By Uche Nnadozie
While we were still suffering under the weight of petrol shortages during this yuletide, the Federal Government, through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, released names of persons appointed into more than 200 boards of parastatals, agencies and companies. In the list are over 200 chairmen and over I, 000 members. The list has been in the works for two years and in the end it caused so much furore that you just accept that this government deliberately score own goals. But again, why will it? Jumping from one avoidable crisis to another is not the kindest way to run a government, especially where you have very poor public relations managers working for the president especially.
It could well seem like the faux pas noticed in the list of board members was deliberate to divert attention from the more crucial yet biting petrol shortages but that cannot fully explain the reasons. The public relations disaster is enormous that it obliterates whatever was to be the expected gains from shutting down umbrage from Nigerians with regard to the shoddy logistic, planning and supply of petrol in such a busy but festive season. This is the classic ‘from frying pan to fire’ and no government can wish any worse. Crucially, it marks this government out as crudely disorganised, filled with indifferent officials at best or worst, largely driven by incompetent people.
After two years and seven months, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari just woke up to the realisation that his party’s hierarchy needed to be shoved into boards as chairmen and members. This is less than 14 months to the next general elections. Again the optics are abysmal. It supposes that without elections at the corner there may not be reconstitution of boards. Secondly, the politicians themselves will feel that they are only good for electioneering after which they are dumped; after all, it takes forever to even get them appointments into boards. Personally, I am not a huge fan of boards because you cannot really see what they do asides throwing their weight around and hijacking contracts.
More painful is the sloppiness so far noticed in the list. At least eight persons have been found to be deceased. Four others are seen to have been appointed into more than one board and a few are said to have jumped ship as they defected to other parties when nothing was coming from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. In reaction, the presidency apologised for the errors. It stated that the list was compiled in late 2015 by the disgraced former SGF Babachir Lawal. For the presidency who is the appointing desk, it shows that not mush tinkering was done to the Lawal list. For the presidency, the errors are symbols of a president who does his things differently unlike in the past where appointments were hijacked by party mercantilalists.
I also concede that unlike before when people paid their ways through board membership, that practice appears to have waned if not stopped. Because if it was still in practice, it will be difficult to find names of deceased people in a list where there would have been people angling for such appointments. However, that is just what it is. It is not persuasive enough to blight the more offensive gaps in the list. In an era where people are losing their jobs due to harsh economic realities, how could officials of government fail to conduct due diligence on names submitted two years ago? How could some appointees have duplicate appointments where others are standing in queues? Who are the officials that allow this sort of behaviour? Are they paid salaries or they are being owed or they offer their services pro bono?
This situation simply means there is lack of coordination in government offices. Boss Mustapha cannot claim not to have gone through the list before publishing after all, Herman Hembe, who was until recently a member of the House of Representatives made the list as chair of a board. That’s product of a review. So how come a list that contains Senator Francis Okpozo who died a year ago and whom the president mourned got an appointment from the same man who mourned his passing? The tardiness is just such a mess and inexcusable. Unfortunately, as we have seen with this president, nothing will happen. And it is this reality of nothing happening that makes it easy for people to repeat the same errors, embarrassment and incompetence over and over again; in the end, nothing will happen.
This president we now experience is different from the one I thought I knew before election. Buhari was seen as a tough, no nonsense, straight forward person. He was seen as a man of action instead of words. He exudes integrity and competence. However, I am afraid, we have been sold a lie. The president that now presides over Nigeria is ultra laid back, hardly takes decisions, slow to act if at all, and too indifferent to realities. The president looks so aloof and cuts a lonely figure. This does not bode well for Nigeria. The country is a beehive, the people are boisterous. While we expect leaders to be calm, we also expect them to be prompt and decisive. We expect them to be disciplined and instil that discipline in the people. That it is a democracy does not diminish what needs to be done.
This board membership and the attendant faux pas is a distraction that is not needed and should have been avoided. Unfortunately, this follows a pattern. Buhari and his presidency should clean up their acts. Having been this long in power, this sort of error is no longer permissible. And where it persists someone has to take the cane.
