There are three dimensions to the compromise of this core value in Nigeria: Abdication of public service, professionalization and desecration of politics and celebration of corruption. The sin of abdication of public service is a product of the desecration of the noble art of politics and condoning of corruption in public and private life in the country. Mahatma Gandhi, the man Indian deify as father of the nation, in 1925 illustrated these vices as politics without principle, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity and worship without sacrifice. Our nation rates very high in all these disturbing indices, needing serious and collective intervention. In discreet and practical terms, our government must make fundamental decisions that would produce radical changes in our culture of disdain and corruption. This of cause is the fulcrum of the president’s idea of process reform.
There is optimism that the various reform initiatives of the government will manifestly address these issues. At the street level however, the understanding of reform is withdrawal of rights and privileges and curtailment of freedoms. Therefore, it induces trepidation and rejection. Yes, reform may seem punitive (and of course would ‘block’ some vested interests), its longer term goals and objectives are to ensure equilibrium in the society by expanding access to national wealth, ensuring provision of public goods and services and guaranteeing protection of life and properties of all citizens.
The urgency with which we want the government to address the accumulated challenges of the nation demands the initiation and pursuit of radical reform policies that must definitely inconvenience many interest groups during the process of implementation. Such reform process will manifest in rigid state control, seeming over-regulation of public life with strong monitoring, compliance and deterrence strategies of enforcement that are punitive in outlook. But we cannot in a world of democracy and human rights afford official high-handedness and return to a police state. Without being overly prescriptive, what our nation needs in this difficult moment is the regulation of our public life in a manner that does not cause extreme dislocation, nor induce shock and glut.
Since our first sin in Nigeria is the abdication of public service, we need a restoration of pride in public service through consolidation and alignment of the public sector with recognition, empowerment and reward of bureaucrats and technocrats who are invaluable to national growth and development but have suffered a high degree of de-motivation and insecurity in the recent past. The pursuit of our national reform project must be real and tangible in its criminalization of corruption in all its ramifications. It must of cause seek to de-professionalize political offices, but ensure that only citizens with impeccable record in public and private sector management are attracted into politics to continue “TO SERVE WITH INTEGRITY”.
The seed of our national reform should be sown in benchmarking our national core value on this vital index of good governance. Our reform agenda should the capable of exorcising the nation of the cardinal sins illustrated by Mahatma Gandhi. In assuming public office and conducting public affairs, we must adhere to the Seven Principles of Public Life, the Nolan Principles: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. Reforming Nigeria is a hydra-headed challenge, demanding a 360 Degree attention to reach our Canaan. We must acknowledge and respect the genuine agitations of many Nigerians on the future of our country but such agitations and expressions will be meaningless if the fundamental issue of evolving a national culture built on INTEGRITY is not addressed. This should be our beacon as we engage ourselves in the subject of National Rebirth, Restructuring or Reform.