Government officials and public office holders in the country have been called upon to take brave decisions and implement policies to address the source of Nigeria‘s current challenges.
The chairman, Steering Committee, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), Dr Chima Amadi, said accountability by public office holders will prevent abuses in government offices.
Amadi feared that citizens have lost confidence in the country, and called for immediate actions to restore citizens‘ hope in the country.
He spoke yesterday in Abuja in a paper presentation titled, “Nigeria‘s Political Trajectory: A Tale of Hope or Ineptitude” at the public presentation of the book ‘Politics, X, and Power’.
He argued that at the return of democracy in 1999, Nigerians had hope for a better system of governance.
He noted that though, things were not perfect during the 4th Republic, as there was still a lot of corruption, ineptitude, and inefficiency, but there was growth enough, economically, and politically, for the Nigerian people to have hope that we were on a path to sustainable development.
He, however, said as democracy deepened, it seemed that there was the determination by a powerful few to destroy the very institutions capable of checkmating each other, upholding the rule of law, curbing the excesses of the nation‘s elite, securing the nation, growing the economy, and protecting the lowly.
“This destruction did not happen overnight. It may have been accelerated over the last few years, but there has been a sustained effort to destroy the fabric of the nation for the protection and benefit of a few. Moreover, it has taken many shapes and many forms,“ he said.
He said further that, „It has happened in compelling prosecuting agencies to ignore the prosecution of people who break our laws as long as they are close to those in power. It has happened by bending institutional laws to allow people to make millions of dollars at the expense of the economy.
“It has happened in systematically weakening our security agencies by the theft of monies meant for equipment for and welfare of our men and women in uniform. It has happened for a few people‘s political advancement over the Nigerian people‘s collective will. It has been killed by a thousand cuts to the point that one wonders how Nigeria survives.
“The tales of incredible levels of corruption – the invasion of the homes of Supreme Court justices and the removal of a Chief Justice of the Federation – the ineptitude of the security agencies – primarily the police—the inefficiency of the civil service and the destruction of critical economic infrastructure are unending. Each example is more mind-boggling than the last. Each tale defies belief.
“We are witnessing, in real-time, the capture of the Nigerian state by the nation‘s political elite for the purpose that the elite may destroy its soul to enable it to suck out its resources. We are witnessing the judiciary cower before the nation‘s elite and the executive pocket. Long gone are the days of institutional independence when arms of government jealously guarded and performed their constitutional roles. Long gone is that glimmer of hope that this country would not only survive but that it would thrive. That hope has long since been replaced by a pervasive air of doom, despondency, and despair.“
