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OBASANJO:HOW NOT TO GOVERN NIGERIA
By
JIDE AYOBOLU sept 7, 2006
jideayobolu@yahoo.co.uk
President Olusegun Obasanjo
recently in Abuja said that the many reforms initiated by his
administration have been established to the extent that they cannot be
reversed. The reforms, he said, have taken on a life of their own and
there is no way they can be undone. He also said that his administration
is putting the addition revenue from higher crude oil prices to good use
in areas such as improving national infrastructure, health-care delivery,
power, water supply, education and agricultural development. However, the
point must be made that this is an egregious mendacity and the records
must be put straight, for those that care to know, the Obasanjo’s
government has failed Nigerians in terms of delivering to them the
development dividends of democracy, roads are in a deplorable state of
disrepair, power supply is virtually non-existent, health-care delivery
system is in a shambles, while the education and agriculture sectors are
nothing to write home about. Since 1999, it has been the same old story of
the bad, the ugly and the bleak, there is no iota of silver lining on the
horizon, it has been one empty promise after another, in fact, it is as
result of this that the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) report
said only recently that well over 70 per cent of the entire Nigerian live
on less than $1 dollar per day, which is far below the international
benchmark on poverty.
It is as a result of this,
that, it is the statement made by President Obasanjo that the economic
programmes he put in place cannot be reversed; again this is another
arrogant and totally unreasonable comment. This is a government that has
foist on the people misanthropic economic policies over the years, the
point is that any policy that is not in tandem with the wishes and
aspirations of the people will be done away with in due course, the
problem with the Obasanjo led government is that they assume that they
know what is best for the people without necessarily getting in touch with
the people to know their really needs. The point must be made here that
development cannot be achieved by proxy. A people develops itself or not
at. All it can develop itself through a strategy of self-reliance ,that is
through the commitment and the energy of the people. That is where
democracy comes-in. Self-reliance is not possible unless the society is
thoroughly democratic, unless the people are the and not just the means of
development. Development occurs, in so far as it amounts to the pursuit of
objectives set by the people themselves in their own interest and by the
means of their own resources. There is no way of implementing economic
policies induced by the west and the various international financial
institutions without political repression. Even, so prone to cause
suffering that the use of repression has not always been able to prevent
popular insurrections against these programme. The World Bank and IMF have
contributed as much as anything else to political conditions which under
develops Nigeria. Being in a position to exercise power without
accountability or responsibility and having apparently convinced
themselves that they are practicing an objective science, they remain
happily indifferent to the harm they cause.
What the Obasanjo led
government ought to have done is the systematic redistribute political
power away from regime and in favour of civil society; reorientate of
public policy away from special interest to common interest;
accountability of power to those over whom it is exercised; effective
popular participation in decision making at all levels; reduction of the
economic rewards of political power and collective self-reliance as well
as foster the collective struggle against imperialism. It is for this
reason that any government that comes to power should be mindful of what
history and posterity will record for them. The essence of aspiring to
public office to not only make the country better, but also
tremendously improve the socio-economic conditions of the people. The very
reason why governments exist is to meet the needs of the people, but in a
situation where the government imposes a reign of terror on the people, it
is only a matter time before such policies by the government will be
reversed, many of the policies by the Obasanjo’s government cannot truly
stand the test of time. They will all fall apart like pack of cards
because they are not predicated on the needs and desires of the people.
Also political struggle is so intense and so absorbing, politics becomes,
for the political leadership and entire political class, the means for
appropriation and accumulation. As accumulation with state power has come
to be the norm for the political class, the premium on political power has
become higher still. It is no longer just power that is at stake but also
wealth. This development is one of the major causes of economic stagnation
in Nigeria. The use of state power for accumulation means of course the
abuse of state power; above all, it means corrupt practices-the award of
contracts to those who will pay the highest kickbacks-the inevitable
nonperformance in the execution, the sale of jobs to people who are too
incompetent to carry them out successfully, the sale of import and export
licenses to the highest bidders to the detriment of national interest, the
evasion of exchange controls, quality standards, administrative fees to
officials, etc. These practices have contributed in no small measure to
the impoverishment of the state and the failure of development programmes.
Yet the 1999 constitution
section 16(1b) states that the state shall control the national economy in
such a manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of
every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and
opportunity; while section 16(2d) stipulates that the state shall direct
its policy towards ensuring that suitable and adequate shelter, suitable
and adequate food, reasonable national minimum living wage , old age care
and pensions and unemployment, sick benefits and welfare of the disabled
are provided for all citizens. These are some of the provisions of the
constitution which the Obasanjo’s government never adhere to, it stands to
reason therefore that the present economic policies and so-called reforms
are just nothing but a bird of passage that will fizzle out in no time at
all.
BY
JIDE AYOBOLU
ABUJA-NIGERIA
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