Accountability and Transparency as the First Step to Restructuring.

Nigeria is vast, not in land size but in diversity; so many ethnicity, so many languages and so many differences but there is something that binds us all together, our quest for a better nation, our quest for better living conditions, our quest for prosperity, our quest for a nation that works, where everyone has a chance at succeeding and achieving their God-given purpose. If only we could quieten the differences of 180 million people and listen to the inner yearnings of each one of us, we will hear what we have always all wanted is a prospering nation, built with Love, Strength and Faith; a nation bound in Freedom, Peace and Unity. That’s the Nigeria we all yearn for.

The recent calls for restructuring has had me brain storming and asking the following, is restructuring a (or the) solution to our current national problems?

If we restructure, it still leaves us where we all started, a government at all levels that is not accountable to its people. This problem (I believe) is the major reason why corruption pervades our system, it’s the major reason why some government officials can siphon billions of naira and award contracts to their cronies who take our national wealth away, it’s the major reason why we haven’t made progress at the break-neck speed we want much more than our structural issues. If we restructure without accountability and transparency at all levels of government, what we have is a country where the suffering of one state or local government, becomes a problem to the surrounding state or local government because of crime and all other issues that will begin to pop up from poorly 

developed areas.

Don’t get me wrong though, there is no doubt that we need to make changes in the way the country is currently run, that the Federal Government carries too much of the burden is true and the fact that we need devolution of powers is true. But even much more than all these, is the need for accountability and transparency at the sub-national levels of government. The current opacity of state governments and local governments is a recipe for disaster, if eventually we restructure like we want to. Whether it be back to the regional system or to a new system, it will not work unless we first call for accountability and transparency at all levels of government.

If government remains a closed book, it is prone to corruption and misappropriation like we have had in recent times. We must take the opportunity of a unitary central system to demand for accountability and transparency from bottom to the top. If we achieve this, I can say we are well on the way to becoming the nation that we all dream of and what’s left for us to do is to plug the inefficiencies of the present system that we currently run by shedding loads in the exclusive and concurrent legislative list and so an.

The numbers support this fact. While the IGR of most states in Nigeria have not improved the slightest in the past years, the amount of debt by all states between 2011 and 2017 have increased by an average of 190%, with a state gone up by 2592% (from numbers shared by Yinka Ogunnubi), we can say that most of the states are still not better off despite their large debts because there is no system to account for these funds that are spent. So, states borrow funds without an equivalent increase in revenue, a very sure way to become bankrupt even in personal finance. The statistics are worrying, 16 states don’t have detailed budgets (from Budgit) within the public domain, only four states have internal generated revenues (IGR) as 50% of their total revenues not even to talk about the state of local governments. Debt to Revenue ratios have increased 5.5, 9.4, 12.3, 5.5, 6.63, 13.95 times across North-central, North-East, North-West, South-East, South-South, South-West zones respectively between 2011 and 2017(from numbers shared by Yinka Ogunnubi).

I’m sorry to say this, but in a country where there are few good men in power, a unitary government is your best short at fixing the system, until the few good leaders can build a network of good leaders at the sub-national levels, it’s much harder to build the nation that we want. The present systems which allows local and state governments to spend funds without public disclosure of appropriated funds and procurement systems is the bane of our present failure. If we the people, do not have a way through which we can hold the sub-national governments accountable for the powers that will be devolved to them, we will end up with a country going nowhere. To whom little is given, little is expected and to whom much is given, much is expected; also, the way you manage the little you have is the way you will manage the bounty and this speaks to the present state of states and local government.

If we will restructure and devolve powers, my take is this. The president must use His powers to make sure that all the state governments and local governments pass the following laws:

1.       Fiscal responsibility Act

2.       Freedom of Information Act

3.       Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015

Secondly, he must enshrine Open Government Partnership (OGP) at every tier of government, he must get all the (774+36+1) governments to sign into the OGP. If this is achieved, he can begin to devolve powers, he should use the present situation where the states and local government are at the mercy of the Federal Government to the advantage of the people by using a carrot and stick approach to achieve this. He should begin to have meetings with the 774 local governments like he does with the states.

