CREATING VALUE THROUGH GOVERNANCE: IMPLEMENTING A

NEW ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK

 BY

PROFESSOR NKEMDILI AU. NNONYELU

PROFESSOR OF INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY

NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

Breaking the Ice/ Scene Setting

Appreciations Accountants – aficionados of

accountability The Nigerian paradox: poor

in the midst of plenty A giant in coma needing

urgent revival

Nigeria in Retrospect Nigeria’s journey started in the womb of

colonial perfidy A country of multiple diversities, more than

400 ethnic groups, with estimated population of 170 million

55 years since political independence in 1960 Chequered history, military & civilian

leadership. Agriculture was the mainstay of the economy

in pre-colonial, colonial and immediate post-independent period

Now a mono product economy, as the nation is almost totally dependent on oil. 99% of export revenue and 78% of all government revenues derived from oil (National Demographic and Health Survey, 2010)

Nigeria in Retrospect Contd. Nigeria has remained a laggard in social,

economic and political development Failing and collapsing infrastructure Increasing poverty, about 112million

Nigerians living on less than 2 dollars a day Unemployment about 25% (See National

Bureau of Statistics, 2014) 10 million children out of school Increasing child and maternal mortality Rising criminality, pen and armed robbery,

kidnapping, insurgency and terrorism. Currently, Nigeria is on the brink of

recession, in spite of protestations to the contrary by the financial gurus in CBN

Why has the scenario persisted?

When, how and why did Nigeria lose its initiative?

How did Nigeria get to this sorry state? How did corruption emerge in Nigeria as

a national symbol, that the country is seen as a poster nation for poor governance?

What happened to Nigeria's social values and sense of morality and consciousness?

Why do successive governments, public officials and Nigerians pay lip service to transparency and accountability in public life?

Why do public servants steal at will?

Conceptual and Contextual Discourses

Values are people’s aspirations about the way things should be done; they are their reported preferred practices (House, Jaridan, Dorfman and Hanges, 2007)

Social values: social values refer to commonly held principles, ideas or standards that are good, cherished by a given group of people and which the people make legitimate efforts to fulfil. Simply put, values refer to desirable conditions or state of affairs that are worth pursuing (Nnonyelu, 2009).

Nigeria’s values in the past included merit, excellence, objectivity, fairness, equity, compassion, impartiality; humanness and reward for productivity and hard work (see Asobie, 2014).

Social values, as aspects of culture are dynamic. Nigerian values have been held hostage by vulgar materialism.

We worship and glorify money and other material things.

Conceptual and Contextual Discourses Contd.

Merit is dethroned by pernicious doctrine called federal character and quota principle

As Asobie (2014, pp4-5) observed:“Merit is no longer on the throne, it has been unseated and buried under the federal character principle, or catchment area criterion. Excellence, especially in the world of scholarship and the professions has been overwhelmed by expediency driven by materialism; and objectivity has been displaced by subjectivity In thought and word… Impartiality which in yesterday’s Nigeria was the hallmark of judicial processes has taken a back seat in favour of negotiated judgements and corruption induced ‘plea bargaining’. The chief criterion for high reward in contemporary Nigeria is no longer productivity or hard work or even enterprise. It is loyalty or subservience or monopolistic control of a service line both in public and private sectors. Compassion and humanness – those unique values or qualities that define our humanity and even distinguish our race, have been replaced by heartlessness, brutality and cruelty, or what the great Zik describes as “man’s inhumanity to man” – fed by the triumph of greed and gain, that is, crass materialism.

Corruption

Generally seen as the misuse of public office for private gain (World Bank, 2000, Sandholtz and Taagepera, 2005)

Corruption refers to the perversion of society’s moral norms or an institution’s established standards

Corruption is basically a moral phenomenon. It is the perversion of integrity or a given state of affairs. It is an immoral and unethical phenomenon that contains

a set of moral aberrations from moral standards of society (Gold, 1991)

It is a kind of cancer, a socio-political, religious and moral disease that spreads to all the different levels of society

Corruption is measured by the Corruption Perception Index

Corruption Contd.Common forms of corruption: A business individual pays a bribe to a

government official in order to be given a government contract or license

The use of government-owned resources, such as motor vehicles, for private purposes

A government official takes advantage of his or her position to favour a family member or business associate for a job or tender contract. This is commonly called nepotism

A police officer solicits a bribe or a member of the public offers one in order to escape lawful punishment (http://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/learn-about-corruption/what-is-corruption/our-definition-of-corruption/, retrieved 23/10/2015)

Aiding and abetting stealing by Account Personnel

Awarding marks to undeserved students , etc

Transparency Openness in transactions: We are too secretive in Nigeria, which is supported by the Official Secret ActTransparency has several dimensions namely:

