By Olukayode Oyeleye
Nigerians are talented. They are full of ideas and adept when it comes to methods. In private initiatives and entrepreneurship, these claims are not in doubt, but their manifestations are in abundance. In the public sector, however, it seems something inexplicable is happening. When it comes to making things work for the citizenry, speed and accuracy are not the strong points.
Neither are standard operating procedures. The reasons are not far-fetched. Every major national project is seen through the lenses of region, religion and ethnicity and interpreted from those blurred perspectives. The machine of bureaucracy is this very robust and so, in emergencies, speed is usually not a priority.
The bureaucrats are masters of the game in the interpretation of civil service rules. They say an official can be jailed for incurring genuine expenditures if strict civil service rules are not followed. For them, the rules matter more than the results and the civil service exists only for rules, not for the public’s welfare. Unfortunately, this has not translated into transparency or true accountability and not many permanent secretaries or Ministers have been found culpable.
Meanwhile, both the civil servants and political appointees have been known to circumvent these rules to suit personal ends and spirited away huge public funds in which billions of naira have disappeared into thin air. The masters of financial engineering and creative accounting know how to perfect their games, leaving no trace. For them, every misfortune is an opportunity. In 2022, some billions of dollars miraculously strayed into the accounts of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, only to be acknowledged after an alarm was raised by concerned citizens.
But, while all that was happening, the flood ravaged Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue and Kogi states in the southern Nigeria, and some states in the north. Without any rigorous efforts on field assessment, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs said that the Bayelsa flood was nothing compared with that of Jigawa State. Even then, speed was not important in the emergency response in any of the affected states when 19 out of 21 local governments in Kogi State were inundated. All of these happened within the political boundaries of Nigeria.
Billions after billions of naira have gone into the Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in boosting agriculture since 2015. One of the major achievements were the photo ops rice pyramids situated near ShopRite on the way to the airport in Abuja in January of 2022. Nigeria has stopped importing food since then on paper and the rice from those pyramids are now in every home.
Rice production by Nigerian farmers has increased in leaps and bounds at the realm of conjecture and the farmers are all millionaires now through government’s imaginary support. Those traders empowered through Trader Moni all are riding SIENNA, Highlander, Prado and Camry now apart from the religious pilgrimages they routinely make from the proceeds made from their farm yields. Such is the impact of the government on their livelihoods and the economy.
Observers have raised alarm about the huge amount purportedly approved for evacuation of Nigerian students in Sudan. Considering the details in public domain, the operational costs should be far less than what has been officially announced as funds earmarked. In particular, the logistic failures so far reported simply buttress the age-old nuances of throwing money at problems by those in public offices, particularly the political actors in public offices, instead of throwing up ideas and practical solutions.
The Sudan case has proved to be no exception. Conflicting claims have been made. After some have said all Nigerian evacuees have been safely taken out Sudan, report filtered out that many were still stranded at the Sudan-Egypt border, while aircraft to pick them up await them in Egypt. Only now, it just became evident that talks have been held with Egypt’s president to allow the border opening so as to enable the evacuees cross into Egypt.
Lots of coverups are rife when inefficiencies and mediocrities are prevalent. It should not be surprising that many evacuees are ultimately left in Sudan. But, by then, all the approved funds must have been expended, many public officers must have been enriched and tons of reports of expenditures must have been turned in. As to those who would cover them up, they too come in layers.
What, for instance, has become of the Accountant General that reportedly helped himself to over 100 billion naira of public funds? The Nigerian miracle must have happened. That is how a country that glibly talks about greatness handles public affairs. It is a land of miracles. And there are many like these that have not been, and may never be brought up in the public domain. Great country indeed; a land of miracles.
Dr Olukayode Oyeleye is a Preacher, Mentor, Veterinarian, Journalist, Consultant
