Obasanjo's Ministerial Appointments

by

Uwem Ankak

I have always been fascinated by Lucien Goldman's theory of the parts and the whole where he espoused on the sociological perspectives to every human story and situation. His basic thought is that the sum of the parts is equal to the whole and the whole consists of parts that work together in a mutually reinforcing manner. I would like to extend this concept to the question of fair representation and total inclusion as it relates to public governance against the background of the ethnic, cultural and religious diversities of the Nigerian nation.

Nigeria is made up of several states that comprise a motley of ethnic nationalities, with people endowed with different gifts, talents as well as different personal attributes. That is why the question of diversity has become very germane both in discussing the polity as well as in management practice.

 Today, we have local and corporate organisations that recognise the essence of leveraging on diversity and have elevated the concept of diversity in the work place to a creed.
This concept is reflected in the many religions. In the Holy Bible, it is written: "For in fact, the body is not one member but many ... For if the ear should say, "because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye where would be the hearing, where would be the smelling ....? 

The word of God further declares that "there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it."

No factor has affected the Nigerian polity more than the feeling of insecurity engendered by the hues and cries about marginalisation from the different ethnic groups. Our chequered history as a nation is characterized by these clamoring which are sometimes justified and at other times based on spurious claims. 

Nigeria has come a long way since independence. No one needs a scholar of history to pontificate that the Nigerian civil war, the festering Ife-Modakeke crisis, the Tiv-Jukun war, border disputes, the June 12 crisis have their roots in regional quests for balance, fair representation in democratic governance. Every Nigerian group indeed feels that it needs to have a share of the dividends accruing from a democratic system of government which is pro-people in all its ramifications.

So, total inclusion and fair representation is critical to achieving the "unity and faith: peace and progress which is the motto engraved in the Nigerian coat of arms. Several countries of the world in recognition of the value of balance in political engineering and nation building have built in structures either by way of constitutional reviews and other political instruments to make all the constituent parts feel a sense of belonging. Even the United Nations has put in place a convention for the recognition of minority ethnic nationalities.

In the same vein, every national leader strives to ensure that all political and ethnic groups feel a sense of belonging. That is why President George W. Bush has been harping on the need for unity and has assembled the most racially diverse cabinet in all of the history of the Unites States of America no matter how superficial anyone considers these initiatives to be.

Back home in Nigeria, there is no gainsaying that the President, Olusegun Obasanjo has amply demonstrated his commitment to correcting inherent or emergent imbalances in the Nigerian political equation. Every effort must be made to encourage elected political leaders at the state and local government levels to resist the temptation of acting like the age old Spanish conquistadors of Mexico. We need to encourage real statesmanship in our leaders.

In fairness, it will be uncharitable to say nothing has been achieved, but it is not all about tokenism in the sharing of political offices but a clear question of fairness. Political subjugation may appear like an expedient and savvy strategy to ensure political supremacy, but, it breeds apathy and seeming gains more often than not, translate to terrible reversals of goodwill generated.

The decision by Obasanjo to dissolve the cabinet is one which has been long anticipated and provides an excellent opportunity for him to get on board many more Nigerians with a heart for real public service (he had a fair sprinkling of these). Nigerians who have a profound sense of what real development is all about as it pertains to their respective portfolios.

I understand that this is not an easy task. It will challenge his wits, task his political engineering skills, exact on his relationships. At the end of the day, justice must be done and all cases of marginalisation should are treated. Now is the time to correct the imbalance.

Is there a systematic approach to this process? I would hasten to recommend the adoption of certain criteria which should apply to nominees from every state and must be adopted in the selection process. These would include professional/technical competence (25 points); integrity/track record (20), ethnic balancing (20 points), executive discretion (15), personal suitability (health records, etc-10 points), National Service (10 points). This implies that the person with the highest score from each state becomes the President's nominees for that state. 

The composition of the cabinet has been described as weird and tantamount to the bringing together of "strange bed fellows:" a mixed multitude of people. The lack-lustre performance of the administration in certain areas can be attributed to the preponderance of ill-equipped, unprincipled, visionless and unresourceful individuals as ministers. The proposed system guarantees that there will be ethical, ethnic, and overall balance. Uncle Sege can have technocrats who are politicians with a good reputation. This is the balance we require to build a more virile society and usher in a new social order. More than ever before, now is the time to correct the imbalance.

To bring home this treatise, let me bring into public view the case of the Oron people of Akwa-Ibom State. Being the third leg in the ethnic tripod arrangement, this group has been practically asphyxiated politically with the tokenism and seemingly deliberate bid to oppress this ethnic group. There are only two commissioners in the state executive; none amongst the principal officers in the State House of Assembly.

 None in the corps of Special Advisers and even within the top executive functionaries within the state. There has never been an Oron governor in the history of the state even when it was still part of the former South Eastern state. We may have one federal permanent secretary, one federal director, an ambassador and some federal board appointments, this is still terribly disproportionate. It would be recalled that at the inception of this administration, the Oron people were muscled out of a ministerial position reserved for Oron as part of the power sharing arrangement.

Now it is only fair to call the President's attention to the need to correct the imbalance. This is the perfect opportunity to appoint a technocrat and politician from Oron as minister. There are many notables who fit the bill and who have paid their dues both in National service and in terms of party stature. We assume that often times leaders get misled and swayed by pernicious and self-serving counsel from their associates and would want to believe that some decisions were made in error.

Be that as it may, there is no better time than now to correct this imbalance. It is the thing to do in well meaning efforts to strengthen unity in diversity and keep the ethnic mosaic of the Nigerian nation together. Thomas Carlyle the great philosopher put it more succinctly, when he said that "men's hearts ought not to be set against one another, but set with one another, and all against evil only."

The hallmark of leadership is the ability to build bridges, forge peace and promote human understanding amongst every Nigeria.

It is my fervent desire that the president effectively grapples with this challenge. His ability to deliver on campaign promises and truly earn the title "true nationalist" is predicated on his choice of ministers and their performance quotient.

May the Almighty God grant him the wisdom, discernment, grace and strength to assemble the Ministerial Team of every Nigerian's dream.

Mr. Uwem Ankak wrote in from Oron, Akwa Ibom State.