We don’t have govt in Nigeria but political administration -cleric
The Archbishop of Archbishop’s Court, Ghana Wesley Synod, Dr. Barthsy Ojoi Enebiene, has said that Nigeria no longer has government with a human face but a government in power today that acts as a political administration.
“We don’t have leaders in Nigeria any longer, we don’t have government, what we have is political administration,”the cleric said.
Speaking with the Daily Times in Calabar, the Archbishop, who moved his base from Ghana to Nigeria, regretted that career civil servants no longer acted as such and if you are not a card carrying member of the ruling political power, supporting the government of the day, you cannot be promoted.
“Even the career civil servants, if you are not a card carrying member supporting the government of the day, you cannot be promoted and the slogan is wait for your turn.
“That is not what it used to be when government think about the concern of the populace, citizenries, gave good roads, hospitals, drugs, light is ok, education was free even if it was not free, it was available, reachable and avoidable. Today, the rate of education is so expensive, the private sector have taken over education and a poor man son can no longer go to school, then we are talking about government, we don’t have government in Nigeria.
On his take on the fight against corruption by the present administration, the cleric said corruption fight was a brilliant exercise but he has some reservations base on the sincerity of the leaders explaining that the level of dishonesty in human efforts was high.
“All what we are hearing from the media is the recovery of funds but the total amount was not known, we as Nigerians and Africans at large, are looking forward to see the success of recovery base on the zero corruption in the exercise, we have not been able to have the impact of the recovery.”
The recovery itself he said should have been able to pay off Nigeria’s foreign debt, it should also be able to pay off the local debt, it should be able to establish a lot of industries and create job opportunities and so on but as it is now, it is very disheartening, which means that the human face of fighting corruption is not there.
“Where is the recovered money, we kept hearing in the news that money have been recovered, where is the money, is it a fiction, is it a reality, the Nigerians citizens are asking this question. Because things are becoming more difficult now than even when the looting was on, who is deceiving who, the public feels that it either the media is not given the correct information or the government itself is not doing the right thing because they want to feel the impact of that recovery.”
“The government that came with the concept of change, the change is more negative than positive because the concept of change was based on the fact that things were not going well but in the time of PDP, Jonathan’s administration when there was wild looting, yet things were relatively better. If you ask an average Nigerians, he will say he prefer the looting and have food on his table than the recovery and yet there is no food. We have more money now in government’s cover yet people are impoverished, there is more hunger in the land, there is more mistrust, there is more uncertainty and much insecurity, so where are we going to” he lamented.
Asked to advice the government of the day, the Archbishop said, “my advice is that, if this government is really talking about change, the change should have more positive effect than negative. Let they begin to invest, recycle the amount that have been recovered, what about the one that are already in the system, workers are not paid regularly, things are not moving, market women are complaining.”
“Effect of good administration is that an average woman in the village who does not know what administration is all about should be able to feel the impact of the government by even selling kerosene. Kerosene is even the most costly product in the petroleum industry today, an old woman who have been lighting her bush lanteen have not seen kerosene to buy, the government is not doing well.
“The concept of change does not have a human face, you are talking about corruption, you are doing selective arrests, you are not been rational, you are not been even, the people arrested are those seen to be perceived enemies but the main looters are the people in the system, they are given appointment. It doesn’t work.
“I advice the government, irrespective of who is in power, should have the fear of God. Governance is about leading the people aright and distributing the resources that God has placed in your hands. Those who are recovering are victims of the same looting because they are leaving more luxurious than what they were. Man who say, want to be transparent is flying jet, travelling all over the world, the house he leaves, the cars they drive, everything about them are flamboyant.
“When they take oaths of office, they either swear by Koran or Bible. Oaths are oaths and you are saying that your personal interest will not supersede the interest of the state but here they are, their personal interests supersede the interest of the state, nobody is interested in the people so where is the leadership,” he stated.
