Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is sadly faced with the scourge of human cost of bad governance and this is taking serious toll on the citizenry in many aspects. The menace has also attracted numerous challenges that highlight the need for value harmony.
Value harmony refers to the alignment of individual and collective values, promoting social cohesion, discipline, integrity, accountability, prosperity, national growth/stability, transparency, and progress.
More worrisome is the fact that challenges like ethnic and religious tensions, corruption and poor governance, economic inequality and poverty, insecurity and conflict (Boko Haram, kidnapping, banditry), political polarization, hunger/hardship, wrong political judgement, etc, which are rearing their ugly heads have painfully exacerbated the woes of the country and the ripple effects are far giving rise to increase in crime rate and break down of law and order in a very disturbing proportion.
The human cost of bad governance is further evident in the low level of basic infrastructure, weak healthcare and educational system, high unemployment and the number of out-of-school children, amongst others. Across the socio-economic class divide, there is a feeling that the effects of bad governance will catch up with everyone someday. The recent protests by young Nigerians against hunger and hardship, exposed the gross human rights abuses suffered by many Nigerians at the hands of the institution created to protect them. More than about the police itself, the protests demonstrated the youth’s discontentment with governance throughout the country.
Nigerians are now demanding that the government tackles the root causes of poverty, insecurity, human rights abuses and socio-economic instability, through the levers of good governance. Moving ahead as a sovereign nation, attention must be focused on the overlooked question of who will address the question of leadership deficit and a government with human face!
Why are political leaders important?
Over the past seven electoral cycles since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, less attention has been paid to ‘who’ becomes a political leader, particularly the quality of people elected as members of the Local Government Council, State Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate, as well as those elected as Governors and the President.
While good governance depends on building strong institutions that provide the framework for politicians to act in the public’s interest, it also depends on choosing competent and trustworthy politicians who have the strength of character to uphold the values of the institutions in the first place. For one reason, elected officials can choose to undermine institutions’ integrity for self-dealing and personal gain. The Nigerian electorate should, therefore, demand and elect political leaders who are competent and honest, but how can this be guaranteed?
Where do political leaders come from?
Elected public office holders, as members of Nigerian society, adopt their values and beliefs about patriotism, public service, honesty and integrity from that same society. These values are learned in families, schools, communities, associations and organisations and impact how elected officials behave in positions of trust.
Where the principles of civic duty, honesty, integrity and service are instilled in every Nigerian citizen, the chances increase that the pool of available candidates will embody some or all of these attributes. However, if only a few individuals in society recognise that such attributes are fundamental to good governance, it becomes a challenge. For transformational change, we must build a society with core values that espouse what we hope to stand for as a nation and what we hope to achieve for the country’s future.
What motivates a political leader to run for office?
A political leader’s motivation to run for public office will be varied and affect the quality of decisions and public policies adopted and implemented should they be successful. Their motivation might include self-identity, self-interest and enrichment, the responsibility of public service, family background, salaries, experience, or a combination of these factors. In particular, the significant opportunities for rent-seeking in public office in Nigeria have often attracted many politicians with a focus on extracting rents.
It is therefore important to consider what type of formal and informal rent structures exist in Nigeria’s elected offices that attract these individuals, rather than candidates with a public service focus, and what systems exist to scrutinise, expose and check these excesses; improved checks and balances that reduce rent extraction and greater scrutiny of political behaviour tend to improve political selection.
Alternatively, if the structures in public office reward excellence, hard work and performance, it is more likely to attract and motivate politicians with a focus on serving and ensuring accountability.
Politicians, moreover, play street-level politics and take advantage of huge financial resources to build social capital through grassroots networks, including transport unions, market associations, cooperatives and religious and professional groups. Therefore, to support civic engagement and voter education ahead of next election circle, it will be crucial to counter these methods by mobilising such grassroots groups and building social trust by enlightening them about the importance of good governance and its impact on their daily lives and their children’s future.
Such mobilisation should be carried out through a combination of social media, print, radio, TV and grassroots channels. Voters’ access to this information will inform them about the quality of candidates and their vision for Nigeria. When the quality of electoral competition rises, to win elections, political parties might be forced to bring forward better qualified candidates through a transparent process of party primaries. In the long-term, civic education in school curriculums should be prioritised from an early age.
Quality by accountability
Elected politicians should remain accountable to those they are elected to serve. If Nigerian politicians knew that retaining their position was based on their actual performance, there would be a greater incentive for effective behaviour and to remain accountable to the people. That level of accountability would also reduce the chances of poor-performing politicians getting re-elected.
Every citizen must therefore hold public officials accountable – this is not a role reserved for the few. The media, civil society groups and the public should play a critical role in public disclosures about politicians’ performance through their own engagements and investigation.
The race towards improving accountability and good governance begins now, and the power is in the people’s hands. The focus should be on encouraging the election of candidates who are trustworthy, competent and committed to serving in the public’s interest, building the Nigeria its citizens and young people hope to see.
However, since the next election circle will be 2027, it wouldn’t be out of place to expect the current Sheriff in town, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR at a time like this to make concerted effort by engendering paradigm shift with a renewed spirit of patriotism and address deep-seated cultural and historical differences, overcoming systemic corruption and institutional weaknesses, managing diversity and promoting inclusive growth, ensuring effective leadership, promote national unity and identity, foster tolerance and understanding among diverse groups, encourage transparency and accountability, support economic growth and development, enhance social justice/equality and sustaining momentum and progress.
Mr President should also lead by example, promoting values of integrity and transparency, encourage inclusive and respectful dialogue, support policies and initiatives that essentially promote value harmony, and as well encourage and create enabling environment through admissible legislations whereby the citizenry can be allowed to engage in community service/volunteerism and advocacy for social justice and human rights.
By prioritizing value harmony, Nigeria can overcome its limitless challenges and achieve a more united, prosperous, and peaceful future. Meanwhile, this seismic shift cannot be done by the President alone, organizations like National Orientation Agency (NOA), Nigerian, Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Community-based organizations and Faith-based organizations all have critical roles to play. The media, Trade Union, student union, pressure groups and members of the Bench and Bar must as well be alive to the task of keeping Nigeria alive, fight for the improvement of quality of life, restoration of human dignity, and giving hope to the hopeless who are in the vulnerable segment of the society.
●Ajibulu is the publisher of VERACITY DESK an online news platform [veracitydesk.com], he is a social media influencer, infopreneur, and communication consultant, he writes from Abuja.
