Sunday Narrative: Looking For A New FEC – Matters Arising

I woke up yesterday (Saturday) to see an sms from one of my kind readers. His name is Aniekan Joseph, all the way from Onne. He said; “Good morning, sir. No Offence intended, please. With reference to the last edition of SUNDAY NARRATIVE, I think that ‘and a more gender friendlier outing’ would be better replaced by either ‘and a more gender friendly outing’ or ‘and a gender friendlier outing’.

Absolutely, he was correct. And I told him so and thanked him. But I pleaded with him to bear with me, because this weekly conversation is usually work in progress. I spotted the error earlier, but that was after it had been printed. No excuse!

Truth is, anyone who is familiar with the job of an editor or his deputy would not advise him or her to add another burden like this narrative to his usual workload. This is actually the least of what I do on a weekly basis and it was not designed as part of the job description. But it is a public service I am willingly committed to as a political reporter and it is a pleasure to be read and corrected. It would amount to mental laziness on my part, if I were to succumb to fatigue and be denied opportunity of political participation, through this conversation.

Another fact. I put this narrative together on Saturdays, like I’m doing now. All through the week, I would throw up topics in my mind, depending on what is trending. Sometimes, the copy is scripted mentally, before the physical stringing. That makes it somewhat easier. I was in that former mode when I read the sms mentioned above. And it added verve to today’s discourse.

There are many matters arising from last Sunday’s Narrative, which sort of previewed last week’s screening and clearance of ministerial nominees. I contended, as many did, that the first list of nominees did not have enough women. I said a ratio of three females out of 21 nominees was not good enough, but added that, hopefully, President Muhammadu Buhari would make adjustments in his second list.

PMB still did not. Out of 36 ministers, we are likely to have just six females, which is just approximately 17 percent female participation as against the adopted 35 percent; and I insist that is not good enough. I posited too, that based on the outcry from the youths, that the first list of nominees was predominantly made up of older persons that the President should try and do some balancing in his second list. The president still did not, because I can’t see any fresh face in the pack.

PMB has not disappointed those who see the man as being too formed, perhaps, fossilized to undergo further changes at this point in his public life. Democracy will not change you if you do not surrender your old habits for reforms. And the way to be reformed is to surrender to debate and yield ground for consensus. The man had said he would not surrender his government to political merchants to trade with. He also said he would not subject the membership of his FEC to state governors’ antics, which used to be the case. That seems to be some change of process, not necessarily of person.

From this distance, it is difficult to see any face among the nominees that could be linked directly to one godfather or some other influence peddler. Largely, Buhari, a man of his words, has more or less rewarded allies from his previous political sojourns, men and women who remained steadfast, shared his agonies, frustrations and betrayals. That is also some kind of change, of Buhari not being a fair-weather friend.

Now, I will not join the youths and women in any lamentation here. If the women and youth know what is good for them, it is high time they upped their game and proceeded from blackmail advocacy to taking charge. Combined, the two groups are far the most active in political participation. In demographics, they are far the most useful; they have the figures and the agility. Yet, they are the most marginalised. Democracy is about numbers and youths and women have the numbers. If they elect to, they can render any candidate and political party impotent and decide the course of an election, but so far they have not.

It seems to me that there is a fixation among persons of this classification. It seems that the two groups have simply refused to be weaned of parental control and they seem to love to be perpetually breastfed by the male/gerontocratic political class.

Democracy is of social science and the statistics are there. But if our gender/youth activists would continue to whine and lament, and thereafter, benefit hugely and subterraneously from their blackmail in offshore benefits and philanthropy, then there is little we can do to help the situation. Power is never surrendered anywhere on a platter of social media cacophony.

Yet another matter arising. It was a good spectacle in the Red Chamber last week. Good in the sense that there was intense theatre and goodies to take home, depending on one’s level of partisanship and ignorance.

A number of us were thrilled, that the wobbly 8th Assembly has found its feet and was able to manage the affairs fairly well. They bonded very well and did not allow interests outside of it to rock the boat. Senate President, Abubakar Saraki seated comfortably and carried out his first major task with sufficient ease. He has so far refused to be ‘unhorsed’ and no nominee, as envisioned by some, had the guts to challenge his authority and integrity.

But we didn’t see much change. This was how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also carried out its own screening of nominees. During the PDP, we hardly had this number of petitions against nominees from outside the legislature. This time, some civil society groups, CACOL for instance, made a lot of noise regarding the moral health of some nominees, but they were largely ignored. Is that part of the change APC promised?

More seriously, we saw flashes of good articulation and brilliance nuanced by the capacity and depth of the audience on the issues canvassed. Stakeholders in oil and gas, for instance, were not disappointed by the level of knowledge and openness expressed by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu. If the politicians do not clog his effort, either at the NNPC or at the ministry, Nigeria might be in for better times.

Former Ekiti governor, Kayode Fayemi showed deep knowledge of policy and governance. Again, if the political class permits, Nigeria could have much to harvest wherever he is placed.

Chief Audu Ogbeh, might be elderly, but his knowledge of a wide range of governance issues came to his help. He will be benchmarked against the strides former agriculture minister Akinwunmi Adesina laid in that sector, if that is where he is going. Rice farmers want firmer restrictions on imports, just as they do not want to suffer to have fertilizer and other inputs.

Former Lagos State governor, Babatude Fashola stole the show; he held the chamber spellbound with good articulation and the large than life image he took with him from Lagos. Fashola never shies from speaking his mind and his key message, to me, is that Nigeria should restructure. There is no freedom without responsibility and you cannot federate without the fundamentals of federalism. You cannot take taxes from everywhere without applying equity in its sharing.

But he seemed to smartly transfer culpability when he said he did not write or sign cheques as governor. It is trite to say that governors don’t sign cheques, but they superintend whatever is disbursed according to the Public Procurement Law. Public Procurement is a Federal law, which many states, including Lagos, have domesticated. Every item of public procurement, no matter the threshold, should be a matter of public knowledge and must receive the consent of the governor. He does not need to sign cheques to know that a certain borehole is over-quoted or that the cost of a website design is outlandish.

Going forward, Nigerians want a learning government, one that is unassuming and willing to listen. Nigerians want urgent reforms in public procurement, so that monies allocated for projects are disbursed timely, transparently and execution done within time. Nigerians want reforms in the criminal justice system, particularly with criminal investigations. People are tired of fictitious parade of assassins, robbers and kidnap suspects. And they look up to the new FEC for remarkable changes.