When in 1998 Olusegun Obasanjo was asked why he was seeking political office as president after leaving office 20 years earlier as military head of state, Obasanjo did not mince words, saying that he was coming to stop executive arrogance and also to arrest recklessness in governance.
Obasanjo recalled, among other things, that when he was leaving office in 1978, the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNLS) had about 20 ships in its fleet. 20 years after, instead of increasing the number, the fleet was depleted to just one ship. That, for him, was part of recklessness in governance.
The former president left office 13 years ago, and what are clearly arrogance, impunity and recklessness are on generous display among the political class. They move about with ego and behave as though they are demi-gods.
Though these traits were also noticeable during the military era in government, they are quite manifest among otherwise democrats in governance. It seems to us that arrogance and impunity run through the veins of the country’s political elite.
At no other time in the life and democratic development of this country had the political elite demonstrated so much impunity in governance than the last two general elections in the country conducted in 2015 and 2019. Elections were so manipulated without recourse to the electoral laws that the results cannot pass any integrity test anywhere in the world.
Today, the entire world is in crisis because of the coronavirus pandemic. The way and manner the disease entered and now spreading all over the country is simply horrific and that is a function of the recklessness and arrogance of the country’s political elite.
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By the last count, Nigeria has recorded 111 cases of COVID-19 infections and apart from a case of community transmission, all others have come from persons who returned from high-risk countries and instead of self-isolating, they went about meeting people and transmitting the virus to them.
It is painful to note that most of the people who are guilty of this misdemeanour are top people in government. A major protagonist in this drama of pain is President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.
Kyari recently visited three countries that are currently dealing with a significant COVID-19 emergency. He went to Germany in the company of Saleh Mamman, minister of power, and James Momoh, executive chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, for discussions with Siemens on improving the country’s power supply. They returned to Nigeria passing through the United Kingdom and Egypt.
Upon his return, Kyari ignored guidelines by the Nigerian Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) to self-isolate for 14 days. The NCDC guidelines require all returning travellers to Nigeria and anyone who has been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 to self-isolate. The guidelines stipulate how returnees are required to move from arrival point in Nigeria to place of self-isolation where they would be monitored during the 14-day period.
The chief of staff did not do any of these guidelines, thus endangering everyone that came in contact with him, including the president.
Like most Nigerians, we are deeply angry at this sort of impunity and recklessness. We are all the more saddened that the political class is leading an act of gross irresponsibility such as this at a time when the whole world is struggling with the safety of their citizens.
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We believe that leaders whether political, social or religious should lead by example. The younger generation of Nigerians are not happy that those they should emulating are the ones showing bad examples and, by so doing, retarding the growth of the country.
It is regrettable that the Nigerian political elite are the ones that flout court orders, resist court summons, embezzle public money and use same to force themselves back to power and influence.
Apparently, it seems that these leaders don’t ever stop to think through their actions and the danger they are posing for both the present and the future of the country. In the case of those infected with the deadly virus and ignored the NDDC guidelines, it is lamentable that they seem not to know that they are setting precedents.
We are of the view that in the absence of official sanctions for violating the guideline on self-isolation, as those who should pass and enforce the law are themselves reckless, some Nigerians may be taking a cue from their leaders.
In the present circumstance, we foresee danger if Nigerians take a cue from their leadership on compliance with health and safety measures, because such action is fatal. If that happens, it would take less than a week for Nigeria to be in a similar situation as Italy given the weak health infrastructure in the country.