Along with this, is the need for a system that makes the process of getting into public office free and fair in political parties and not dependent on how deep your pocket is?

Because all calls for restructuring, devolution of powers or a new constitution by power brokers are only a guise to get control from the present government; I believe very much that if the present power brokers get into government, they will become silent on these issues. The lack of responsibility on the part of most present leaders at the sub-national levels of government leaves much to be desired with reference to restructuring the nation. It leaves a sad taste in the mouth that most states can’t even pay salaries with their internally generated revenues, the federal government gives them bailouts and they still can’t settle all outstanding salary and pensions. They’ve not exactly been the best stewards with the little they have in hand, how much more when we restructure and they have more power.

Hence, if we must restructure let’s get Open government running and let accountability and transparency rule first. Then we’re on the way to a prosperous nation.

THE CHRISTIAN AND NATION BUILDING

The Christian and Nation Building.

In Christian theology, there is eschatology which talks about what happens in the future and oftentimes the book of revelation is referred to. The book is interpreted in several ways, some people believe that most of it is yet to be fulfilled while some say that it has be fulfilled already. Some believe that Christ already rules the world through the church and we are His agents to bring World Peace, on the other hand some believe that Christ is yet to come and that the time of His reign is at hand. One believes that we are to do the work of Christ in the earth and wait for Him to finish It, some believe that all our secular work amount to nothing and the world will get a restart when Christ comes. I am a believer of Both, not one or the other. The King will come and take us home, this world is not ours but we will return and rule with Him for a thousand years; however, right here and now, we must work while we are in it. Hence, why Jesus said it is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his Power and Occupy till I come.

Christ said, upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, He also said that You are the Light of the World and the Salt of the Earth, He also said that we should pray that as the Will of the Father is in Heaven we should pray it is so on earth. From all this, it clear that we have work to do and our work is a work of faith and perseverance. I will work for Heaven in Nigeria and the Earth, I will work to let someone see the light of heaven in the little things I do here in Nigeria, I will work to show God’s glory in Nigeria and destroy everything that will not lead to the glory of God in Nigeria. And I will do this work through nation building, through building a career, through having a relationship with my creator, through the growth of my mind, soul and Spirit. I will Be Fruitful, Multiply, Replenish and Subdue the Earth. I will have dominion over all the Earth but not dominion over Man, because my goal is to serve men and together we are to fulfill this purpose.

The task of nation building is one of the works we need to do while we wait for our Lord to come and we must join our hands with those who look to build our nation along the ideals that Christ preached. It will be a mistake of the church to think that nation building is not part of its mandate while we are here on earth, while it is true that this world is not our own, the lives of the many men and women around us depend on the kind of nation we are able to build. Think of places around the world where the name of Christ cannot be mentioned, is it not because the church decided to take the back seat with regards to nation building under the guise of waiting for our Lord’s coming?

History shows us that if we must build a nation under God we must join our hands with today’s leaders, we must show them the light and whenever we have opportunity we must entrench the doctrine of peace, justice, equity and righteousness just like Christ would when he rules the world. Doing this might be the only chance of seeing the light that we seek to let the world see. Whether men choose Light over darkness is their choice, something we can only pray about. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, are Christian men who played their parts in building America and their work is probably one of the many reasons for the gospel spreading in all the world. These were church men who used the grace that God gave them for the benefit of not only the Church but the entire country. Check the list of the inventors, you find Christians who gave their all to God and let Him use them to bring light to people. The reason why the Anglicans, Methodists, Catholics began to build schools was because they saw it as an instrument to liberate people from oppression, the work we have to do is similar.

