Governance has never been solely about the public good. With politics as a natural precursor to governance in a democracy, it is even more challenging to dissociate private from public interest. In itself, when applicable procurement rules are followed, it is not illegal to make private gains from governance or from the government. Different qualified entities are awarded all kinds of government contracts that they undertake for profitability.
Businesses or individuals are contracted to supply certain needs of the government, which they do and make a profit out of. These personal gains have almost nothing to do with the public, or public interest, except to the extent that they complied with specifications and supplied what they were contracted to supply, fixed the infrastructure they were contracted for, to specifications, and finally pay tax. But they still have private benefits therefrom. This is the business side of governance and it’s all fair.
When it comes to politics, except in private meetings of political gladiators, the issue of private gains, or what goes to whom does not even get a mention. The whole focus is on how this problem or that concern of public interest must be met; and how this or that challenge must be fixed. The usual response by the people to this is exciting reception because it is about them. This pattern of expectation is so entrenched that most people see politicians as those that must live purely for the pleasure of the public.
However, this is against human natural instincts. It is unnatural for a man to go through so much in any venture when nothing is in it for him. There ought to be something in the form of motivation, maybe money, respect, recognition, or anything else, that keeps him focused on a set goal. This, ideally, does not antagonize public interest. Instead, it harmonizes it. For a poorly remunerated civil servant in charge of social support supply to members of the public, the natural expectation would be that the worker would help himself from the supply available to the public, if not immediately, then eventually. It is surprising how the general attitude towards this has remained evasive.
Yet, this is a major reason corruption is so prevalent in Nigeria. Most people work at jobs where their take-home is not enough to transport them to and fro their workplace, while they purportedly continue to “serve the public”. No one can serve, whose humanity has not been serviced. Where ever there is political disagreement, there is personal interest, which has not been served. And so this brings us to the ongoing battle of wits involving the garrulous Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and his party, the PDP current leadership.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has cleverly exploited the sectional holding on the PDP in terms of power distribution, which by far, is a real threat to Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition. At the face value, this might look like Wike is only interested in getting his party, the PDP to do the right thing. But in truth, the crisis is beyond having an equitable power-sharing formula in PDP. Governor Wike who has been a member of the PDP contested the party’s presidential ticket and lost to Atiku who has left the party at least twice since 1999. The governor has invested a fortune in the PDP, and hence became the arrowhead in changing and switching the party’s national Chairman since the time of Secondus as party chairman, whom he has since moved for his replacement. From that position of immense influence to now being just another member of the PDP, it would be unnatural for Wike to simply key into the party’s ambition of taking power next year, without questions.
The PDP would have considered him as Atiku’s vice to avert the ongoing problem, but for the calculation of Atiku’s group who think that having a vice-like Wike does not serve their political interest. This effectively threw Wike out of the water and like a fish out of the water, he must fight for his political relevance. Therefore, this fight is personal and natural for someone like Wike, but because the PDP has been unfair by refusing to insist that their zoning must stand, thereby changing the rules in the middle of a game, this has given Wike a special privilege to perfect his trade. To add to it, the national chairman of the party is from Northern Nigeria, just like the party’s BoT chairman. This is clear inequity against southerners in the PDP and it is what Wike has deployed in his battle for relevance in the PDP.
With about five months to the presidential election, there is still so much uncertainty within the ranks of the PDP. It is even worst because if PDP now concedes national chairman to South, will that be enough to placate Wike and his group? There is now a question of trust which leaves the PDP in a dilemma. The biggest challenge of the PDP now in resolving the crisis is that despite Wike’s huge investments and stake in the party, he is being sidelined with no hold on the party and its presidential ticket. Worst still, Wike’s personal interest has found a perfect expression in the lopsided hold on the party by the North. If this was not the case if Wike was chosen as Atiku’s vice instead of Okowa his South-South brother and colleague, would it matter that the presidential candidate, national chairman, and BoT chairman of the party are from the North?
He is a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, whoonce was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
