•Osun Governor ‘not promoting anti-Christian agenda’
OSUn State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday asked Nigerians not to lose hope in the nation’s democracy despite its imperfections.
He also said he is not promoting anti-Christian agenda as being insinuated by some critics.
Aregbesola spoke at a lecture at the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Miscellaneous Officers Commission (ICPC) Good Governance Forum in Abuja.
He said states should strive for financial autonomy and self-sufficiency.
His lecture, witnessed by a capacity crowd at the auditorium of ICPC, focused on ‘Governance, Accountability and Transformation.’
Aregbesola said: “The point must also be made that of all forms of government, in spite of its imperfection, democracy offers the highest assurance of a very high probability of good governance. This is because it is only in a democracy that the rulers can be most accountable to the people.
“It therefore, follows that when governance is accountable and transparent, it would bring about positive transformation in the lives of the people, which ultimately is the end of government and governance.
This is why in human social evolution; democracy has displaced other forms of government – theocracy, monarchism, feudalism, fascism and military autocracy – to emerge the preferred bride.
“It is why I am also optimistic that in spite of the problems of nationhood we are facing as a nation, we will come out triumphant in the end if we remain steadfast on the democratic path.”
He said Nigerians should not lose hope in democracy because it provides opportunity for them to kick out any bad government.
He added: “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There is never a time when there will be no excuse for failure. The good thing about democracy is that, it periodically provides opportunity for us to kick out a government that offers excuses all the time and blames others for its failure.”
“If we can take the science of governance and public administration, we can follow the path they took and have even more resounding success.”
Aregbesola said governance is not a mystery; Nigerian leaders only need to rise to the challenge of providing dividends of democracy to the people.
He said: “Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, governance is not a mystery. There is a science and art to it and it can be mastered and we should begin to demystify it by rejecting the notion that we can only have good and qualitative governance in the next millennium. We can have it now and we should demand for it. We have heard of the successes of the Asian Tigers and the newly industrialised countries of South America.
“It has become a cliché that we need quality leadership. I am afraid that this is a necessary but not a sufficient condition.
“The corollary of it is that we also need good followership – a followership that consciously put the right leadership in place; that will make extraordinary demands from the leaders; and will hold leadership to account.
“It is the combination of the two factors of good leadership and quality followership that will bring about the transformation that we so desire.
“I am therefore confident that given our trajectory as a nation and the progress we have made since 1999, we are going to arrive at the long desired destination. Of course, democracy anywhere is an unfinished business.”
The governor said he has had “democracy-governance nexus practically demonstrated in Osun State and several other states where progressives are in control.
“Indeed, while the governance situation in the country generally fills me with a sense of sobriety; what we have achieved in Osun gives me a sense of optimism that, with accountability and transparency in leadership, the machinery of governance can be used effectively to overcome our national malaise; to cage the monster of corruption; and to transform the fortunes of our nation and our people.”
On the perceived religious crisis in the state, Aregbesola said he is not fanning the ember of discrimination against Christians.
He said: “You cannot call a Muslim governor who allows traditional worshippers to practise their faith a fanatic. This noise over religious crisis came from less than 20 parents who wanted to create sensation. There is no iota of truth in all the sensational stories you read.
“Take your mind off these Shenanigans. I am a Muslim; I do not even discuss religion with my wife. Look at my wife, she does not wear Hijab, how can I (as a governor) force students to wear Hijab.”
In his opening remarks, the ICPC Chairman, Ekpo Nta, a lawyer said studies had shown that there is a strong relationship between high public-sector corruption and pervasive poverty with attendant consequences if not properly addressed.
He said good governance is a solution to corruption in any society.
“That is why a corrupt society cannot guarantee good governance. The choice of ‘Good Governance’ a name for this Forum is therefore a deliberate attempt to encourage Governments to contribute their quota actively in the fight against corruption.
“Good governance as generally used, encompasses all aspects of the way a country is governed, including its economic policies and regulatory framework (Subramanian, 2001).
“In practice, there are four principles of good governance. These include the provision of basic amenities such as clean potable water, good network of road, good quality education, social security, free and fair elections, equal opportunities and justice for all irrespective of social status, etc.
The chairman, who however, stated that the commission is more interested in strengthening anti-corruption processes in public institutions so that they can withstand and repel corrupt individuals.
Nta added that the commission is currently developing tools for empirical measurements of performance along these lines to reduce dependence on “perception” or newspaper reports.
