Weak Scorecard and Failing Social Contract

Ayo Olukotun

Almost overshadowing what was billed as a celebration of democracy day were two high profile assassinations as well as the deleting by twitter of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd)’s statement about teaching those destroying public property the lesson of their lives, ‘in the language that they understand’. The politicians murdered are Ahmed Gulak, a member of the All Progressive Congress and former political adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, as well as Christopher Dega, a retired Police Officer and until his death, Senior Special Assistant, to Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom. Both of them were shot by unknown gunmen in Owerri and Jos respectively. Buhari’s strongly worded remarks which included an ominous reference to the civil war is still generating ripples even after twitter deleted it. Needless to add that the sensational murder of the two politicians, represents only a tip of the iceberg of pervasive bloodletting in different parts of the country.

However, let it be noted that there are differential perceptions concerning how Buhari has fared in the last two years and in the last six years respectively. A fact sheet released by government publicists last week enjoined Nigerians ‘to count their blessings one by one’ arguing that Buhari’s achievements are legendary and are on such a scale as to ‘make Nigerians proud’. On the other hand, a more sober and scientific assessment contained in a recent report by the African Development Bank, describes the Nigerian economy as one characterized by high unemployment, worsening poverty rate, high debt service obligations, low external financial flows, and one in which the modest projected growth of 1.5% for 2021 and 2.9% for 2022 can easily be reversed by oil price upset, escalating insecurity, massive flooding, and a possible surge in the outbreak of new variants of COVID 19 pandemic.

A careful examination of the fact sheet by government spokespersons reveals that it conflates the initiation or flag off of new projects with groundbreaking achievements. To give an example, listed in the ‘blessings’ for which Nigerians should be thankful is the Solar Power Naija initiated in April 2021 and is projected if it succeeds to provide 5million households with off grid power. For Nigerians, who are putting up with the woes of rising cost of electricity and virtually stagnant distribution of power, the project must be regarded tongue-in-cheek as a marvelous blessing indeed. So much for publicists and their whitewashing antics.

One of the goals of a truthful assessment of governance records is to consider how far and how fast we have moved in the direction of building a Nigerian state that works for all or that works for the majority of citizens. This is another way of examining to what extent particular governments are fulfilling or failing to fulfill the social contract between government and the governed. One apt expression that comes to mind employed recently, by former presidential aspirant, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu is ‘politics without governance’. The ramifications of the coinage are many and include, for instance, why some governors are crossing over to the ruling party and politicians are traversing the length and breadth of the country in coded campaigns at a time when the fate of Nigeria truly hangs in the balance.

It is no exaggeration that the scale and depth of insecurity of lives and property as well as apprehensions for the future, have produced a climate of fear, uncertainty and perilous times. Nonetheless, our politicians fixated on the next elections are busy at their game of seeking power without purpose and entrenching a democracy without the people. That said, it is possible to recognize that despite a recession, and the devastation of the COVID 19 pandemic, some progress had been made in the area of infrastructure with the commencement of new rail routes in some parts of the country. True, some of these projects were begun in the previous administration, but Buhari can claim credit for completing them and for initiating new ones which are however yet to begin. The rail route between Kaduna and Abuja became very busy recently when bandits turned the road travel into a nightmare as they occupied several parts of the road. Although the raging insecurity tends to loom larger than any possible achievements, the management of COVID 19 fallouts by the Presidential Taskforce and the health ministry may have helped somewhat in minimizing thus far the lurking danger of widespread outbreak.

To be counted too among the little mercies is the completion at some of our international airport of new terminals, though again, the projects were dreamed and commenced earlier. Similarly, in the area of education, about which little attention is characteristically paid except when new institutions are being built mainly for political reasons, there is a smattering of achievements. In this respect, the provision of Solar and gas power to some federal universities and Teaching Hospitals can be counted among these. That notwithstanding, there are huge areas of neglect crying for attention in that sector, especially in our universities whose global rating slides downwards by the day.

Returning now to basic issues of governance, it is noteworthy that Buhari himself provided the template for assessing him when he promised during his campaign to focus on the overriding topics of corruption, insecurity, and the economy. Notwithstanding that issues of governance are interconnected we can spend some time pondering how well the administration has done in the last two years which constitutes a mid-term. Beginning with corruption, the enthusiasm of the earlier years appeared to have waned as revelations of public theft rose to a crescendo now and then. The Ports Authority, the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Pension Commission as well as the alleged re-looting of looted funds are some of the areas affected. Worse still, it will appear that some of the scandals were treated as light entertainment for the public rather than issues requiring firm legal sanctions and deterrent rebukes. Overall, the momentum and gravitas once attached to the anti corruption struggle appeared to have been lost.

Insecurity constitutes a serious problem area as it holds the key to declining or enhanced productivity in agriculture, trade, manufacturing, foreign investment, and more importantly, the safety and well being of Nigerians. For as long as bloodletting becomes the new normal so long will Nigerians continue to cry for help or leave the country in droves. The recent alert by some Yoruba groups and leaders of a possible invasion by killer herdsmen of their territory can only compound an already desperate situation. The economy as mentioned at the outset touches a raw nerve as it connects with livelihood, lifespan, and virtually every area of governance. Performance ranges from dismal to mediocre as policy continues to go back and forth like a yo-yo.

Overall, and inspite of little strides which are few and far between, the governance scorecard remains weak, and in need of substantial upgrade. No doubt the election season will reduce the space for governance mark up as politics and over politicization swing into the mainstream. That means that Buhari has only one year to improve his score card that began with great expectation but has become diminished. It will matter how he manages that narrow space

Ayo Olukotun is a director at the Oba (Dr.) S.K Adetona Institute of Governance Studies, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye