By: Assoc. Prof. Hyginus Banko Okibe, Ph.D
The functional definitions or descriptions of government, governance and who constitutes a government may summarily assume that government is either an institution or agency of the state empowered by collective mandates to make laws, implement the laws/policies, enforce compliance to actions in the public interests by maintaining law and order, administering justice, ensuring public safety and promoting public well-being. Governance is all the inclusive processes of seeking to achieve the aims of government and in this context, everyone is directly and indirectly a part of government.
This baseline will ease the understanding of the importance of what we set out to share, despite that the term governance in generality, involves planning, organizing, strategizing, controlling, coordinating and directing activities and actions that aim at serving public interests. This could be viewed as an omnibus term that lends itself to diverse meaning and interpretation.
As a term related to both public and private spheres of life, the process, the activities and the probable input-output relationship with definite indicators and measurable impact are well established in coherent manners. It has metrics for measuring the effectiveness and influence on the public and are not veiled by maligning politics.
The qualifications of governance as either good or bad appeal to the mind for many reasons. These reasons can be distinguished from the type of governance model adopted and practiced; whether it is democratic and inclusive, whether it is authoritarian and oppressive, the character and experience of the people at the helm of affairs and how policies are made and enforced, including the nature of the structures created to implement them. All these have often given rise to the question of what makes governance good or bad and what purpose does each perspective serve in shaping public perception and attitudes.
The general knowledge of good and evil/bad have deep origin and impact. The charge of doing good and keeping away from evil is a biblical injunction that set the New Testament as a reference for building relationships with man and God. It is also implied in the golden rules which relate to our behavior, and we are quick to recite and echo it almost on daily basis when we observe what does not mean well for common good or conform to shared values.
Governance, in government context, is more or less tied to fulfilling the subject of public offices and being accountable for holding and managing public trust. Public office could be occupied by means of election, appointment or career-oriented designation, and whichever is the case, serving public interests are the core values that governance is tailored to provide and promote. It demands the complementary roles of the leaders and the followers, and a closer look at the third-party activities, which aim at silencing good to promote evil. Both good and evil is derived from imagination and intention, and practical action depicts their nature. No society is complete without the third-party activities, which tends to twist reality and exemplify evil both in character and debasing action.
Third-party does not necessarily mean the people outside government circles; they are multi-level practitioners in composition, including government officials, political appointees, public/civil servants, partners and contractors doing business with and for the government without prioritizing the quality for value-add, durability and safety of public infrastructure.
The activities of some of them handling Road, Smart School and Primary Health Center projects have shown the level of corruption, lack of conscience and unwarranted greed that have possessed the psyche of our people. Systemic decay emanating from this complicit negligence and criminality are loosely shifted to and heaped on the government as a consolidated blame.
*This is part of the reasons perceptions of good or bad governance aligns with the activities of government. Sometimes, it does or does not reflects the visions and well intended goal statements of government, which the roles of third-party can destroy and foist bad image on the system. The conduct of third-party is equivalent of antithesis to the thesis of political calculus.*
*Calculus, for those who studied science and majored in mathematics and statistics, is "concerned with limits and with the differentiation and integration of functions". It solves disjointed problems to repurpose unity of diversity and the goal of unbiased leadership in building a critical mass of civic public with a new culture of patriotism.*
*Political calculus applies when balancing the angles of a triangle in a system. In the case of Enugu state, the angles present distinct landmarks. They include providing sensitive governance (populist policy and inclusive administration), human empowerment and capacity-building (expansion of economic opportunities and innovation) and infrastructural development (transformative programme and ambitious investments).*
*The attention being given to political triangle in Enugu state are evenly distributed without any sides being bigger than the other. In access and participation in governance, everywhere is being included to contribute to the dividends of good governance. The equality of the three sides of the triangle achieves its stability and strength in withstanding pressure and resisting dangling when none suffers regression, the same time others enjoy progression.*
