Special Adviser to Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State on Civic Engagement, in an exclusive interview with Yinka Kolawole shares his thoughts on socio-political challenges such as secession and ethnic suspicion facing the country
What is your take on the series of socio-political challenges such as secession and ethnic suspicion facing Nigeria?
As a matter of fact, no country in the world can be totally insulated from having certain socio-political challenges but most countries have also developed strong Institutional mechanism of addressing them or abating their influence in the polity. Although, in the case of Nigeria, these conundrums are not mitigated but more compounded because people have no inclination to nationalistic values and identity again as this has caused problems of secession from different angle as well as cases of ethnic suspicion and mistrust.
Without equivocation, these issues in Nigeria have been largely caused by the obvious disconnect between the government and the people. There’s a serious gap between people and the government as that has precipitated lack of sense of inclusiveness and belonging among the people. Prevailing tension in the society is a direct result of complex issues, but the major one is feeling of alienation among the populace. In short, an effort must be put in place to gradually draw people closer to the government towards bridging the gap as this would offer the government a platform to directly feel people’s pulse and get direct and true popular opinion poll which would help its in policy formulation process and by extension, increase the confidence of the people in leadership.
In view of the above, could you point to measures Osun state government has put in place to address these national issues.
Without mincing words, His Excellency, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has gotten it right from the beginning. He was well poised for the challenges ahead, especially the area of government-people relationship which he deemed imperative. Oyetola out of his ingenuity and democratic proclivity had understood the preeminence, dynamism and indispensability of people in democratic governance and thought so perfect to create the institution of “Civic Engagement” to directly see to the affairs of the people in relation to the Government. Having observed the seeming gap between government and the people which is not good for every democratic government, he created the office to serve as a bridge between his government and the people of the state with the intent to draw them closer to his administration, get their tenets as at when due and take corresponding actions almost immediately to sate whatever yearnings and aspirations of the people.
At this level, no strata of society is left behind. Oyetola’s administration regularly interfaces with all social strata that make up a society. The regular interface had helped Oyetola’s administration to easily sensitize people on any social issue at any given time for the purpose of re-orientation and value rebirth, as well as address issues coming directly from the people with yielding to policy reviews and action. Oyetola does not give chance to any disconnect between his government and the people let alone having any communal issue that can lead to instability which his government would not have nipped at bud.
You can now see how Oyetola’s administration is meaningfully contributing to the general sociopolitical stability, sustainable development and peaceful coexistence in the country. This effort is hinged on the fact that people have sense of inclusiveness and belonging in the current administration. They see it as their own because they get involved anytime and any day. Even the non-indigenes are stakeholders in government too and that’s more reason why Osun anti-open grazing law has been embraced and supported by the Fulani Community because they have not been left out in the processes of governance.
As Special Adviser to Governor Gboyega Oyetola on Civic Engagement, would you canvass for the replication of this at the federal level as well as all other states of the federation?
Against the backdrop of the fact that, Civic Engagement Office created by Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has been impactful in Osun State, I would strongly canvass for the establishment of such at the Federal Level and other states of the federation. The institution no doubt, is capable of mitigating all forms of socio-political challenges bedeviling the country because it’s a people centric establishment. This new paradigm should be embraced across board in Nigeria. It will interest you to know that in advanced democracies like US and UK, Civic Engagement is a powerful tool of government used in facilitating people-centric development and social engineering. It is used to engender socio-political stability and development through bringing people closer to the government to actively participate in governance process.
In Nigeria of today, Civic Engagement if replicated, will help in galvanizing all social strata for the purpose of closing the existing gap between government and the people through routine and direct engagement which by result, promotes nationalistic values needed for a strong nation-building and viable social development.
What is the strategic framework in civic engagement that may convince federal government for its implementation?
Civic Engagement is primarily centred on bridging the gap between government and the people in a given polity through a number of engagement drives resting on the interface with strategic groups, communities and individuals to form public opinions which will help government formulate and implement policies that truly represent the actual needs and aspirations of the people. Beyond this, it is poised to sensitizing and orientating people about critical societal issues and ways of addressing them for stability.
Civic Engagement is hinged on three strategic approaches namely; Community Outreach and Engagement; Advocacy and Enlightenment, as well as Security and Conflict Resolution.
The Community Outreach and Engagement will bring people into the state development engineering and as it concerns reaching out to all social strata and by extension, the depth of grassroots wherein, the very “last man” in the society will contribute to the input system of governance process. This is an effort predicated on the philosophy of “bottom-up” approach to governance where feedbacks are sought from people at every sphere of life right to the grassroots, to form part of policy formulation cycle, thereby facilitating a more participatory and all-inclusive governance for the sustenance of democracy and plenary development of the nation.
With the community outreach and engagement, there will be a routine interface with people in social, traditional, economic, political, religious and other classes of society right from the smallest formation of human community (farmsteads) to the biggest ( metropolis). In addition, members of society will also be engaged according to the identifiable clusters of relationship based on social, economic, religious, and other peculiarities. This approach is solely designed with the intent to carry every individual along, as a critical stakeholder in the representative democracy, in the national affairs.
Advocacy and Enlightenment focuses on educating and informing citizens about the general governance activities, as well as sensitizing the populace on the need to take responsibility in the fight against any societal challenge. Under this strategy, aggressive campaign will be taken to social, religious, commercial and some other strategic gatherings where Information could easily be disseminated to the large audience. This is designed to vigorously campaign against issues of endemic diseases, Child Abuse, Genital Mutilation, Gender Based – Violence, Drug Abuse, Thuggery/Hooliganism, Cultism. This is a form direct engagement beyond media sensitization which is targeted towards political culture, reorientation and value rebirth in the polity.
The Security and Conflict Resolution is a strategic means of engagement used in reaching out to people for the purpose of nipping issues that are threatening to the national security, peaceful coexistence and sociopolitical stability at bud. This is meant to be a swift response system (SRS) of the government to which the people have unhindered access for the purpose of sustainable harmony, peace and stability in the state.
In adding values to both the people and the government, the Civic Engagement institution promotes democratic ideals and affords the citizens the opportunity to communicate with public office holders. It also strengthens citizens’ voices in governance, facilitates social cohesion and support people’s participation in democratic processes. In the same vein, it offers both the citizen and government a better understanding of problems and needs, opinions and priorities as well as promotes community representation in decision making. As citizens are involved in decision making through our productive and effective government-citizens engagement, we are facilitating an open and more accountable leadership that builds citizens’ trust in the government.
There seems to be structure in national level that appears as the model you talk about, what in your views are the missing ingredients?
As similar as it may seem to be, there is a clear-cut difference in the activities of Civic Engagement as being implemented in Osun state and any related model at the federal level. The Civic Engagement strategy as created by Governor Oyetola is of wider scope than promoting government policies or engaging in public enlightenment. Civic Engagement uses an end-to-end approach for it does not only interface with people but also generate information or data which could used for government to take substantial policy formulation in line with the tenets, opinions and aspirations of the people. It also serves as an intermediary between government and the people. It is more of productive dialogue for peace, stability and unity than ordinary advocacy and enlightenment.
With the high level of civic disturbance in Nigeria today, there is the urgent need to close the gap between the government and the people through conscious and sincere engagement. While other approaches and solutions are being unbundled, you would have to a certain extent de-excalate tension.
