Step Up Nigeria: President Goodluck Jonathan

As President Goodluck Jonathan is inaugurated today, he needs to prioritise and focus on reforms that will yield poverty reducing growth and lift millions of Nigerian citizens out of poverty. Improving governance would be a first step towards achieving this and it should be a key priority for the government. The following measures should be considered:

Public service delivery

1. It should no longer be business as usual for public sector institutions.  Public institutions tasked with the responsibility of delivering essential services to the people such as electricity, roads, education and health should be more transparent and accountable to the people. It would be necessary for these agencies at the beginning of the financial year to clearly state realistic targets and results they intend to achieve during the financial year. This should be published. This will create more awareness amongst people on how public funds are being spent. It will also make it easier to monitor and evaluate the performance of government agencies responsible for providing these key services. The new government should also make it a key priority to tackle the issues of slow budget implementation (more of this to follow in later post).

Enhanced transparency and accountability in budgetary allocation and expenditures

2. The president should re-introduce and enforce the regular publishing of monthly budgetary allocations to all tiers of government in widely read newspapers and on their websites. This should be accompanied by the publishing of its expenditures on a quarterly or annual basis.

Power Supply

3. The state has not been able to provide adequate power supply despite the billions of dollars that has been ploughed into the sector. The government has started in the right direction by privatising the power sector. The government should ensure that the privatisation process is transparent.

Management of oil revenues

4. The president should ensure that the Sovereign Wealth Fund is efficiently managed in a transparent and accountable manner. It should ensure that it strictly adheres to the Santiago Principles [http://www.iwg-swf.org/pubs/gapplist.htm]. Every investment and its returns should be publicly disclosed (see post on ‘How to make the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund Transparent’).

Tackling Corruption

5. The new government should focus more on tackling the root causes of corruption. Patronage politics is one of the major causes of corruption in Nigeria. Reforming election practices will be a good start particularly on the issue of campaign financing. It will be good to have stronger legislation to prevent excessive spending by political parties and candidates during elections. Political office aspirants tend to spend a lot during elections and often rely on ‘god fathers’ whom they have to pay back using public funds when they are in power. The government should introduce measures such as allocating equal amount of free broadcasting airtime to each major political party during election campaigns. This will help towards reducing expenses during elections and the dependence on ‘god fathers’ which is a major cause of grand corruption in Nigeria.

In addition to tackling the root causes of corruption, the agencies charged with the responsibility of tackling corruption should also be strengthened through creating laws that would give them the independence needed to operate objectively.

Nigeria's Prospects

An interesting article from the Economist Magazine on Nigeria's prospects under the new government.

[http://www.economist.com/node/18741606?story_id=18741606&fsrc=rss]

Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units at local government levels

The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) is advocating for the establishment of the anti-corruption and transparency units (ACTUs) at the local government levels [http://www.thenigeriandaily.com/2011/05/23/icpc-bayelsa-lg-bosses-meet-to-tackle-corruption-at-councils/]. While this sounds like a good initiative, the operational guidelines for the anti-corruption and transparency units [http://www.icpcng.com/abouticpc/?com_option=c4ca4238a0b923820dcc509a6f75849b&p=7&com_content=8f14e45fceea167a5a36dedd4bea2543 ] makes it difficult for these units to be effective due to the following reasons:

• First, the ACTU staff are selected from within the ministry or agency from where it operates. This results in a conflict of interest. It would be very difficult for staff within a particular agency to objectively report on corruption complaints received as it could involve colleagues or friends within the agency.

• Second, the salaries of the ACTU staff and funding for the unit activities are provided by the ministry or agency where it operates. This affects the ability of the ACTU to operate independently. It will be difficult for ACTU to effectively discharge its functions based on this arrangement as it compromises its independence.

The ICPC should review its guidelines for the operations of the ACTUs in order to make it more independent and effective. They should consider the following:

• The staff composition of the unit should be from the ICPC or independent consultants who are independent of the agency or ministry where it operates.
•  The staff salaries and funding for activities should come from the ICPC.
• The ICPC should also advocate for the establishment and passage of a whistleblower protection law. The absence of a whistleblower protection law is a hindrance as it makes it more difficult for people to blow the whistle on corrupt practices within a particular agency or ministry.

ICPC should consider making these changes before establishing anti-corruption units at the local government levels. 

Zoning: way forward or backward for Nigeria?

I have just read an article where an Igbo leader has threatened that the South East will call for self rule if it is not given the position of the Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives.

