Worldwide, it’s the norm for people retired from public office to use autobiographies, interviews, or speeches to reflect upon their tenure and express regret for some of their actions or inactions. This is regarded as a good thing as it means they eventually accept the error of their ways and have left the stage, never to return. Nigeria has a long history of such “regretters”. Indeed perhaps the only prominent retired former Nigerian political officeholder who has never expressed regret for anything he did is Olusegun Obasanjo, who believes he is the greatest president Nigeria ever had and is likely to have! Leadership is a trust, and failing to deliver on that trust should cause anyone with a conscience to have eternal regrets. Nowadays, in addition to retirees reflecting upon a lifetime of service, there is a new breed of “regretters”.
These are recycled former public office holders attempting to climb to greater heights. In Nigeria, it’s possible to “regret” all your bad deeds and prosper, as long as you are in the good books of those in power! Erstwhile FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai, once declared that Muhammadu Buhari was perpetually unelectable. Buhari is now President, El -Rufai is now a State Governor fawning over him saying he “regrets” not having sufficient knowledge of his leader at the time he made the statement! The most well-known new breed upwardly mobile recycled “regretter” is Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami. By merely expressing regret over his reprehensible record of incitement to religious hatred, he has been “forgiven” by the powers that be. It is pitiable that those seeking further political office routinely express “regret” for previous actions and are routinely forgiven. Evidently, regret is now a substitute for good character, and it’s possible to regret your way to political success.
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The latest high-profile “regretter” is the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega. He has thrown his hat into the political ring by joining the People’s Redemption Party (PRP). In preparation for occupying another political office, he recently expressed regret for being part of a system that failed to produce good leadership, saying Nigeria cannot continue to allow “bad people” to govern or misgovern them.
Whatever political office Jega may eventually seek, whether as a state governor, member of the national assembly, minister, or even indeed President, it’s generally agreed that he cannot be worse than many of the characters who previously occupied those public offices.
However, this doesn’t mean the issue of his regrets should be swept aside. There are only two reasons why people express regret. Either because they knew they were doing wrong at the time but didn’t have the courage of their convictions to say no, or they belatedly became wise after leaving office. Neither reason speaks well of the “regretter’s” character. Jega did not personally rig the elections which brought President Buhari into office, so rather than reflecting upon poor leadership, he should be regretting the inefficient, overly expensive and error-prone electoral processes he implemented in which courts regularly overturn results or disqualify contestants who should have never been allowed on the ballot. One reason for the routinely sub-standard performance of INEC is that their chairmen tend to be square pegs in round holes. They are victims of a penchant for appointing academics to positions for which they are eminently unqualified. Nigerian Professors and Doctorate Degree holders who invent nothing despite all their research have left the university system to become administrators of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) without a requisite working knowledge of Information Technology, Statistics, Operations Research, Management Information Systems, or Physical Distribution Management. Professor Jega was appointed INEC Chairman based upon his reputation for integrity rather than any expertise in the subject matter. While praising the 2015 elections which he presided over, he claimed to have ended the cycle of badly or poorly conducted elections. He is now wiser in the knowledge that those elections witnessed all sorts of fraudulent practices, logistical glitches, the massive squandering of scarce resources, and didn’t lead to the nation being governed by its most competent or altruistic hands. In truth, what most upwardly mobile “regretters” are unintentionally regretting is their behaviour and character while in office as manifested in their egocentricity, self-indulgence, and unfaithfulness to the Constitution. Individuals who fail to distinguish themselves in political office should retire gracefully from public life.
Only in morally bankrupt societies are such people deemed worthy of elevation or re-appointment. If they truly regret their past, they should never again seek public office. They can regret in their homes and confine such regrets to their memoirs as advice to others.
The nation cannot afford to keep recycling those who have contributed to messing up the system, or heating up the polity. Apologising and regretting only when you are found out isn’t a measure of character. British writer and politician, Thomas Macauley, said, “The measure of a man’s character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.” Nigerian “regretters” never expected to be found out which is why they did what they did. What ultimately prevented them from excelling in high office wasn’t anything they met there, but rather the character they took there.
There are approximately 200 million Nigerians and there is no need for recycling “regretters”. Those currently occupying political office should take heed. When their tenure is over and they return to being “common citizens” or seek higher office, will posterity treat them favourably? Or will they need to express regret to cleanse their slate? Nigerians deserve more than consistent apologies. They are under no obligation to accept such regrets. As focus shifts to the 2023 elections, all political party hierarchies should bear in mind that these upwardly mobile regretters reveal to the world the truly dysfunctional and absolutely inept manner in which political offices are filled and the damage it has done to the soul, integrity and prosperity of the nation. Nigeria would be much better off without recycled “regretters” in the high office!
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