Political class is the primary beneficiaries of the anomaly in our politics, so lacks the incentive to correct it – Ezekwesili
OBY EZEKWESILI, former education minister and ex-vice president of the World Bank’s Africa region, as well as a presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential election in Nigeria is a popular voice in the Continents political space. In this interview with select journalists unveils her latest research work on major setbacks to genuine enthronement of democratic cutlture in Nigeria and Africa. MODESTUS ANAESORONYE presents the report. Excerpt:
As a prominent stakeholder in Nigeria’s socio-economic development, what would you identify as the major setbacks to genuine enthronement of democratic culture? I recently completed research on this issue as a Richard von Weizacker Fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin. As a candidate for the office of the President of Nigeria in the 2019 elections, I directly witnessed the absurdity of our politics and it naturally awakened my intellectual curiosity. What I observed in politics in that short time set me off on a journey to reflect and better understand the challenges of our Democracy, Politics and Governance. My research #Fixpolitics has some interesting findings that specifically address your question. There are three interconnected factors that hinder democratic development in Nigeria and the rest of our continent. These are : The absence of a productive and politically literate, empowered and engaged voting population; The dominant culture of a political class (politicians and their allies across society) that subordinates the collective good of the society to their personal interest without any consequences; and The existence of weak constitutional, political and electoral institutions and context which lead to an ineffective regulatory context for politics.
What essential features should define the ambitious project of fixing politics in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, the most populous Black Country?
My #Fixpolitics research findings concluded that every democracy including that of Nigeria can function well when it stands on three triangulated pillars of : Empowered and Engaged Citizens who vote rationally for candidates that can effectively run government on their behalf; Ethical, Competent and Capable Politicians who compete for votes by presenting citizens with alternative plans of how they will govern on their behalf; credible Institutions that include constitutional , political and electoral bodies to regulate the relationship between citizens and politicians. This means there are three key factors that determine the quality of political culture and outcomes in democracy; the engagement of the citizens as informed and active electorate; the quality of the political class and politicians who vie for elective offices; and the institutional integrity of the political regulatory system and context.
The #Fixpolitics research evaluated how well these three triangulated pillars are doing in Nigeria and Africa more broadly. We have five major findings: Adopting a theoretical model that assumes Governance as a product or service in a market structure, we simplified and were able to interrogate what happens between the demand side ( that is, the electorate or voters), the supply side (that is, the political class who run for elective offices) and; the institutional and regulatory context ( that is, constitutional, political and electoral environment) in which both sides interact; Our politics is structurally challenged with unequal power relations between the people and a political class that is unaccountable in the exercise of their public mandate. We named the phenomenon, “monopolistic democracy” and like all monopolies, society is endangered by the distortionary effect it has on social outcomes; If we do not #Fixpolitics urgently, Politics will disintegrate and destroy Nigeria permanently and that is because, our ruling class has entrenched a corrupted political culture that stunts the common good of citizens and their society without any consequences.
Others are the corrupted political culture which undermines citizens, families, communities, society at large, businesses and the economy as well as government, public institutions and the governance processes; and the corrupted political culture is invasive and pervasive and thus constitutes a major obstacle to economic growth and development of Nigeria and continent. This inhibitive effect on development is the reason for high incidence of extreme poverty in Nigeria despite the huge endowment of population and natural resources. The good thing is that the solutions to these problems were also identified by the research.
Where should the effort to fix politics begin and what could be a probable timeframe to evaluate progress?
