PRESIDENT JONATHAN RALLIES THE TROOPS

While inaugurating the new Federal Executive Council, and immediately after swearing-in the last batch of ministers, President Jonathan delivered a speech which essentially set the focus and priorities of his administration. The speech listed nine areas which will represent the administration’s 9-point agenda, and serious challenges such as corruption and the weaknesses of the Nigerian State which his administration has to tackle decisively and successfully. The President informed ministers that he intends to provide a transformational leadership which is willing and committed to reposition the country for economic growth and development, and win the support of all and sundry, including those who are in doubt or denial. He acknowledged that there will be difficult decisions and tough moments ahead, and urged Ministers to work as a team to show that the administration is prepared to work in the best way to focus on the people’s aspirations. He emphasized the importance of working quickly to address the issues which preoccupy Nigerians, while urging ministers not to see their position as merely another job or a reward for status, but as an opportunity to serve the people of Nigeria.

          President Jonathan admitted that Nigerians have serious concerns about the integrity of their leaders, and warned that mere talk about transformation will be of no value, because Nigerians want to see serious steps being taken in that direction. He said that his administration is not the government of the ruling party; it is the government of the Nigerian people. In order to focus its attention on key priorities, the President mentioned power, employment, agriculture, oil and gas, education, health, transportation and security as areas which will receive the highest priority. He also singled out the fight against corruption as a major objective, and promised that no form of abuse will be tolerated in any ministry, department or agency or tier of government.

          Nigerians would be excused if they raise their hopes that the inspiring and rallying speech of President Jonathan will be translated into action along the lines he promises. Certainly, the President is right in a number of areas he addressed. First, he was on the mark when he said that Nigerians have serious concerns about the integrity of their leaders. The questionable integrity of leaders starts from disputed elections, and Nigerians have almost resigned themselves to suspicions that they may spend their entire lives under leadership of people who may not have been genuinely elected. Then there is the issue of pervasive and crippling corruption in governments, which has led most Nigerians to believe that government resources are the private property of leaders, who do with it as they wish, and which trickles down to the public only when they beg abjectly, and show flattering gratitude. To make matters worse, most leaders work without vision, commitment or competence. Many leaders believe that they have laboured to acquire elective offices, and this entitles them to govern without being accountable; to lead without being questioned; and to administer without responsibility.  

          The President was also right when he warned against complacency, and sloganeering, and when he drew attention to the need for serious steps towards transforming the Nigerian economy. Seven or nine or twenty-point agendas of the administration are meaningless unless they translate into real improvement in the lives of citizens. Just the provision of adequate power supply and a secure environment for Nigerians would have made a major difference in the lives of Nigerians if they were pursued consistently and with sufficient political will. As it is, we are fast approaching a situation where Nigerians will suspect that the more money you throw at a problem, such as power or the security of life and property in Nigeria, the worse it will get. Now the administration has rolled out a nine-point agenda, and all it will do is raise the level of cynicism of Nigerians, particularly since they will remind us all of the previous administration’s 7-point agenda, an administration in which President Jonathan was a key actor.

          The President’s stirring challenge to ministers to rise to the occasion and deliver the benefits of good governance is a valuable reference point in terms of his personal commitment to lead the transformation which he so obviously believes is achievable and desirous. But the President will also need to recognise that his team’s performance will be only as good as his leadership. If Mr. President wants his ministers and all other elected and public officers to eschew corrupt acts, he must himself be absolutely above board, and demonstrate a willingness to fight corruption openly and decisively. When he says his government is not the government of the ruling party, but the government of the Nigerian people, he will need to distance governance from political party patronage, which had tended to treat governments as if they are mere extensions of political parties. When he challenges ministers to work hard and justify the mandate of the Nigerian people, he will be required on his part to provide them with the leadership they will follow, and standards they will aspire to. He will have to create an environment in which due process is followed without question; roles and functions are undertaken without friction; and goals and targets met without failures or excuses. He will have to be fair but firm, hard and compassionate; resolute and visionary.   

          For now, Nigerians are entitled to take due notice of a President and his team who say they are on a mission to transform Nigeria. All Nigerians will hope that they will succeed, and any sign that they are succeeding will be supported by tremendous goodwill. The success of the team will however depend on how much President Jonathan wants to lead personally. At this stage, Nigerians want to see him lead. They want to see him in Borno where they are suffering from the twin threats of the Yusufiyya Movement and the reactions of the Joint Task Force. They want to see him in the Niger Delta where the amnesty appears to be achieving results. They need to see him in Sokoto, in Katsina and Jigawa and Lagos where floods are wrecking havoc on the lives of citizens. They need to see him in Kaduna State which is still living with the wounds of the post-election violence. He is their President, and there is a lot more to Nigeria than Abuja.