Dr. Otive Igbuzor, former Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria and Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership Development (Centre LSD), argues in a chat with MOHAMMED ABUBAKAR in Abuja that despite the challenges that led to the postponement of the National Assembly elections on April 2, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, retains enough moral strength to produce the quality elections that Nigerians crave for.HOW did we come to this stage that there appears to be some kind of backward movement politically in the countryI would not want to see it as a movement backward. I think that there are positive lessons to be derived from the aborted April 2nd National Assembly elections. We come to where we are today from the history of 85 years of contested elections; from 1922 to 2007 of a progressively degenerating outcome of elections, with the 2007 elections being the worst in the history of the country. We have described it in one of the books we wrote together as, The Capture of the Peoples Sovereignty.So, rigging, malpractice and logistical challenges have been engrained in the electoral processes in Nigeria. And with the coming of Jega, he started the process of bringing integrity to the electoral process. Like I mentioned in my pre-election briefing, the preparations by INEC for the 2011 elections were better than in previous elections. Unfortunately, the logistical challenges prevented the National Assembly elections from holding on Saturday last week.I believe that even the cancellation or the postponement, if you like, of the election itself has some positive lessons for the country. Because, in the past, the elections would have been held without result sheets and the results would have been declared.Dont you think that the fear of the past has overwhelmed the nation so much so that we could not come to terms with the realityI would rather not look at it as the fear of the past; I would rather look at I from the point of view of the challenge of public administration in Nigeria. Ordinarily, the chief executive of an election management body ought to focus on ensuring the right calibre of staff; setting standards, putting in place a system or mechanisms, motivating staff to perform, engaging in external relations as well as assuring qualitative delivery.But we also know that chief executives that excel are those who combine these strategic roles with handling tactical issues and problems as well as attending to both internal and external forces by keeping their eyes on the results. Ordinarily, we expect, in a place like INEC, which has staff that have been involved in conducting elections over the years, people responsible for procurement and ensuring that materials are procured for elections; but we also know that the situation for public administration in Nigeria is not normal.In any case, Im not trying to absolve Jega because the buck stops at his table. But we must recognize the fact that the huge challenge of the bureaucracy in Nigeria bothers on incompetence and corruption. Because, even though he was appointed less than one year ago, the bureaucracy has always been there and we are aware that the elections would be held every four years.On reflection, I think that the mistake Jega made was in not doing a thorough reorganization of INEC when he assumed duty, and my advice is that there is the need for a total overhaul of the place immediately after the elections. GRANTED that there is the question of bureaucratic bottlenecks, but on the eve of the botched election, Jega made a national broadcast that the commission was prepared when, in actual fact, the reverse was the case. How then do you blame an unseen bureaucratic bottleneckThat is the challenge that many chief executives face: the challenge of the ability to combine strategic preparations with tactical operations. I want to reckon that because Jega believed he had made all the plans, he had given all the responsibilities; he thought that everything was in order. Which shows that he needs to change in the ways that he runs the commission; that he cannot just base his confidence and pronouncement to the public on assurances and reports.For instance, by the time he was addressing the nation, he should have seen the materials before giving that kind of assurance because of my experience with public servants. In a discussion, you may ask Mr. A; will you do the thing Yes, sir. And you come back and ask, Mr. A, have you done it No sir! And tomorrow morning when you come, will you do it Yes sir! Have you done it No sir. And yet, it will not be done.So, you must understand the challenges of public administration in Nigeria and devise a practical workable way of dealing with it.As somebody who deals with leadership development, can you draw a line between theory and practice in public administration, as far as Nigeria is concernedNo, there is a nexus between theory and practice in reality. Theory without practice is directionless and practice without theory gropes in the dark. I think what has come out clearly, and what is key in our setup is that, successful running of every organization requires both leadership and management.Leadership is the inspiration, the influence, the motivation and the creating of the enabling environment for people to perform, but management is the control, the planning, operations that you put in place. We recognize that to be able to carry out a successful operation requires the right calibre of staff, the correct strategy and the right operations.In all these, do you feel the confidence that Nigerians have in Jega still standsThe confidence is waning, but I think that it should still stand in the interest of the country. Because, I have argued elsewhere that the greatest challenges of elections in the past in the country revolved on the issues of lack of integrity of election administrators; the question of logistical challenges and irresponsible behaviour by politicians and followers.With the appointment of Attahiru Jega, we seemed to have addressed the question of lack of integrity, but the challenges of logistics and irresponsible behaviour of politicians and followers still remain. Therefore, it will be very easy to address the challenges of logistics, but the challenges of the irresponsible behaviour of politicians and the followers remain.So, I feel that it will do the country a lot of good if the support for Jega remains, especially as he continues on the part of integrity, responsibility and accountability. That is why the call for his resignation is hasty and unwarranted at this critical moment, and I think that is also why the actions and utterances of President Goodluck Jonathan in canvassing support for Jega are commendable.
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