Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fw: 2015: The Missing Policy Debate

let me say how much i agree with ogugua that i don't know national politics that are clean clean anywhere.
i would say the same for my state of michigan
however, i would not say for our little local city politics, east lansing.
i suspect that local politics everywhere are probably much better than state or national where accountability to people who know you doesn't exist
ken

On 9/15/14, 11:47 AM, Anunoby, Ogugua wrote:

What does "if politics is clean" mean?" I do not know for sure. I do know however that I do not know anywhere in the world that  politics is clean- clean clean. Any difference has always been a matter of degree. Politics is a very competitive sport. Politicians are therefore very inclined to employ sharp practices to win elections and remain in power. Power and the influence and wealth that may follow are usually great draws.

I will add ignorance on the part of the electorate, and the potential high-value spoils of politics to the two issues that have been claimed to make politics in Nigeria a tedious task. Mass civic education will help to reduce voter ignorance. Prudent enforcement of accountability laws will help to reduce the spoils of politics, and moderate the greed of politicians. Politics remains the quickest path to riches in Nigeria. This helps to explain why politics is oftentimes a matter of life or death. Obasanjo infamously called politics a "do or die" affair. It turned out that he was not kidding.

The points made about the failure of the UPE program are fair in my opinion. The program under-delivered it seems to me, for many more reasons. A poor data base informed both its planning and implementation. Unreliable census figures for example informed its planning. Nigeria was awash in money. Funding was no object in its implementation. The program was rushed which ensured that enabling conditions for its success could not all be present. The culture of not-doing-things-well- some call it corruption pervaded. It is no exaggeration to state for example, that even the illiterate were admitted to teacher training colleges. They had to graduate from the colleges sooner rather than later to ensure implementation of the program. Quality teachers was not as high a priority as it needed to be.  

It must also be said that as poorly as the UPE program was implemented, charity requires that it be acknowledged that an outcome of the program was that many Nigerians learned to read and write albeit poorly, without learning to think critically. What real and enduring value is there in an education that does not properly develop the mind and does not implant in the educated, a constructive sense of equitable reason. At the end of the day, a piece of bread is better that no bread at all. You ask the hungry.

 

oa

 

 

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Anunoby, Ogugua
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2014 7:34 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fw: 2015: The Missing Policy Debate

 

What does "if politics is clean" mean?" I do not know for sure. I do know however that I do not know anywhere in the world that  politics is clean- clean clean. Any difference has always been a matter of degree. Politics is a very competitive sport. Politicians are therefore very inclined to employ sharp practices to win elections. Power and the influence and wealth that may follow are usually great draws.

I will add ignorance on the part of the electorate, and the potential high-value spoils of politics to the two issues that have been claimed to make politics in Nigeria a tedious task. Mass civic education will help to reduce electorate ignorance. Enforcement of accountability laws will help to moderate the spoils of politics. Politics remains the quickest path to riches in Nigeria. This helps to explain why politics is oftentimes a matter of life or death. Obasanjo infamously called politics a "do or die" affair. It turned out that he was not kidding.

The point made about the failure of the UPE program is correct in my opinion. One reason it under-delivered it seems to me, was the poor data base that informed it. Unreliable census figures informed its planning. Another was that the program was rushed which ensured that enabling conditions for its success could present. Yet another was the culture of not-doing-things-well- some call it corruption. It is no exaggeration to state for example, that even the illiterate were admitted to teacher training colleges and they had to graduate from the programs in time to start teaching students.

It must also be said that as poorly as the UPE program was implemented, a commendable (one must be charitable here) outcome is that many Nigerians learned to read and write albeit poorly and without learning to think critically. A piece of bread is better that no bread at all. You ask the hungry.

 

oa

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2014 3:45 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fw: 2015: The Missing Policy Debate

 

Professor Olukotun has raised several issues in this submission.  I would like to comment only on two: Women empowerment and performance in the senior secondary certificate examination as a reflection of our standard of education.