The research found that any effort to #Fixpolitics has to begin with the Citizens pillar of the democracy triangle. It is only the Citizens Pillar that retains the credibility to fix the broken political system and corrupted culture that is to be fixed. The Political Class Pillar cannot #Fixpolitics because they are the primary beneficiaries of the anomaly in our politics therefore inherently lack the incentive to correct it. The Regulatory Pillar unfortunately lacks the independence, strength, capability and the credibility to check the excesses of the political class in particular. It therefore leaves only what makes the research unique is how it uses evidence to sequentially guide citizens that are persuaded to act. Fundamentally, the Citizens who step out to #Fixpolitics must act on all three pillars concurrently and simultaneously. The solutions highlighted each Pillar must be systemically launched at the same time as the others. Citizens have to execute the political structural transformation agenda in a systematic, coherent, coordinated and collaborative way. It is the only way citizens’s effort will gather the systemic momentum and creates political structural shifts that correct political culture and outcomes. A silo approach at addressing the problems identified for each of the triangulated pillars will fail for lack of integrative impact. It is why the Work Study Group- WSG is made up of a diverse group of Nigerians from all regions of Nigeria, works of life and political persuasion. The members of the WSG are bound in the common vision, mission and core values of transforming Nigeria’s deformed politics and governance by rallying behind the #FixPolitics research findings. The WSG members work together to design and execute the programs under each of the three pillars while collaborating on cross- cutting issues in an ecosystem-building approach. On evaluating progress of #Fixpolitics, it is important to clearly convey that this initiative is not a dash but a marathon. This initiative is not about 2023. #Fixpolitics is about designing Nigeria’s and Africa’s way out of the trap of underdevelopment occasioned by our faulty political foundation. It is not partisan. It is about building a new political culture of taking responsibility through participation and empowered engagement by citizens and providing service and public accountability by public leaders.
More specifically, the workplans developed for each pillar have specific and easy-to-measure actions that are of short, medium and long-term delivery and impact. For example, in the Emerging a New and Value-based Political Class Pillar, we are establishing an Unconventional School of Politics, Policy and Governance which will fully commence in 2021 and annually produce at scale a new class of value-based politicians on a mixed curriculum of theory and practice of ethical politics, design of sound economic, social, sectoral and structural policies and building strong, open, accessible, transparent and accountable institutions, regulatory and legal contexts. We are aiming to graduate 500 such people twice each year. Our school is unconventional because it is designed to disrupt the mindset of the 500 citizens that will have the privilege of being admitted into each class cohort every six months. Since the current marketplace of supply of politicians is holding the country hostage to a destructive political culture, we can upend their dominance by producing a new political class of public leaders with the requisite character, competence and capacity.
A complex mix of challenges, including low literacy level and economic deprivation has thrown up what could be described as crisis of democracy in Nigeria, is it possible to inject sanity into the country’s politics?
You are spot on identifying the adverse impact of low literacy level and poverty on our democracy. In my research, there is a conclusion that these two factors inhibit the quality of voting decisions of our electorate that are within the low-income class. First, the illiterate is likely to be poor. The daily financial worth of the productivity of poor people in our country is extremely low and so whatever is offered them by unscrupulous politicians on Election Day is hugely attractive. For them Election Day is simply another day of struggles to eke out a living. Election Day is not a decision about the next four years for most poor voters. They have concluded that since governance did not improve their wellbeing in the previous years, nothing in the future would change. They therefore rationally make a decision to sell their vote and “earn an income” for each time they do so. In my conclusions, I wrote it this way: “The Price of the vote of the low-income voters in Nigeria is extremely low, and corrupted politicians can easily pay for it.” Second, the poor who are illiterate will also likely lack political literacy and so do not realize the power of their constitutional right to vote.
In the power relations between the electorate and those they vote into office, the former have failed to take their primacy in our democracy.
What does the #Fixpolitics research recommend for these two issues?
Design a bundled and simultaneous program of economic empowerment and political literacy for low income voters. The economic empowerment component of the program raises their productivity. The political literacy component raises their political consciousness and awareness of their self-interest in elections and governance that follows afterward. Organizations and groups interested in emerging an empowered and engaged electorate then work together to use Technology to identify, connect, combine and scale up existing and new programs of economic empowerment for women and young people who together make up more than 70 percent of the voting population. Remember that women and young people are also the voting constituencies that actually turn up to vote on Election Day to vote. Imagine that in between our electoral cycles (that’s four years between one election and another), some organizations and groups collaborate to design a new economic empowerment initiative that is bundled with political literacy sessions or that they redesign existing programs in an intentional way to raise the productivity and political knowledge of say, Akara sellers across Nigeria. Imagine that currently Akara sellers toil for just a daily net income of say, N1000- N2000. Imagine that the programs succeed such that their average daily financial output double or triple , rising above the “price that politicians will offer for their vote in elections”. Now imagine that four years later, the now more productive, empowered and more politically-conscious Akara seller is faced with the offer to sell their vote. What do you think will happen in their decision-making? It is more probable that they would resist the offer and rather vote for candidates that will govern to improve their wellbeing because they have experienced improvement from a thoughtful and effective intervention. Now they know why choosing the right candidates in elections can further improve their households and communities.
