to assuage the youth.
“This must be done in sync with the imperative of national value
orientation that Nigeria requires to build a collective sense of
enduring and local values and national belonging.
“Two, governance in Nigeria now calls for thinking outside the box in
terms of development financing, this has become inevitable in the face
of Nigeria’s dwindling fortune, in oil revenue, Nigeria’s huge foreign
indebtedness and the urgency of diversifying Nigeria’s neo-cultural
economy.
“We cannot be spending like a drunken sailor on frivolities and
corruption and expect development and growth. Such a situation cannot
take us into the fourth industrial revolution already underway.
“My experience and understanding, however, is that the money to
develop and grow our economy is out there if we provide a conducive
environment for it to come and stay.
“Three, political will, political action and administrative efforts
must be invested in reforming the public service into a capability-ready
institution that could enable Nigeria’s development agenda beyond 2023.
“All of these and more are necessary to correct and not to repeat the
sickening and painful show of shame that the elections of 2023
generated into.
“Let me conclude by stating clearly that I am now too old to keep
quiet and watch Nigeria’s seemingly clueless launch into dystopia.
“All efforts are now required from all well-meaning and committed patriots to rescue the nation from the precipice.
“And when I look at the audience I have a feeling that among the people who can do it and who must do it are some of you here.
“It has become my own personal obligation, continuing in my
relentless service as a letterman, dedicated in my twilight years to say
the truth, as I see it, so as to push Nigeria in the direction of our
collective aspirations.
What is our collective aspiration? A better society where all Nigerian can become what the Almighty God is destined to be.
“At times like this, some of us have to adopt the attitude of being
known to be blind and not being afraid of the dark. But we must
continually work for the light of all.”
He congratulated the author of the book, Prof. Tunji Olapa for
continuing to labour on behalf of the Nigerian public service and adding
the significant intellectual memoir to his huge collection of
publications and to the annals of administrative reforms in Nigeria.
Speaking to journalists at the occasion, Okigbo noted that reforming
the civil service was necessary to drive electoral programmes and
promises that would better a lot of all Nigerians.
Okigbo said it is one thing to have a political will as a leader and
another thing entirely to translate the will into actionable projects
which is what reforms are all about.
According to him, “Every four years, we go to elections, politicians
make promises of what they want to do and at the end of the day, not a
lot happens.
“It is not because these politicians are bad people, it is not
because they do not want to do stuff, it is basically because all the
electoral promises will have to be delivered by the public service, the
civil servants, the political appointees.
“If the civil service does not have the capacity to deliver on these
promises, they will remain mere promises, so what we are attempting to
do here is to convene leading scholars, leading practitioners, leading
policy advocates, development partners etc, to say what is the pathway
for reforming Nigeria’s public service.
“Tunji Olaopa, the author of the book, is one of the most prolific writers on public service reforms.
“I think we have kind of mystified political will, we have created a myth around political will and I give you an example.
President Muhammadu Buhari can decide that he wants to do XYZ, what
he should do is to discuss with ministers at FEC and give an instruction
to get it done.
“Who then takes it from that point, when a presidential directive has been issued? It is the civil service.
“The President is not the Holy Spirit, he cannot be everywhere as there are only 24 hours in a day.
“By the way, I am not making excuses for him. I am just saying that even after you bring the political will, it is not enough.
“What you need is an institution that has the capacity to deliver on those promises or programmes.”