FORENSIC FORCE: The final imperative

The disappointment with the Yar'Adua administration is hardly borne of a rabid hatred for the man as a person. The angst stems from the inexcusable squander of opportunities and the callous disregard for a basic element that would have made all the difference: the institutionalisation of good governance.

Though the next presidential election is about 18 months away, the gadflies around the president have begun a macabre dance around the bonfire of the ruling party.

The intention is as clear as daylight: facilitate a continuance of the criminally weak government so that a few people in the corridors of power can continue to milk the system.

As the different political equations begin to evolve preparatory to 2011, it is imperative that emerging alliances are propelled not by the quest for power, but the desire to institutionalise good governance in all facets of national life.

By every account, and from indices of measurement, the Yar'Adua experiment has been an unmitigated disaster. For a government that promised to declare a state of emergency in the power sector, all we hear is about the billions of dollars that are being spent on the sector. As of today, after spending nearly $6 billion, the government still says it requires an additional $5 billion. Incidentally, the more money that is thrown at the problem, the worse the power situation becomes. Even the lowly 6,000 megawatts promised will turn to be another presidential promise - mere hot breeze.

That aside, education in Nigeria - from the primary to the tertiary levels is in doldrums.

When those in charge of our education system all send their children abroad, there can be no clearer indication that they have zero confidence in the system. But when teachers in public schools also send their children to private schools, the future of education in Nigeria is better imagined. For a president and his vice - both products of public schools, and also both former teachers - to watch the total collapse of the education sector is nothing less than treason.

At no time since the emergence of Nigeria as a political entity have we witnessed the crises of governance with which we are currently confronted. The crux of the matter is this - all the challenges facing Nigeria today are arise from greed, crass ineptitude and corruption all stemming from the absence of good governance. And the only way to rectify the situation is not by simply throwing out Yar'Adua and his henchmen, desirable as that may be. What needs to be done is the institutionalisation of good governance, regardless of the political actors on the stage. It is important that government goes beyond the individual.

Good governance is the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to better manage affairs of a country at all levels, national and local. It is manifested in full respect of human rights, the rule of law, effective participation, multi-actor partnerships, political pluralism, transparent and accountable processes and institutions, an efficient and effective public sector, legitimacy, access to knowledge, information and education, political empowerment of people, equity, sustainability, and attitudes and values that foster responsibility, solidarity and tolerance.

The indices of good governance include: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interaction with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information and more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions. The key question is: are the institutions of governance effectively guaranteeing the right to health, adequate housing, sufficient food, quality education, justice and personal security?

Good governance and human rights are mutually reinforcing because human rights principles provide a set of values to guide the work of governments and other political and social actors. They also provide a set of performance standards against which these actors can be held accountable. Under the current dispensation, none of these fundamental issues matters to government. Nobody has been held accountable for his actions in office, except Bode George and his gang. Rather, the government seems to reward incompetence, and is bogged down by chronic nepotism.

The absence of good governance explains why Nigeria is on the road to state failure. And this also reinforces why Nigerians from all parts of the country must come together to forge alliances to rescue Nigeria from the clutches of a president and a party that stand against all that majority of Nigerians want: good governance. If Nigerians are unable to bring new energy and also engage hitherto disinterested groups to shape the direction into the political equation, we would not be different from a president that excels in at least one thing: blowing hot air.