*This triangle has limitless political significance and has presented insurmountable challenges where it is mismanaged. The problems faced by any system is either neglect or poor attention to the demands of the three sides of the triangle. Those who lack leadership competence and intellectual property to apply the political calculus naturally lack the syncing framework to think above the lower limits of mental capacity and functions.*
*In Enugu state, His Excellency, Barr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah is a perfect example of political equation that has redefined the political triangle to genuinely address the hidden imbalance in the equilibrium of the sides of the triangle; in infrastructure, empowerment and inclusion. He has not minced words in highlighting how the triangle shapes his vision, policies and programs and the results are very clear to reveal the direction the new Enugu state has taken and moving to occupy in a couple of years.*
*Essentially, infrastructure has been expanded and continues to improve with more than 141 additional urban and rural roads marked for either reconstruction or construction, and several billion naira is involved. All the abandoned areas and stranded public assets are being recovered, activated and the dead ones are being resurrected. Presidential Hotel and the almighty International Conference Center occupy a large space in this categorization.*
*As of today, people are no longer criticizing His Excellency, the Governor, Barr. Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah or the PDP for poor performance; instead, many are now confounded by the spate of work the Governor is doing and the cost implications. Each time they reduce the oversize projects the Governor is doing to dream-world, they usually wake up to see more than what had consigned them to subconscious state. The magic is beyond their imagination and the source of the funding has become an area of research interests.*
*Enugu state is blessed and it is coming to fulfilment under Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah. If Enugu can witness these huge transformation and restoration in less than two years, only God knows what and where it will be after 8 years. Education Sector will be the yardstick for rating human and capital growth process in the state and this foundation of good governance being laid in Enugu state is beyond what petty politics can collapse the structures.*
*For the first time in decades, every Tom and Harry engaged in this government is doubling efforts to deliver on set targets. Each person prepares and comes for presentations and defense of initiatives and the implementation activities. It is an exam that the result is known instantly. It is indeed business unusual and only the insiders understand the pleasure of their position and task expected from it.*
*No government functionaries in the present Enugu state is idle without substantial workloads (starting from the SSG to the least appointee) and none has the luxuries to parade political title for public envy.*
*The rope of duty is tight on every seat; it is no more fanfare and each appointee and office assigned to him/her is working day and night to deliver without observing weekends. The essence of this energy-drilling sacrifice is to serve the public interest and do justice to the campaign promises made by the Governor.*
*Democracy is a journey in which there are duties and obligations; checks and balances. Whosoever that desires good governance and triangular equilibrium does not rule out the corresponding minor sacrifices in the forms of obedience to rules and regulations, respect for those in authority and payment of legitimate taxes. This obligation is sacrosanct and no responsible citizen that takes it for granted finds peace.*
*Those who wreck havoc on public infrastructure and mismanage government investments are not being fair to the system. Enugu State has gone beyond the gambit of few persons seeking a surrender of collective rights to wrongful mindsets. It takes good to erase evil.*
*SOCRATES (470-399 B.C.) foresaw the evil that is inherent in a democracy and predicted the fall of the system once the society begins to allow situations where, for instance:*
*"The poor will want the wealth of the rich, and democracy will give it to them".*
*"Young people will want to be respected as elderly, and democracy will give it to them".*
*"Women will want to be like men, and democracy will give it to them".*
*"Foreigners will want the rights of the natives and democracy will give it to them".*
*"Thieves and fraudsters will want important government functions, and democracy will give it to them".*
*"And at that time, when thieves and fraudsters finally, and democratically take authority; because criminals and evil doers want power, there will be worse dictatorship than in the time of any monarchy or oligarchy".*
*"Similarly, where those who lost in election will want to be declared winners or destroy the system".*
*"Those who oppose government will do everything possible to collapse the system for them to find joy in enthroning darkness and anarchy".*
*"And those who have good sight to see the good works of the Governor in Enugu state and applaud the efforts will want to be blind and pretend ignorance of the tremendous achievements in all sectors of the economy in the state".*
*These sets of people who deny the fact and truth are part of the reasons righteousness seems to be overshadowed in a nation while sin looms larger than virtues.*
*In Enugu state, Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah has assured that evil cannot triumph over good because TOMORROW IS HERE!*