Finally, Design and launch an innovative data-based nationwide political literacy campaign using community organizing modules to awaken and engage the over 60% of low-income registered voterpopulation that has never participated in elections by voting after being registered to vote. That only 15 million out of 84 million registered voters elected a President into office in 2019 is a risk that can be transformed into an opportunity to bring in new voters without the distorted incentives of repeat voters to sell their vote.
Iam pleased to address you at this media briefing event as we highlight the activities outlined for the commemoration of the 2020 edition of the Global Handwashing Day. As you may be aware, October 15 was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap, which is an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases. This day is expected to catalyse local, national and global actions and build the culture of hand washing with soap.
• The 2020 Global Handwashing Day theme of ‘ Hand Hygiene for All’ is aligned to the recent Hand Hygiene Global Initiative launched by World Health Organization ( WHO) and UNICEF to implement the recommendations on the prevention and control of COVID-19. This initiative is aimed at ensuring behaviour change and lasting infrastructure beyond the pandemic and requires putting in place policies, institutional environment, handwashing facilities and scaling up successful evidence-based approaches for a sustained hand hygiene practice. As a country, we need to develop a comprehensive roadmap to ensure that hand hygiene remains a mainstay among the populace, long after the pandemic.
• Handwashing with soap
is critical to disease prevention and not only helps people improve their health, but also removes barriers to economic opportunity, allows children to learn and grow, and helps strengthen communities. It is considered as an affordable, accessible “do-it-yourself” vaccine for sanitation and hygiene related diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid fever and pneumonia which are prevalent in our communities. It is estimated to cut deaths from diarrhoea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by a quarter. A recent study showed that regular handwashing with soap can reduce the likelihood of COVID- 19 infection by 36%. Handwashing with soap also helps to ensure the sustenance of efforts to end Neglected
Tropical Diseases (NTDS) such
as River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, Soil
Transmitted Helminthes and
Schistosomiasis.
• According to the 2019 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping ( WASHNORM) re
port, national access to basic hygiene services indicated by availability of handwashing facility with water and soap is 16% with an estimated 167million people lacking access and disparity across locations and wealth quintiles. In schools and health care facilities, access to basic hygiene is 10% and 20% respectively while only 5% of public places such as markets and parks have basic hygiene facilities.
• These figures signified a
marked reduction in access to hygiene services compared to the 2018 WASHNORM survey. While a high knowledge of handwashing practices estimated at 81% was reported in the 2019 WASHNORM survey, only 10% of the population can demonstrate proper handwashing with water and soap under running water while a minimal 5% are likely to practice proper handwashing with water and soap at critical times which includes after defecation, touching animals or sick persons, playing and before cooking, eating, handling food, or feeding others.
• We understand that the
outbreak of COVID-19 has reawakened a consciousness of handwashing practices and it is important that we maximise this opportunity and ensure the sustainability of these infrastructures and behaviour, to achieve hand hygiene for all. This calls for collaboration and partnership with all Stakeholders because everyone has a role to play. My Ministry was recently admitted as a partner of the Global Handwashing Partnership which is the umbrella body of organizations promoting the cause of handwashing with soap globally. We will be leveraging on the opportunities that this global partnership presents to Nigeria towards improving the culture of handwashing with soap in the country.
