2023: Need For Sustained Governance

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike’s admonition to the newly sworn-in Commissioners in the state to recommit themselves to the tasks assigned to them to achieve desired results is apt. The governor spoke while addressing 18 new commissioners during their swearing-in ceremony at the Executive Council Chambers of Government House, Port Harcourt, Wednesday, last week.
Governor Wike observed that because some members of the State Executive Council did not appreciate the enormity of the task given to them, they took to sycophancy while abandoning their duties. “This is the last lap of our administration. We have only seven months to end the tenure of this administration. It is very important for you to understand that you have to double your efforts to make sure that what we have started will be completed.”
This is a timely call as already, many public officeholders at the federal, state, and local government levels have altogether abandoned governance or service delivery and plunged headlong into politicking ahead of the 2023 election cycle. The governor’s clarion call to his new commissioners should trickle down to all strata of government, particularly the federal, while other state governors should follow suit in their respective jurisdictions.
The charge raises several questions concerning governance in the country, especially viewing the many unfinished and abandoned plans and projects. With the onset of the party primaries and later political campaigns, it became apparent that the pace of activities in some ministries, departments, and agencies had slowed, and political officeholders should focus on their immediate responsibilities.
At a time when public confidence in governance in the nation is waning because of the government’s inability to meet its commitments and other reasonable expectations, continued attention is required to the execution of policies and programmes to achieve service delivery goals. Governor Wike specifically emphasised the need for a proper handover to the succeeding administration to be done early and charged the new and old members of his cabinet to ensure the quick conclusion of their reports.
It is unsurprising that despite intense electioneering towards next year’s general election, governance in Rivers has not waned as the governor has been executing and commissioning projects in the state. This is a rare feat that has enhanced the governor’s profile. For this reason, he has continued to receive accolades for his unprecedented achievements in the delivery of impactful projects with candour in the face of glaring challenges.
Rather than quit governance in the short time left, political officeholders including President Muhammadu Buhari can redeem part of their battered image by correcting their misgoverning and the wrongs they have committed against Nigerians and possibly completing several projects as their heritages. This should be devoid of chicanery or false declarations of completion.
Curiously enough, Buhari also recognised the imperatives of sustainable governance regardless of the ongoing campaigns for the 2023 general election. He charged his ministers, permanent secretaries, and heads of government agencies to refrain from abandoning their primary assignments for political campaigns ahead of the 2023 general elections. He accentuated that despite the campaigns, the business of governance must continue to receive the necessary engagement.
But the President should see through his many promises in 2015 and 2019 to improve the fortunes of Nigerians. For example, the administration virtually abandoned the privatisation it promised in its over seven years in office. It can initiate the process before leaving the office. Buhari’s pledge to improve power supply through the Power Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme, and to raise power generation to 25,000 megawatts in partnership with Germany’s Siemens AG has remained unfulfilled.
The Federal Government’s report card on the four refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna is scandalous. Since taking office in 2015, it has wasted N1.3 trillion on moribund refineries. But being in oblivion, the country spends billions of dollars importing refined products and trillions of naira to subsidise the price of imported petrol. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said Buhari has so far spent 6.88 trillion naira on subsidies and is on the way to raising it to 10.97 trillion naira.
Many governors are guilty of practically abandoning their official duties to pursue re-election or Senate seats. They must ensure that the business of government continues to receive the needed attention, notwithstanding that the nation has entered the peak period of electioneering campaigns. Guaranteeing that government business remains on course is crucial at this point because of the implication a properly arranged performance has for the transition to another administration.
Governance suffers when governors and other political office holders in the country abdicate their responsibilities for transition politics. It is irresponsible that some states at the centre of insecurity still find time to shine on the national stage while their people are murdered in droves. Those who play the role of political “kingmakers” participate in endless meetings and negotiations outside their bases.
From 1999 to the present, democratic practice in Nigeria has barely lived up to its commitments, whether in terms of representation, popular participation, people-centred planning, distribution and use of resources, security of life and property, or the preservation of fundamental freedoms and liberties. Politicians despise the people and their concerns. This mindset should change. The people themselves should hold public officials accountable through legitimate civic activism and pressure groups.