Governing by pronouncement

One of the few coherent ‘songs’ currently issuing from the corridors of power has to do with the promise of 6,000MW of electricity by December 31, 2009. And only a few weeks ago Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was quoted as saying that Nigerians would no longer need to depend on power generating sets in 2010.

Yet the same government has gone ahead to budget ₦82 million to maintain and fuel power generating plants for the Presidency in 2010. This is double the amount budgeted last year. Government ministries, departments and agencies have all followed suit, budgeting millions for purchase and maintenance of power generating equipment.

One of the items in this year’s budget is the purchase of Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) machines for the Vice President’s official residence.

The clear conclusion is that this is a government that doesn’t even have faith in its own boisterous pronouncements.

One thing successive Nigerian governments have found easiest to master, apart from corruption, is the art of governing by pronouncement. We recall the days of the military dictatorships, when it was the fad to ‘theme’ budget speeches - so that we had Budgets of “Consolidation” and of “Emancipation” that consolidated nothing and emancipated no one.

The spirit behind that ingenious branding has obviously not departed from our policy makers and politicians. The ‘Health and Housing and Education for All’ mantra of the Babangida era, gave way to the Vision 2010 pronouncement of Abacha’s regime. Today it is Vision 2020. State governors routinely speak of creating thousands of jobs, even when they wouldn’t recognise an innovative job creation strategy if it slapped them in the face.

During his campaign period in late 2006 and early 2007, President Yar’Adua proudly introduced to us his seven-point agenda, which he said would be the cornerstone of his administration. “Energy and power” were high up on that list. The then presidential candidate told Nigerians: “Our plan is to launch a national emergency programme on the power sector, because we believe there cannot be any meaningful industrial development without steady power supply.” He promised that his first term in office would deliver 30,000MW of electricity to Nigeria.

Two and half years into that administration, Mr. President has not succeeded in adding a tenth of what he promised. Instead he has revised that figure to 10,000MW. In between he has been heard to lament about the activities of saboteurs who are making it impossible for the government to achieve its power generation dreams.

Should he be bothered? Perhaps not. He has obviously picked up a few lessons from his predecessor, who, throughout his eight years in power never flinched from promising miracles in the power sector, but handed over without making even a dent on the problem.

Figures have been bandied for so long by so many ‘officials’ that Nigerians cannot but be confused. The energy industry is a marketplace of frantic activity, full of sound and fury and fraud, signifying nothing but more darkness. Power supply has hovered around the same dismal level for years now, and the only things that seem to have increased in intensity are the funds thrown at the problem, and the irrepressible confidence with which officials and politicians assure us of El Dorado.

Today it is clear that we are ruled by a bunch of people long on positive thinking and motivational speaking, but painfully short on concrete action.

Dreamers and talkers all, with no clue as to how or what to “do”. Even when painfully aware of their powerlessness to help us, they insist on continuing to promise us an abundance of power.

The question begging to be answered is this: why do we keep believing them, when clearly they refuse to believe themselves?