May 22, 2015 : Fola Ojo
Fola Ojo
In
the political system of the United States of America from where Nigeria
has borrowed governance ideas and methodologies that have become the
bedrock of our democracy, the historical patronage and spoils system is a
practice where an incoming administration offers positions and
appointments to those who have helped, in different manners, the
political party win an election. Loyalists, supporters, adherents,
family members and friends are all in the category of persons that the
victorious party strives to reward with “spoils of war”. After all, he
who works at the altar must be a partaker at the altar.
The opposite of this practice is the
merit system where competent hands, those who bring enormous values in
their fields to the table of government, are offered appointments to
serve their country. Political party membership or leaning is not
necessarily a consideration in this instance. With the merit system, it
is country first.
For many of us who are constantly hooked
up to the madness of pitches in the social media because of the nature
of what we do, stories we read and hypes and hooplas we feel about
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari’s different versions of pending
ministerial lists showing who and who will hold what and what portfolios
in the next dispensation continue to swirl around fiercely. Although
these lists may be simulated, they are inundating and also sometimes
annoying. Many of the names on many of these lists are intelligent men
and women who have served in government in one capacity or the other;
they are names that Nigerians know, and probably trust, and love.
But before finality is brought to bear on
who will head what ministry and agency of government, Buhari and those
charged with the onerous task should consider this: Among many reasons
why 15 million Nigerians chose to go another route in the last election
is that this may be the opportunity for Nigeria to empty her recycle
bin. What do I mean by this?
In computing, the recycle bin is a sort
of storage where unwanted information is consigned because it has
outlived its usefulness. Sometimes, however, when you have a need for
the trashed information, you can restore and put it back to use. When
the recycle bin is emptied, the information therein is gone forever, and
the trash we remember no more.
The same trashing process can happen with
the process of appointment with the incoming Buhari administration.
Some characters have been “deleted” because of corruption, or they have
been found to be just completely bereft of ideas. There are some people
who have eternally served the nation; their footprints are boldly
visible in the hallways of every administration. Many of them have been
consigned into the recycle bin either because of character flaws or
inability to flow with peak-performance requirements. Nigerians easily
follow their track records that speak nothing else other than
testimonies of nincompoopery. Some of these people voluntarily consigned
themselves into the recycle bin after feeding fat off of government;
they are those who have stolen black- and-blue and cases are pending
against them in the court of law. These people always want to come back
because they are savvy and sharp witted about nothing else but
government wheeling and dealing business. Some of them have succeeded in
sneaking back into the legislature, and many are shamelessly lobbying
as I write to sneak themselves into the executive and agencies of
government. These are men and women who are unopposed candidates in the
recycle bin that Nigeria must empty.
I brought up this idea with Alhaji Naim
Aliyu, a member of the Presidential Campaign Council, Contact and
Mobilisation of the Buhari Organisation when I met with him recently in
Houston, Texas. “Let me tell you something, one thing I will say about
the General is that if you have a questionable character, you will not
serve with him. All the lists of ministers flying around are just mere
speculations. We will not know who will be where until the list is sent
to the National Assembly.” Naim also said that competence and love of
country will trump any other factor in the nomination of anybody for
service in the next administration.
The National Publicity Secretary of the
APC has also denied the existence of any list. “The most important thing
is getting the agenda for governance right. There are many qualified
Nigerians that help in actualising the agenda and we are not interested
in putting the cart before the horse. Frankly, ministerial list is not
one of the major priorities of the party for now. You must disregard any
of such lists,” Mohammed reportedly said.
Competent, intelligent and morally astute
Nigerians are all over the country and scattered all over the world in
the fields of Medicine, Computer Engineering, Communications,
Agriculture, Petroleum Engineering and every endeavour of life. They are
young and old; men and women yearning to serve their country, and they
are not politicians. They are hands that have not been tainted with
corrupt practices, and are not beholden to godfathers or “godmamas”.
Their uncles and aunties don’t hold any government position, and they
are not buddy-buddy with a party chairman or a state governor. Of
course, there is nothing wrong with rewarding those who have put boots
on the ground for a presidential or governorship candidate; even among
these people are squeaky-smart, patriotic and incorruptible elements who
have more to offer than those characters in the recycle bin of
government that must be emptied. Some people may toss up the idea of
youth and inexperience when considering fresh blood; but I declare thus
to them that today’s mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut that held its
ground. Meritocracy should be made to survive in our democracy; the next
administration should give new people a chance.
What Nigerians hope for is that from May
29, Nigeria’s economy will begin to receive a higher dose of oxygen to
survive and stabilise simply because we will have as president a man who
is sold out to modesty, transparency, simplicity and accountability. We
need great hands to accomplish the mission; not the same tired and
withered hands that are in the recycle bin that must be emptied.
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