With the military incursion into the art of governance, the practice of proclaiming public appointments through media announcements emerged in the political, administrative scene of Nigeria. A military administration which displaces participatory democracy mandatorily, eliminates the conventional procedure through which public appointments ought to be made.
Like vetting of potential appointees via the House of Representatives and or the Senate as the case may be. Under the democratic system, members of the public are afforded the chance to comment on the appropriateness or otherwise of prospective appointees.
This type of system moreover offers the public prior knowledge of potential office holders and also erases any dissonances, inconsistency and equivocation in public appointments. It has however become quite obvious that the military in Nigeria is enamored of the ideas of making public appointments through the media.
The main reason for this style is not particularly clear but pundits are wont to pin it on the fact that any military regime’s presence is usually heralded through the radio, which is part of the media. And since there is this preference for media from the onset, military regimes like to keep the public non-pulsed at any available opportunity.
The reasoning goes further that since the appointee and /or the public is astonished anytime an appointment is made via the media, why should the military not stick to this style! Others however assume that due to the nature and structure of the military epitomized by the strict adherence to hierarchical order and the-obey-the-order-syndrome, appointments within this structure dispense with such finesse as prior consultation with appointees.
Once military authorities decide to appoint an officer to a position, such an appointee is notified through a signal and the appointee, whether he likes it or not, assumes his new position with military dispatch. Such a tradition of making appointments is believed by some to account for the military’s predilection for making civil appointments through the media.
Nevertheless, as convenient and expedient as this style may be for the military, it is flawed in many respects and has caused untold public embarrassments on many occasions. It would be recalled that such media announcements of public appointments was one of the major reasons given by normally fastidious late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in rejecting his membership of the Constitution Drafting Committee in 1975.The late sage deposed that his consent was not sought before including his name in the list. To those squeamish about decorum, it was a one down for the government. In fact, in recent years, appointments to public offices through the media have become rather sloven. untidy, muddled and devoid of decency.
This is besides the perplexities, bewilderment. angst and apprehension caused those whose names are so pro- claimed. This style does not confer any complements on government procedures. Immeasurable harm is particularly done to the ego of those whose names are announced but who turn out not to be the genuine appointees. Sometimes ago, in late 1987 for example, one A.S. lyang was announced as a member of the Constitution Review Committee, CRC. As misfortune would have it, one headmaster of a school in Port Harcourt who answers to that name hurried to Abuja for the swearing in ceremony basking in the delusion that he was the right appointee.
The man was sworn-in and he attended the CRCs inaugural session with other members. The man’s consternation and discomfiture could be best imagined when one month later, he was unceremoniously told he should go back home as he was not the right person. The excuse given was that his name got muddled-up with another A.s Inyang who was the genuine appointee.
To government, that was the end of the matter. Chikina! But it proved the beginning of Headmaster, Inyang’s dilemma. The man had taken six months leave of absence from his job while another man had taken up his position. The man became helpless, confused and frustrated. Other similar cases have occurred elsewhere in the country since then.
Another somewhat comparable faux pas occurred recently during the recomposition of the National Electoral Commission (NEC). It was understood that an overexcited and exuberant official released the new NEC list naming Justice Olakunle Orojo as the new chairman. After repeated media announcement of this list, another list emerged naming Professor Humphrey Nwosu as the chairman.
Justice Orojo’s name had been expunged without mincing words.This blunder was inexcusable. Making public appointments without consultation with candidates apart from the embarrassments caused such people is to say the least indeco-rous, inappropriate and unbecoming. Such a style is fraught with serious security implications and underscores the laxity with which appointments to public offices are handled.
NATIONAL CONCORD, March 13, 1989
