The recent public service awards conferred on 44 distinguished Nigerian citizens and institutions has once again brought to the fore the need for proper interrogation for such awards and for the independence and credibility of the organizing and executing authorities in the choice of recipients.
It is widely published that the project was a private sector initiative, organized by “The Best Strategic Media” in active collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, with the purpose of recognizing excellent public service delivery.
The headlines on the newspapers and online platforms also amplify this fact: “Buhari Confers Executive Awards on Jonathan, Lawan, 42 others”.
The Secretary to the Federal Government, (SGF) Boss Mustapha, himself said at the ceremony that the award was a ‘score card’ of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders in the country, as it reflected different interests and political persuasions.
Alluding to that fact, former President Goodluck Jonathan, himself a recipient of the award for peace-building at the event, paid glowing tribute to first, the office of the SGF and second, The Best Strategic Media (TBS) for co-sponsoring the awards.
President Buhari, himself, a champion for the fight against corruption, lavishly poured encomiums on TBS, led by Miss Mariam Muhammed, a publisher and public relations expert for the “Continuous Support of his administration.”
Certainly, there is nothing amiss in TBS supporting President Buhari’s administration to the hilt, but it becomes questionable when his government is seen to be co-sponsoring an award project for excellence in service delivery with a private sector public relations group. There arise questions of conflict, divided loyalty and credibility. For, in all intent and purpose, the federal government, if the truth must be told, cannot pretend to be neutral in those choices for excellence in service delivery with their active participation in the process leading to, and the selection and approval of the 44 recipients.
It is instructive that President Buhari in his speech at the occasion, urged public servants to make accountability and integrity their watch words. President Buhari went on to state the obvious that, issues of corruption continue to affect the civil services in many countries around the world. He gave several reasons for these cankerworms eating deep into the fabrics of the respective countries, which he identified as nepotism, cronyism, political patronage as well as lack of transparency and accountability.
He regretted that the unsystematic enforcement of law and institutional mechanisms for holding civil servants accountable for their actions have always led to a negative impression to the citizens.
The issue at stake here is that, the federal government, through the SGF’s office has no business hobnobbing with a private sector initiative in communicating the largesse, in the name of awards of excellence in service delivery, let alone co-sponsoring that initiative and thrusting forward Mr President to present such awards to “deserving recipients”.
Federal government’s participation in this project, therefore, runs contrary to the president’s and his administration’s shared values of probity, accountability, and credibility. This move runs on the head of the administration’s mantra of, and for the fight against corruption. Are we saying then that, nepotism, cronyism, political patronage as well as lack of transparency and accountability are not at play in some of these choices for the awards? Except for former President Jonathan’s award and a few others, it would be hard to convince discerning minds to accept that waters did not pass under the bridge in these choices, particularly with regard to putting the choices to the test of credibility, transparency, accountability and even favouritism. That even the event, a private sector initiative took place with all its lavish paraphernalia, in Aso Rock, leaves much to be desired.
Talking of service delivery couched in visionary leadership which evokes credibility, accountability, transparency and performance bond, former President Jonathan hit the nail on the head when he bemoaned the absence of council chairmen on the list of recipients of the Nigeria Excellence in Public Service Awards conferred on 44 people by President Buhari.
President Jonathan further went on to call for a review of the structures and functions of the local governments. If the Local Governments were functional and doing well, he argued, we would have expected one or two of them to be noticed in the list of award.
What, indeed, is playing out in the local governments is a true reflection of the general trend of lacklustre service delivery both at the state and national levels of government. The expectation of the citizens for effective service delivery has been dashed, and unfortunately and there is no end in sight. For a people groaning under the pain of bad governance over the years cannot be fooled by awards of excellence in service delivery, even though some measure of infrastructure and socio-economic and political benefits have accrued to Nigerians and their environment through past administrations and the present APC government.
Nigerians see these accruals as a scratch on the surface in the holistic developmental aspirations of the Nigerian state.
What Nigerians expect is an enlightened leadership that understands the meaning of, and the use of, or application of “Regulatory Command”in the administration of the three tiers of government; the federal, state and local councils which should be run selflessly and with policies, programmes and projects that will positively impact on the lives of the citizens.
When we allow governments to be run at the whims and caprices of individuals, who constitute themselves as ‘tin gods’, and with no regard to acceptable standards for good governance, we should expect the continuous erosion of our shared values of probity and accountability, creativity and excellence, integrity and acceptable performance bond of governments with the people.
My stand on this issue is not to bring the federal government to ridicule but to enlighten or elevate the eyes of understanding of key advisers and players, policy makers and implementers of such policies and programmes for the edification of the government in the eyes of the various publics. This is in order to separate government from untoward actions that clearly portray the administration as unable to sever itself from areas of conflict in matters such as this – co-sponsoring public service awards initiated by a private sector public relations outfit, whose support for the administration is unflinching, and going head-long to mobilize our revered President Muhammadu Buhari to dish out such awards at the nation’s seat of power, ASO ROCK.
Does this sound well and proper in our quest for probity and accountability, integrity and credibility in governance?
•Ekiye writes from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.