THE IMPARTIAL OBSERVER
The essence of little things that matter the most
Hank Eso
Sunday
4 December 2011
One thing I am aware of is that there have been criticisms of the National Award
nominations and selection process.
~~
President Goodluck Jonathan
More
often than not, in politics, good governance and commonsensical civility as it
is in strict protocol, it is the little, seemingly inconsequential and pesky
details that matters most. Which is
why, the aphorism of the “devil is in the
details” is a constant refrain in contractual relations, even in social
contracts and nuptials.
I
have spent the last couple of weeks wrestling with what went wrong during the
2011 National Honors Awards on 13 November 2011 and the controversies that has
trailed the award since then. Thankfully, President
Goodluck Jonathan confirmed my concerns when he said,
“One thing I am aware of is that there
have been criticisms of the National Award nominations and selection process.”
I’ve also wondered, if those
in charge of the awards within the Nigerian Presidency – those in the office of
the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Hon. Ayim Pius Ayim --
fully understood the consequences of the shameful situation they placed the
president, the government, and indeed the implications, and if there were any
lessons learned from that entire saga, which continues to prove distractive, and
indeed, has in some ways eroded the value of the national awards.
There were three critical fallouts of the award that is the
grouse of this write up, since they should not have happened in the first place,
if those concerned paid any attention to the little details.
First, is Prof. Chinua Achebe’s rejection of the national honors award for the
second time on personal grounds is his prerogative. In his words: “The
reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed
let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me. I must therefore
regretfully decline the offer again.”
Second, is the rejection of the award by HRH General Domkat
Ya Bali, a highly respected soldier and the present paramount ruler of
Tarokland, for an inadvertent but evident mix up, in which he was offered the
award of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR), which is far lower in the
order of precedence than his earlier award of the Grand Commander of the Order
of the Niger, (GCON). His words: “[W]hy I
refused to go to Abuja for the national honour is that it makes no sense to me.
I saw the recent national merit award given to me as an insult to my
personality. They told me the 2011 honour awarded me was Commander of the
Federal Republic (CFR), but the Federal Government gave me in the past a higher
national merit honour as Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) which
is the second highest national honour in Nigeria.”
Third, the award ceremony was marred by a gross shortage of
medals for the bloated number of awardees, 364 in all (actually only 355
awardees were present), which to some extent, is understandable given that it
was a combined 2010/2011 award, but still very unacceptable.
Finally, the overall handling and awardees of 2011 National
Honors Awards has been trenchantly
and deservedly so, criticized by many
attentive Nigerians, most of whom
also suggested pruning down the numbers, revisiting the premise of the award and
other ways of ensuring that it retained its value and credibility. For instance,
as Podar Johnson of Plateau State noted, “The
award can be more credible only if it will not be given either on political
patronage, regional recognition, or religious sentiment. Every awardee should be
ready to give account of his stewardship to the country. Dangote’s award was a
well-deserved one. ”
This needs to be said. The
Government with the best intentions insinuated itself in the present
controversy, assuming they recognize the import of the mishandling of the
awards. Several things should have
happened that did not. And several things happened that should have not.
First, it must be recognized that leadership and politics is
about people and how you handle them. Public relations matters and when things
go awry; it is best to do immediate damage control rather than engage in
blustering. Thus, the most inexcusable of situations, was placing President
Goodluck Jonathan and awardees in bad public light, by failing to ensure that
there were enough medals for all the awardees.
No excuse is acceptable, except for a tsunami hitting Abuja the night
before the event and washing away all the medals. But whatever happened to a
backup plan? This event was planned two
years ahead and certainly, in the books somewhere, huge contracts for the medals
and the plaques were awarded. If we
cannot handle such little things with great details, how can we handle big,
complex and tasking issues that confront our nation?
As I write, I have not heard of any censure or reprimand for those who
mishandled the award. Go figure!
Still on details, those who were charged with organizing the
award, knowing that Prof. Chinua Achebe had previously rejected the award in
2004, should have at least reached out to him directly or through emissaries
before putting him on the list.
Some may see this as going overboard, but it is not. It is about taking
care of business and the necessary details.
Had they done so, Prof. Achebe, whom I know, would have hinted that the
moment was unpropitious, hence sparing the President, himself and the nation the
ensuing embarrassment and controversy.
He certainly would not have written that seemingly annoying rejection
letter or email.
In the same vein and as a consequence its negligence, the Presidency would not
have been forced into the defensive position, in which our revered media guru,
Dr. Rueben Abati, the President’s
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity,
engaged in his inexplicable rationalization and psychoanalysis of Achebe’s
mindset, in ways that lacked finesse and any air of politesse.