[http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5701710-147/story.csp]

The issue of tribalism is still a major issue in Nigerian politics and has affected governance. Rather than focusing on getting competent people to get the job done, the focus is more on what positions each geopolitical zone will get from the new government. Nigerian leaders should stick to the main issues which is creating an enabling environment for economic development and tackling poverty which is affecting majority of the Nigerian populace.

How to make the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund Transparent

The Nigerian Senate has just recently passed the Sovereign Wealth Fund Bill. Its aim is to enable Nigeria to effectively manage and invest its oil revenues for the benefit of Nigerian citizens and its economy. The Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) will be managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and would be split into the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund, the Future Generations Fund and the Stabilisation Fund.

[http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/business/5835-sovereign-wealth-fund-bill-passed.html]

Whilst this seems like a good way for Nigeria to make use of its oil revenues, the devil is in the detail. The Nigerian government needs to ensure that transparent and accountable systems are in place to ensure the effective management of these funds. I recommend they consider the following ideas:

Nigeria Infrastructure Fund

1. The Sovereign Wealth Investment Authority (SWIA) should publish online all investment proposal documents for each investment considered. The proposal document should include amongst others the rationale for the investment, what impact or results that investment will yield, how much has been invested and the potential risk.  They should also publish minutes from the meetings where the proposed investments were being considered. These should be published immediately after a decision has been made.

2. The SWIA should publish progress reports on an annual basis on the status of investments.

3. They should look to establish an independent evaluation office responsible for evaluating the infrastructure fund projects. The evaluation office will report to the governing board. The evaluation should be conducted at the completion of the investment projects and the reports made publicly available.

Future Generations Fund

4. The accounts for this fund should be published on a quarterly basis in the national newspapers and on the SWIA website. The information on where the funds have been invested should also be made public. This will empower citizens with the information needed to track and challenge the management of the fund.

Stabilisation Fund

5. If this stabilisation fund is to avoid the fate of the Excess Crude Account (the current way Nigeria has saved excess oil revenues), it is essential to have clear published rules on when these funds can be utilised. This is in order to prevent unnecessary withdrawals from this fund.   

The establishment of transparent and accountable systems for the sovereign wealth fund will enable Nigerians have more ownership of the fund and makes it more difficult for corruption or mismanagement to occur.

Prosecuting corrupt public officials in Nigeria

A former Egyptian Tourism Minister has been sentenced to five years in jail on charges of corruption for wasting public funds worth 51 million dollars. [http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jKlCWlWCmsWoOWyoLwi54D1b8J3w?docId=CNG.d9be2af4c7111ceebb9f06f4d37012ee.51]

It will be good to see the prosecution of corrupt public officials in Nigeria rather than endless delays to court cases that are currently the norm.  Though the case of Egypt came as a result of pressure from protesters demanding the trial of corrupt officials, the Federal Government of Nigeria should be proactive and seek ways of fast tracking cases of corruption through the establishment of special courts. The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been making the case:

[http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/3674-efcc-demands-special-court-for-trial-of-ex-governors.html

Tackling Corruption in Nigeria: top-down vs bottom-up approach?

“Corruption cannot be tackled from the top; it has to be confronted from the grassroots". This is a recent statement made by John Githongo (Kenyan Anti-Corruption campaigner). http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/may/06/corruption-confronted-grassroots-john-githongo-kenya

Yes, tackling corruption requires strong grassroots organisations to monitor and challenge the activities of government. Yet this will not be sufficient. The government also has a role to play in tackling corruption. Nigeria needs a holistic approach to tackle corruption.

First, we need to tackle the root causes of corruption. Patronage politics is one of the major causes of corruption in Nigeria. Political office aspirants who do not have enough funds to spend during election campaigns often seek help from ‘god fathers’ whom they have to pay back using public funds when they are in power. We need to reform election practices in Nigeria particularly the issue of campaign financing. We need stronger legislation and enforcement to prevent excessive spending by political parties and candidates during elections. Inevitably this needs sympathetic reformers in Government to complement the pressure from grassroots.  

Second, it is not enough to build the capacity of grassroots organisations; they also need to be empowered with the right information. Transparency is a key factor making it possible to identify corruption flashpoints (for example the publishing of budgetary allocations to states and ministries and publishing government expenditures). This makes it easier for grassroots organisations to track and challenge government activities when necessary.

Third, we need to strengthen institutions charged with the responsibility of fighting corruption and punishing corrupt offenders through creating laws that make them independent from government and more effective. Grassroots organisation would play a key role in campaigning for these reforms but it also needs sympathetic reformers in government. John Githongo raises interesting points about the need for grassroots involvement in the fight against corruption, but this should not be an either/or situation. Both government and grassroots organisation have a major role to play in combating corruption.