OBSTACLES TO EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE

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Editorial

OBSTACLES TO EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE

Thursday, 18 March 2010

BEFORE Professor Dora Akunyili broke ranks with her colleagues in the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) to call on President Umaru Yar’Adua to cede power to his deputy, the general impression was that the ministers were part and parcel of the deceit about Yar’Adua’s health and the resultant political vacuum. Even after Akunyili had declared her stand, the widespread belief was that she was a lien only on the issue. Unfolding events later made it apparent that there has all along been a gulf within the ranks of the ministers on the lingering health problem of Nigeria’s political chief executive, who has remained unseen (except by a tiny clique) for the last four months. As reports have shown, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has been working with a divided cabinet. While some are loyally performing their functions under his leadership, others are in a camp that is opposed to him.

FOR the second time since the reported return of Yar’Adua, the EXCOF failed to meet on March 10, 2010. The meeting, which was initially deferred for four hours, was eventually cancelled on the grounds that the acting president was preoccupied with other state duties. Which other state matters should have taken precedence over the all-important weekly policy-making forum? The meeting did not also hold the day President Yar’Adua was stealthily brought into the country because of the uncertainty that enveloped the seat of power. Jonathan was evidently unsure of his own position. He could not fathom the disposition and likely reaction of Yar’Adua’s loyalists in the executive council should he (Jonathan) attempt to preside at the meeting.

IT is common knowledge that Yar’Adua has what is widely known as the kitchen cabinet which ruled by proxy for more than two months and whose primary objective is the prolongation of the state of political uncertainty for their own personal benefits. The clique was known to be fiercely opposed to the idea of empowering Jonathan to function as acting president. Its members were grimly determined to maintain their vicious grip on political power in the name of Yar’Adua who was, and still remains in a state of mere physical existence.

WHILE the appointment of Jonathan as acting president was seen as a great relief to a country in distress, the arrival of Yar’Adua even if he was allegedly said to be unconscious, has again muddied the waters. Yar’Adua’s presence in the country (real or presumed) now serves as basis for whittling down the powers of Jonathan as acting president.

THE existence and role of the cabal, whose activities are known to be at variance with the interests of the Nigerian state, have been a source of concern to well-meaning people both within and outside the country.

THE protests of activists, the comments of analysts and the series of reactions from other lands have been directed against the anti-democratic and self-seeking posture of the cabal. Western nations that find its position insufferable have imposed travel restrictions on its members. In spite of these agitations and reactions, the clique has continued with the pursuit of interests that are in conflict with those of the entire country.

APPARENTLY after a dispassionate examination of the state of affairs, many prominent citizens have called for the outright impeachment of Yar’Adua. This, in their view, is the only way to eliminate the cracks in the government and stabilise the polity. Jonathan’s emergence as acting president means loss of power and influence by members of the clique. To assume that they will spare any effort to hamstring the management of state affairs will be sheer naivety.

A situation in which a president cannot perform the functions of his office while his loyalists, including ministers, constitute a cog in the wheel of progress should not be allowed to last for too long. For the past three years, Nigeria has been as sick as Yar’Adua. Should the physical incapacitation of Yar’Adua now translate into the political incapacitation of Jonathan for the next one year? Such a misfortune is not unavoidable.

MANY have thrown the challenge at Jonathan to take the decisive steps needed to bring Nigeria out of the quagmire. Discretion, however, dictates that he can only operate within defined limits, because he faces obstacles on several fronts. The ruling political party to which Jonathan belongs is not a source of inspiration. The party places greater premium on the rotation of political power than on performance in office. The Governors’ Forum has made it abundantly clear that its loyalty is not to Jonathan, but to Yar’Adua that it cannot see. The governors now wield so much influence that they can collectively undermine any political office holder.

THE National Assembly lacks the guts to take appropriate action against a president that blatantly violated the constitution by failing to cede power to his deputy when he went for medical treatment. Their individual political survival is their primary objective and they will compromise any principle to achieve it. The Federal Executive Council that is also in a position to initiate action on Yar’Adua’s incapacitation is a divided house. In the different arms and at all levels, emphasis is on politics and not on governance. In the face of all these obstacles, what are the prospects of effective governance in the next one year?

IT is time the National Assembly woke up to its responsibility. If the EXCOF has become too polarised to be active in a positive way, they can be excused. After all, there are appointees of Yar’Adua. As representatives of the Nigeria populace, there can be no better time than now for the members of the National Assembly to rise to challenge and begin proceedings which will give the nation a new lease of life and a new substantive president.