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Babatunde Oyeniyan

Engineer and Quality Manager with a multi-national

Lagos, Nigeria.

Accountability in Nigeria.

NIGERIA: Putting the past behind us.

Accountability in Nigeria.
by Babatunde Oyeniyan

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Accountability is a word we should take another look at, especially in the Nigerian context. It is unfortunate that a lot of people don’t know its meaning. It encompasses responsibility, ethics, establishment and respect for proper procedure and processes. When what you say and what you do is one and the same. It is an integral part of purposeful leadership. Sadly, in Nigeria, it is very far from our leadership. I bet very few of our leaders have come across that word in their lifetime………even the ones that have, still have great difficulty comprehending it. The few learned ones in power that should know, either choose to ignore it, or have sold their birthright.

Nigerian leaders should be given a proper, detailed, un-accelerated course with life examples on accountability. Public accountability is lacking in our current system of governance and sadly, very sadly the people have come to accept it as a way of life. How can one justify an utterance that “telephone is not for everyone” by a particular minister whose own basic responsibility is to provide adequate communication for all Nigerians without a form of resistance to such unguarded speech from the populace. Is such a person even fit for the job? One governor in the northern part of this country over 25 years ago was found with a great deal of cash stashed right inside his residence and what he could say was “government money in government house, what is the matter?”

A country where a political godfather can publicly demand for one quarter of a governor’s monthly upkeep and some people still find it fit to follow such a person. And very recently, our president even got aberrant enough to say that his successor may come from anywhere in the country besides the southwest. What gives him the audacity to decide for Nigerians? What is wrong with the southwest or any part of the country for that matter from producing the next president? Is it because he was given an undeserved opportunity to serve…again? And one of his garrulous ministers found it wise to defend such position. It is sad he has learnt very little from the recent past.

We have spent money, enough to build brand new refineries just for turnaround maintenance (TAM), yet the old refineries do not work. Our lawmakers allocate tens of millions of Naira for their cars, houses and entertainment. Ninety (90) million Naira was allocated for our Deputy senate president’s furniture alone; an amount that can actually buy a luxury home in the choicest parts of the most expensive cities in the country. When more than half of the people in the same country live well below the poverty line. These people are supposed to be running state affairs; I wonder when they have time for such entertainment if they are actively discharging their duties, and why it has to cost so much of the taxpayers’ money.

We have a Federal Executive Council (FEC) of more than fifty people! Excuse me; is that a team or a crowd? I think Nigeria has the largest Federal Government cabinet in the world! It is quite obvious that only one person, or at best a few people make all the decisions. How can they be effective? How can there be accountability? And all these cabinet members get unjustified salaries and other flimsy (sometimes ridiculous) allocations. The amount it takes to run government in Nigeria is better imagined, in short as at the last check we are yet to ascertain how much was spent to run the Nigerian Federal Government in 2005. To me, it seems the Nigerian Government as is, is not set up to succeed. Accountability had been deliberately thrown out of the window to allow lazy men and women, mediocre and people with sticky-fingers to help themselves. The few people that may give some meaningful contribution to national development have been schemed out. These very few strong-willed people will not give allowance for financial frivolity, as the election is on the way and a lot of money is going to be required for corrupt politicking and inducements by the hawks. Really, our politicians are people who can do nothing besides politics. Most of them cannot successfully manage their own businesses without government funds. In fact, some are monumental failures in the private sector. How can someone who cannot manage ten or twenty million Naira, and a few people successfully be expected to mange the affairs of millions of Nigerians and billions of Naira? I will certainly not expect anything better.

Our past, present and future leaders should be made to give a proper account of their stewardship to the country. Some lessons should be taken from the private sector, where accountability is a major issue. The owners of the capital on which the firm runs demand that. One basic difference between a politician and a businessman/firm-owner is that one believes he has infinite resources while the other does not, and as such it must be prudently managed. Little wonder, our politicians cannot survive under such circumstances. Nigeria cannot continue to run at unnecessarily prodigious wastes as we currently do and expect to grow. No country develops by wasting resources; even accountability was demanded from those that were given talents in the biblical parable of our Lord Jesus Christ. Resources on earth are finite! That is one thing leaders in this country must get into their heads before entrusted with the noble task of serving the nation.

We must demand proper accountability, quick plug of wastages from all areas, drastic reduction in the number of political office holders. We must also demand from our leaders, reduction of monetary allocations for personal effects of these office holders. The purpose of government should be to serve, and not for corrupt enrichment and payback. Without that, we will continue to have a succession of inept leaders, who do not care whether the common man eats or not.

"A country where a political godfather can publicly demand for one quarter of a governor’s monthly upkeep and some people still find it fit to follow such a person. And very recently, our president even got aberrant enough to say that his successor may come from anywhere in the country besides the southwest. What gives him the audacity to decide for Nigerians? What is wrong with the southwest or any part of the country for that matter from producing the next president? Is it because he was given an undeserved opportunity to serve…again? And one of his garrulous ministers found it wise to defend such position. It is sad he has learnt very little from the recent past."