4TH WEDNESDAY HOMILY OF THE EASTERTIDE — YEAR A
4TH WEDNESDAY HOMILY OF EASTERTIDE — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: Advocacy for One – Tenure Administration as Prophylaxis for Good Governance in Nigeria
BY: Fr. Benedict AGBO
Acts 1:15-17,20-26, Psalm 113: 1-8, John 15:9-17
Good governance in Nigeria is becoming an illusion as we desperately watch one Republic dovetail into another in reverse geometric retrogression. Nigerians are condemned to a fait accompli situation before every major election knowing clearly that the Presidents and Governors have unlimited powers of appointing/ influencing the emergence of the key players in the democratic process, to wit, The National and State Electoral umpires, Judges, and in recent times, even the legislative heads. State CAPTURE has become the ugliest existential phenomenon of modern day Nigerian politics.
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Without sounding hypnotically pessimistic nor hypothetically optimistic about the possibility of ever having good governance in Nigeria again given the optics, let me just hazard one more suggestion; the advocacy for One – Tenure Administration as Prophylaxis for Good Governance in Nigeria. Here are my reasons:
1. One tenure administration will put an end to the usual distractions and wastage of resources caused by the preoccupations of modern day Nigerian leaders on their re – election/second term bid. It has never been this bad in Nigeria that not up to 2 years into the tenure of the current administration (both at the national and state levels), rather than a government concentrate on deploying the dividends of democracy for the access of their people, all we see are endorsement jamborees for a shameless 2nd term bid. While some of the 1st term governors are busy seeking re – election, some of the 2nd term governors are busy running away from the EFCC watch dog and ipso facto defecting to the ruling party. What a charade of democratic lunatism?
2. One tenure administration will put an end to the problem of zoning and equity caused by the nightmarish imagination of a particular zone having to wait for another 8 years or more before having another shot at a given administrative position. In the present day Nigeria for instance, the Northern politicians find it difficult waiting for another 8 years of Southern Presidency after Muhammadu Buhari’s regime while in Enugu State for instance (with 3 zones), the Enugu North politicians find it uncomfortable waiting for another 16 years to be able to have another shot at the gubernatorial seat. Very many bright potential leaders are usually short circuited by this kind of wishy washy political arrangement.
3. One tenure administration will make every leader hit the ground running immidiately after assumption of duty knowing that there is limited time. For me, 4 years is enough time for any serious minded leader to exhaust his/her ideas before opposition heightens.
I therefore call on our legislators and all those concerned to look into this proposal dispassionately given the current realities of abuse. Even legislators do not need to spend their life time in the legislative houses, some after serving 8 years as governors. One tenure should be enough for everyone to make his/her impact and leave the situation for someone else. Nigeria needs a bold reformer; a leader with the wisdom and courage to rejig the economic and administrative architecture of Nigeria. We cannot afford to keep walking the same pathways and expect different results. Let’s not keep recycling for many years many of these old leaders with moribund ideas for good governance.
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