Our politicians may never learn. They continue to ignore the criticality of the subject of corruption.
On a national level we have over the past few weeks seen the high intensity of cross-dysfunctional conflict between the president and his deputy based on their compromised actions and corruptive tendencies. OBJ’s entire leadership gained initial credibility because of his fight against corruption. Yet, in the midst of his purported drive to address the issue of corruption, fueled by his quick, media-seeking disgrace of ministers and elected officials for their actions, record is starting to indicate that he was much more involved in the corruptive act he gallantly and falsely appear to want to eradicate.
The world is earnestly observing OBJ and Atiku. The mind boggling parochial approach of the EFCC in conducting its investigation is to say the least abysmal and being closely monitored. As we progress through this sad, ongoing battle of integrity and corruption saga, it may be reasonable to apply an inexplicable formula of having the president and his vice resign for the development and growth of the nation and above all, to mitigate our international level of embarrassment.
ELDER UGBESIA
In a system that strives to eradicate corruption and erase the chromosomes of dishonesty from the DNA of most past and present rulers of one of the most corrupt nations in the world, it is premature for Elder Ugbesia to make a statement that he would not investigate the actions of his predecessor if he is elected into the government house. The alleged statement by Elder Ugbesia does not bode well for him, his political godfather Tony Anenih and for the presidency that is presumably trying to seek an end to the high level of corruption prevalent in the society.
Elder Ugbesia!!! In top-level positions held under the current government, he was not exactly commended for his success but was ridiculed for his dreadful performance and high level of corruption in his ministry.
THINKING DIFFERENTLY
Good leaders possess some outstanding traits and perhaps one of the most important is the ability to innovate and breed life into stale and old ideas all in efforts to improve the lives of the populace they serve and to foster a legion of positive programs for the communities within their jurisdictions. Elder Ugbesia’s comment begs the question on his ability to lead a state that has been broken in spirit and infrastructure over the past seven plus years. His acclaimed statement is not reflective of a smart or brilliant politician. The statement does not reflect a man with a mission to change the state of affairs in Edo State but a stuck-in-a-rut reasoning of alliances, and an attitude of disregard for the cries of the citizens.
EDO STATE PRISM OF PERFORMANCE
Elder Ugbesia is seeking a key, challenging position to govern one of the most neglected states in the republic of Nigeria. He needs to align his commentaries with his improvement plans (if any) and developmental strategies. He may as well need a public relations consultant to stop him from making derelict comments that showcases his limited muscles of leadership reasoning. His comments contrast the desires of the people of Edo State and the purported efforts of the current president. Not only does Ugbesia need a risk/public management consultant, he may have to get a highly experienced political coach as it relates to gaining public support.
Elder Ugbesia needs to outline his strategy for the state. He needs to detail his planned parameters of operations to help turn the state around. He must outline ways he would address the needs of the citizens and define his approaches to resolving the remunerations of those that are being owed back pays while the current governors builds mansions across the globe.
Elder Ugbesia is under the radar screen of most Edo state indigenes. His performance as a minister is noted as borderline abysmal. His performance fatigue is often attributed to his limited prism of his intelligential boundaries. He needs to prove the general opinions of most citizens otherwise through his calculated statements, practical actions, strategic plans, and future task that he hopes to achieve if he wins the mantle in Edo state. As mild as his alleged statement may seem, it does not reflect a wise obligatory mission from a man with his desire.
Edo State citizens expect a transformational change because of the sentient creature that has ruled the state over the past seven plus years. If Ugbesia chooses to embrace forgiveness of corrupt individuals on philosophical grounds, it may be a weak and unpopular idea at this time. If his comments were motivated by his selfish political interest and to gain some support from the incumbent governor that has sworn to fight an Ugbesia governorship aspiration intensely in comparison to others, then it is a sad, pathetic compromise and a complete mortgaging of his humanly conscience for his selfish political appeasement. Edo state indigenes will resist such a pre-positional integrity issue because it spells doom for the state.
ROTATIONAL GOVERNORSHIP
A few months ago, I spoke on the issue of rotational presidency on various yahoo forums. At a lesser level, several individuals have questioned the viability and wisdom behind zoning the governorship position. In the vein that I have defended the need for a South-South or South East presidency because of the complexity of the Nigerian system and the subtle but yet powerful isolationist view held by a core group of powerful and influential clique within a region in the country, I also will defend the need for a rotational governorship.
In replicating statements that I have used in the past, it is important to note that on the surface, the idea of rotational governorship by zones seem anti-democratic, a violation of an effective polyandry system and non-progressive. The logic doesn’t fit a country that is seeking to achieve democratic goals. I am truly against the concept of appointing a governor from one of the regions. My recommendation is not an appointment process but a rotational but yet, democratic system.
The question is how do you ensure a rotational but democratic process without literarily giving it out as an appointment or an appeasement?
The number one goal to selling a governorship aspirant or a product is packaging. Then the issue of a broad-based support companioned with coalition with other divergent party governorship members and their followers ultimately could lead to a possible success. In a free and fair environment, an Edo North governorship aspirant cannot win the race without the support of either sides of the Edo state spectrum among others. The system/concept of parties aligning their supporters behind a viable candidate of another party is a common political strategy. It happens often.
The keys are packaging and alignments. In other words, when I advocate for a rotational system, I am not recommending a nomination process, I am not seeking to please a specific region. For all I care, I don’t trust any one to do an excellent job. Individuals are quick to compromising their integrities on selfish grounds anyway. Based on the mechanism or lack thereof that we have in place, I am simply seeking a system whereby a qualified candidate from any one of these regions get selected, supported, packaged and presented to the masses with a strong volitional support on the parts of those that have over the years dictated the nuances of our selection/election process. Ugbesia is a strong candidate as well as some of the other contestants. At this point, no one knows who will emerge as the next governor until after the primaries. But, my believe is, with an excellent packaging system, tagged with the moderation of corruption that somehow always, inadvertently gets imbe
dded into the process, the best candidate will stand a great chance of winning.
