Tag: professionals

The recent controversy over the new administration’s appointments so far and the preemptive accusations of ethnic lopsidedness and bias reflect this perennial obsession and anxiety over representation at the expense of actual performance and service delivery. It is unlikely that there would have been this much controversy if government positions were truly perceived in terms of responsibility and service rather than power, privilege and prestige. Our national struggle with graft is inextricably linked to the popular perception of public office as an opportunity for self-enrichment – a place to which we are invited to “come and chop” and to claim our own portions of the national cake on behalf of our ethnic groups.

Given the clear commitment of the present administration to fighting corruption, it is also clear that a key component of any holistic anti-corruption campaign should be a battle to redeem the hearts and minds of Nigerians. There are changes that will be accomplished through diligent prosecution of official wrongdoing and reforms in the architecture of our institutions – certainly – the culture of official impunity can be dispelled once it becomes clear that for the first time in our recent history, there is a confluence of the political resolve at the highest levels with refined and strengthened institutional capacity to ensure consequences for bad behaviour. The certainty of punishment is one of the strongest disincentives for official misconduct. But ultimately there also has to be a values reorientation of the society at large.

Today, there are grand possibilities for change. To begin with, we have in the presidency two men who register very favourably in the integrity perception index. They are very worthy and believable vessels of the message of values reorientation. An ethical reorientation today must have among its cardinal pillars a restoration of the idea of professionalism to governance, a rediscovery of the idea of government office as a place of responsibility and service of the common good, not sloth and entitled privilege. We must come to see government as an enterprise deserving only of the most exemplary characters. In short our entire conception of public service must change.

President Muhammadu Buhari has already long expressed his intention to fill his cabinet with technocrats. We may interpret the term “technocrats” to mean “professionals” who bring experience, expertise and integrity to their respective briefs. He has also signaled his disdain for pork barrel politics and distributing government appointments as mere “jobs for the boys”. When a preference is expressed for technocrats in government as against simply lavishing public office on run-of-the-mill political jobbers, we are casting our vote for a knowledge-based, values-driven and ideas-oriented approach to managing our common aspirations. We can therefore infer that his administration will favour the rise of professionals to the fore of power and responsibility.

We must however ensure that professionals, who would be privileged to serve in this dispensation and after, understand the need to be equipped with much more than professional competences in dispensing their duties. A dose of humility is required by technocrats and professionals when they contemplate engagement with governance. It is not enough to be professionally qualified for the job; professionals need to purge themselves from the entitlement mentalities which hinder them from adapting to the peculiar environment of public office. In order to succeed, professionals need to learn the social skills and graces that will enable them function effectively in leadership positions in public service without necessarily making the full transition to becoming politicians.

Over the long term, professionals need a clean break from the prevailing philosophy that characterizes our educational systems – the undue emphasis on certification above thorough education which only serves to produce professionals with character deficits.

The Case for Meritocracy

Looking forward to the new Nigeria we seek, only a meritocratic system can deliver excellence. By opting for the low hanging populist fruits of equal opportunity at all costs within the official bureaucracy, we have sacrificed the means by which we can achieve a truly equal society. Worse still, we have encouraged the politicization of the public sector, its perversion as a zone of patronage where politicians can reward cronies and party loyalists with positions and the perception that it is a theatre of sectarian contestation by sectional champions purporting to seek positional advantages for the narrow constituencies and interests they claim to be representing. Indeed, the default assumption at the heart of the way the public service is run is that its purpose is simply “representation” rather than “service.”

Perhaps, the most tragic implication of the cavalier way in which the public service has been handled is that we are also sending a dangerous signal to the young about the relationship between competence and honesty on one hand and promotion and recognition on the other. Nothing destroys the work ethic like the idea that hard work is futile; nothing subverts public ethics like the idea that honesty does not pay. One of the reasons public service is not esteemed in Nigeria is because it is regarded as a realm in which factors other than merit dictate one’s progress and promotion. A perverse notion of affirmative action and entitlement feeds a sense of unfairness and grievance which ultimately saps morale.

Consequently, we cannot attract our best and brightest into the public service and so cannot but put forward the most ill-qualified or at best average products to undertake critical national tasks. This has also popularized the association of public service with mediocrity. The mediocre and ill-qualified personalities who rise to leadership positions become faces of the nation and degrade the public service even further. Many of our top public functionaries through their substandard performances have contributed to the poor reputation of the public service. It is said that we perpetuate what we permit and we receive what we reward. Mediocrity thrives because it is permitted and rewarded. Excellence will flourish and proliferate when it is not merely permitted but celebrated, encouraged and rewarded.

Conclusion

The task of national rebirth is not for government alone. It is a collective duty that requires the enlisting of every one of us. We must reestablish the foundations of honesty and diligence as the surest way to success. Thus, the role of professionals, not only in government but the larger society cannot be overstated. Too often, we see that official graft and nonperformance is usually aided by accomplices from the larger society, those who have learnt but whose characters have not been developed.

We must be reminded that in the pristine traditions of education and the intellectual grooming of succeeding generations, certificates from our citadels of learning are awarded to those who are considered worthy in both “Character and learning”. We must start putting round pegs in round holes, and entrench a meritocracy which enlists true professionals in every area of our national life, from the artisans to the public service to the private sector, even to the sanctums of faith. We must discourage the adulation of overnight successes and stop fawning after those whose rise cannot be traced to a process of disciplined tutelage, selfless service and sound character development. We must denounce many of those whose rise to the limelight was aided by corruption and deception – those intelligent rogues who profit from the misery of others. We must restore the dignity in labour.

We must rekindle the patriotic spirit that favours the common good over personal interest in every area of our national life, so that finally, government working with an energized and empowered citizenry can deliver on its promises of tangible and intangible goods by which the Nigerian people will know without a shadow of doubt that Change has come and a New Nigeria has been born.

• Excerpts from a paper titled ‘Our New Nigeria: The Role of Professionals in Government’ presented by Dr. J. ’Kayode Fayemi, former Governor of Ekiti State, Nigeria at the maiden public symposium of the Advanced Media and Communications Academy, Ibadan on Wednesday, September 9, 2015