Why would a man who had served two terms as governor, senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, now want to be a member House of Reps? These were the thoughts that filled my mind as I sat inside, early morning, Arik flight, recently en-route to Lagos. The thoughts filtered in as I sat beside a once prolific civil servant who was very efficient in his job as protocol officer to one honourable Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The man was so good that he was feared wherever he appeared ahead of the minister’s arrival—or visit. They often called him “pro” for his dexterity and interest in the job. On appearance, he would ask “where is the minister sitting?”, “What about a name tag? And where is the programme?” Thereafter, he would bring out his phone and you would hear statements like “all clear sir, everything set, and you may wish to start coming!” So brisk and professional. We usually envied him for his strict discipline and diligence. But at last, one day, after many months, I asked after him and they said: “he had retired” on the attainment of the mandatory 35 years of hard work—or, as some would say “hard labour” for the government. Poor guy. Although he was “retired” by law but not “tired” he had to go to “make way” for others. That’s the practice in the civil service. That’s why people who are endowed, talented, loyal and patriotic when the time comes—either on “age” grounds or “length of service”, no kind of grammar or court “exparte motion” or “interlocutory injunction” either to “restrain” or prevent the government from easing you out would make sense. This way, sanity has prevailed in the civil service, unless—as we see in the kind of politics playing out now—the president at his pleasure might wish to elongate your years in service! The same law exists in the area of job seekers for which many otherwise brilliant youths have been unwittingly “castrated”. After many years, that ugly practice which has been the source major of headache, regret, and disappointment for our teeming youths, university graduates and all remains in force. Thus, people who graduated from their various schools when applying for vacancies, come face to face with the grim spectacle that, “only those below age 25 are eligible to apply”! In most cases they add another caveat “those with 5 or fewer years need not apply!” or “the possession of a master’s degree will be an added advantage!” For those who do not know the effect of this somewhat draconian law, this is how school leavers who may have graduated at the ‘wrong’ age—possibly because they were from poor homes and went to school late—and had to come out at age 35 and above; technically, they have been knocked out of the race for bright future, while their colleagues from rich homes who graduated at 22 or below, qualify for the interview and end up being gainfully “employed”. The resultant effect is unimaginable. Faced with this pugnacious situation, it is inevitable for enthusiasm to wane and depression set in. Let us forget about the cruel “quota system” for now so that we would not have many headaches. This is how many graduates end up spending decades at home without getting employed and at the end seek spiritual escape route to overcome psychological issues. You never really understand the damage this dreadful law has caused until you behold the long army of unemployed youths who, instead of of becoming our proud scientists, engineers, doctors, Nobel prize winners, invariably end up as “taxi drivers”, “plumbers” or “shoemakers” just to make ends meet. The crippling effect of the flip-flop policies of government has not helped matters—squeezing the life out of them for no fault of theirs! Perhaps, this is what former Central Bank governor and immediate past Emir of Kano Alhaji Muhammed Lamido Sanusi saw in the case of “sit tight” bankers when he drastically put a term limit of eight years in their circle! This sharp formula, although sounded like good news to the general masses, drew strong condemnation from bank owners and of course the profiteers which was not surprising. Since then, the Banking sector has remained organized and disciplined. The reason why the former CBN governor took that decision was that most bank MD’s and Chairmen “clock” ten years and still counting without any definite timetable for an exit. Now, it is time to beam that same searchlight on political office holders—or seekers. Without prejudice, it is no longer tenable for the chaotic, regular, indefinite, endless recycling of political officeholders. That behaviour is, to be fair, patently heuristic. It is not only capricious, irrational, it represents one of the most abused hiatus in our society. If “what is good for the goose is good for the gander”, why would someone—a supposed statesman—who has been a two-time governor, two-time senator, member, House of Reps, want to recycle himself by becoming –no matter how cheap the position is—a Local Government Chairman (pronounced as “gorment” by some charlatans, just to remain relevant in the scheme of things? Oliver Twist did not behave this way. Talk of hedonism, this is putatively immature, naïve and