I have often reflected on the issue of women participation in politics.  If politics is clean in any nation the persons contesting for elective posts should win them according to their endeavour and not expect any person to facilitate their victory. Two issues make politics in Nigeria a tedious task; money and violence.  Perhaps it is true that men have more money that women have to influence voting in any election.  In this regard empowerment could be seen in the light of creating opportunities for any group to increase income with which to execute their political programme.  Violence may be eliminated through reforms, which ensure that our elective offices are made less lucrative and, indeed, only avenues for altruistic service. If these are done the ability to win seats by any gender should not be a national topic.  Campaign by its nature is a struggle to win and any body who gets in should be ready to endeavour; not to be given.  What can be given are appointive posts and that is what the President says he is improving for women.  A number of political parties do not demand registration fees from women who want to contest for any position.  I think that is enough concession.

On "Falling Standards in Education", the reall fall began with the Beautifully thought of but very poorly executed UPE (Universal Primary Education) Scheme.  It was and still remains a desirable scheme to have all children go to school but when there are no teachers to teach them or indeed, as was the case, when you have bad teachers to missteach them then you plan not just to fail but to harm the polity.  This is what happened when people who did not even qualify for the two year post primary training before becoming teachers were given six months' training in what was called 'crash programme' and released on harpless children who became worse than the bad teachers and so became worse teachers to produce worse graduates.  This scenario has progressively degenerated to the present parlous condition. I think that the solution is to find good teachers for our students.  The issue of teacher:student ration, which has quite a serious input on the problem, must be solved.  Truly I do not see the sense, in the light of our present situation, why competent and healthy teachers could be retired simply because they are 60 years or have served for 35 years.  A courageous programme to employ competent teachers and get a teacher:student ratio close to 40 or even 30 must be developed.  Teachers need to be motivated by adequate remuneration and constant refresher courses that increase their competence and commitment.  This is the only starting point that makes sense.   

Ifedioramma Eugene-Mary Nwana

 

On Friday, 5 September 2014, 2:52, ayo_olukotun via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:

 

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

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From: Family Frangrance <ffecafe@gmail.com>

Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 03:03:03 -0700

To: <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>

Subject: 2015: The Missing Policy Debate

 

2015: The Missing Policy Debate

Ayo Olukotun

More than ever before, the elections which are only five months away have become the centre-piece of national attention. Campaigns, overt or covert, heated political discussions and bargaining, not to mention the furious carpet-crossing by political heavy weights signify the start-up of the political season. There have also been spectacular, if tentative, reverses in political fortunes. A few months ago, All progressives Congress (APC) looked very much like a party to beat, having amassed to side several defectors from the ruling party. Today, however, several of these stalwarts, including Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Chief Tom Ikimi, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and  Mallam Shekarau and perhaps several others in the offing , have made peace with the ruling People's Democratic party (PDP).

Similarly, the PDP it was which name was associated with implosion several months back; today however, it is the opposition APC that at least on the surface looks more fractured, for example with the emergence of rival factions in such states as Bayelsa, Ogun and Kano.  One should not make too much of the current status of the parties for as the saying goes twenty fours is a long time in politics. On balance, however, it is perhaps true to say that whether we like it or not, the possibility of Jonathan's re-election is beginning to lurk in the shadows.

Beyond temporary alliances and calculations, however, is a lamentable yawning absence of policy conversation and debate among the parties and outside of them. This is sad when you consider that one of the functions of political parties is to set policy agendas around which they will fight elections. Parties are not a mere assemblage of politicians hoping to gain power but rather represent platforms of ideas, policy options and visionary goals around which the electorate is invited to gather. For example, in the approaching November mid-term elections in the United States, one can discern in the national conversation policy divisions over such issues as the state of the economy, Obamacare, Women and Minority rights, Unemployment, and several other issues that pertain to the health and well-being of the Republic.

Specifically, democrats locate themselves around the success of Obama's health reforms, while continuing to advocate such policies as the minimum wage and women's rights which is strategic to Hillary Clinton's presidential ambition. Republicans, on the other hand, have emphasized the lackluster performance of the economy, the soaring budget deficit and the increasing premium taxes and other deductibles that accompany the implementation of Obama's health reforms.