• As you may be aware, the ‘Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet’
Campaign to end open defecation in the country by the target year of 2025 is ongoing and hygiene promotion is an integral component, with emphasis on handwashing at critical times, to break the faeco-oral route of disease transmission. A national study to analyse the handwashing programming landscape in the country was also carried out this year with the support of our partners and the report of that study will be shared as part of the planned activities for commemorating this year’s event.
• The National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS) which is
a coordinating mechanism for sanitation and hygiene at the national level, has planned the following activities for the commemoration of the 2020 Global Handwashing Day:
• On Tuesday, 13th October
2020, a webinar will be held to discuss the state of handwashing in the country and unveil the national handwashing study report which is expected to inform handwashing programming in the country.
• There will be a month long
electronic and social media engagements on Radio, Television
and Social Media platforms.
This includes discussion programmes, airing of jingles in local languages across different States; digital posters, banners, short videos, bulk SMS messages, etc.
• Awareness and sensitization visits will be carried out on
Thursday, 15thoctober 2020 to
designated markets and motor parks across the Area Councils
in FCT to highlight effective
handwashing techniques and distribute handwashing materials.
• The main commemoration event on Thursday, 15th
October, 2020 will be a visit to the Medium Security Custodial Centre at Kuje, where I will be presenting alongside my colleagues, handwashing facilities and products to the Facility, and also perform the symbolic handwashing.
• The Honourable Ministers of Education, Health and myself will also be participating in an early morning live
TV programme on Thursday,
15thoctober.
• In the afternoon of Thursday, 15th October, a live Facebook talk show event will be held to engage online audience on the significance of effective handwashing with soap.
There will also be presentation of handwashing facilities to selected schools, healthcare facilities and markets across
the FCT in the course of this
month.
• All these activities are with
the support of our partners – Action Against Hunger, OPSWASH, Procter and Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, UNICEF, Wateraid and WSSCC. Across the country, state level activities are also being carried out during this period to commemorate the day which are all aimed at creating massive awareness across the country on the adoption of the habit of handwashing at critical times.
• As I conclude, the tagline:
Hand Hygiene for All, reminds us to ensure that we make available opportunities for everyone to practice handwashing with soap at all critical times as we build a culture of good hygiene practices which lasts well beyond this pandemic period. I therefore enjoin us all to always remember that handwashing with soap is for all – great and small, young and old, rich and poor. We should therefore be an advocate for making it a habit as we celebrate the 2020 Global
Handwashing Day. Let us all choose handwashing not only on Global Handwashing Day and during Pandemic alone, but every day.
‘Hand Hygiene for All’
WELCOME ADDRESS BY MRS DIDI WALSONJACK, PERMANENT SECRETARY, FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES ON THE OCCASION OF MINISTERIAL MEDIA BRIEFING ON GLOBAL HANDWASHING DAY COMMEMORATION, 12TH OCTOBER, 2020
PROTOCOL
I am happy to welcome you to this media briefing event to highlight planned activities to commemorate the 2020 Global Handwashing Day. We are commemorating the 2020 Global Handwashing Day under the platform of the National Task Group on Sanitation (NTGS) and with the support of
our Partners.
• Handwashing with soap is
a lifeline to preventing many sanitation and hygiene related diseases. In the context of the COVID-19 situation, it is one of the main non-pharmaceutical preventive measures. The
essence of commemorating global days such as the Global Handwashing Day is to create awareness, advocate for increased collaboration and partnership in the national effort to improve access to handwashing services and mobilize the populace on a sustainable behaviour change path. This is expected to provide the basis for our developmental efforts in building a healthy and virile nation.
• Today’s event is being hosted by the Honourable Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu, joined by his colleagues from line Ministries such as Agriculture and Rural Development; Education; Environment ; Finance, Budget and National Planning, Health, Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development; Information; Women Affairs; Works and Housing, as well as our Development and Private Sector Partners.
• This is being done in the
spirit of collaboration and partnership as we build a culture of handwashing with soap and ensure good progress in our national aspiration of making Nigeria an enviable place to live for all citizens: where we all wash our hands at critical times! 5. I welcome you all once again and wish us all a fruitful media parley. Thank you.