Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has advised that merit be given paramount consideration as a criterion in the appointment of persons into public offices instead of federal character.
Osinbajo’s remark, which is bound to trigger a debate, is coming at a time Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the appointment of political office holders into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The vice-president made the call Thursday when he delivered a keynote address at the 10th memorial anniversary lecture organised by the Justice P.O.E Bassey Foundation held at the International Conference Centre of the University of Calabar, Cross River State.
He referred to the selection of players for Nigeria’s national football teams, saying: “Nigerians expect the best to be chosen by the team manager or the coach in order to get the desired results.
“At that instance, nobody considers where a player or players come from. All they expect of the coach are players who merit places in the team and can get results.”
Speaking further, the vice-president said: “I don’t take my health for granted. So when going for a medical doctor, I go for the best not considering which part of the country the doctor comes from.
“If we take government seriously, we must as Nigerians look for merit before federal character.”
Quoting from the scriptures, Osinbajo said: “Righteousness exalts a nation,” explaining that it is a simple expression, but carries great depth.
“No society has developed that has not kept to some form of core values. Governance has to be based on principles and ideals. One of such principles is hard work. It is also critical that the work be positively directed and productive in the end,” he counselled.
He pointed out that one of the reasons Nigerian had not developed as quickly as other countries was because people are not paid for the hours they work.
“Most of the developed countries of the world run a system based on pay for hours worked,” he said.
He enumerated other principles that must be ingrained for the success of the nation as integrity, reward for merit,
consequences as opposed to impunity, and social justice where money should be given to the extremely poor by government.
However, he said though government should not ignore the federal character principle, the value of merit must come first when appointments and critical policies are up for consideration.
Osinbajo said the federal government has to put in place some kind of social interventionist measures in order to stem rising poverty in the country.
He said over one million Nigerians died yearly through preventable diseases as a result of poverty, adding that this called for interventionist policies by the government.
“The reason why we have one million preventable deaths every year in Nigeria is because of poverty.
“There is no nation that can tolerate the kind of poverty we have without social intervention, otherwise we will have an alienated society.
“There must be one form of social intervention or the other to stem the tide,” he said.
Osinbajo stated that by inculcating the right behaviour, “by good virtues that a nation grows or develops to greatness”.
He said that the late Justice Bassey left behind a good legacy for his children.
In her contribution, former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, blamed the problems of the country since independence on a distorted incentive regime, “where hard work is scorned and unaccountable wealth is glorified”.
“When society operates on distorted core values, where they elevate ignoble acquisition of wealth without effort, it would never be able to allocate resources maximally and efficiently,” she said.
Ezekwesili added that the loss of core values had continued to be Nigeria’s challenges, stressing that it was high time Nigerians came together to fashion out a national vision for the country.
Former governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke, who also delivered a lecture, said a lot needed to be done to improve the judiciary, as it is the main arm of government that defines society.
“Deviants in society are related to the strength or weakness of the judiciary. For a nation our size and complexity, our judiciary is one of the most poorly remunerated in the world.
“It is the responsibility of the judiciary to apply the consequences of breaches to the law. Divine law provides consequences to keep a deviant humanity in check. The place of consequences is vital in society. It ensures general wellbeing of society. The rule of law should not be a slogan but our way of life,” he said.
Cross River Governor, Professor Ben Ayade, said any lecture focused on core values was an opportunity for Nigerians to think of the real issues of morality, especially by students of tertiary institutions.
“It is the essential fabric in the life of this country. Without morality there is little we can achieve as a nation and as individuals,” he said.
The late Justice Bassey was the first High Court Judge of the defunct Eastern Region.
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