Foolery in High Places
By
Governance is serious business and not an arena for fooling around with power. Somehow as a nation, we seem always to be
blessed with public officials who gravitate from one extreme to the other in the way they handle power. So like a pendulum, we go from tyranny to
crass display of folly. In the process, even actions that are initiated with a genuine intention to move the society forward become mired in unnecessary power
play. Unfortunately, the officials fail to realise that their behaviour not only negatively affects the larger society, but they themselves come across as
incompetent and bad examples as public administrators.
Chief Ige refused to testify before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts on the grounds that he has not been cleared by President Obasanjo to do so. He
also is demanding for a copy of the committee's preliminary report on the lodgement.
Since when did it become the norm for the presidency to grant permission to ministers before they can testify before a legitimate panel? One begins to
wonder whether the duo is ignorant of the procedure, or they are merely hedging because they have something to hide. It also could be that they are
contemptuous of the upper house. Whichever it is, the two ministers have not done the proper thing and have simply proved that they lack humility, an
important virtue that every public office holder ought to cultivate. It is interesting that the Minister for Information and National Orientation, Professor
Jerry Gana, has made some clarification. But Gana's statement serves to point that something is not quite right about the affair. What other clarification
does the presidency need when the issue is very clear?
The Idris Abubakar-led panel has also not helped matters. It is strange that it did not deem it fit to make a copy of its preliminary report available to
Chief Ige. This only creates the impression that an underhand strategy is being utilised to find the defendants guilty at all costs. One also begins to wonder
if this is also a reflection of the longstanding ill feeling between the presidency and the legislature. Or could it even be political rivalry.
It is commendable that amidst the charade one person has conducted himself responsibly, and that is a former Director of Finance and Supplies in the Ministry
of Power and Steel, Mr. Olusegun Ogukowa. His testimony before the panel has at least shed some light on the matter. The two ministers and the panel itself
should emulate Ogukowa and stop this power play. As public officers, they owe us the duty of not only conducting themselves properly, but also helping to make
the fight against corruption meaningful.
Thankfully I have just heard the news that Agagu has chosen the path of honour and testified before the panel. However, the issues already raised remain
pertinent, especially with Ige yet to testify.