Governance Reimagined: Mapping the Future 1

BY ALEX OTTI

Nigeria has changed dramatically in the last few decades. Unfortunately, it is not for the better. Strange events and ugly developments that were hitherto unimaginable in this part of the world a few years ago have become our daily reality. Going through regular national news reports and commentaries, one finds it difficult to accept that this is still the same country we grew up in — with so much hope and expectations. A little while ago, many would have laughed off the idea of openly raising money through social media channels to pay ransom to kidnappers. When in the past we read reports of suicide bomb attacks and similar acts of terror in places like the Middle East and Afghanistan, did we not convince ourselves that such occurrences were impossible here? Today we know better. On the economic front, things have changed even more dramatically. Neighbours whose compatriots once flooded the streets of our urban centres in search of jobs and means of survival now mock us openly, deride our currency and make jest of us on social media platforms. Who could have thought this possible in the 1970s or even 2000s? Shall we talk about the alarming poverty and unemployment rates, the unmitigated collapse of public education, loss of faith in public institutions and all the other socio-economic problems that have forced many bright minds to pack their bags and move elsewhere (the ‘japa’ syndrome) because for them, there is just no other way to make it. How about millions of families for whom the bare necessities of life have become articles of luxury? It gets more alarming when one realises that majority of the families and individuals who would now think twice before buying a regular loaf of bread were until a few years ago, comfortable middle-income earners.

We were once a nation of optimists who held very strong hopes that we were on the ascent on the development ladder. It would have been very difficult to believe that we will still be struggling with electricity problems in 2024. The assurance was that by the dawn of the new millennium, the problem of perennial power failure would be a thing of the past.

The truth, and we must never be ashamed to admit it, is that we have failed to live up to the expectations of millions of people around the world who had imagined in the 1950s and early 1960s that this land will attain superpower status, or something very close, by the dawn of the new millennium. A lot has gone wrong in the last 64 years of our political independence but the least profitable way to use our time at this auspicious gathering is to devote any part of it to blame trading. We know of course that for many politicians and many public commentators, our worst setback was the incursion of the military in national politics. The military on their part had often cited “patriotic zeal” and failure of the “political class” for their unsolicited interventions. For the masses, however, there is no distinction between the military rulers and the political elites; both are simply lumped together as “leaders” and blamed for the seemingly unending woes of the country. These “leaders” include bureaucrats in the civil service, university administrators, judicial officers, community leaders and everyone else who exercises some form of authority in different jurisdictions. In a continuing cycle of blames, the “leaders” often point to the “system” for its failure and this is always supported by claims of coming to power with “very good intentions.” Unfortunately, there is no clarity on the “system” construct and how to interrogate its involvement in our national woes. The truth is that the people are tired of the regurgitation of excuses by those with access to public microphones. They just want things to work — their children going to schools where they are taught in a conducive environment by properly trained and motivated teachers; they want access to basic amenities including electricity, pipe-borne water and good roads. Our people want a community where the institutions of state are effective and responsive; they want the emergency services to respond as soon as they are contacted, without hindrances or excuses, they want to go to the courts and get justice in good time, they want to go to bed each night with both eyes closed, certain that they will not be jolted awake by masked gunmen, or find themselves in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by kidnappers for whom the sacredness of human life is an abstract idea that can only be scorned.  For our young ones, all that they ask is an opportunity to make a living and pursue their dreams without structural limitations. It is unfortunate that many of us are yet to fully appreciate the haemorrhage of human talent from our country fuelled by the ‘japa’ phenomenon but the situation has assumed an alarming proportion. As someone who has worked with hundreds of very smart young people in different capacities, it breaks my heart to see that so many of them have been forced by circumstances to take their talents and values to other places. We may not like what is happening but unfortunately, not much has been done to convince the younger generation of Nigerians that there would be light at the end of what has been a very long, dark tunnel. Our best brains in health sciences, software engineering, and finance could have stayed back to serve their fatherland if we had put our acts together.

 Commendations and appreciations are in order to the brave and courageous ones who have resisted the temptation to leave. Thank you for your patriotic services, that is if you are not waiting for an opportunity to leave! At any rate, it is depressing to observe that the opportunities we took for granted at the conclusion of our tertiary education in the 1970s and 1980s have disappeared for the majority, however brilliant they may be. So, we have clearly regressed. It may not be very pleasing to our ears but the truth is that all of us, in one way or the other, have contributed to this sorry state of affairs. For many of us who had the advantage of quality education in public schools, the idea of training our own children in private schools, or perhaps overseas for those who can afford the cost, tells a pathetic story of its failure. There is no mild way of saying it because we refused to pay attention to what was unfolding before us. What is happening today is that we are simply paying for our failure to read the signs and do what was needed to resist the destruction of the structures and institutions that helped us to fulfil our dreams forty, fifty years ago.

We must now become very desperate to undo whatever it was that dimmed the hopes and dreams of an entire generation. The theme of this Conference, Governance Reimagined: Mapping the Future, is very apt for a time like this because it invites us to reflect on where we are and then imagine where we could be if we made a few but very important foundational changes. As we had said on several platforms, getting out of the present quagmire requires a new paradigm because just like Albert Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking we used when we created them.” The assignment before us is to evolve new ways of tackling the existential problems that confront us because we shall be doomed if we remain aloof and imagine that we shall be spared when the ship ultimately wrecks. The unfortunate truth is that there may be no life boats to jump into.

We are often not as powerless as we imagine especially in a democracy where the king has the same voting right as a commoner. The reality of the time invites us to gird our loins and get to work. The first step to progress is to believe that Nigeria is not beyond redemption and that we have within us, all that is required to fix it. It is also important to appreciate that there is very little we can do about the past but if we start doing the right thing today, we can remap the future as the theme of this Conference invites us to. The natural question to follow is: what is the right thing? How can a young accounting professional be the champion of the new paradigm that can turn things around for a country of about 220 million citizens? What new paradigm are we even talking about? Why is clarity of essence in this conversation? Simple: The days of empty jargons are long gone because we can no longer mask our failures with words that have no meaning to the ordinary person. It will therefore serve us well to understand what we seek to achieve, and what is expected of us as individuals and as a collective.

One, the right thing speaks to our obligations and duties as citizens. Thankfully, we learnt so much about citizenship even as pupils in primary school. The time to make the most of that knowledge might just be now. As accountants, I am certain that almost everyone in this room pays their taxes and other statutory fees to the government regularly so we may not have much of a problem in that area. How about being effective in our responsibilities as leaders, discharging our duties faithfully and to everyone, without ill-will or affection? How often and quickly do we contact the law enforcement agents when we are confronted with inordinate requests or presented with evidence of fraudulent transactions in the course of our duties? Do we see the wrong things and then choose the convenience of inaction? Do we seek to be part of the wrong thing for financial or other benefits? Do we still keep faith with our civic obligation of joining the process of electing leaders who will serve the best interest of the people or are we often too busy that we concede our rights to participate in the electoral process to persons who are easily manipulated — individuals who are only motivated by chants and lures of ethnicity and religious posturing? How many of us are active in the political circuit or do we only consider ourselves as ‘core professionals’ who have no business being in politics? Well, the evidence of the last 25 years of democratic practice has shown that politics should be everyone’s business because its outcome impacts everyone. Like Charles de Gaulle once said, “politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”

These are excerpts from the Lead Presentation by Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, the Executive Governor of Abia State at the 54th Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria on Tuesday October 8, 2024, at Abuja.