That is the role of the Church in today’s Nigeria. While power is not the aim of the church in politics, service is our aim and we must ever keep sight of that, we must not be fools to think that we can have the nation we want without being a part of building it. For we must not only pray for our Kings but we must also work with our kings to ensure that we liberate our people from the darkness that poverty and illiteracy has subjected them to. We must build a nation where every man can choose His destiny and not be subject to the whims and caprices of its leaders or rulers. We must uphold the ideals that Christ preached and remind men that there is only one man who can save a man, Jesus Christ. But we would not be able to do this work the way we want to if our people remain bound by poverty and illiteracy. The prosperity of the church in the present is hinged to the prosperity of our nation but the Church’s future is in no way hinged to the nation’s future.

However, let us not be fools. A serious note of warning. Not every man is a co-heir, there are men who have chosen another path, they are those given to corruption, bribery mediocrity, oppression, half-truths and anti-God. These men are the obstacles along our way to nation building, they will settle for less if their bellies are fine, they will rather we stick to the status quo and even when they ask for change or restructuring, they are thinking of their bellies and not how it makes our nation better. They are men who take a bribe at every opportunity they get, give a bribe to have their way, they are men who will have us live in discord instead of unity, who settle for less than we are; We must beware of these men.

On the other hand, there are men who have gone ahead of us, to show us that every man should excel, they have built houses, roads, cities, they have given us free education when we needed it, they have shown us the path we must walk, some of them are still around and we must support them. We must tell the story of how we overcome, some started the work and someone else might finish it, but we must not be fools and think that some of them will not fall on the way side, some of them will become weary, some of them will become weak, we must strengthen them, we must help them along the way but we must not give up on Nation Building.

If Nigeria will be great, the Church must play its part. Nations are built by men who have a commitment to righteousness and justice. If we must have the Nigeria that we seek, the church must wake up from its eerie of thinking that all they must do is pray and remain within the four walls of the church. If Nigeria will be great the church must step out of the comfort of its walls and be part of building this nation, If the church will gain souls, it must help build a nation.

We must teach Christians that they are to give to Cesar what is Cesar’s, that we must pay our taxes that we must make the government accountable, because when we pay our taxes we become much more enthused about what the government is doing, and we are able to pray to God concerning our nation because we contribute to its prosperity, we must show Nigerians that the role of leaders is to serve men and not to rule men, we must show men that as followers, we ought demand righteousness and justice from our leaders. We must uphold the virtues that Christ has imparted to us and lift them high as a banner that our nation must aspire to. If the Church will not take its place in nation building, I’m afraid what we have is a different Nigeria altogether.

I believe with all my heart that there are Leaders among us who the God of Heaven has chosen in every part of our lives (whether Spiritual, social, business. Science, technology) but we will be fools to think that the work of one is more important than the other, for there is a reason that Christ is Prophet, Priest and King. As Prophet He tells us the mind of God, declares the things that should be and will be, As Priest He is mediator between us and God, He tells Him what is in our hearts by making intercession for us and makes atonement for our sins, As King He executes judgement and builds in the Earth in righteousness. And He will rule over the Earth and We will rule with Him if only we stick our guns to righteousness and justice.

Every part of man must grow, His body, His spirit and His soul. We grow by the challenges that we encounter and overcome, the problems that we solve. The reason why Christ emphasized the redemption of man is because Man is a Spirit, and if He must excel and have the God kind of Dominion, His Spirit must best be made alive unto His creator.

One last thing, the lessons of History are present for all to see and the history of how nations have gone from God loving nations to nations with no regard for God, We must take this lessons and build in our constitution or national mindset that God is our creator and we owe all that we have built or achieved to Him alone and when all is said and done, we will give to our children a nation that fears God and uses that reverence to attain lofty heights and bequeaths its future generation a choice. Light or darkness, Good or Evil, Christ or Anti-Christ.

While we build a nation that upholds the teachings and doctrine of Christ, we must continue our work of building a Church that upholds the teachings and doctrine of Christ as well as the Person of Christ; That Jesus is the Son of Man, Son of God, Saviour of the World and Coming King and upon the increase of His government there will be no end.

God Bless Nigeria.

And May You find your Place as a Servant in Nigeria. In Nation Building, In the Little things and The Big things.