According to Abati:
"Coming
as it does, against the background of the widely acclaimed electoral reforms
undertaken by the Jonathan Administration, the claim by Prof. Achebe clearly
flies in the face of the reality of Nigeria's current political situation.”
Perhaps unintended, Abati’s position and language despite it feigned confidence,
mirrored the reactions of Obasanjo’s regime, when Femi Fani-Kayode, then the
irascible Special Adviser to President Obasanjo, proclaimed on the BBC that
Prof. Achebe had the right to reject the 2004 award, since he
“had lost touch with some of the events
in Nigeria”.
Ironically, what this entire episode confirms is that within the Nigerian
government and ruling circle, nothing has changed; but for the personalities,
the mindset and mantra has remained the same. But the truth be told,
if anyone has lost touch or was “out of
touch” as Abati had averred, it was the Nigerian government, not Chinua
Achebe. In this context, Achebe’s voice represents in the main, the voice of the
people. But is anyone listening?
Furthermore on details, the handlers of the national award proved that they were
not in control of their environment and
records. Like all things, the event
started late. Also,
if they were in full control, what was the rationalization of giving a lower
award of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) to Gen. Domkat Bali and
similarly to several others who had previously received higher national awards?
If the national ward records were well maintained and scrutinized, then
it would have been obvious that Domkat Bali could only receive, if deemed fit,
the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) the highest national award
and nothing less. Alternatively,
the least he should have been given is a second GCON, thus making him a two-time
awardee at that level, which would surely make him a stand out and separate him
and his accomplishments from others, for example, Aliko Dangote, who was getting
the GCON for the first time. The first award might have been for Bali’s services
as a soldier and public servant, and the second, for his services as a
traditional leader and elder statesman. The
intervening 18 years separating both awards would have been a meaningful
explanation and justification, assuming that the GCFR award is reserved for
heads of state only.
Several points are noteworthy here.
There ought to be website dedicated to the national awards or at least an
icon on the Presidency’s website on the awards, detailing its history, all the
awardees, with their full names, date of award and state of origin.
So far, we know that some 3,924 awards have been handed out since its
inception in the latter part of 1963, when Nigeria became a Republic. But
Nigerians don’t know who got what or when.
This also speaks to the utility of the Freedom of Information Act. But I
digress!
Since this is an annual award, there is need for consistency,
which is to say that the criteria for a given year must include staying within
the established number, i.e. 150 awards per year.
That would force the use of strict merit to select those who justifiably
deserve recognition in the stipulated categories.
National awards are meant to acknowledge personal
accomplishments and also inspire others to pursue excellence in the respective
fields of human endeavors. In that
sense, the six state governors that were honored merited the award, as it sets
them apart from their thirty other peers in their collective quest to offer good
governance and quality leadership. Likewise, the award to Aliko Dangote was
unquestionably justifiable. Had
Nigeria ten more Dangotes, as introspective and inward looking investors not
inclined to invest their wealth outside the country, we would be better off as a
nation. Moreover, not since Chief
M.K.O. Abiola has one private Nigerian citizen individually touched so many
lives with his wealth, job creation, philanthropy and altruism.
In this context however, it was truly flabbergasting that
President Jonathan took out time to justify why
the second highest award was given to Dangote.
Such an apologia was unnecessary, if indeed that process was transparent,
the criteria used by the government
just and Dangote met the litmus test of being so honored.
By his explanation (which was not
part of his scripted remarks) that, “if
Aliko did not have that business acumen to build that empire probably we
wouldn’t have had somebody to employ thousands of Nigerians,” the president
cast a slight doubt on the process.
Nigerians know Dangote. Some may
not like Dangote’s face, his business style and his politics, but in his field
of expertise, which is business, he has always delivered, shown Nigeria and
Africa in good light and touched lives.
That is all that matters.
Finally, it is the essence of little things that matters the
most. I have gone to length
to show how little things that matter the most could become big irritants, if
not properly handled. We hope that
the 2012 National Award would be better handled.
While we are at it, the handlers of the President and the awards should
make it mandatory, that every
past awardee, the president included, who shows up for the ceremony, must wear
their award chest medals. Indeed, that is why each awardee gets a neck medal on
ribbon and a smaller chest medal.
Some may argue that such gesture is merely symbolic; so be it. It is part
embellishment and part history, but at least, we should get it right for the
sake of our posterity. Let it be
said, little things do matter.
With neither anger nor partiality, until next time, keep the law, stay
impartial, and observe closely.
--------
Hank Eso
is a columnist for
Kwenu.com.
His observations on Nigerian, African and global politics and related issues,
has appeared in various print media, journals and internet-based sites.
© Hank Eso,
4 December 2011.
Email:
hankeso@aol.com