By: Comrade Aremuforyouths

The reality is that the backwash of godfatherism can and does hit in every direction, because a Godfather is a Godfather and his efforts and effect on the system have always been to twist the rules for the benefit of his profane Godson and to the detriment of the nation. Since the basis for the development of this godparent-hood is the esprit de corps of some evil fraternity, some innocent and straight-forward relationship, or, indeed, those situations in which necessity bears a child. In other words, it can often be a child of necessity.
As is now all too clear, this phenomenon is not restricted to the issue of appointments alone; it permeates the entire life of the nation. Earlier, in this country, we have seen how, in politics, a Godfather attempted to extract his pound of flesh in a situation in which the allegiance of an elected executive lies with that bankrolling Godfather and not as it should be—with the electorate; and his official conduct is controlled, not by the values of democracy but, by the fear of the consequences of an oath sworn to at the altar of a parochial deity, all of which quickly led to the subversion of our fledgling democratic culture, the rise of mediocrity and the ascendancy of uncontrollable corruption. There are many consequences of godfatherism and the first and perhaps most important of them has been the sacrifice of competence—the best is often not recruited as nepotism takes its toll; and in the process, it is competence that ultimately suffers; and the next most important consequence after the dawning of incompetence has always been the ascendancy of its fellow traveller—corruption.
Godfatherism, by its disregard of laid down procedure, has, among other unsavoury effects, led to the subversion of the Federal character principle, that beautiful provision whose import is to make all the people in the country feel fully represented and with a sense of belonging in the country and what is going on in it. Yet despite its beauty and practical utility, it was only in 1999 that it was finally formalised with its commission established as a counterpoise to the principle of rotational presidency that was adopted at the National Constitutional Conference. The commission was to police appointments in Federal and state public services and ensure the equitable distribution of amenities throughout the country.
On the whole, the effect of the Godfather on government business has been to subvert the ethos and ethic of public service as the system is forced to serve the narrow interests of the cabal of the current wielders of power. In recruiting and now, as they insist, even in promotion there is need for a uniform set of principles and procedures to guide and regulate the question of the use of examinations and other selection procedures which should be enforceable by the Federal Character Commission, applied by the Federal Civil Service Commission, respected by the Federal Government, especially the Office of the Head of Service.
In the end, of course, the nation’s leadership must accept or be made to accept the necessity of allowing proper procedure to take its course, if only at least in the sense of adhering to the new procedure that it has itself set, which revolves around passing examinations. If that is imposed and accepted as the new yardstick, it should be respected by all. But besides being wrong as a yardstick for promotion, an examination is probably not even a good measure. In fact what does an examination really measure? It certainly doesn’t measure all that the candidate knows; it only measures what he can remember or, more correctly, what he can write of what he does remember. Thus, performance in an examination depends on many factors. First, it depends on the goodness of one’s teachers—in class or at work. Second, it depends on one’s study skills—and on his luck.
Third, it depends even on the candidate’s mood, which through transference, will affect how questions are read, understood and answered. Fourth, it may depend on the mood of the examiner at the time of setting the questions and at the time of marking the scripts. Fifth, it can even depend on the weather. Sixthly, it above all depends on one’s intelligence, though the conventional examination probes the territory of intelligence quotient while success at work depends more on emotional intelligence which the examination hardly touches.
And, finally, everything depends more on the corruption surrounding the way and manner in which the examination itself is conducted, marked and the result released. That can defeat the best of efforts.
It has been said that in the last promotion examination for permanent secretaries, for instance, the person who came first didn’t make the promotion list and was in fact not promoted; and also in the interview-test to select the nation’s new accountant-general, the person with the highest score was said to have been bypassed.
This corrupt method of appointment into the service and the nepotism it engenders altogether undermine public trust in officialdom by making government look like a sectionalist business enterprise run, not in the public interest but, for the benefit of the temporary occupants of the corridors of power and their cronies; and, moreover, it saps the morale of its victims—all the other public officers negatively affected—and it will be impossible to get the best out of them.
In recruiting and now, as they insist, even in promotion there is need for a uniform set of principles and procedures to guide and regulate the question of the use of examinations and other selection procedures which should be enforceable by the Federal Character Commission, applied by the Federal Civil Service Commission, respected by the Federal Government, especially the Office of the Head of Service. If we set a standard, let’s keep to it. Under normal circumstances, such flagrant disregard of procedure and the impunity with which matters of appointment are handled in spite of the existence of the Federal Character Commission should have called for sanctions by the commission, investigation by the police, probes and hearings by the National Assembly and possible prosecution of those responsible for the infraction. And that is exactly what the Federal character law states—that those who flout its regulations, whether from within the commission or from outside it, are committing a criminal act and will be liable for prosecution if caught, whether he is a godfather or godson. And unless the law is blind and its application swift, impartial, and comprehensive, these little things may in the end lead to the loss of the nation. For want of a godfather, the job was lost; for want of job, the system was lost; and for want of system, the nation was lost. What we want is what we lack; and that which we lack is what we really need, in spite of our being a country of Godfathers and Godsons, is a Godfather to the nation, all of it and for everyone in it without distinction. And for Nigeria, that will always be a tall order—ever so tall.