disrespectful to our constitution. The jejune implication of recycled products in our society has contributed largely to the brazen spread of corruption, stagnation and bad influence. This is also evidenced in the lip service they pay to overall development in Nigeria. While the contingent of recycled office seekers increases, the backlash is the battalions of “okada riders” that flood our roads. In most Nigerian cities today, it is not uncommon to see okada riders taking over the whole streets; now they have added “keke Nape” because when these recycled products “win “ elections, the only development they know is to “empower” youths—not their children—with these cheap means of livelihood. I was a mere graduate when I started hearing of some political office holders. Today, even as I climb to the age of “elder statesman”, the same characters are still there dominating. Someone who was a minister in 1999, for example, is still a minister today never mind he is approaching 76. You want to ask yourself what exactly he has to offer. There is no moral justification for this terrible habit. I remember a fellow in the Nigerian senate who is on his fourth term as a senator. There are people today who were previously “chairmen”, “minister” and now hibernating in the senate. They are the ones still talking about 2023! These class of people represent the face of Janus in our society; they are full of crap talks and are sponsors of ptochocracy—wholesale pauperization of the society. Instead of being a prosperous nation, their attitude has turned the nation into one of beggars, despondence, hypocrisy and instability. Worse, they have not still recognized that there is a problem; the government is not bold enough to move against them. Just then the plane banked sharply to the right and the pilot voice drifted into our economy class department and announced that we should get set for landing; I shifted slightly in my seat and took a peep out of the window and saw the cloudy skies. The flight had been smooth and the big plane had no difficulty in manoeuvring the one hour flight to Lagos. Minutes later, we landed safely. While waiting to disembark, I took another look at my company. He looked quite young for his age. Maybe he was not one of those who “doctored” his age—I mean falsify his records—like others. What a waste of talent. If Judges were allowed to stay up to age 70, university lecturers 65 and political office holders indefinitely, why not review the same for civil servants and prospective “applicants?” It is time to end the mockery and restore integrity, character and ethical practice in our motherland; future constitutional planners must address this lacuna. I don’t want to use the word “injustice”, but there is no other name for this “cheating”. Let us call a spade a spade. The first job of any reasonable government is to “equalize” opportunities. We all have “one life” to live. In Singapore, some determined people took the decision to make a difference in 1963, 64 and 65. Look at what that country is today. A society that tolerates two face practice hardly survives. This does not give room for pragmatism, dynamism and accountability. The stranglehold certainly has repercussions; one of them is negative socio-economic impact. Time has repeatedly shown to us that everything we struggle for is vanity upon vanity. You have heard of people who stayed in office for upwards of 40 years and above; they are all history. Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire; Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo(30 years); Paul Biya of Cameroun; Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea and Yoweri Museveni since 1986. Joseph Kabila stayed in office for 22 years and tried to extend it, but time caught up with him—as it always does. The temptation will always be there, but they need to regulate “appearances” to discourage overstay should be taken seriously. No one remains young forever. Despite Paul Biya presenting himself seven consecutive times, he still left. It is time for us to restrict political office holders to specific terms. If we cannot, then we should remove age limits for our youths as well as cancel a mandatory experience for them. It is morally wrong to discard civil servants who still have something to offer just because they have attained age 60; so also the idea of frustrating our youths while allowing the “statesmen” to have a bonanza in “circulating” themselves. I was so amused when I heard an elder statesman telling a young fellow “wait; when money comes, this is what I will do for you!’ This elder statesman in question was approaching age 75! Where would the strength come from to make money, if you may ask? I had to nudge myself to make sure I was not hallucinating. By the time I looked around, I saw my luggage being wheeled around for the second time. My civil servant company on the flight had long gone without my knowledge. Quietly, I picked up the bag and walked toward the exit, flagged a taxi and left, still thinking whether this Janus treatment could be successfully addressed.
By Sule Ahmed Oyofo a.k.a. (The Newspaperman)
Tel: 08054260241, oyofosule@yahoo.com