True, no election is completely decided by policy issues and disagreements, personalities and costly slips or gaffes can play unforeseen roles in the success or failure of parties or candidates.  Nonetheless, an election that is bereft of policy issues is a governance disaster waiting to happen; considering that there is nothing to hold the politicians to when they get into the office. The PDP has continued to harp, for instance, in bringing about an impressive economic growth rate; one of the highest in the world. It also attributes this factor and that of Nigeria's frontier position in attracting foreign investment to sound economic management. While the citizenry will be grateful for these little mercies, there is an uncomfortable silence as to how growth will translate into poverty reduction taking into account that Nigeria harbours, according to the World Bank, over seventy percent living below the poverty line.

 

In the same manner, if the opposition APC has clear ideas as to how to engineer inclusive growth and income re-distribution it is yet to come forward with them. All too often, the opposition takes on the administration by reacting to statements or slips; it has not sought, thus far, to initiate policy debate, or paint a broader picture of the utopia to which it will lead Nigerians should it gain power in 2015.

We can further illustrate the absence of debate by referring to the claim by Jonathan to have improved the position of women by appointing a galaxy of women ministers. This is a factually correct statement. However, a debate can be raised as to whether women empowerment is achieved by simply appointing more women ministers without advancing significantly the socio-economic status of the majority of women in the society. In other words, while we may give kudos to Jonathan for what he has achieved, we must understand the limited nature of that achievement by placing it in the context of a wider policy agenda of women empowerment which connects the issues of poverty, marginalization, and subordinate status in various spheres of social life. If we had an opposition platform that is thinking along such lines it is yet to make them articulate.

Part of the problem is that the parties, apart from lacking clear ideological perspectives are not fed by policy think tanks or intellectual groups from which they can draw vitality.  As several commentators have observed our current parties are largely products of military engineering, which decreed them into life without caring to locate them in ideological and policy universes.  Unlike the parties of the first and second republics, which were led by politicians reputed for their knowledge base and had clear visions which they articulated concerning the good society; we are up against politicians, who are almost totally divorced from ideological currents beyond slogans and catchwords.   

What grieves one about all these is that we are a country with great potentials which are not being realized because we face existential challenges including a snowballing insurgency. This indicates it is not a time for waffling on policy issues but one demanding very clear ideas on how to get the nation working.

In almost any sector of our national life, the place of innovative thinking cannot be over-stated. Take for example, the educational sector, a time there was when our universities stood shoulder high and competed favourably with the best in the English-speaking world. Today, however, our institutions hardly make any appearance on the global knowledge map. The problem is complicated by mass failure in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination in recent years which portends a grow-worse syndrome in the entire sector. And so while we may acknowledge Jonathan's efforts in locating a federal university in every state of the federation, we must insist that a situation where a university graduate cannot write a letter of employment without grammatical errors calls for more than a casual approach to resuscitating education.

But again, the two major parties are silent on these urgent and important matters. Even the presidential candidates are not telling us what policies they will implement to see us out of the woods. In some political quarters, a Jonathan presidency is almost inevitable. If that is the case, are we talking about a Jonathan presidency with re-generative capacity; one that will deal with corruption in national life, foster an inclusive growth, make life less insecure and less nasty for the ordinary Nigerians, or more of the same? In the same vein, the opposition is yet to stimulate or invite us by policy ideas that can rejuvenate Nigeria.

 It is time to fill this vacuum by setting up a new policy agenda in the run-up to the 2015 elections.

·        Professor Olukotun is Dean , Faculty of Social Sciences, Lead City University, Ibadan

 

 

 

 

 

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--   kenneth w. harrow   faculty excellence advocate  professor of english  michigan state university  department of english  619 red cedar road  room C-614 wells hall  east lansing, mi 48824  ph. 517 803 8839  harrow@msu.edu