Nigeria and the Imperatives of Good Governance under Buhari

There are some negative observations following the recent #END Sars peaceful protest for example. Some people suspected to be agents of the State were sighted instigating hoodlums against the peaceful protesters. Thanks to social media, the same hoodlums were pictured unleashing mayhem in the process. Upfront, on the political scale dissenting voices, were heard claiming that the peaceful protest was actually aimed at pulling the current administration down. Instead of viewing through the prism of the real cause, the process has now been politicized! Move on to the administrative style of this administration. For one, there have been no state visits by the president as before when children would take the opportunity to have an official glimpse of their president; secondly, presidential broadcast or media briefing by the president as before is practically gone—right to say this administration abhors such interactive mode; what is overwhelmingly visible in this administration is the puerile consistent defence of the president’s actions—good or bad. Recently, a call was made for the president to resign; Lai Muhammed popularly known for his grandstanding would have none of it. He argued that those doing so were misguided. According to him, the president was elected for a four-year term, and he must complete his tenure; agreed; what about those whose tenure has expired and they are still retained by this administration? You can see the double-speak involved. They say what is good when it pleases them and bad when it doesn’t. Meaning: there is no place for the rule of law in this administration! So, anyone may be right to say they are just a band of crafty people who trickily manoeuvred their way to power! Otherwise, pundits are asking: why is there no cabinet change? Why can’t the president rejig members of his cabinet who are failing in their responsibilities? What is more important to him? The people he was elected to govern or his personal interest? These are crucial moral questions. In case officials like Lai Muhammed don’t know, leadership entails the possession of strong character; the display of expected habits and attitudes. Above all “integrity” is a key factor in the discharge of responsibilities. When these simple things are lacking, there is a problem. For instance, the Inspector General of Police need not vow that no such anti-sars protest will be allowed in this country anymore. The IGP probably forgot that his country is in a democracy! What he said was not necessary; he should simply tell his employers to put in place good governance—that is what is needed to quench any protest. But when his government keeps segmenting, separating, and discriminating in federal appointments, it would be a miracle not to have another #ENDSars protest. Only good governance can put away any form of protest; it is as simple as that. Finally, the IGP is expected to know that when you drive a wedge to reasonable administrative procedures then you are inviting anarchy and chaos. Even a rat will fight back when pushed to the wall. This administration seems disinterested in anything creative. They are giving rooms for too many speculations and this is bad. Nigeria must progress with global politics; we can’t be stagnated by these backward analogue polices in a digital age. This is where we will stop.