Human rights activist and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Oyo State Comrade Mashod Erubami spoke with BISI OLADELE in Ibadan, the state capital, on the people’s expectation of President Muhammadu Buhari and the role of the society in a democracy.
Do you think the APC -led Federal Government is living up to expectation?
Thank you, the chant of change in itself means that the government represents something new. Now, it should not be business as usual and government must not be conducted like in the past. For this to be real and to be seen as such, governance must be democratic, inclusive, people-driven and people-owned.
The President from the start must shun the government of “winners take all” as was being practised before; his government must represent the interest of all and must make citizens the focus of his development programmes, regardless of their political and ethnic affiliation. He should belong to every body in and outside the APC and to no one in particular.
The President having secured a hard-earned second chance to rule Nigeria, should use the opportunity to thank God and serve all, by setting up an innovative, “multi-stakeholder ship government” that will act as true interface that can effect genuine change in the country. He must create equal opportunity in the midst of divergent abilities and talents and be seen to be ending Nigerian years of misery and hunger in the midst of plenty.
Expectedly, the APC government under the Buhari government must begin to be concerned with how to use fiscal and monetary regulatory policies to stabilise and mitigate the volatility of the country’s currency in exchange for other foreign currencies, using the concept of delegated authority effectively to watch over all areas that have brought miseries into the lives of the people.
What is to be done?
It must not be lost on the government that it has a very short honeymoon of just two years from the first four year term, Every Government spend two. Years to deliver real government after which distraction step in either as a result of opposition pressures in form of reactions to government Policies or due to corruption fighbacks or combination of all these factors.
Usually, the third year in government is being used to prepare for election in the forth year, settling rifts occasioned by political, economic and social actions and reactions and resolving conflicts that might have played out to be able to meet the challenges from the opposition and answering the people in areas where their expectations remain unmet and making up for what remains in order to be able to face the people in the coming elections.
Whatever is done in the first two years will authenticate the performances of the President and position his party for successful re-election hence there. is usually no government in the third year.
To ensure the manifestation of real change, govenment must within first two years strive to unleash output focussed measures that will cushion the pains from years of agonies resulting from unfocused administrations within the first two years to win the heart of the people.
To underscore the change mantra, one of the few things that must be done is to turn the people into safeguards.
Could you expantiate on this?
To avoid latter-day regrets on the three critical areas set by the president for himself in this first two years, he must begin to build the people around his government and turn the citizens and the critical mass into safeguards against political interloopers who might want to slow down governance to make it fail, but If government is of the people and run by the people, it must be for the people.
In this regard, Government needs to join hands with civil Society to promote and defend democracy and good Governance.
Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary-General, once described civil society as the oxygen of democracy that acts as catalyst for social progress and economic growth and helps represent the diverse interests of the population, most especially, its most vulnerable groups.
In Nigeria particularly, the civil society play significant role in the countrys history of democratic rule and must be appreciated for its struggle and contribution to ideas for nurturing democratic governance.
Today, the government is being watched by the opposition and they will stop at nothing than to seek to weigh it down for their strategic rebound towards seizing power in 2019, which is not too far from now. How the APC government positions its party for stiff contest in the election year will be determined largely by its relationship, acceptability, confidence and mass following among the people and the civil society after the first two years. Through observable remedial policies and the goodwill that is left in the government by this time when resistance from anti-government forces in the society/community would have developed full blown.
Critical sectors of the Society must not be ignored and should from the start be made the impregnable shield against anti-government forces.
What is the role of these critical sector?
The forces of civil society and human rights, including labour are needed to ward-off the type of oppositions brewing currently from those who have nothing concrete or better to offer than to seize power and reinstate reaction. Therefore, they should be mobilised to own and buy into the programs of the Government using them to interface between the government and the legislature on one side and the opposition on the other. Their value was recently demonstrated when labour and civil society stood by government on its anti-corruption drive, if care is not taken and they are mismanaged or ousted from the government, they could also be the tool for bringing the government to its kneels and down outrightly. God forbids. It must be noted that citizens in the critical sectors live in the conscience of the people and determine the attitude of the people to a given government because of the special relationship that subsists between them.
How can President Buhari enhance good governances?
In starting off, the whole structure of government should be re-set in the spirit of fairness, equity and social justice, creating a new sense of belonging for those who will be lucky to make the list of service providers to the people in the next political dispensation. The new assistants to the President and governors should be informed from the start about the philosophy of ethical governance that will run in the new government, making it clear that incorruptible, selfless and people focussed services are the real tasks that would guarantee the new opportunity to continue .in the offices.
As a corollary to the above, the President and Governors should begin to bring the informal sector workers into the contract system with direct award of applicable contract to carpenters, bricklayers, mechanics, painters, foodstuff sellers etc, to conform with a new model project approach of reconciliation against past injustices. These initiatives will make government to be inclusive, participatory and people driven with government too becoming people- owned.
The government should embark on Monthly reporting of the activities of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to the public.
The government should begin a Quarterly public presentation of budget proposals and performances, stating Project locations, state of project completion, Threats, opportunities and strength, stating the monthly Revenue generated and shared, Expenditures incurred and savings made within the quarter to underscore the mantra of transparency and accountability.
President Buhari should relate very well with his party. The Party owns the government. Buhari is a working tool for realising the objectives set by the party as contained in the manifesto. All the personal vision of the President must be in line with the partys manifesto while decisions that must be taken should be based on the outcome of dialogue, discussions and consultations.
The party should not be allowed to go into disarray in almost all the constituencies, in the state and local governments, either as a result of leadership crisis or due to non-allignment among the members. There are divisions among the members already which if not resolved could polarise them in the party. The divisions among the party members started raring their heads immediately after the elections, erroneously parties who are part of the crisis are being raised to resolve it.
This will not work as a lot of bad blood was being carried into the government.
Right now, as the President is steadily moving to start a new government and Governors move towards the start of another era, they need not only to carry the party along but reconstruct it and settle internal rifts while underscoring the importance of internal democracy.
The policy thrust of the government must not only be derived through consultation with the party but must conform with the party’s manifesto.
The party must begin to have a say in every government decision, in how members are being selected and elected to serve in government, making those appointed and elected to be responsive to party issues and responsible for party obligations.