So it appears that since his return from Saudi Arabia, President Yar’adua is revving up his administration’s engines; he has asked his flight engineer (some will say control tower) out of the craft and selected a new one, he is engaging the gears and is now seeking to re-assemble a new flight crew. But he still has to define the destination. And the definition of the destination must also influence the choice of a crew. In simple terms, while it appears that the regime is looking more decisive, it is not yet clear in what direction that decisiveness proposes to go. The regime’s policy direction is yet to be fully clarified and in the absence of that clarification, it is not clear what type of people the regime would be looking for in its proposed cabinet re-shuffle.
One worrying indicator was the Channels Television closure which suggested a possible intent towards a more authoritarian inclination. It is clear like most commentators have noted that Channels TV made a professional error in not cross-checking the report that the president may resign before airing it. In spite of this error however, there was more than enough mitigation in the whole circumstances. The station quoted a third-party international news agency which had been similarly deceived by whoever sent those hoax reports. They immediately reported the rebuttal and apologised rather than stick to a wrong position. Clearly the government’s action was an over-reaction and reflects probably a desire to send a message of a tougher posture in relation to the media. Someone in government or the security agencies is clearly uncomfortable with the media’s open discussion of matters they would prefer to be handled behind closed doors. In any event, the resort to arbitary actions rather than an adherence to the rule of law, has damaged the regime’s democratic credentials.
More importantly, the Channels affair reminds us that there are some constituencies who are interested in formenting national disorder and who will do anything to achieve their desires. The real issue is, who were the people who sent the hoax e-mails in the name of the News Agency of Nigeria, and what was their objective? And why do the PDP national executives continue to make reckless allegations of treason in response to every press statement issued by opposition parties? My suspicion is that all we are seeing (including the scape-goating of Channels) are symptoms reflective of deeper tensions over more fundamental concerns relating to political power and succession scenarios.
But back to the Yar’adua regime and the prospects for policy invigoration. The most important role of a leader is to provide a vision and direction, and them to assemble a team that he can influence, manage, motivate, and lead to actualise that vision. And then the leader must communicate the vision and secure support of the people for the vision. And the leader must be bold, courageous and decisive in removing obstacles and facing challenges in the path. And the vision, direction and policies charted by the leader must be the right one. It is perfectly possible (as Hitler for instance demonstrated) for a leader to lead a whole nation on a path that is not quite right.
The 7-Point Agenda provides a basis for identifying areas of government priorities. But it does not define what is to be done with any of the matters contained in the agenda. Like the power sector for instance has demonstrated, a policy that understands the issues in the sector and that provides a road map for dealing with those issues is indispensable. The NEEDS document was an example of a detailed economic strategy document that analysed the issues, defined objectives, solutions and policies, provided an action plan and identified targets and deliverables. Underlying any vision or strategy is a philosophy-some coherent beliefs and first principles that provide a frame of reference for the details in the plan. So what is the regime’s philosophy of governance?
Does the regime believe in a private-sector driven economy? Does the regime want to see an economy operating on free enterprise principles but with strong regulation and an effective competition and anti-trust regime? What are its views about education, health and social services? What is President Yar’adua’s position on some of the major political and constitutional issues confronting Nigeria-devolution of power, fiscal federalism, Niger-Delta and other matters relating to the structure of our federal system? What does the President really think about corruption and economic crimes? What kind of nation does President Yar’adua want to create? What national identity does he hope to forge out of Nigeria’s many ethnic groups and peoples, if any? What is the regime’s attitude to the world that defines its thinking on foreign, defence and security policy? Government and leadership cannot operate in a philosophical vacuum and where there is no clarity about an entity’s philosophical orientation, something emerges to fill the space. Nature as they say abhors a vacuum!
The point of this all-the regime must urgently define its philosophy, vision and direction, and policy orientation and select ministers who understand and can implement actions to realise that vision.
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