Transparency regulatory framework Open public procurement Freedom of information requirements Clearly established conflict of interest rule for elected and

appointed officials Code of conduct for public officials, etc. Provision of reliable information on government economic

policy intentions and forecasts, and Publication of comprehensive budget, other planning and

policy documents (Hope, 2005).Transparency is desideratum for accountability, a country that is not transparent cannot be accountable (Islam, 2003)Transparency and accountability are inseparable. They are like Siamese twins.Open Budget Index is used to measure transparency, and Nigeria

has fared very low

Accountability An all inclusive term, not limited to public officials alone

It demands responsibility for the effects of your actions and willing to explain or be criticised for them (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Obligation to render account and accept responsibility by individuals and organisations

No accountability without proper accounting practises

Accountability embraces responsibility for actions, liability for decisions or policies taken and indeed answerability.

Accountability is a scarce commodity as there is no distinction between personal and public property.

Accountability takes a back seat in Nigerian public space

Lack of accountability affects good governance

Governance

Governance is seen as the nature and manner of administering the state, how the resources of the state are distributed to meet the needs of its component publics. It could be good or bad. Good governance refers to activities of

government that are people oriented, transparent and accountable

It is also about the equitable management of societal resources, the promotion of a just society through deliberate policies

It is participatory and consensus oriented, involving the mass mobilisation of the people.

It is predicated on the rule of law

Governance contd.Bad governance is about the failure of political leadership to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It includes:

Absence of transparencyConversion of public resources to private endsExcessive and arbitrary application of laws that obstruct the free flow of goods and services, andWholesale mismanagement of societal resources Dethronement of equity, social justice and rule of law.Denial of people’s means of livelihood and other basic amenities that will improve their lifestyle

Theoretical Orientation

The political economy approach: the prebendal and patrimonial nature of the state and pattern of governance over the years

Sustenance of primordial loyalties like family, clan, state, ethnic group, religion, etc serving as patronage networks

The patronage networks to which public officials belong uphold the value of appropriating resources from the state to further the collective interests of the family, friends, relations, community, etc (Helman and Ndumbaro, 2002).

Therefore, corruption has become part and parcel of daily life, institutionalised and embedded. It is too systemic that it takes extra devotion, contentment and selflessness not to be corrupt in Nigeria, i.e. to be accountable

Public office provides the incentives for officials to feed from the state known as politics of the belly (See Bayart Ellis and Hibou, 1999)

Very Recent Media Information on public Corruption

The media is awash with mind boggling stories of official corruption and lack of accountability. These include: 2.2 billion dollar arms scandal A 6.9 million dollar fraud committed under the guise of buying 3 mobile

stages A 2.5 billion naira scam involving the renting of house boats 3.8 trillion naira out of the 8.1 trillion earned from crude oil (2012 –

2015) withheld by NNPC, 2.1 billion dollars from excess crude unaccounted for 109.7 billion naira royalty from oil firms unremitted by the Department

of Petroleum Resources (DPR) 6 billion dollars allegedly stolen by some ministers 13.9 billion dollars being proceeds of 160 million barrels of crude lost

between 2009 and 2012, 16 million dollars from botched arms deal yet to be returned to Nigeria. 13 billion dollars Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividends

mostly unaccounted for. 30 billion naira questionable waiver granted to rice importers 183 billion naira unaccounted for at the Niger Delta Development

Commission (see Nation Tuesday Sept 1, 2015, p3).

The Old News

The cement import crisis, under Shagari regimeThe 12 billion dollars oil windfall, under the Babangida regimeThe looting of national treasury under Sanni Abacha regime16 billion dollars wasted in the power sector under the Obasanjo regimeThe Halliburton and Siemens scandalThe Pension Scam, etc.

Setting a New Template for Accountability

We need a revolutionary break from the past, if we are serious with accountability and transparency.

A Presidential Commission on Corruption is suggested. Thankfully, the President has put this in place

Open Assets Disclosure by all Nigerians Complete Ethical and Value Reorientation Treasury single account Centralised Independent Anti-corruption

Agency Massive Public Enlightenment Campaign

ConclusionIt is our contention that in situations of embedded corruption, systemic and institutionalised non accountability, being transparent and accountable or above board is likely to be problematic and requires nothing short of fundamental societal change that includes restoring power and economic relations as well as developing new norms. Indeed a revolutionary break from the past is canvassed if we are serious with promoting accountability and transparency. We need moral restitution and imposition of severe sanctions to discourage law breakers. Fortunately, the emergence of Buhari, a leader known for his stoic discipline, ramrod character, austere lifestyle and impeccable integrity can help change this. Whether this Buhari tree can make the forest in Nigeria is another matter.