It
has been one splendid show. A soap opera gone viral . . . However, I am
bothered. I am concerned that a mundane activity such as the current
ministerial screening is generating so much attention nationwide. I am
disturbed and wonder if we are moving in the right direction.
We need
to face the real issues hindering our advancement as a nation. The states are
responsible for most things that affect Nigerians on an ongoing basis and some
attention should be directed at them.
- Basic education – primary and secondary
- Primary health care
- Roads - most of the roads we ply in and out of our homes
- Pipe borne water
All these fall under the ambit of our state governments and no
one talks about them. It seems like the federal government always steals the
show and enjoys the attention. They do not attempt to re-direct attention to
the states. Maybe they feel it gives them relevance. The state governments in turn shirk their
responsibilities, taking full advantage of the entire farce.
While the state should ideally do most of the operational stuff (save
for security, foreign affairs etc.), the federal arm of government should be
more concerned about scoping out a vision as well as policy plans for the
nation:
- How the economy will diversify to becoming a manufacturing or
services hub in the West African sub-region over the next ten years
- How we plan to transform our weak institutions – the judiciary,
customs, internal revenue service – over the next five years
- How the ministry of transport plans to transform our disjointed
road networks over the next twenty years
- How the ministry of agriculture plans to modernize the sector over
the next ten years
Such issues debated in the national assembly should be the
things occupying our attention. Our focus should be to pass into law such policies
that set the long-term direction of the nation. Once ratified, they set the
course of governance regardless of the shift in power every four or eight
years.
Several feeble attempts have been made in the past at setting
such policies. However, they felt more like sideshows and not really the focus of
those regimes. Policy should drive all subsequent actions of government. They
are not ideas to be documented and kept in the archives while the governments
busies itself commissioning roads and bore holes.
We do not really need to appoint technocrats to achieve the
above. What we really need is a total change of mindset. Everyone is involved
from the leader to the led. If the citizens like their rulers do not know what
is required to run a nation, then no one will be held accountable. If sideshows
like ministerial screening are the things that arouse our interest, then we
will all have to settle for the incremental drip … drip … drip we call growth.